Edo, somewhere——
Under the guidance of the "Horn-Eyed Warrior", Kamino stepped on the dusty stairs and walked step by step into the dark underground.
At the bottom of the stairs is a cellar room full of history.
The cellar, which was originally supposed to be used as a warehouse and was filled with a large number of items, was now empty. Apart from the dust, there were only some insect corpses on the ground.
Such a cellar, as dead as a cemetery, miraculously has the breath of life.
Whirring whirring……
Although it was very subtle, a faint sound of breathing could indeed be heard coming from the depths of the cellar.
Follow the sound of breathing... and you can see two girls sitting on the ground with their feet flat, their hands twisted behind their backs, and they are tied tightly to a pillar in the corner of the cellar with hemp ropes.
superior.
These two girls are none other than Sanako and Natsume Yue, who are currently being anxiously searched for by Aonto and the others.
The girls, shoulder to shoulder, were still unconscious with their heads drooped, and their mouths were tied with cloth strips to prevent them from screaming when they woke up.
"...You guys really brought us into big trouble."
Facing Sanako, who had not yet regained consciousness, Kamino said this quietly. His tone was neither sad nor happy, making it difficult for outsiders to judge his current mood from his tone.
"I'm very sorry..." The "Hankaku-eyed Samurai" standing next to him lowered his head in shame, "According to the information collected, Natsume Yue always likes to go to that teahouse alone to eat Japanese sweets."
"However, by coincidence, just today, Natsume Yue actually brought someone here...and the person she brought happened to be the 'Chiba Ghost Town'."
"Because I heard that Chiba Sadayoshi of the Little Chiba Sword Hall was very kind to you, Mr. Kamino, so we don't know what to do with this Chiba Sanako."
"So, we can only tie her up first."
"...Forget it." Kamino sighed heavily, "It's not your fault. No one could have expected such an accident."
After saying that, Kamino paused for a moment, and then softly repeated the name of the person mentioned by "Diaojiaoyan Samurai".
"Chiba Nobuyoshi..."
A flash of reminiscence flashed in Kamino's eyes.
"Oh, what a nostalgic name."
The "Diaojiaoyan Samurai" glanced at Kamino who had a look of reminiscence on his face, hesitated for a while, and then asked:
"Mr. Kamino, does Chiba Nobuyoshi really have a great kindness to you?"
Kamino glanced at the "Horn-Eyed Samurai" in return, then nodded uncertainly:
"Chiba Sadaikichi of Chiba Sword Hall is indeed very kind to me."
"The first swordsmanship I learned was not Kashin Akechi-ryu, but Beichen One-sword style. I felt that Beichen One-sword style was not suitable for me, so I switched to Kashin Akechi-ryu midway."
"The first sword hall I entered in my life was the Little Chiba Sword Hall."
"If you think about it carefully, this happened more than ten years ago... At that time, my name had not been changed to the current 'Kamino Tatsugoro'."
"Mr. Chiba Sadayoshi is a truly famous teacher who can teach others and solve their doubts. He gave me a lot of help and guidance when I was just starting out in the art of swordsmanship."
"Without the guidance Mr. Chiba Sadayoshi gave me... my swordsmanship would definitely not be what it is today."
"...Then Mr. Kamino, how should we deal with Chiba Nobuyoshi's daughter?"
After quietly listening to Kamino briefly describe his past with Chiba Nobuyoshi, the "Corner-Eyed Samurai" turned his attention back to Sanako, who was still sleeping, with a complicated expression.
Kamino's brows slowly frowned... Judging from his expression, it was not difficult to tell that he also had a headache now about how to deal with his mentor's daughter.
No one needs to remind him, Kamino also knows: Sanako Chiba is missing, and the Chiba family, with its terrifying connections, will not let it go.
Tomorrow morning... no, maybe tonight there will be a large group of people looking for the missing Chiba Sanako.
This will undoubtedly bring great trouble to their anti-barbarian group.
But Chiba Sanako couldn't just let it go.
They still can't let the outside world know that Natsume Sohachiro's daughter is missing.
As for killing Chiba Sanako, it is even more impossible.
Kamino has always regarded himself as a "real samurai".
