Assassinating the most protected person in the world is not easy; it's even harder if one tries to carry it out in the center of the most protected palace in the country.
It was fortunate for Lucy that Mienai ninjas had a few high-ranking spies in the palace; with their help, she quickly joined the intimate guards.
The palace guards had three groups:
1- Common Guards,
2- Royal Guards,
3- Intimate Guards.
The Common Guards were the majority, protecting the gates, important buildings, etc. They were still skilled, but not as much as the Royal Guards.
The Royal Guards protected the royal family, Kampaku, and other VIPs. In the past, the Royal Guards used to be solely loyal to the king, but nowadays, they are loyal to the Kampaku and act more like the Emperor's prison guards than bodyguards. Basically, as long as the royal guards are around the emperor, no one can speak to him without Kampaku's permission.
The Intimate Guards were women warriors; Kampaku had created them to protect the many women he had taken as concubines, but that is not all of the Intimate Guard's function. It can be said that the intimate guards had dual roles as both bodyguards and servants; they were all accessible by the Kampaku, and he even slept with them whenever he wanted.
But they weren't his concubines; he would also use them as gifts for powerful generals, nobles, etc., to satisfy them.
They were well-trained in martial arts and other arts. The key is that they had access to the Kampaku's chambers.
By disguising as an intimate guard, Lucy was able to access the Kampaku's chambers directly; of course, even when the Kampaku meets with his concubines, his peak human bodyguards won't leave, so there is no way to circumvent those 10+ peak human guards, even as an intimate guard.
...
Kampaku's chambers were in the central spot of the whole palace; it's said that the Emperor used to reside there, but after the last 'reform', the late Emperor 'gifted' the chambers to the Kampaku.
Shortly after, though, the late Emperor was deceived by 'corrupt' officials and tried to remove the Kampaku; the Kampaku, who 'cared' about the fate of the ordinary people, 'righteously' removed the last Emperor and installed the 8-year-old Royal son on the throne.
Since then, Kampaku has been improving people's lives and stabilizing the country.
Of course, that is the propaganda he spread. The truth is that he killed the last king who tried to escape his control and enthroned a child which is easier to control.
Today, after many years, he has completely controlled the capital and the surrounding area. However, the country still has opposition, especially from some ninja villages and rebel groups. Samurais are also dissatisfied, and some nobles complain about high taxes.
Still, with the capital under his rule, He is by far the strongest throughout the country.
Power is strange; taking it away from someone who wants to keep it is very difficult.
In modern democratic countries, leaders abandon power once they lose an election, or their term in power ends; but that is an exception to the rule. Throughout history in many different worlds, those who gain power would do anything to keep it.
With the capital under his rule, the Kampaku has a massive advantage over any rebelling force. Anyone trying to remove him would be at a huge disadvantage. If he had been incompetent, maybe his opposition would have united, but the Kampaku, who managed to take over from the last king, was very smart. He knew how to keep his power.
First, he satisfied samurais by giving them favorable conditions such as a samurai court. It must be noted that during the rule of the last king, samurais were subjected to the same rule as anyone else. However, under Kampaku, samurais are exempted from all laws and have their own.
It's not that the Kampaku didn't want to hold power over samurais; it's just that he understood how powerful samurais were and how helpful their support would be.
However, that was the past; now, the Kampaku is much stronger and plans to dismantle the samurai court once he deals with the jack and ninjas.
Second, he awarded nobles who helped him with high positions but didn't remove previous nobles who remained neutral. For example, Akai Hana was appointed by the last king, but the Kampaku didn't remove him; that was because he wanted to avoid stirring up a rebellion.
He only targeted nobles who explicitly and directly sent troops to attack him; only a few dared to do that, so his purge was very small-scale and didn't cause an all-out civil war.
Humans operate based on need; if nobles felt threatened, they might have met and formed a unified army. But, when they realized the Kampaku was not going to target them, many nobles, who didn't want to risk it, didn't cooperate and instead sent gifts to the Kampaku, trying to win his favor and show their loyalty, even though they were appointed by the last king that the Kampaku killed.
They didn't need to rebel to keep their power, so why bother?
Kampaku also set incentives, rewarding nobles who pledged their alliance while disfavouring those who still remained neutral even after he killed the previous king.
Nobles wanted to keep power in their cities; as for who is in the capital, who cares? Every single noble pledged alliance to Kampaku eventually.
Kampaku didn't try to suppress ninja villages, even sending them many gifts.
He planned to delay things for as long as possible.
