】
The next day——
Edo, Chishiya——
The current time is probably around 7 o'clock in the morning.
Kiryu, who had just opened a shop, was sitting behind the counter, flipping through the account books and verifying the recent income of the shop.
While he was concentrating on reading the account books, he suddenly heard the sound of the shop door being opened.
"Welcome Hikaru... huh? Okita-kun?"
"Mr. Kiryu, good morning!" At the store door, Okita was holding a pack of newly bought Jinpei candy in his hand. He closed the store door just opened with his backhand and showed Kiryu his signature cheerful smile.
Kiryu closed the account book in his hand and said with a smile: "Okita-kun, good morning."
Okita looked around: "Well? Where is Miss Kinoshita?"
"Young master, she is still sleeping now. She usually doesn't wake up until five o'clock in the morning (8 a.m.)."
After briefly chatting with Okita for a while, Kiryu directly asked Okita about his purpose: "Okita-kun, why did you come to my place alone so early in the morning?"
"It's not a big deal." Okita chuckled, "I just came to discuss business with you, Mr. Kiryu."
"Oh? Talking about business?" The smile on Kiryu's lips grew a little wider, "I'd like to hear the details."
"It's like this - Tachibana-kun's workload has increased dramatically, so he wants to hire 2 or 3 Okahiki to work for him." Okita said, "Because Mr. Kiryu happens to work in an employment agency, so I
I would like to entrust you to recommend some suitable people to him."
"Ji Jun is still very busy right now. It will probably take a few days before he has time to visit you in person."
"So he asked me to come say hello to you first and ask you to help him find a suitable person in the past few days."
"This way when he comes to see you later, he can come directly to pick you up."
"Oh, that's it." Kiryu nodded lightly, "Tachibana-kun wants to hire Okabiki... no problem."
After saying that, Kiryu took the pen and paper placed beside the counter.
"Has Mr. Tachibana told you what kind of subordinates he wants and how much salary he can offer?"
Okita nodded: "Tachibana-kun's request is very simple. Because Okabiki's main job content is all kinds of hard work, so as long as he has a reliable character and can endure hardships and stand hard work, it would be better if he is someone who knows some martial arts.
Other than that, there are no other requirements.”
"Mr. Ju is willing to pay each person 2 taels of gold per month."
"Two taels of gold per month..." Kiryu smiled, "The remuneration is quite high."
After carefully writing down Qingnobo's requirements and the salary he could offer, Kiryu put down his pen.
"Okita-kun, thank you for making a special trip to our store."
"When you get back, help tell Mr. Ju that I will help him find a suitable person as soon as possible in the next few days."
"Ah, right."
Kiryu stood up, walked to the cabinet next to him, and took out a box of steamed buns from the cabinet.
"Okita-kun, since you're already here... Then why not take this box of wagashi back with you."
"This box of wagashi was sent to me by an old friend of mine who has been with me for about 70 years and now runs a wagashi shop."
"He sent too much. Young Master and I can't finish it. Please help me get rid of some."
"Wagashi?" Okita's eyes suddenly lit up, staring straight at the box of wagashi in Kiryu's hand, "This box of wagashi looks expensive, do you really want to give it to us?
"
Kiryu laughed loudly: "If you keep putting it down like this, these wagashi will rot."
"Rather than letting them rot like this, it's better to give them to others to eat."
"You can take it back with peace of mind and eat it with the other people in the Trial Guard Hall."
Kiryu directly stuffed the box of wagashi in his hand into Okita's arms.
Okita, who loves sweets, has never been able to resist wagashi, which is basically sweet.
Seeing Kiryu directly stuffing the box of wagashi into his arms, Okita said in his heart, "Since Mr. Kiryu is so enthusiastic, I can't be disrespectful to him," and then "reluctantly" put the box of wagashi into his arms.
Hold her tightly in your arms.
After a brief chat with Kiryu, Okita swallowed his saliva crazily, hugged the box of wagashi tightly, and quickly left Chishiya happily.
"Okabiki..."
After watching Okita leave, Kiryu muttered.
"I really happen to have a good candidate here recently..."
Kiryu took out a large book with a dark green cover from under the counter.
It is very common for job seekers to go to an employment agency, only to find no job of their choice.
