The Red Hand

Chapter 74 – The Punishment.

Akagi was sitting on a raised tatami mat in her audience chamber. She was wearing her formal haori and had a stern look on her face as she looked at two of her followers who sat in dogeza. This was to be a quasi trial and punishment for the significant intelligence failure the other day. Ordinarily, Akagi should have known that two members of Libra had entered Kyoto. But for some reason, neither she nor Yumi was ever informed and she wanted to know why. Yumi stood off to the side and was carrying a wooden box. She was also wearing her formal wear as Akagi wanted this to be an official clan action.

"Raise your heads." Akagi's voice was more authoritative and stern than usual. She glared down at the two of them, her eyes showing how serious things were.

Chloe and her subordinate Sakura rose to look Akagi in the eye. Both knew why they were there, and while Chloe looked calm and composed, Sakura was visibly nervous. She'd been placed under house arrest the day of the attack as she was the one responsible for the intelligence failure in question. Chloe was on another mission so this meeting was postponed until she returned. 

"Do you know why you've been brought before me?" Akagi's orange eye seemed to peer directly into their souls.

"Yes, Myaster." Chloe nodded her head.

"Yes, My Lord." Sakura gave a nervous reply.

"Good, that will make things easier." Akagi looked at the two of them, before locking eyes with Sakura. The fox girl flinched under the weight of Akagi's gaze.

"Sakura," Akagi spoke to the fox girl. "Explain to me why you failed to properly inform me, or anyone within your clan that Hijax and Sumeralia were in the Kansai region, or what their plans were." Before anything else, Akagi wanted to find out what went wrong and fix it. "I expect you to answer."

"I have no excuse, my Lord." Sakura bowed her head. "I failed to adequately perform the task assigned to me. I am not worthy of forgiveness."

"I will be the one to determine that, not you." Akagi corrected her. "And that did not answer my question. Why was I not made aware of Libra's activities within Kyoto? What reason could you have for not informing me, or your direct superiors?" Akagi had a few ideas as to what happened, some benign, some not so much.

Sakura kept bowing. "I did not think them to be a threat, a gross error in judgment, my Lord. I was tasked with providing surveillance and tracking of threats to our operations, and I judged that those two presented no threat."

"I see," Akagi mused. She had a feeling this might have been the reason. She'd specified threats in her mission to the ninja and it seems that terminology came back to bite her. At least Sakura hadn't turned traitor, something Akagi had considered a possibility. "Why did you not view them as a threat? Surely you understand that all players that kept their abilities are powerful?"

"Because I believed that even if powerful compared to us, they would be no match for you." Sakura explained. "I'm aware that Libra has been attacking civilian populations to cause terror, but I assumed that you cared little for the people of this world and so chose not to report their actions. Please forgive my incompetence."

Her statement caused Akagi to groan internally.

"You are not incorrect that the people of this world mean little to me." Akagi sighed. "However, just because I don't think much of them, do not assume that I have no empathy. I am not a cold person, Sakura. I merely prioritize those whom I care about more than the lives of strangers." She wanted to correct that false notion. She'd noticed such a mindset worming its way into her family and she could no longer afford to ignore it.

"Yes, my Lord. Please forgive my rudeness." Sakura was sweating pretty badly. She could feel the energy given off by Akagi and was struggling to keep it together in the face of this pressure.

"It is of no concern. Though, I should probably work to rectify that misunderstanding in the future." Akagi was quite indifferent to most people, and delving further into her power only weakened the connection she had to her humanity. At this point, she'd begun to view the average person as little more than a bore, and while she wouldn't be pleased to see people die, she wouldn't shed any tears either. Though she'd prefer if her family didn't get in the habit of thinking her some cold heartless monster. Ideally she wanted to co-exist with the people of the world and she didn't want a situation similar to a certain lich to occur, where her subordinates believed everyone else to be beneath them.

"Yumi, please make note of that for me," Akagi asked.

"Of course." The priestess happily replied.

"Now then. Understanding just what caused this lapse in intel, I can make an informed judgment about what to do." Akagi closed her eyes for a moment before looking at Chloe. "As the leader of this clan, I am ultimately responsible for the failings of those under me." No one spoke up to object, but internally they rejected this notion. To them, Akagi made no mistake, and they were the ones at fault, but they knew Akagi wouldn't agree with that sentiment.

"I should have been clearer in my instructions." Akagi looked at Sakura. "While it is true that those two were no direct threat to me, they were still capable of causing great harm to us and our operations. I should have specified that Players should be prioritized and considered priority targets regardless of their combat ability. I will take responsibility for that mistake." Akagi nodded her head.

"However, just because I made a mistake; that does not relieve the two of you of responsibility." Akagi's expression turned stern. "Sakura, your lapse in judgment nearly cost my sister and her friends her life. And as a ninja with as much experience as you have, it would have been reasonable for you to conclude that the activities of Players should have been monitored regardless of their individual power. Thus, you must take responsibility for your mistake and accept punishment."

