"Let them go."
Hagoromo took a deep breath, unable to bear it in his heart after all. "This is an order."
Before him, the samurai hesitated for a moment but eventually obeyed the command.
"Release them."
He spoke, then stepped forward of his own accord, leading the samurai beside him to open the prison cart and release the several children inside.
The children seemed to sense Hagoromo's kindness; they instinctively dodged away and hid behind him.
They were pleading for Hagoromo's protection.
Hagoromo gazed at the children before him.
Despite being the descendants of rebels, these children were not very old. However, they appeared dressed in rags, and their overall condition was not good.
They hid behind Hagoromo, lowering their heads to avoid the gazes of others around them. Occasionally, they would look up at the samurai with eyes full of deep-seated hatred, causing Hagoromo's heart to skip a beat.
"Lord Hagoromo..."
Before him, watching Hagoromo's actions, the leading samurai hesitated to speak. "Taking these rebel clansmen to be sacrificed to the God Tree is His Majesty's command."
"I know."
Hagoromo nodded, his expression remaining calm. "Regarding this matter, I will explain it to my father later."
"As for now, drop what you are doing."
Faced with his command, even though the samurai was unwilling in his heart, he ultimately had to abandon his mission.
There was no other way; the person before him was a prince.
As the eldest son of Minamikawa Yuu, he was the Crown Prince of the Land of Ancestors. Once Minamikawa Yuu was gone, he would be the most legitimate successor to the Land of Ancestors.
When such a great figure spoke, they could only obey; there was nothing more they could say.
In this way, a cruel sacrifice was stopped by the Hagoromo Brothers.
However, the Hagoromo Brothers felt no joy regarding this matter.
Their hearts were filled with complexity, and all sorts of emotions were churning within them at this moment.
In the time that followed, similar sacrificial acts continued.
Every time a sacrifice to the God Tree began, they would arrive punctually and wait in the shrine beneath the God Tree to save those they deemed innocent.
As the frequency of their interventions increased, the impact they caused grew larger and larger.
Finally, one day, Minamikawa Yuu learned of what they had been doing.
On this day, Minamikawa Yuu officially summoned them.
Arriving at the palace of the Land of Ancestors, the Hagoromo Brothers felt apprehensive before meeting Minamikawa Yuu.
They had expected to provoke Minamikawa Yuu's fury, but he was not like that.
He appeared very calm.
"Your willingness to step forward and help the weak is a manifestation of compassion; naturally, you should not be subjected to harsh criticism."
He spoke softly, "But if this continues long-term, it will eventually be somewhat problematic."
Because of the Hagoromo Brothers' long-term interference, some within the country had already expressed dissatisfaction, believing the Hagoromo Brothers were too sympathetic toward these rebels.
As former rebels, no treatment of these people was considered excessive. Simply using them as sacrificial offerings now, without painful torture or deliberate humiliation, was already quite merciful.
Yet the Hagoromo Brothers still frequently intervened to stop it.
This behavior was fine at first, but later it drew the dissatisfaction of many people.
The Hagoromo Brothers thought Minamikawa Yuu felt the same and were about to explain themselves.
However, Minamikawa Yuu shook his head.
"Being dissatisfied with the status quo and thus having the heart to change it is not a bad thing; there is nothing worth criticizing."
"The reason I summoned you back is only because your methods are somewhat incorrect."
He spoke softly, "Since you want change, then I shall give you the power to change."
Before the Hagoromo Brothers, he issued an appointment letter, granting them official positions on the spot.
From this day forward, the Hagoromo Brothers became the commanders managing all prisoners in the Land of Ancestors.
Theoretically, they now had the power to investigate and handle all matters concerning prisoners within the entire Land of Ancestors.
If this power were given to an ordinary person, it would be no different from ascending to heaven in a single step, immediately becoming one of the most powerful groups of people in the Land of Ancestors.
Even for the Hagoromo Brothers, this was a significant surprise.
In the Land of Ancestors, they were princes with extremely exalted status; that was indeed true.
But because of their age, they had been studying various subjects in the royal palace in the past and were far from the point of controlling a department.
Minamikawa Yuu's stance this time gave them a pleasant surprise.
"Thank you, Father."
Their faces were excited, and they immediately bowed their heads in gratitude, stating they would surely fulfill their duties well.
Being able to serve as the Ministers of Justice and manage affairs in this area was exactly what they hoped for.
They hoped that under their management, not as many tragic things would happen, and they could fundamentally reverse the situation faced by those innocent children who were caught up in it.
And so, the change began quickly.
Under the Hagoromo Brothers, the judicial laws of the entire Land of Ancestors began to change, and the prisoners within were subjected to stricter trials.
Initially, this approach achieved good results, and the number of prisoners in various places decreased significantly.
Except for prisoners sentenced to death, all other prisoners received the best possible treatment.
But soon, the Hagoromo Brothers noticed something was wrong.
They realized that no matter how hard they worked, a portion of people would always violate the law and be sentenced to become sacrifices.
Regardless of their public awareness campaigns or efforts in other areas, the number of criminal convictions each year did not decrease.
No matter how hard they tried, they could not reduce the number of sacrifices sent to the God Tree.
In fact, along with the population growth, the number of prisoners sent as sacrifices to the God Tree was steadily increasing every year.
They soon realized something was wrong and began a careful investigation and reflection.
They then discovered a result.
The current situation seemed to be deliberately orchestrated by someone.
In various parts of the Land of Ancestors, there seemed to be an unspoken rule.
That was, every region had to fulfill a certain quota of names.
Indeed, every year, each area had to gather enough people to meet the quota of sacrifices to be sent to the God Tree.
This quota was fixed; as time passed, it would only increase and never decrease each year.
It was precisely because of this that no matter how hard the Hagoromo Brothers worked, they could not reduce the number of sacrifices sent to the God Tree.
Upon sensing this result, the Hagoromo Brothers couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts.
At this moment, the words of the Great Toad Sage flashed back into their minds.
The darkness hidden beneath the flourishing prosperity of the Land of Ancestors was revealed to them for the first time.
"Why... why would Father do this?"
Beneath the God Tree, Hagoromo gazed at the shrine before him, his face now filled with doubt and confusion. "What exactly does he want to do by sending so many living people into the God Tree every year?"
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