Therefore, many job seekers often leave their names and contact information in employment agencies, entrusting people from the employment agency to help contact them as soon as possible after finding a job that meets their requirements.
The information of these "unemployed people" in Senshiya was registered by Kiryu in this large book with a dark green cover.
Kiryu turned directly to the last written page of the big book, and saw only three names written on it——
Nagakura Shinpachi.
Sanosuke Harada.
Toudo Heisuke.
While Kiryu was studying these three names carefully, suddenly - the sound of Mai Kinoshita's footsteps came from behind.
"Mr. Kiryu, good morning..." Mai Kinoshita, whose clothes and hair were quite messy from sleep, with her cute little bare feet, rubbed her sleepy eyes that were still very sleepy, and walked slowly towards Kiryu.
"Good morning, young master." Kiryu turned to Kinoshita Mai and smiled, "You got up quite early today."
"I've already made breakfast. Take a shower and then have breakfast."
"Yeah..." Kinoshita Mai nodded.
Just when Kinoshita Mai turned around and was about to wash up, her body froze.
"Ah, by the way. Mr. Kiryu, we must find a way to get rid of the pile of wagashi that Uncle Goro gave us today." Kinoshita Mai said to Kiryu with a serious face, "If we don't find a way to deal with it, those wagashi will be gone.
It’s all going to rot.”
"Ah, about this...You don't have to worry, young master." Kiryu chuckled a few times, "Okita-kun came to visit just now, and I have already given him all the Japanese confectionery we can't finish."
"Okita-kun, did he come just now?" Kinoshita Mai blinked, and then asked in an eager tone, "Did Tachibana-kun come?"
"Tachibana-kun didn't come." Kiryu glanced at Kinoshita Mai with a somewhat puzzled look, "What's wrong? Why did you specifically ask Tachibana-kun if he came? Do you have something to see Tachibana-kun?"
"Ah? Uh... No, no..." Kinoshita Mai's words stuttered slightly, "It was just a casual question..."
"Hey... I asked you casually... I see..." Kiryu narrowed his eyes slightly and stared straight at Kinoshita Mai, who now had an unnatural expression.
The corner of his mouth slowly raised into an intriguing smile.
"Ok, why did Okita-kun come all of a sudden?" Kinoshita Mai cleared her throat and abruptly changed the subject.
"He's here to discuss business with us." Kiryu put away the weird smile on his face.
Kiryu explained Okita's intention to come to Kinoshita in a concise and concise manner.
"Tachibana-kun wants to hire Okahibiki..." Mai Kinoshita said softly, "There should be quite a lot of people who are willing to be Okahibiki for the 'three times'."
"Yes." Kiryu agreed, "So it's not hard to find people."
"Now that Mr. Kiryu has handed over the wagashi that we can't finish to Okita-kun, I'm relieved." Mai Kinoshita breathed a sigh of relief, "Uncle Goro and Aunt Mach have done such a good job.
It would be a shame if Japanese confectionery were left to rot like this."
…
…
While Okita was helping him discuss business with Kiryu, Aoto was having a meeting at the Kitaban Office.
As soon as I reported to the Kitaban Station today, I received an order from Susui to "convene an emergency meeting, and all the efforts of the Dingmachi Hui and the temporary Hui must not be absent."
As the mayor of Hokubansuo, Susui would only be able to work together with Ayoto and the others in terms of how busy they have been in the past half month.
Looking carefully - Bo Jing's originally fair and plump body has lost a lot of weight, and there are some dark circles in both eye sockets.
There was a mountain of work waiting for him to handle one by one, so after everyone arrived, Bo Jing didn't even say a word of greetings and went straight to the point——
"Based on the reports of our spies and informants, we have obtained a piece of relevant information about the 'masked party'."
Hearing Bo Jing's words, everyone including Qingto immediately became energetic.
Masked Party - a criminal gang that has emerged in Edo recently.
There were 5 people in total, all wearing wide-brimmed bamboo hats and black face scarves to hide their faces. Under the banner of "I, the patriot against the foreigners, give me the money quickly. If you don't give the money, you are a traitor, and you will be punished by heaven!" They robbed businesses everywhere.
.
So far, five shops have been attacked by them.
The crime is so egregious that it has been listed as a "key concern" by the Edo Government.