His control over the capital was shaky when he took power after killing the last king; ministers were against him, and people hated him. Over the years, however, he managed to secure the capital.
Only then, with a secure base, did he try to look outward.
Today, Kampaku's words are law; basically, anyone who doesn't want to die must obey him. He would kill anyone who dared to show the slightest disobedience or enmity toward him.
He still shows some restraint when dealing with ninjas and samurai, but he eventually destroys all who disobey him even once.
...
A man with a clean-shaven face, gray eyes, and brown skin was sitting on a chair, writing a letter.
He was Kampaku, the man who controlled one of the most powerful empires in the world.
It can be said that the story of his rise can be inspiring to some people. He was of humble origins, with farmer parents; he worked on a farm during childhood.
He was promoted to general after joining the army and earning huge achievements in the war with the North Kingdom. At that time, it was a world-shocking event, as commoners rarely get promoted to ranks above captain.
Gradually winning more and more power over the army, he eventually staged a coup and became Kampaku. His story would have been more inspiring if he weren't evil.
However, it turned out to become a cautionary tale about how anyone can be evil.
After reading the letter aloud, Kampaku nodded to himself.
"Inazuma!" Kampaku called with his pleasing voice; unlike his ordinary face, his voice was very good.
A man with blue hair and quite dark skin came in and bowed.
"Here, deliver this letter to White Cloud Ninja Village," said Kampaku.
Inazuma came forward, took it, and left with a bow.
Kampaku smiled and stretched.
Once someone is in power, it's easy to keep it; but that has a few conditions. The most critical is to have a secure base; if the base is shaky, then one can easily lose power.
Kampaku understood this; thus, his first acts were about bringing loyal subordinates and appointing them to positions in the palace. Once the base and subordinates are all secure, everything else becomes easy.
Those in power have a lot of cards in their hand. For example, just now, Kampaku sent a letter to White Cloud Village, enticing them to spy on the Thirteen Ninjas Village. If they satisfy him, he will allow them to return to the area near the capital.
A few months ago, Kampaku banished White Cloud Village from near the capital; now, he would try using them to fight against Thirteen Ninjas Village.
Thirteen Ninjas Village is one of the strongest ninja villages; technically, they call themselves THE Ninja Village, but as there is more than one ninja village, outsiders give them a nickname based on their 13 elders.
One of the best tactics is manipulating potential enemies into fighting each other.
"Thirteen Ninjas Village thought they could act without being caught? Such idiocy! I wanted only to banish you, but after this, I will as well kill you to set an example!" he thought.
Setting an example is another necessity of keeping power; if ninja villages who betray him aren't punished, everyone will betray him.
Shaking his head, he starts opening reports and reading them.
"North Country has attacked the city of North Star; it retreated after emptying out that city's treasury!" Kampaku read.
"Troublesome!" he thought. The North Kingdom and the Empire have been fighting each other for centuries now; as for the cause of conflict, nobody remembers anymore.
Both sides occasionally attack each other's border cities and loot before retreating.
But, the city of North Star is big; it can be said that the North Kingdom crossed a red line.
Thinking, Kampaku wrote a letter. "The Sixth commander of the Northern Army is ordered to attack the city of South Star and loot its inventory; the commander is directed to limit casualties on both sides as much as possible."
Currently, Kampaku doesn't want to escalate things with the North Kingdom; he has enough internal enemies.
Still, North Star attacked a big city, and if he retaliated with anything less than what they did, it would embolden the North Kingdom to do more border incursions.
South Star City is similar in stature to the North Star on the Kingdom's side.
Putting the letter aside, he opened another and read it.
"Strange-looking foreigners from the East with advanced ships?" He read with wide eyes.
There are five countries in the world; among them, the Empire and the Alliance are the strongest.
Aside from these five countries, there are other faraway barbarian tribes in the Far East, but those barbarians still eat raw meat.
"Strange foreigners with advanced ships… I should investigate!" he thought. He ordered his subordinates to arrest them and interrogate them for information.
Opening the last letter for tonight, he read.
"The leader of the samurai, Akarui, is sick and may die; he has been caught by the West Sewers Disease." Reading along, Kampaku shook his head in regret.
The leader of the samurai is one of his main partners; they have been cooperating for years now.
His death could create instability.
He ordered, "Send expert doctors to help treat him; in the meantime, prepare a detailed report about possible successors," he wrote.
He would prefer Akarui to survive, but if he died, they must be ready for what is to come.
Calling someone from outside, he handed the orders to her and ordered, "Go give them to the palace mailmen!"
Lucy looked at the peak human bodyguards in the room, took the letters, and bowed!