Because he considers himself a "real samurai", he has always strictly required himself according to bushido, and will never do anything that damages the image of a samurai, such as yawning in public.
Because he considered himself a "real warrior", he did not hesitate to sacrifice his life and blood in order to protect the country from the barbarians and expel all the barbarians from the country.
To be disrespectful to the children of your mentor...this is not what a samurai would do.
After Kamino pondered for a moment with a troubled expression, he sighed heavily.
"...Let's tie Chiba Sanako and Natsume Yue here together for the time being."
"Right now, it's a critical moment when the 'big operation' that our anti-barbarian team has been preparing for a long time is about to begin... I don't want to waste my precious energy and time elsewhere."
"Let's wait until all the important things are done, and then slowly think about how to deal with Chiba Sanako."
"Yes!" "Horn-Eyed Warrior" responded loudly.
"Yaguchi, the task of keeping an eye on Chiba Sanako and Natsume Yue will be left to you."
"Keep an eye on the others strictly and don't let them do anything inappropriate towards Sanako Chiba and Natsume Yue."
"Our anti-barbarian group is not a gang."
"We have been fighting to expel the barbarians and protect this country!"
Having said this, Kamino half-closed his eyes and raised his head slightly, showing an intoxicated expression like a devout believer.
"We must never do anything that has nothing to do with 'driving out the barbarians.'"
"So, Yaguchi, if anyone dares to violate this prohibition of mine and does something to Chiba Sanako and Natsume Yue... there is no need to report to me, just cut off his head."
"Yes." "Diaojiaoyan Samurai" nodded solemnly and forcefully.
"Also, Yaguchi, let your wife come over and take care of Sanako Chiba and Natsume Yue. I don't want some people to take advantage of every opportunity to do something that violates the discipline of our anti-insurgency team."
"yes."
After emphasizing certain matters with the "Diaojiaoyan Samurai", Kamino turned around and strode out of the cellar with the "Diaojiaoyan Samurai" one after the other.
As soon as he returned to the ground with fresh air, Kamino saw a short, dark-skinned samurai running towards him with a windy walk.
"Mr. Kamino, something happened with Funahachi and his friends."
"Funapachi?" Kamino's eyes suddenly became sharp.
The swarthy dwarf nodded solemnly, and then briefly and comprehensively summarized the events that happened at the residence today.
After hearing what had happened, Kamino's face became extremely ugly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"It's Tachibana Aoden again...!"
Kamino gritted his teeth and his eyes seemed ready to spit out flames at any moment.
"Why does this national thief always ruin our affairs!"
Kamino punched the wall next to him bitterly, and the wall that was hit screamed as if it was about to break.
"What's the damage?"
"Seven people died on the spot, two were seriously injured, and three people from the racecourse who were responsible for cutting off everyone's backs were missing... Although the two seriously injured people were successfully carried back, their injuries were very serious and they should not be able to survive..."
Racecourse - the surname of the "middle-aged man with a beard" captured by Qingdeng today.
Missing... this is not a good word, it means that the racecourse and the others have most likely become prisoners of Qingdeng.
"Mr. Kamino, and -" the dark dwarf continued to report, "I have received the exact news: Hanada Shichiro was also arrested by Tachibana Aoden..."
"..." Kamino did not express any thoughts.
He just punched the wall next to him hard.
After a moment of murderous silence, Kamino took a deep breath.
"...That's fine. It's just a harmless little accident."
"Neither Hanada Shichiro nor Baba and the others have any important core information."
"I basically got all the topographic maps of the residence and the list of residents from Hanada Shichiro."
"Have the base of Funaba and his friends been moved?"
"All important things have been moved or destroyed." The swarthy dwarf replied, "After escaping from Tachibana Aoden's sword, Funahachi and the others immediately moved their supplies."
"...I will inform the following later: Let everyone be calm. This little accident is harmless and will not affect our next actions."
"Let everyone act step by step according to the original plan."
"Also - let everyone not casually engage the enemy when you encounter that national thief Tachibana Aoden in the streets or other places!"
"If Funahachi and the others had avoided a head-on battle with Tachibana Aoden today, they wouldn't have had to die so many people!"
"Although I don't want to admit it, that national traitor is indeed not a fuel-efficient lamp!"
