"I can't even find the bodies of the three of them. I don't even know whether they were burned to death or suffocated by smoke..."

"From then on I was the only one left running the hotel."

"...I'm sorry." A deep apology appeared on his face.

"Hohohoho~~" Grandma Cai chuckled a few times, "No need to apologize, I have already let go."

"Man is inherently mortal."

"I was just lucky enough to die later."

"Although my husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandson are no longer here, and I occasionally feel a little lonely, I am very happy every day now."

"There is grandma cake to eat every day."

"Every now and then there will be little surprises."

"Just like today - if I had died yesterday, I wouldn't be able to meet a handsome young man like you today."

"As long as you continue to live, you can experience these little surprises from time to time."

"If possible, I would really like to live for another few decades."

"Oh, did I talk too much? Did it affect your meal?"

The smile on Grandma Cake's face showed a hint of apology.

"Some guest officials have complained before that I disturbed their meal..."

"It's nothing." Ogata shook his head, "It doesn't affect my eating."

Speaking of this, Ogata paused.

After a moment of silence, the smiling ladies put their chins on the table.

"Grandma Cake, do you have any other specialties from your hometown?"

"Oh? Sir, you are interested in this."

"I've always been interested in food. Tell me more about the food in your hometown."

"Hoohohoho~~ I'm so happy. It's been a long time since I met a guest like you, guest officer, who took the initiative to ask me about the delicacies of my hometown."

"But if I introduce them one by one, it may take a long time."

"It doesn't matter." Ogata waved his hand, "I have a whole night to chat with you."

"Hoohohoho~~" Grandma Kuai's eyes flickered towards Ogata, "Sir, you are so gentle... Okay! Then I will introduce you in the same way!"

Just when Grandma Kui was preparing to introduce Ogata’s delicacies from her hometown one by one——

Click, click, click...

The hotel door was slowly opened.

"Is there any room available here?"

A powerful and magnetic middle-aged male voice sounded from the opened door.

Hearing this familiar voice, Ogata's pupils shrank slightly.

He suddenly followed the sound and turned his head to look at the door of the hotel.

At the gate of the hotel, there were a large number of samurai wearing special black uniforms.

The middle-aged man standing in the front row had a heroic face and full of righteousness - it was Heizo Hasegawa whom he hadn't seen for a while.

Several people headed by Hasegawa Heizo blocked Ogata's view, so Ogata could not clearly see how many subordinates were standing behind Hasegawa Heizo.

But according to my own visual inspection, Hasegawa Hei was hiding beside him, and the number of officials behind him was at least 20.

After seeing Hasegawa Heizou, Ogata subconsciously raised his hand and reached towards Daishiten and Daizizai who were placed on the tatami next to him.

But just as he stretched out his hand, Oburon suddenly remembered something.

After glancing at Granny Kui sitting next to him, Ogata retracted the hand that had reached for his knife.

Hasegawa Heizo is also like this.

After Hasegawa Heizo and Imai and other cadres beside him recognized Ogata, they also subconsciously reached for the knife on his left waist.

But just as he raised his hand, Hasegawa Heizo glanced at Granny Kumo - and then retracted his hand just like Ogata did.

At the same time, he gestured to Imai and others beside him, telling them not to be nervous and not to draw their swords.

Grandma Kagome, who didn't notice these little moves by Ogata and Hasegawa, was filled with excitement.

"Hoohohoho~~Mother-in-law, I am really lucky today. I have so many customers here."

"There are still available rooms in our hotel, but the number of rooms is not enough. There may not be enough rooms for all of you."

"It doesn't matter." Hasegawa shook his head, "We can share a room with a few of us. As long as we have a place to spend the night, that's enough."

"Okay! By the way - have you had dinner?"

"not yet."

"If it's convenient, would you like to have a meal here?"

"...Then it will be hard work."

…

…

When Hasegawa Heizo led his group of subordinates into the house, Ogata specifically counted the number of people including Hasegawa Heizo - there were 23 people including Hasegawa Heizo.

The number of people was much smaller than the last time they chased Kinoshita Rin in Tatsuno Domain.

Don’t have money to read novels? I’ll give you cash or coins, and you can get it for one day only! Follow the public account [Book Friends Base Camp] and get it for free!

"Um... your guest," Granny Ku said to Ogata apologetically, "I'm sorry, would you mind if these guests sit next to you?"

"I don't mind." Ogata smiled, "It would be nice to have a few more people to chat with me."

Seeing that Ogata agreed, Granny Kuai immediately beamed with joy.

And the person who came to sit next to Ogata was just as Ogata expected—it was Hasegawa Heizou.

Hasegawa Heizo led several of his subordinates to sit next to Ogata.

Although there are many people in Hasegawa and the others, if they squeeze together, they can barely sit down in the restaurant on the first floor.

Granny Kui quickly prepared the dishes ordered by Hasegawa and served them all.

Even a rural girl like Grandma Kuai could tell that Hasegawa and others were official servants - after all, no one else would wear such uniform uniforms except official servants.

Grandma Kui couldn't restrain her curiosity and couldn't help asking about the identities of Hasegawa and others.

Hasegawa didn't make any concealment, he bluntly told which government agency they were from, and revealed his identity.

After learning that this group of people were reformed government officials from Huo Fu thieves, and that the middle-aged man in front of her was the famous Hasegawa Heizo, Grandma Kuai showed a look of surprise on her face.

"You are Imadaoka Hasegawa Heizo-sama!"

"I didn't expect you, mother-in-law, would know..." Hasegawa smiled slightly.

"Of course! Those storytellers in Kyoto are always telling your stories!"

"I remember that the office under your command, Hasegawa-sama, specializes in hunting down thieves and arsonists, right?"

"That's right." Hasegawa nodded.

"While searching for thieves and arsonists, we also arrest murderers from time to time." Ogata, who was sitting next to him, continued in a half-joking tone.

"So! Are you bringing people here to investigate the Tianming Fire?"

Because of her emotional excitement, Grandma Kuai's body involuntarily leaned forward in the direction of Hasegawa.

"Huh?" Hasegawa was stunned when he heard Grandma Kuai's confusing question.

After a while, after coming back to his senses, Hasegawa smiled bitterly and shook his head.

"Sorry, I came to your place this time not to investigate the Tianming Fire."

"The Tianming fire happened two years ago."

"It has been such a long time and there is no way to find out."

"Besides - the decision to fire tomorrow has already been finalized."

"It was a tragedy caused by a fire in an empty house on the outskirts of the city for unknown reasons."

"So there's nothing left to investigate."

A look of despair appeared on Grandma Cai's cheeks at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"But...but...I heard that the big fire was man-made..."

"Mother-in-law..." Hasegawa smiled bitterly, "These hearsay rumors cannot be taken to be true."

"This is also a common thing. Every time a major case occurs, various rumors will spread among the people in the market."

"These rumors are basically just made up by people after dinner."
To be continued...