Because they always wear black masks every time they commit a crime, the enforcement office gave them the code name "Masked Party" for the convenience of calling them.
"According to reports from spies and informants, a gangster named 'Kinemon' in Zhuoding is very likely to be a member of the 'Masked Party'."
"Someone in 'The Masked Party' has a dark red birthmark on his ankle - that Kin'emon has the same appearance."
"And the height and body shape are also quite consistent."
"Combined with Kinemon's usual character of not doing anything serious and only knowing how to do all kinds of dirty things to make a living, there is a high possibility that he is a member of the 'Masked Party'."
"so--"
Bo Jing moved his gaze and scanned the faces of everyone present.
"Let's take a trip!"
"That Kinemon only goes to two places on weekdays - his home and a casino in Table Town."
"Therefore, two teams of people were sent to arrest him."
"One team is responsible for staying at his house, and the other team is responsible for blocking him at the casino where he often goes."
"Whether we can seize Kinemon is directly related to whether we can uproot that 'masked party' that has done many evil things."
"So I decided to send out heavy troops for this operation! We can only succeed, not fail!"
"Hinata-kun, Kitaoji-kun, you two are responsible for leading the team to guard Kinemon's house."
"Yes!"*2
Hinata and Kitaoji, who were ordered to general, responded in unison.
Hinata is a member of the Temporary Return, while Kitaoji is a member of the "Tōjo Group" of the Sadachi Return.
"Then……"
Susui slowly turned his gaze to Aoto and... Nishino who was sitting not far from Aoto.
"Tachibana-kun, Nishino-kun."
"You two are responsible for leading a team to monitor the casino where Kinemon often goes."
Qingto was stunned for a moment when he was suddenly called upon by Bo Jing, and then he quickly reacted.
"Yes!"*2
Aoto and Nishino shouted "yes" at the same time.
…
…
"Hmph! Hum hum hum~! Hum la la~~"
Okita held the box of wagashi that Kiryu gave them just now under his right arm, humming the song he had composed in just 2 seconds and playing with the caracara in his hand.
"Karakala" is a children's toy from the Edo period that looks a bit like a rattle.
When he left Chishiya and headed back to the Imperial Guard Hall, Okita caught a glimpse of a purple caracara that he liked very much from a street vendor specializing in selling children's toys.
Purple is Okita's favorite color, and the ribbons she usually uses to tie her hair are never any other color than purple.
Okita, who "fell in love at first sight" with the purple Caracara, took out his wallet without thinking -
Hence Okita's current appearance of playing with caracara and having a silly time.
Humming a self-composed song, he returned to the trial hall. When he saw Kondo, who was currently arranging his bamboo swords in the dojo, Okita immediately greeted him.
"Brother Kondo! Look at this!" Okita waved the Caracara in his hand vigorously until it made a "clicking" sound. "Isn't it beautiful?"
Kondo looked at the caracara in Okita's hand with a speechless expression, and then looked at Okita who was looking excited.
"General Secretary, you are 16 this year, why do you still act like a child and like to play with such children's toys?"
"Toys are just toys." Okita said confidently, "Who said we adults can't play with children's toys?"
Kondo sighed: "Okay. As long as you like it."
"Let's not talk about it anymore. Director-General, I have something good to tell you."
Kondo grinned.
"Ah Sui, he came back just now."
"Huh?" Okita's eyes lit up, "Mr. Hijikata is back?"
Okita quickly turned around and looked around: "Where is he?"
"Just went out again." Kondo replied, "While you were out, Ah Sui went back to the Trial Guard Hall, stayed in the Trial Guard Hall for a while and then left."
"Going out again? Is his injury healed?"
Kondo nodded: "Don't you know who Ah Sui is? His body is very strong and his injuries have been completely healed."
"Mr. Hijikata, he is out now..." Okita seemed to recall some bad memory at this time, and his two beautiful eyebrows slowly knitted, "Did he say what he was going out to do?"
"He said that he had been away from Edo for nearly two months and wanted to say hello to some of his Edo friends."
Okita's originally frowning eyebrows relaxed slightly: "Are you going to say hello to your friend... I hope he really went to say hello instead of causing trouble outside again..."
"Soji, don't always think of Sui like some kind of ghost." Kondo said helplessly, "Asui... is indeed very troublesome, but he won't be like him on the first day after returning to Edo after a long absence.