Kamino's tone turned cold.
"I don't want today's tragedy to happen again in the future!"
"We will kill that national traitor Ju Qingdeng sooner or later...but not now!"
"Things have to be done one by one."
"When I free up my time and energy in the future, it won't be easy to kill Tachibana Aoden."
"He can hit 18 by himself, but can he hit 50 or 60 by himself?"
"Don't let yourself get distracted by temporary conflicts of temper, wasting time and precious manpower."
"I hope that everyone in the future will take what happened to Fuan Ha and the others as a warning. If there is a similar dispute of temper again, I will punish them severely!"
The swarthy dwarf, who silently memorized all Kamino's orders, shouted to his toes: "Understood!"
I have said everything I wanted to say... Kamino wanted to leave just like that.
But he suddenly remembered something important.
"By the way." Kamino turned his attention back to the swarthy dwarf, "Have you contacted Natsume Sōhachiro?"
"We have already made contact this afternoon." The swarthy short man said this, paused, and then showed a proud smile to Kamino, "Natsume Souhachiro has agreed to help us."
"……Ah, very good."
Kamino, whose face was gloomy because he had been listening to all kinds of bad news, now had a smile on his lips.
…
…
--Well……
Confusion of consciousness...
——Hmm...
Confused thoughts...
--dizzy……
Regardless of memories or thoughts, everything in the mind is fragmented, making it impossible to grasp its specific shape.
In this chaos, Sanako felt that she was gradually regaining control of her body.
The beautiful long and slightly upturned eyelashes trembled slightly... She struggled to raise her eyelids.
After opening his eyes, Sanako was surprised to find that the scene before him was no different from when he closed his eyes... What he saw was thick darkness.
Darkness as thick as ink poured into Sanako's eyes and nose.
——Where am I?
Sanako, whose consciousness was still somewhat confused, asked herself this while subconsciously twisting her arms.
Then, she found that her hands were tightly tied behind her back, and the only place where her two small white hands could move were only 10 fingers.
The strangeness of his hands made Sanako feel as if a basin of ice had been poured on the back of his neck... The tangled ball of wool in his mind was quickly smoothed out one by one, forming clear straight lines.
The memories before coma revived in Sanako's mind little by little.
At the same time, Sanako's eyes adjusted to the darkness.
She hurriedly raised her head and looked around, confirming that she was now locked in a cellar-like place... Natsume Yue was tied next to her, still sleeping soundly.
"Uh...! Uh...!" Sanako, whose mouth was tied, could only utter some meaningless onomatopoeia. She twisted her body and used her shoulders to push Natsume Yue beside her.
Under Sanako's push, a subtle whisper floated out from Natsume Yue's lips.
Then, the little girl finally woke up and slowly opened her eyes.
"?!" Natsume Yue regained consciousness, her expression was dazed at first, and then the "dumbfounded" on her face turned into "horrified" at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Uh-huh, uh-huh...!" Natsume Yue, whose mouth was tied with a piece of cloth and was also speechless, shouted "uh-huh, uh-huh" to Sanako.
Although none of them could speak now, Sanako could tell from Natsume Yue's frightened eyes what the child wanted to say now.
Miss Sanako, where are we? - Natsume asked Sanako with her eyes.
Calm down - Sanako responded to Natsume Yue with a calm look.
Affected by Sanako's calm mood, the look of panic on Natsume Yue's face dissipated somewhat... but her body was still trembling slightly.
In fact, Sanako is also very scared now.
Just by taking a look at their current situation and looking back at their memories before coma, you can tell: who has been kidnapped by them now.
Being kidnapped... Sanako was also the first time she encountered such a terrible thing.
The intense fear caused her heart to beat so fast and hard, as if it would jump out of her throat at any moment.
Who kidnapped us?
What is the purpose of kidnapping us?
for money?
Or...for something else...?
All kinds of bad conjectures flashed uncontrollably in Sanazi's mind one by one... These terrible conjectures further aggravated Sanazi's current heartbeat.
The reason Sanako can still maintain a calm expression now...all depends on her strong willpower.
She now relies solely on her strong will to suppress the worries and timidity in her heart.