"Yes, my Lord. I am truly sorry for this mistake. If you will allow it, I will make up for this and ensure that it never happens again." Sakura pressed her head against the floor. She'd gladly end her own life if that was desired.

"Good." Akagi moved her eyes to Chloe. "As her direct superior, and the leader of your clan, as well as the one who gave her this duty. Chloe, you too must accept responsibility for her failing."

"Of course," Chloe bowed her head. "Her failure is my failure. I should have paid closer attention to my clan and their actions to prevent such an oversight from occurring. Please accept my apologies for both my failure and the failure of a member of my clan. It is inexcusable that our mistake nearly cost the life of your sister. Please forgive us." Chloe joined Sakura in placing her head on the floor.

"Please raise your heads." Akagi motioned for them to sit up. "Ordinarily, I would leave things at verbal admonishment. However, as this incident nearly cost my sister her life. I am sorry, but I must administer proper punishment to ensure that discipline is maintained and ensure that my authority is not questioned."

"Of course." (Chloe x Sakura.) Neither would complain, and they knew that no one would ever consider Akagi to be in the wrong in this situation. Whatever punishment Akagi meted out, they would accept without question or complaint.

"Then, your punishment will be thus." Akagi stood up. "The two of you will be given 100 lashes, after which Yumi will heal you, leaving no permanent damage to your bodies. Additionally, the two of you will be given one week of house arrest, only being permitted to leave your rooms for food and authorized missions. Furthermore, Chloe, you will assemble the members of your clan and educate them to ensure that such a mistake like this will never happen again." Akagi delivered her decree of punishment, which was quite light compared to what she could do. But Akagi was pragmatic enough to know that it was more important to fix the mistake than to simply punish them. Plus, doing something that would permanently weaken her forces was counterproductive, so a minimal amount of corporal punishment and confinement would suffice.

"Of course, my Lord. Thank you for your generosity." (Chloe x Sakura.)

"The lashes will be carried out immediately. Yumi, please bring me the instrument. Chloe, Sakura, take off your shirts and expose your backs and place your hands on your thighs." Akagi wanted to deal with this part immediately, not because she was torn up about it, but because she wanted everyone to get back to work.

The two did exactly as asked, and Yumi opened the wooden box and handed Akagi a large wooden paddle.

"Please bite down on this." Yumi handed the two girls a piece of wood to bite into. This was to ensure they didn't bite their tongue and to help dull the pain, even if only slightly. Akagi wasn't exactly going to put her full power into the swings, but she would ensure they hurt.

"Now then," Akagi decided to start with Chloe. She stood behind her and took a stance. "ONE!"

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Once everything was taken care of, Chloe and Sakura were taken to their rooms to begin their confinement. Akagi had gone into her private study and was currently sitting at a desk, going over documents. Yumi brought her some coffee and offered it to her.

"Thank you." Akagi smiled as she took the cup. "You know, that was the first time I've ever had to do something like that." She'd admonished some of her followers for their actions or mistakes before, but corporal punishment wasn't something she'd ever had to do before.

"Do you regret it?" Yumi asked.

"No," Akagi shook her head. "It needed to be done. That's just how big the mistake was. If I let them go without any punishment, it would make me look weak and make it seem that I had no stomach to punish people for their errors." Strict discipline kept the well oiled machine that was her clan running.

"While I would disagree that any of us would view you as weak. I do agree that your actions were necessary and proper. Honestly, you could have given an even harsher punishment, and no one would have batted an eye." Yumi was certain that if Akagi told them to offer up their lives as punishment the two would gladly do just that.

"Yes, I'm sure I could have." Akagi shrugged. "But what benefit would I gain from taking more extreme measures?" Akagi continued as she sipped her coffee. "Wounding them permanently or killing them would only serve to deplete my forces, and I have no desire to kill a member of this family unless absolutely necessary. I understand that people make mistakes, myself included, and I do not expect perfection. I'm more interested in ensuring that such a thing does not happen again."

Akagi was a pretty hardcore pragmatist in most cases. Though this sometimes led her to have a pretty utilitarian view of things that most people saw as alien. She never understood why villains in stories would kill subordinates for mistakes unless, of course, it was part of a pattern of behavior or some nefarious reason. Even then, in the case of the former, she would probably just demote them. She might not want to admit it, but she had quite a soft spot for the members of her family and would use kid gloves on them for the most part.

"Well, I don't think you need to worry." Yumi smiled. "Honestly, I think people would be more upset if you didn't punish them. Sakura was already getting some harassment by other ninja for her mistake. Hence why we confined her to her room until Chloe got back."

"Yeah, we need to make sure that stops. I have no intention of tolerating bullying or anything like that. She was punished and that will be the end of it." Akagi wanted to move quickly to prevent such harassment. She knew her subordinates were loyal, but sometimes she felt their devotion went too far. “She's been punished by me, anyone attempting to add further is inserting themselves into my role and that will not be tolerated.”