Just run out and cause trouble."
…
…
Edo, Takucho, somewhere——
"One, three, five, single!"
"Hahaha! I won! I won! I have enough money to go to Yoshiwara tonight!"
"Ahhhhhhhh! Why did you lose again!"
"Come again! I will definitely win this time!"
…
Even though he was separated by a street, waves of casino-specific shouts and shouts continued to reach Qingdeng's ears.
Qingdeng stood by the window, looking at the casino diagonally opposite.
Although it is broad daylight and has not even reached noon yet, this does not prevent those gambling dogs from throwing their money and lives on the gambling table.
Looking towards the casino, you can often see many people hurrying to leave when passing by the casino door, unwilling to stay in front of the casino door for even a second.
The gamblers coming out of the casino basically have only two expressions - arrogant with joy or sick with pain.
Since the establishment of the Edo shogunate, the shogunate has expressly stipulated that it is prohibited to open casinos and prohibit people from gathering together to gamble.
However, this law is no different than farting.
Due to various indescribable reasons, the Edo shogunate has always turned a blind eye to the opening of casinos.
During the Edo period, it was basically Yakuza who opened casinos.
Gambling, pornography, and loan sharking—these were the three main and most profitable businesses of the Yakuza in the Edo period.
At this time, Nishino's voice came over: "How is it? Have you seen Kin'emon?"
Nishino's question was not asked to Aoto, but to a short middle-aged man who was standing next to Aoto and looking at the casino through the window with Aoto.
"I haven't seen him yet." The middle-aged man replied respectfully.
Nishino nodded slightly, and then said in a nonchalant manner: "Then please continue to monitor me."
Short middle-aged man: "Yes!"
At this moment, Qingnog and Nishino were staying in a slightly shabby hotel.
After receiving the order from Susui to "go to the casino to block Kinemon", Aoto and Nishino immediately ordered their respective subordinates and rushed to Takucho.
Of course - although saying "call all subordinates" seems very powerful, in fact the only subordinate Aomori can name is his bodyguard Saito.
After arriving at Takamachi with Nishino, Aonto and the others first met with the family heads and servants of Takumachi's own clan and asked them to allocate some people to help them capture Kin'emon, and then went to Kin'emon.
Frequent casino.
There is a hotel diagonally opposite the casino, which is a good surveillance location, so Qingteng and the others opened a room on the highest floor of the hotel to monitor the activities of the casino.
This short middle-aged man who is currently looking at the casino with Aoshito and who has just been questioned by Nishino is an old employee of Takucho's own division. He recognized Kin'emon's appearance, so he was brought over by Aoshito and the others.
Help identify who Kinemon is.
"Nishino-sama, water." At this time, one of Nishino's subordinates, Okahiki, handed Nishino a glass of water.
Nishino nodded and took the glass of water from his subordinate.
While sipping the water in the cup, he suddenly turned his attention to Qingden, who was still looking out of the window out of boredom.
"...Tachibana, what are you looking at?"
"Huh?" Qingden turned to look at Nishino behind him, "I didn't see anything, I just looked at the scenery outside the window to relieve my boredom."
They have been squatting in this hotel for almost an hour now, and Qingdeng is so bored that he even wants to count the patterns on the walls of this room.
"Oh..." Nishino responded with "Oh" and stopped talking.
The room fell into a slightly awkward atmosphere.
Teaming up with people from other groups to go on missions is something that is common in the industry.
But teaming up with this "Beifan Institute's best crime solver"... this is Qingdeng's first time.
Qingto and Nishino are not very close, and the little friendship he has with Nishino is nothing but bad memories.
When Aoto was still the "dumb head", Nishino always treated Aoto with a very arrogant attitude, not even bothering to look at Aoto, and not even bothering to say a word to Aoto.
With Nishino's attitude, Qingto naturally didn't bother to put his hot face against his cold butt.
Because of the slightly awkward relationship between the two, when they came out of the training camp together and went to Zhuo Town to perform their mission, Aomori never spoke to Nishino, and they only briefly exchanged opinions on work.
That's all.
But I don’t know if it’s Qingdeng’s illusion.
He always felt that when Nishino spoke to him now, his tone became...softer.