She signaled Natsume Yue to calm down with her eyes. After calming down for a while, Sanako took several deep breaths to adjust her thoughts and mood. Then she raised her head again and scanned the surroundings, trying to deduce that they were currently being held in prison based on the observed environment.
location.
However, after a while, Sanako became disappointed.
Looking around, they could only see dust and the corpses of various small insects. Apart from confirming that they were now locked in a cellar, there was nothing else to gain.
Sanako then twisted her body and hands vigorously, trying to break free of the hemp rope on her body.
Seeing Sanako's actions, Natsume Yue realized what Sanako was trying to do, and quickly followed suit and twisted her body vigorously, trying to break free of the hemp rope with Sanako.
Then a look of disappointment gradually appeared on the two women's faces.
The hemp ropes that bound her and Natsume Yue's hands together, as well as the two of them and the wooden pillar behind them, were all tied very firmly.
Just relying on the strength of these women, it is really impossible to open the hemp ropes tied to their bodies.
Natsume Yue lowered her head dejectedly, perhaps because she was too frightened... A layer of moisture gradually appeared in her eyes.
She sniffed her nose hard...she didn't want to cry in such embarrassment.
But the more she tried to hold back her tears, the thicker the moisture on her eyes became.
Eventually - the water vapor turned into large teardrops, rolling down from her eyes.
"Father...Father..." The girl who was no longer as cheerful as before, in a voice that was especially muffled by crying, repeatedly uttered her name for the person who gave her the most sense of security in the world.
When Natsume Yue was weeping silently, Sanako beside her... half-closed her beautiful eyes with an expressionless face.
--What's this……?
Sanako thought like this and straightened the middle finger of his right hand.
Just now, when she was twisting her hands and trying to open the hemp rope that bound her hands, her right middle finger accidentally touched a cold foreign object.
After extending the middle finger of her right hand in the direction where she had just touched the foreign object, a cold touch spread to Sanako's fingertips again.
It's a loose iron nail in a wooden post.
"..." Sanako took a deep breath, then stretched out his right thumb, clamped the loose iron nail between his thumb and middle finger, and twisted it bit by bit.
Sanako's slender fingers are very dexterous.
Sanako, who received the strictest "Yamato Nadeshiko" education since childhood, can hold a sword and a naginata firmly with her fingers, and can also complete delicate work such as tailoring and embroidery.
With Sanazi's long and powerful twisting, the iron nail was finally pulled out of the wooden pillar.
Feeling the cold touch of the iron nail she was holding on her fingertips, Sanako took another deep breath.
She is still scared now.
They were suddenly kidnapped, and were suddenly imprisoned in a place where they didn’t even know their specific location. I don’t know who the kidnapper was, and I don’t know why they were kidnapped...
She was afraid of these disturbing thoughts.
She is afraid of the uncertain future.
Although she was afraid...but now she was even more afraid that she would just give up thinking and sit back and wait for death!
Even if you are going to die, you must try your best to survive and then die... Sanako thought like this, a sharp light flashed in her beautiful eyes.
She held the iron nail between the thumb and middle finger of her right hand and rubbed the sharp nail point against the hemp rope that bound her hands.
…
…
Those words of Natsume Sōhachiro... are strange no matter how you think about them.
What a fucking coincidence!
Sanako happened to go out with Natsume Yue today.
Sanako just disappeared today.
Grandma Natsume's letter informing her of her illness was delivered to Edo just today.
Natsume Yue happened to leave for Osaka to visit her grandmother this afternoon.
Not to mention Qingnobo, who is a "policeman", even Chiba Jutaro felt strange.
So many coincidences are added together to write a novel!
However, no matter how Aonto and the others interrogated him, Natsume Sohachiro insisted that "Natsume Yue is not in Edo, she has returned to Osaka."
Although Natsume Sohachiro's words were conclusive and true... Qingto still listed Natsume Sohachiro as a "problem subject that needs to be investigated intensively."
The connections of the Chiba family, the "number one martial arts sect", are really impressive.
Chiba Sadayoshi directly found Masanobu Ando, who was then a senior middle school student.
What is the official position of Lao Zhong?
Excluding the non-permanent position of "eldest boss", laozhong is the highest official position in the shogunate... The status is second only to the shogun, similar to the "prime minister" in China.
