Chapter 362 Is Brother Ogata going to be a wandering girl? [7300 words]
The hotel where Edo, Ogata and others lived.
call--!
After returning to the hotel, Makimura and Asai opened the sliding paper door of the large room where the men lived.
After opening the door, the two of them suddenly saw Asai sitting on the tatami, while Mamiya was nowhere to be found.
"Asai." Makimura asked, "Where is Mamiya?"
"Mamiya just went to relieve himself." Asai said calmly.
"Where are my lord and brother Ogata?"
"They haven't come back yet."
"That means it's just the four of us going back to the hotel now..." Makimura muttered, casually finding a place to sit down cross-legged.
"Ah...I'm so tired..." Shimada complained softly, and then he sat down on the tatami without a care in the world.
As soon as Shimada's butt touched the tatami at his feet, Asai, who was sitting in front of Shimada, suddenly raised his eyebrows:
"Huh? Shimada, why do you have an extra wakizashi on your waist? What's up with that extra wakizashi?"
At this moment, Shimada actually had three swords stuck in his left waist - one katana and two wakizashi.
"Ah? Oh, this."
Shimada took off one of the wakizashi from his waist.
"I bought it today."
"Bought it today?"
Shimada informed Asai of the origin of the knife.
According to Shimada, when he went out with Makimura to collect intelligence today, he happened to pass by a pawn shop and bought this wakizashi in that pawn shop.
This wakizashi was placed on the counter of the pawn shop at that time. Shimada fell in love with this wakizashi at a glance, and the price was not very expensive. The only drawback was that the tangs and blades obviously did not match, and the hole in the tangs was smaller than the one in the pawn shop.
The knife stem should be smaller.
However, after weighing it again and again, Shimada felt that the mismatch between the tang and the blade was just a minor problem, so he bought the wakizashi back.
Asai happens to be in a state of panic now that he has nothing to do.
After learning that the wakizashi on Shimada's waist was his newly bought sword, Asai became more interested and asked Shimada to take out the new sword he bought and let everyone taste it together.
Shimada, who also didn't know what to do next, readily agreed to Asai's suggestion and handed the wakizashi to Asai.
As soon as Asai took the wakizashi from Shimada's hand, the door to the room was opened again.
The person who opened the door this time was Mamiya who had returned from urination.
Seeing that Mamiya was back, Asai immediately said:
"Mamiya, you came back just in time. You have to do this kind of thing like appraising knives."
"What sword appraiser?" Mamiya was confused.
Asai and others used as simple sentences as possible to explain to Mamiya what had happened.
"Oh! Did Shimada buy a new knife?" Mamiya raised his eyebrows, with a faint look of interest on his face, "Then let's take a look together, it just happens to kill some time."
After saying that, Mamiya sat cross-legged in front of Asai.
After Mamiya sat down on the tatami, Asai handed Shimada's wakizashi to Mamiya.
As soon as Mamiya took over Shimada's wakizashi, Shimada on the side said doubtfully:
"Hmm? Mamiya-senpai, can you actually recognize knives?"
Just when Mamiya was about to open her lips to say something, Makimura took the lead and said in a joking tone:
"Shimada, you just joined us last year, so you are not as familiar with all aspects of Calabash House as we are."
"After you stay in Calabash House for a long time, you will find that it is difficult to encounter things that Mamiya doesn't know how to do."
Mamiya laughed off Makimura's joke.
After taking the wakizashi from Asai's hand, Mamiya did not rush to pull out the sword. Instead, he placed the sword on the tatami in front of his knees, and then took out a handkerchief from his arms.
"Does anyone have a handkerchief or paper with them?" Mamiya asked the three Makimura people in front of him, "Lend it to me."
"I have a handkerchief." As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Asai nodded, then took out a handkerchief from his arms and handed it to Mamiya.
"Thank you. Remember not to speak later, and breathe softly to avoid spitting on the blade."
Since he had already returned to the hotel, he no longer needed to disguise himself. Before returning to the room, Mamiya had already put his glasses on his nose again.
After giving Makimura the three instructions, Mamiya first adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, then folded his own handkerchief into a square shape, put it under his lips, and bit it with his teeth.
.
After blocking his mouth with a handkerchief, Mamiya pulled the wakizashi out of the sheath, and then used a skillful technique to remove the nail used to fix the handle and blade of the knife.
Then the handle, tangs, and blades are all separated.
Because the size of the tandem was wrong, Mamiya spent a lot of effort to remove the tandem.
After separating the various parts of the wakizashi, Mamiya used the handkerchief Asai lent him to grab the stem at the bottom of the blade, lifted the blade of the wakizashi, and began to carefully look up and down at each part of the blade.
.
The blade of a katana can be roughly divided into two parts: the lower stem, which is set in the scabbard, and the upper blade.
Some famous knife makers will carve their names on the blade stem.
Only swordsmiths with top abilities are qualified to carve their own names on the stems of the swords they make.
Therefore, knives with the knife maker's name engraved on the stem are basically excellent knives.
Knives that do not have the name of the knife maker engraved on the stem are collectively called "unmarked knives".
Mamiya first took a look at the stem of the wakizashi blade, and after confirming that the swordsman's life was not engraved on the stem, he began to examine the blade.
Mamiya sometimes raised the blade and sometimes held it horizontally, scanning every corner of the blade with serious eyes.