At this moment - the veteran servant next to Qingdeng suddenly screamed:
"Ah! You two adults, Kinemon has appeared!" As he shouted, the old servant raised his hand and pointed to the east of the street outside the window.
As soon as the old servant finished speaking, Qingdeng quickly turned his head and looked in the direction pointed by the old servant's finger.
Nishino also took a quick step and ran to the window.
What the old servant was pointing at was a young man who was walking unsteadily.
He was about 20 years old, with a sloppy face, a lopsided bun, baggy clothes, and a toothpick in his mouth, looking like a careless boy.
According to the information, Kinemon is a very famous local gangster in Zhuo Town. Almost every citizen of Zhuo Town recognizes this shameless and notorious villain who usually only knows how to bully men and dominate women.
Now it seems that this information is indeed correct.
Wherever Kinemon passed, passers-by turned to the left and right sides of the street with disgusted expressions on their faces, as if they were avoiding excrement.
Being shunned by people with disgusted expressions - this Kinemon was not ashamed, but proud of it, and raised his head higher with a proud expression.
"Is that person Kinemon?" Nishino confirmed to the veteran.
"Yes!" The old servant nodded vigorously, "I will recognize this scumbag Kinemon even if he turns to ashes. Sirs, do you want to go down and capture him now?"
Nishino opened his mouth, about to answer.
However, Qingdeng on the side had already responded before him:
"There's no rush yet. That Kin'emon is still a little far away from us. It's safer to wait until he gets closer before catching him."
Nishino glanced at Qingto with an expression mixed with a bit of surprise: "...Well, just like Tachibana said, wait until he gets closer before going down to catch him."
Aoto and his friends stood by the window, concentrating on observing Kinemon, which was getting closer and closer to the casino, and at the same time, Aoto and the others were getting closer and closer.
At this moment, Qingdeng suddenly caught a glimpse - on the west side of the street outside the window, a "mask man" wearing a white fox mask appeared.
This man is quite tall. According to visual inspection, he is probably only slightly shorter than Qingdeng.
Because the mask covered his face, he couldn't see his face clearly, but judging from the exposed skin on his neck, palms and other parts, he shouldn't be very old.
I saw this masked man walking with a majestic and majestic appearance.
He is far above the average height of this era, coupled with the appearance of wearing a white fox mask that covers his entire face even though he is not at a festival, and the gait of a dragon and a tiger, making this mask
The man was quite conspicuous on this street, and Qingdeng couldn't help but look at him a few more times.
However, Qingdeng didn't pay much attention to this man, and just regarded him as an ordinary passerby who was dressed a little strangely.
After glancing at the masked man for a few times, he withdrew his gaze and continued to observe Kinemon's movements attentively.
Accidents... often come very suddenly.
Just when Qingdeng turned his eyes away from the masked man... a sudden change occurred.
The masked man coming from the west side of the street happened to be walking towards Kinemon coming from the east side of the street.
Suddenly, the masked man quickened his pace.
Increase the speed from a slow walk to a brisk walk, and then further increase the speed to a sprint.
He galloped down the street like an arrow from a string.
Then, when he was only a few steps away from Kin'emon, he jumped and rushed towards Kin'emon——
"Ahhhh——!"
Kinemon let out a shrill scream.
The masked man's right fist hit Kin'emon's left face hard, knocking Kin'emon to the ground.
Kinemon was walking along the road peacefully when he was suddenly punched. Knocked to the ground by the masked man's surprise attack, Kinemon tightly covered his left face and looked at the masked man in horror.
This right hook was just the beginning.
I saw the masked man flipping over, sitting on Kin'emon, raising two fists, and hitting Kin'emon's face one after another.
"Ouch! Who the hell are you!"
Kinemon is the kind of person who can tell at a glance that he has experience in being beaten.
He raised his arms in a very professional manner, and while using his arms to protect his face, he loudly questioned the identity of the masked man.
The masked man remained unmoved and continued to beat Kinemon without saying a word.
For a moment, passers-by around him stopped one after another, looking at this sudden "street encounter" with curiosity or shock.
In the hotel, Qingto, Nishino and others looked at this sudden accident in shock...
Huh? What's going on...?
A mysterious man suddenly appeared and beat the suspect they were trying to catch crazily without saying a word... Such changes made Qingdeng and the others dumbfounded.