Chiba Nobuyoshi directly found the "Prime Minister" and asked the "Prime Minister" to help them administer justice...
What will happen next is not difficult to guess.
Senior Lieutenant Commander Masanobu Ando issued a direct order, and the Minami and Hokubu Stations in Edo immediately started to jump up and down.
In order to recover Sanako, the two divisions dispatched an extremely large search team - 3 Yuli and 6 Doshin, and at the same time mobilized all officials from their own divisions in Edo.
Qingdeng was also among this "search team".
In Edo, where the enforcement office has been short of manpower for a long time, there is no rule that "relatives and acquaintances related to the case cannot participate in the investigation."
Although the execution office has mobilized all the manpower they can in order to find the missing Sanako, the search progress is still very slow...
In a modern society where there is no surveillance network, no big data, and the only means of investigation are visits and investigations, finding a missing person in a big city with a population of one million... is difficult, just think about it.
Just thinking about it makes my scalp numb.
What's more, the southern and northern administrative offices of Edo do not yet have strong grassroots control.
The implementation of grassroots management relies heavily on the help of "township residents' self-governing organizations".
In a word - the management of Edo at the grassroots level by the government is almost in a mess. It is not even clear how many people and how many strong laborers there are in Edo.
Such low grassroots control capabilities... directly increase the difficulty of the already extremely difficult tracing task by several levels.
After learning that he had also been transferred to look for Sanako, Aomori immediately applied to investigate Natsume Sōhachiro, whom he found extremely suspicious.
Natsume Souhachiro's strange words and deeds, as well as his own intuition, are all telling Qingto crazily: There is definitely something wrong with Natsume Souhachiro, and he is very likely to be the key to finding Sanako.
The process of Aoto requesting permission from his superiors to investigate Natsume Sohachiro... was quite tortuous.
Because most of the superiors don't think Natsume Sohachiro is a target worthy of more attention.
They felt that instead of investigating Natsume Sohachiro, the right solution would be to concentrate their efforts on visiting and investigating every area that Sanako might have passed through on the day he disappeared.
It is not difficult to understand why superiors would have such thoughts.
Because for them, "making meritorious service" is secondary! "Don't make mistakes" is the most important!
No one knows whether "concentrating manpower to visit and investigate" will work. Qingdeng's superiors don't care whether it will work!
They only care about whether their own interests will be damaged.
Just pretend that we are investigating the case seriously. In this way, although there will be no great achievements, it will not be a big mistake. In short, it will be able to give an explanation to those higher up - this is Qingdeng
The common thoughts of those superiors.
The bureaucracy of this group of people... made Qingdeng so disgusted that he wanted to vomit.
His friend was kidnapped, but as a result, the officials in the government still only thought about "don't make big mistakes" and "just do the job if they can"... Qingdeng could not think of any words to describe his disgusting mood.
Relying on the prestige and achievements he had accumulated so far, Qingteng tried his best to successfully convince Bosui and other superiors.
"Since you want to investigate that Natsume Souhachiro so much, then go do it yourself." With that said, the superiors of Hakui sent Aoto to investigate Natsume Souhachiro. However, without any helpers, Aoto could only rely on
He led himself and his subordinate Saito to investigate Sohachiro Natsume.
Regarding such an arrangement by his superiors, Aomori sneered and thought to himself: This is fine! No one who is more senior than me or at the same level as me will participate in the investigation of Natsume Sohachiro, and I will be less restrained and shackles!
"Mr. Jutaro, don't worry. I will definitely use my all to find Miss Sanako." - Before the official investigation was launched, Aonto used a firm tone to comfort those who were worried about Sanako.
Chiba Jutaro seems to have lost weight.
Although the relationship between Aoto and Sanako is not very close, and they have not even spoken to her much, she is, after all, the sister of Chiba Jutaro and the cousin of Chiba Eijiro.
Chiba Jutaro is a very close friend of Aoto. Chiba Eijiro had selflessly given him some martial arts advice a while ago... This alone was enough for Aoto to use all his energy to find the missing person.
Sanako.
As for how to investigate Natsume Sohachiro, Aomori had a rough plan.
