"You know the general topography of Mount Koya and the location of the main temples very well? Really?" the hot-tempered Asai was the first to exclaim.

"Both my mother and I believe in Buddhism."

Isshikihua answered softly.

"My mother and I often go to Kongobuji Temple in Koyasan to worship Buddha. Therefore, I know more about Koyasan."

"If you need it, I can do my best to draw a map of Mount Koya for you."

"but……"

Having said this, Isshikihua paused...

After a moment of pause, she said word by word:

"I want you to agree to a condition first."

"My family... were also taken away by the Toyotomi clan. Their whereabouts are also unknown."

"If you plan to go to Mount Koya to look for your companions in the future, can you take me with you?"

Isshikika's tone became high-pitched with excitement.

"My family might have been captured and taken to Mount Koya."

"I want to go to Mount Koya to find my family!"

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone in the Calabash House looked at each other in confusion.

Finally——they all focused their attention on Ogata.

After Isshikika took the initiative to say that she knew about Mount Koya, Ogata kept looking at Isshikika with surprised eyes.

Looking at Isshiki Hana who firmly said "I want to go to Mount Koya to find her family", Ogata looked thoughtful.

Just when Ogata was about to say something to Isshikika——

"...I don't think we should rush to find out the detailed information about Mount Koya now."

Mamiya's voice sounded suddenly.

I saw him push up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and then sighed softly.

"Now... let's make a clear plan first and then talk about our next action plan."

"The purpose is to continue to torture Zuemon and the Iga kunoichi to obtain more information."

"It is better to leave immediately for Mount Koya to find the master."

Mamiya's simple words made the atmosphere around everyone become more solemn.

"...I think it would be better to continue to interrogate Iwaemon and the Iga kunoichi." Makimura, who has always been rough but subtle, took the lead and said in a deep voice, "The information we currently have is too little."

"I'm not even 100% sure whether the Lord is really in Mount Koya."

"Youemon is a close confidant of Toyotomi Nobhide, so he must know a lot of useful information."

"Although this guy is very tough-talking, as long as he continues to be tortured like this, he will always speak."

"When I was on duty in Kyoto, I used waterboarding countless times, and I never saw anyone survive it."

"I have seen people who are more arrogant than Iemon before, but after being tortured by waterboarding for two consecutive days, that guy finally cried out like a bitch, 'I will tell you anything.'"

"It would be safer to get enough information from Zuemon first before taking action."

As soon as Makimura finished speaking, Asai immediately put forward an opinion completely opposite to Makimura:

"no."

"I don't think we should spend too much time on the torture of Iemon."

"The reason why the lord was captured is still unclear."

"That bastard Toyotomi Nobhide, when he ran away from home, he took away all the money and valuables in the family, leaving no money for his family, and leaving his grandmother, mother, and sister to starve.

A cold-blooded thug who froze and never came home once."

"God knows what such a bloodless and tearless guy planned to do when he suddenly arrested the lord."

"The lord must be rescued as quickly as possible."

"Then let me ask you -" Makimura frowned slightly and glared at Asai, "What if we go to Mount Koya now, only to find that the master is not actually in Mount Koya at all, and we miss the mark?"

"Then I have to ask you too." Asai stared back at Makimura not to be outdone, "While we were interrogating the left and right guard step by step, something unexpected happened to the master. What should we do?"

"Um..." Shimada, who had the lowest status in Calabash House, silently interjected, "Can I speak?"

Everyone looked at Shimada.

"I think...Makimura-senpai's words make more sense..." Shimada, who didn't dare to look at Asai's expression, said slowly in a timid tone, "It's better to try to get more information first."

"At the very least, we must devise an action plan that can not only save the master, but also protect ourselves..."

"Kami-sama, what he said just now is right..." Shimada turned his attention to the fuuma not far away, "Mt. Koya is not Mount Hiei two hundred years ago. Mount Koya now is an undoubted holy land."

"Two hundred years ago, Oda Nobunaga burned down Mount Hiei, a man who had done all kinds of evil except worshiping Buddha, and some people still applauded him."

"Now, if you trespass on Mount Koya without permission, no one will give you a good word... People in the world don't know that the Toyotomi clan who is trying to overthrow the Edo shogunate is lurking in Mount Koya."

"If you rush into the Holy Land rashly, you will suffer eternal infamy... and you may even be punished by heaven..."

"Hey Shimada." Asai looked displeased and raised his eyebrows, "God's punishment? When did you become a Buddhist?"

"I don't believe in Buddhism..." Shimada, who was a little scared by Asai's glare, shrank his neck, "I just think that there are things like gods and Buddhas. I would rather believe that they exist than believe that they don't exist. You have to have a certain degree of confidence in others.

Respect……"

"Tch...boring." Asai curled his lips, "Shimada, let me ask you - more than a hundred years ago, when the Edo shogunate expelled all Kirishi Dan from the country, why didn't the gods of Kiriji Dan come to save them and give them

What about the divine punishment imposed by the Edo shogunate?”

"If gods and Buddhas really existed and were so powerful, there wouldn't be so many tragedies in the world."

[Note·Kirikidan: The name given to Christians during the Warring States Period and the Edo Period in Japan. After the establishment of the Edo shogunate, in order to maintain its rule, the Edo shogunate expelled all Kirikidan in the country and strictly prohibited anyone from becoming a Kirikidan anymore]

Shimada, who was speechless by Asai, lowered his head silently and said no more words.

"...Mamiya." Asai then turned his attention to Mamiya, "What do you think?"

"..." Mamiya didn't answer immediately. He pursed his lips in deep thought.

Just then——

"Um...can I express my opinion?"

A sound that no one expected suddenly sounded.

Everyone cast their surprised gazes on the owner of the voice just now - Ogata.

…

…

Mount Koya, somewhere——

"Hulu...Hulu...Hulu..."

Hasegawa was sleeping against the stone wall behind him, snoring loudly.

The conditions of the cell provided by Toyotomi Nobuhide for Hasegawa were quite good. He had no worries about eating and drinking, the food was quite delicious, and he could sleep on the tatami.

Everything is fine except no freedom.

Since there is nothing to do and no entertainment activities to pass the time, Hasegawa only eats and sleeps these days, and can only rely on "eating" and "sleeping" to pass the time.

The place where Toyotomi Nobuhide imprisoned Hasegawa was a cell with no windows and no sunlight.

At the beginning, Hasegawa was able to calculate the number of days he was captured and imprisoned here by Toyotomi Nobuhide based on the time he fell asleep.

However, because he slept too much in recent days, Hasegawa's biological clock has become slightly disordered, making Hasegawa no longer able to judge the current time based on when he feels sleepy.

At this moment, when Hasegawa is sleeping soundly——

Blah, blah, blah...

Suddenly there was a large number of footsteps outside the cell.

Too many and too dense footsteps formed a strange sound of "huh-huh-huh-huh".

Hasegawa, who was awakened by the sound of footsteps, quickly opened his eyes, then threw himself on the fence in front of him and looked out.

While looking outside, he thought to himself:

——What time is it now...

——Is that Toyotomi Nobuhide here...

When the name "Toyotomi Nobuhide" was mentioned, Hasegawa couldn't help but grit his teeth with resentment.

Since his first meeting with Toyotomi Nobuhide, he had never seen this strange-looking young man again.

Toyotomi Nobuhide had previously told him categorically that the reason why he was captured was because he was interested in his talents and planned to bring him under Toyotomi's command.

As a result, after meeting Hasegawa once, Toyotomi Nobuhide never came to this cell again, nor did he send anyone else to contact Hasegawa.
To be continued...