"My dears," the old man stammered, "what are we going to do now?"
"...Go out and arrest people now." Qingden frowned slightly, "Let that masked man continue to fight and injure or kill Kin'emon, and that will be troublesome."
"Arrest the masked man as well." Nishino frowned and said in a deep voice, "Hitting people on the streets of Edo in broad daylight... How unbecoming is it!"
Someone suddenly beat someone up in the street - these "Three Times" people couldn't ignore it after seeing such a thing.
Qingden blinked, then nodded, agreeing with Nishino's words just now, "Catch the masked man too."
Deciding to attack immediately, Ayoto and Mask led their respective subordinates and the Takucho servants to file out from the back door of the hotel, and then divided their forces into two groups according to the original plan.
Qingden leads all the way to the west of the street.
Nishino leads all the way to the east side of the street.
The two groups of people surrounded them, making it impossible for Kinemon and the masked man to escape.
Aoto and others suddenly appeared from the east and west sides of the street, causing the masked man to stop beating Kinemon.
He raised his head, twisted his head, and glanced at Qingto and Nishino who were surrounding them.
Although he couldn't see his expression, Qingdeng guessed that he must have been confused when he saw "Three Times" Tongxin "dispatch the police at the speed of light", and it happened two times at a time.
The masked man made a quick decision - he put down Kinemon, who was still holding his collar, and planned to evacuate.
Kinemon's face had been beaten by the masked man until it was bruised and swollen, and his skin was torn apart - but he still had the ability to escape.
Seeing "Three Chapters" Tongxin suddenly arrived, his expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly got up from the ground in a panic, preparing to escape.
Kinemon and the masked man fled in opposite directions, the former fled towards Nishino, while the latter ran towards Aoto.
Seeing that the masked man was planning to break through from his direction, Qingdeng immediately took the initiative to meet him without fear.
Just as he was about to pass by the masked man, Qingdeng raised his hand and grabbed the masked man's collar.
I originally planned to use grappling skills to knock him down, but who knew that this masked man actually had some abilities.
After Qingdeng's hand grabbed the hem of the masked man's clothes, he used special skills to break free from Qingdeng's control.
"Oh?" Qingden raised his eyebrows and looked at the masked man with a bit more interest.
Qingdeng continued to approach relentlessly, trying to subdue the masked man, while the masked man kept using various techniques to try to get rid of Qingdeng.
Qingden could tell at a glance that these techniques used by the masked man were wild tricks that he had figured out by himself.
Although he is a wild person, his level is quite high.
Because people in this era generally don't pay much attention to boxing and kicking skills, this is the first time Qingdeng has seen someone with acceptable boxing skills since time travel.
So when Saito and Takucho's servants were about to rush forward to help, Aoto stopped them in time so that they did not have to come forward to help him.
It had been a long time since he met an opponent who was proficient in fists and kicks. In his previous life, Qing Deng was very fond of all kinds of unarmed fighting techniques, and he couldn't help but feel a little itchy.
Qingdeng and the masked man exchanged fists and kicks.
Perhaps realizing that Qingden was no ordinary person, the masked man's movements became serious and sharp.
After several simple confrontations, Qingdeng quickly judged that this masked man must have been through actual combat and had quite a lot of actual combat experience.
Although these masked men are quite capable... but wild men are still wild men, and they can never compare to Qing Teng, who has received systematic training and mastered orthodox martial arts skills.
There is not much difference in strength and speed between Qingdeng and the masked man.
Under the premise that the physical qualities of the two are almost the same, one uses orthodox martial arts skills, the other uses wild methods... it is clear at a glance who has the advantage.
Then Qing Deng made a feint, and the masked man who was deceived showed a huge flaw.
Then Qingdeng spotted the mask, grabbed the masked man's arm, used grapple, and forced the masked man to the ground.
"Ahh...!" The masked man let out a low scream.
He tried to get up, but his arms were tied and he couldn't use any strength.
The outcome has been decided.
And just when the outcome was decided——
[Ding! Talent scanned]
[Successfully copied talent: "Ghost Heart"]
[Introduction to talents: Whether it is knowledge or martial arts, they have extremely high understanding abilities]
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This chapter has been completed!