He is now highly suspicious: Natsume Yue and Chiba Sanako were kidnapped by someone for some reason.
The kidnappers demanded that Natsume Souhachiro must conceal the fact that Natsume Yue was kidnapped, otherwise they would break up the vote, so Natsume Souhachiro would talk nonsense about "Natsume Yue went back to Osaka to see her grandmother."
Aoto went to Natsume Souhachiro alone in private, and whispered to Natsume Souhachiro in a cryptic tone: If Miss Natsume Yue is also kidnapped, please be sure to reveal some information to me, and I will definitely send your daughter and Miss Sanako to the police.
They were all found.
However, Sohachiro Natsume was still indifferent... He kept saying, "Natsume Yue is fine, she just went back to Osaka to see her grandmother."
Since Natsume Sōhachiro was unwilling to reveal any more useful information no matter what, Aoto could only conduct the investigation in another way.
Aoto found out three places where Natsume Souhachiro often went, including Natsume's house, and then planned to personally lead Saito and others to dress up, and then stay at these three places where Natsume Souhachiro often went to check out Natsume Souhachi.
Is there any suspicious person around Hachiro?
This is the last and most useful method Qingdeng can think of in this era when investigation methods are extremely limited; when clues are extremely scarce.
Naturally, Natsume Sōhachiro must be guarded around the clock.
However... this has raised a new serious problem: Qingdeng's manpower is insufficient.
Counting Aoto himself... Aoto, Saito, Nagakura, Harada, Toudo—Aoto's small team only has 5 people in total.
In order to avoid encountering emergencies such as "mentally exhausted" or "wanting to go to the toilet", at least two people are needed to guard someone or a certain place.
There are three places where Natsume Sōhachiro often hangs out. In other words, if the "Aoto Squad" with a total manpower of only five people wants to guard these three places, it still needs one person less...
Fortunately, Qingdeng quickly found someone willing to help.
And this person happens to be very good at reconnaissance and concealment...
…
…
"Is that Natsume's family..." Kinoshita Mai murmured as she looked at the luxurious mansion not far ahead.
"Yes." Qingden nodded gently to Mai Kinoshita, who was standing next to him, "I'm sorry, Miss Kinoshita, I have to bother you to help me investigate the case."
Aoto and Mai Kinoshita are currently lurking in a dark alley where they can see the entire front door of Natsume's house.
"Tachibana-kun, you don't have to be so polite to me." Kinoshita Mai smiled shyly, "I'm embarrassed by how you look like this."
The helper Qingto found who was willing to help was none other than Kinoshita Mai.
Who could be more qualified for the task of "surveillance" than the famous cat monk who is extremely good at sneaking, concealing and reconnaissance?
Mai Kinoshita is indeed a girl with a strong sense of justice who has been active under the hidden identity of "Kaitan Thief Neko Monk" until now with the goal of "helping the weak as much as possible".
After Qingto came to her and asked her to help find the missing Sanako, she responded loudly without thinking: "Please let me help!"
When agreeing to Aoto's request, Kinoshita Mai showed an expression of indignation... Aoto asked afterwards why she had such an expression, and Kinoshita Mai replied:
"What I hate the most are traffickers who kidnap people! Many families that were originally happy have been broken up because of these scum!"
Kinoshita Mai's disgust towards human traffickers... Qingto understands it very well - he himself also hates those traffickers who have caused the collapse of countless families.
Kinoshita Mai agreed to his request so readily, which was actually within Qingto's expectation.
Because he guessed that Mai Kinoshita, who had a strong sense of justice, would never turn a blind eye to "someone was kidnapped".
Since life is at stake, Kinoshita Mai no longer cares about Chishiya's work. In her eyes, retrieving the kidnapped missing persons is far more important than Chishiya's work.
Therefore, after complying with Qingnobo's request, she directly asked Boss Kiryu for a long leave of indefinite duration.
Kinoshita Mai was originally worried that Boss Kiryu would not allow leave...but she didn't expect that Boss Kiryu was so quick to approve the leave this time. He didn't even ask why Kinoshita Mai suddenly asked for a long leave, and just nodded and approved it.
With the help of Mai Kinoshita, Ayoto, who had more manpower under his command, immediately made the following arrangements:
He and Mai Kinoshita stayed at Natsume's house.
