Everyone guessed that the emperor would make a move this time, but no one expected it to be so drastic.
Budo himself loudly announced that the palace was under martial law. Lancer publicly entered the security team and took over command. At the same time, many mid-to-high-level Imperial Guard officers were assigned to various parts of the country, and Najenda was ordered by the emperor to go to the border...
A series of commands proved the emperor's determination this time.
And before anyone was mentally prepared, a noble family was publicly executed in the imperial capital. The reason was simple: illegally contacting the princes to try and interfere in court politics.
The executed noble's reputation was not low, but in reality, they were an honorary noble without a fief. Everyone knew that with their strength, they didn't have the guts or the ability to interfere in court politics. They believed that more people would be brought here next. As for who? No one knew, but everyone was afraid. For a time, the entire imperial capital fell into an atmosphere of terror.
After taking over command of the security team, Lancer first action was to start an internal inspection of everyone! This even included the former security team captain, who was temporarily serving as 'honorary captain'. It's important to know that although he was nominally just a 'captain', his rank was actually at the 'general' level!
Everyone secretly cursed Lancer for seeking death, for acting like a big shot with a small authority. Once this matter was over, the 'former security team captain' could be reinstated, and Lancer would face a lot of trouble.
But only the former security bureau chief didn't think so.
No one knew his security team better than he did. He was even certain that many people who shouldn't be there had infiltrated the security team. Things like the children of various noble families were small matters. He had originally thought that he would retire soon and might be able to leave with his reputation intact, since his family would remain strong even after he stepped down. But this time...
He even wished he could have retired earlier and washed his hands of everything related to him. What's more crucial was that when he saw Lancer, he thought he was just a regular 'airborne commander', but the strange look in Lancer eyes made him have a bad premonition. He even doubted if he could survive this turmoil. As for revenge afterward? He would run as far as he could. As for revenge? He would have to be crazy!
The only non-Imperial Guard member who could interfere with the Imperial Guards was the current emperor!
As long as the emperor was willing to trust Lancer, he would always be superior. This had nothing to do with his military rank.
And what was even more unexpected was that Lancer purge this time was not only related to the assassination of the emperor. All security team members suspected of accepting bribes and colluding with merchants were all rooted out. For a time, the entire security team was cast in a bloody shadow.
At once, everyone in the security team felt insecure. Many people even began to wonder what the emperor's purpose was in sending Lancer here. The legendary 'executioner' seemed to have every intention of overthrowing all mid-to-high-level personnel in the security team.
"Captain!!"
Just as the 'former captain' was supporting his chin with his hands and praying for a 'quiet' period, an exclamation came from outside the door.
"Speak!"
Looking at his frantic subordinate, he just felt his heart getting worse and worse. He just wanted to know who had been caught this time. Was it for bribery or something else?
"Deputy Captain Oga has been arrested! And he was taken directly to the palace!"
"Bang!!"
The water cup in his hand was crushed, but its owner's expression was frozen and he didn't move at all. The scene he most dreaded had still appeared. Sure enough, someone under him was related to this assassination.
If there was anyone who trusted that the security team captain was not an assassin, it was Lancer.
He thought long and hard that Honest was most likely the mastermind. So who in the security team would be his person? Without a doubt, it was Oga.
Of course, this was just suspicion. After all, there was no evidence that Oga had gotten involved with Honest so early. But the only thing that could be confirmed was that the current security team captain was definitely not Honest's man. After all, although he was not young, he could still continue to serve. It was not impossible for him to continue being the security team captain for more than ten years, so why did Oga eventually rise to power? The only explanation was that the current security team captain was not Honest's man.
So, Lancer actually trusted him immensely. But trust is trust, and the investigation is the investigation. It didn't matter to him to pull the other party down in passing, since he would be leaving soon anyway.
But what he didn't expect was that without investigating, he wouldn't have known. It seemed that very few of the security team members were clean. The security team members who came from ordinary backgrounds were alright, but the ones who came from noble backgrounds were simply too greedy. Lancer hadn't even finished gathering information yet, and complaint letters had already piled up on his desk.
In the end, Lancer simply lumped all these guys together. It was also a good way to create a smoke screen and cover. As for the main target? Without a doubt, it was Oga. The information he finally gathered made his eyes light up.
Oga, originally from a commoner background, could be said to be one of the beneficiaries of the current emperor's policy of greatly supporting common people. But after reaching the position of deputy captain, it was almost impossible for him to go any further. After all, he now had only two paths. One was to continue to diligently compete for the position of the next security team captain, and the other was to be transferred to the army.
Among all the current deputy captains of the security team, he was the only one without a reliable backer. It could even be said that everyone else had one, except for him. And once he went to the army, it meant he had to start over. Oga, who was trying to 'struggle desperately', had been frantically trying to find a backer recently, but it was clearly not easy to find one.
'So, he found Honest to help himself? This guy's insight is pretty good, to have seen Honest at a glance. But it's a pity...'
He should have been able to become the security team captain with his insight and run rampant in the imperial capital for several years until he met Tatsumi and was killed. But now, he had been directly escorted to the palace by Lancer and the members of the Imperial Guards...
What Lancer didn't expect was that when he went to the emperor's study, he happened to meet Budo with a serious expression. Both of them were stunned when they saw each other.
But after exchanging glances, they both saw that the other seemed to have found something and nodded, walking to the study together. There was no doubt that their reports would be the fuse for everything.
'The Royal Fist Temple has suddenly expanded the number of students it's recruiting in recent years, and most of these students are children of nobles. Many of them are important military and political officials from various regions, and there is a high possibility that they are training armed personnel.'
'The Imperial security team is internally corrupt. The former security team captain turned a blind eye and let it go, while the security team's deputy captain, Oga, recruited a group of armed personnel with unknown identities and is also suspected of colluding with nobles.'
When the two reports were placed in front of the emperor, the frown on his face never went away...