Saito and Nagakura, four of them, worked in pairs and were responsible for guarding the other two locations where Natsume Sōhachiro often haunted.
Kinoshita Mai and Saito are not very familiar with each other. If Kinoshita Mai and Saito are paired up...this girl's personality will only become outgoing and bold when she wears a hijab. She is always afraid of being unlucky.
, I’m afraid that I won’t even be able to communicate normally with Saito and the others.
Therefore, the only person who can partner with Kinoshita Mai is Aoto.
Ayoto and the others were monitoring Natsume Sōhachiro around the clock and almost continuously.
The sun in early summer rises in the east and sets in the west.
Silently overlooking Qingdeng and others who were busy monitoring.
Silently overlooking the busy people passing through the town.
Silently overlooking... the undercurrent of Edo that no one, including Ayonobu, is aware of yet.
…
…
The first year of Wanyan (1860), May 20——
Edo, a foreign settlement place——
"Miss Leroy, the hem of this skirt seems a little too long."
"Well...it does seem a little bit, so let's change it."
After saying that, Leroy turned back to the closet and took out a brand new and exquisite white tutu skirt from the closet.
Elodie, who put on this new tutu with Leroy's help, walked happily to a large full-length mirror, blinked her eyes, and looked at the beautifully tidied reflection in the mirror.
After squeezing herself, she laughed happily, then happily spun around in circles a few times, admiring the skirt that fluttered gently under her spin.
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
At this time, there was a knock on the door outside the room.
"Elodie, have you changed your clothes?"
"Well! I just changed it, grandpa, come in!"
After receiving Elodie's permission to enter, Anthony unscrewed the doorknob and pushed in.
"Oh! Elodie, this skirt suits you very well!"
After hearing Anthony's praise, Elodie happily turned around in circles a few more times.
Seeing Elodie's cheerful look, Anthony couldn't help but relax his cheeks and the corners of his mouth.
Today is the 60th birthday of Mr. Bright, the elder of the Edo Residence.
In order to celebrate this rare festive holiday, Mr. Bright, who likes to dance, will hold a grand dance in his mansion tonight.
He was so popular that he invited most of the residents in the residence to come to the banquet, and most of the invitees agreed to the invitation - the Angoulême family was among them.
At this moment, Elodie was trying on the dress she would wear at the dance party tonight.
It is rare to have such a lively large-scale outdoor activity to participate in... This makes Elodie very happy because there are no peers of the same age to play with in the residence, so she can only stay at home for a long time.
Although she can't dance, a child of her age will definitely not have anyone dancing with her at tonight's dance...but what does it matter?
For a child who can only stay bored at home every day, just being able to experience the lively atmosphere of these lively activities is enough to make her jump for joy.
Elodie had been looking forward to tonight's dance several days ago.
Although there are still a few hours before the dance starts, judging from Elodie's current expression... the child's mind is no longer here, and he has already flown to the dance scene at the Bright Mansion.
Looking at Elodie's happy smile now, Anthony's increasingly relaxed corners of his mouth finally formed a soft smile.
——It’s rare to be able to participate in this kind of entertainment... I have to have a good time with Elodie tonight.
This old man who is willing to dedicate everything to his precious granddaughter who has endured a lot of hardships since childhood, thought so firmly in his heart.
…
…
at the same time--
Edo, the intersection between the settlement and the outside world——
A middle-aged man pointed to a donkey cart parked not far behind him, and spoke in somewhat broken English to two settlement guards, both with blond hair and blue eyes, and both carrying flintlock rifles.
Loudly said:
"These are the drinks that Mr. Bright purchased from Mr. Sohachiro Natsume. These drinks are Mr. Bright's favorite sake, and they are all planned to be consumed at tonight's dance!"
The donkey cart the middle-aged man pointed to was dragging a small carriage.
There are a large number of wooden boxes stacked in the carriage, and the wooden boxes contain expensive sake.
Brett loves Japanese sake so much that he would drink seven or eight bottles of sake every day before he would stop.
A dance titled "Celebrating his 60th birthday" will be held tonight... How can such a grand event be without his favorite sake?
So, as early as 2 months ago, Bright ordered a batch of high-end sake with his old partner in the wine business: Natsume Sohachiro.
At this moment, the two guards who were busy negotiating the "cargo release" with the middle-aged man did not notice at this time that they were driving the car filled with the goods that Bright ordered from Natsume Sohachiro.
The driver of the high-end sake... now showed a strange and intriguing smile.
…
…
Edo, in a dark alley outside Natsume's house——
"Uh-huh..."
Qingden heard Kinoshita Mai next to him let out a lovely yawn.
"Miss Kinoshita, do you want to take a rest?"
After glancing at Mai Kinoshita, who was now stretching out her fingers to wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes, Ayoto raised his head and glanced at the sky above his head.
As early as half an hour ago, the sky was covered with a thick layer of darkness.
The current time...is about 8 o'clock in the evening.
If this time were in the modern era of the 21st century, it would be a time before nightlife had even begun.
But in this day and age, this is the time when wild dogs are basically the only ones roaming the roads.
It's obviously daytime today and the weather is pretty good. The sky is blue and cloudless.
But after nightfall, the weather suddenly became bad for some reason.
The night was covered with clouds, and it was as dark as thick ink. Only some cracks in the dark clouds shed a little light.
Thick dark clouds condensed between the sky and the earth made the light tonight extremely dim and visibility was very poor.
Take the dark alley where Ayoto and Kinoshita Mai are currently hiding as an example. The alley is surrounded by twilight and darkness. The darkness is so dense that it cannot be seen to the bottom, as if a monster will pounce out from it at any time.
"I'm not very tired yet, so I don't need to rest."
Kinoshita Mai quickly wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes caused by yawning just now, raised her little head, and showed a smile of "I'm fine, don't worry" to Qingden.
"...You should take a break for now." Qingden was silent for a while, and smiled helplessly at Mai Kinoshita, "The secret of 'surveillance' is to know how to take turns to rest."
"While I'm still in good spirits, you should take a rest as soon as possible."
"In case we both get tired later."
Anyone who has experienced it knows that "surveillance" is a very tiring job.
Staring at someone or a place for a long time... although this will not damage a person's physical strength, it will bring a great burden to the person's spirit.
Hearing Qingden say this, Kinoshita Mai was stunned. After blinking hard a few times with hesitation on her face, she nodded lightly:
"That's what you said... Then I'll take a short rest now. Tachibana-kun, I'll leave the surveillance of Natsume's family to you for the time being."
After saying that, Kinoshita Mai leaned back, leaned against the alley wall behind her, closed her eyes and rested her mind.
Today is May 20th. If converted to the modern solar calendar, it would now be June.
This year's climate has been quite abnormal. As early as early May, the temperature was already so high that even wearing a single layer of clothing didn't feel uncomfortable at all.
To use a Japanese terminology to introduce...tonight is a veritable "tropical night".
There was a high temperature of at least 26 degrees, making the air sultry and sticky.
The sultry weather made Qingden shed beads of sweat and at the same time... his mood became uncontrollably irritable.
I don't know why... Ever since this morning, a strange uneasy feeling has been lingering in Qingdeng's heart.
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Today’s update is 1.1W words!
Pornography is indeed the first productivity. In order to let Qingto show off in front of Sanako as soon as possible, the author went crazy yesterday and successfully wrote 1.1W words.
Today’s chapter is updated to make up for the owed updates to Baiyinmeng [Handsome is My Handsomeness]. I still owe this book friend 10 chapters to be updated.
The author still owes 12 chapters worth 10,000 words.
Today’s chapter is so lively. Although it has many words, it is also rich in content. The plot is unfolding in a furious way. If you don’t vote for the month, you are really unreasonable (Leopard Head Cries.jpg)
The author, you, continue to work hard today! Try to get 1W+ tomorrow! The author, you, want to make Qingto show off in front of Sanako faster than you do.
Today I’m asking for a monthly ticket, it’s not too much (Leopard Head Crying.jpg)
Please vote for me monthly! Please vote for recommendation!
The author has opened a book club on Penguin!
Group number: 1162513690. You can join the book club by answering a question to which you will definitely know the answer if you read the book carefully.
The author appears in the group at random~
This chapter has been completed!