Mamiya's extremely serious look made the air around him become serious.
After inspecting the blade, Mamiya assembled the blade, handle and other parts one by one, reassembling the scattered parts back into a complete wakizashi.
"It's a good sword." The moment after sheathing the sword, Mamiya took off the handkerchief from his mouth and said with a smile.
Mamiya spoke in his usual gentle tone, breaking the serious atmosphere around him in one fell swoop.
"The arc of the blade is shallow, the boiling point lines are tight, and the texture of the blade is a delicate cross-eye pattern."
"A common mistake made by knifemakers who are not skilled enough is to blindly pursue hardness or sharpness, resulting in a blade with less core iron and thicker skin iron."
"As a result, the blade has hardness and sharpness, but lacks flexibility."
"A knife that lacks flexibility is tight. This kind of knife is no different from a useless knife. It will break after just a few cuts."
"But this wakizashi doesn't have this problem."
"The core iron is flexible enough, and the quenching range of the blade is small. The flexibility, hardness, and sharpness of the blade achieve a good balance."
"Although the person who made this knife is not a famous craftsman, he must be a very experienced veteran."
"Not only that, the blade is also engraved with the dark pattern of Yae Sakura."
"Although the carving technique of this dark pattern is not brilliant, it is still impressive."
"As an unmarked sword, this is a rare and excellent product."
"According to my visual inspection, this knife should be able to cut a carcass easily."
"If you let someone with good swordsmanship do it, they might be able to do it in half."
"It's a pity that the iron used in this knife is not of the best quality."
"If you use high-quality iron to cast this knife, the quality should be improved a lot."
"Shimada, how much did you spend on this knife?"
"Five taels." Shimada held out five fingers.
"Five taels?" Mamiya exclaimed in a low voice, "Then you made a lot of money, Shimada. You can buy such a high-quality knife with only 5 taels."
"The only flaw in this knife is that the blade is the wrong size."
"The tandem is a little smaller, so it takes a lot of effort to put it on or take it off."
"You'd better go to a pawn shop and buy a knife that matches the blade of your knife."
"As long as you replace it with a matching tango, it will be a good knife."
After saying that, Mamiya held the wakizashi with both hands and returned it to Shimada.
After accepting the wakizashi handed back by Mamiya with a dazed expression, Shimada said to Mamiya in astonishment with a bit of surprise:
"Mamiya-senpai, you are so awesome!"
"Your action of appraising the knife just now and those comments were so professional, just like a real knife appraiser!"
Anyone who knows a little bit about appraising knives would be able to see how professional Mamiya was when appreciating knives just now.
Before pulling out the knife, hold something between your teeth to prevent your saliva from spraying on the blade.
When taking out the knife blade for appreciation, hold the knife blade with a handkerchief to avoid direct contact with the metal blade with your fingers.
The movements that Mamiya uses when holding the knife blade upright and holding it horizontally for viewing are also extremely standard and can be used as a reference for the movement patterns when appraising knives.
Regarding Shimada's compliment, Mamiya only smiled slightly:
"It's not a big deal. Compared with those real sword appraisers, I'm still far behind."
"Mamiya-senpai, where did you learn your sword-appraising skills, right?" Shimada said with a hint of joking in his tone.
Although it was a question, the tone was that of an affirmative sentence.
"...Hmm." Mamiya nodded after being silent for a while, "My sword-appraisal skills... I learned in Edo."
"Did you learn from a very powerful sword appraiser in Edo?" Shimada asked.
"...That's right. Although that person's main business is not sword appraising, he is indeed a very professional sword appraising master."
Speaking of this, Mamiya suddenly paused.
After listening to the movement outside the room, Mamiya smiled and said:
"The lord is back."
As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Makimura on the side also smiled and echoed:
"Yeah, I heard it too."
Almost as soon as Makimura finished speaking, the sliding paper door of the room was opened.
Opening the door to the room, the person standing outside the room was none other than Lin.
And Yuan Yi stood behind Lin.
After Lin and Yuan entered the room, they first scanned the scene in the room, and then asked:
"Where are Ogata Ittosai and Miss Atachi?"
"The two of them haven't come back yet." Mamiya replied.
"Is that so..." Lin muttered as she closed the door, "Huh? Shimada, what's going on with that wakizashi in your hand?"
"I bought it from a pawn shop today." Shimada replied, "We just let Mamiya-senpai appreciate this sword."
Shimada summarized to Lin the two things he bought during the day and Mamiya's sword appraisal just now.
"Katsurokuro, you are very lucky." Lin said calmly, "You can buy such a good quality knife for only 5 taels."
Although there was a trace of tiredness on Lin's face, she still knelt on the ground in an orderly manner, instead of sitting cross-legged carelessly like Makimura and the others.
"This is the steamed bun I just bought."
As Lin spoke, she untied the small package on her back, placed it on the tatami and untied it, revealing more than twenty steamed buns inside.
"I thought the steamed buns smelled pretty good, so I bought some."
"Whoever wants to eat can eat it."
"Oh! Thank you so much, lord! Then I'm welcome!"
Makimura, who was the most informal among the group, was the first to grab the steamed bun and start chewing it.
It's getting late now.
Converted into modern earth time units, it is now around 22:00 midnight.
At this time, Mamiya and the others also felt a little hungry.
Seeing that Makimura had already taken action, Mamiya and others no longer hesitated. After thanking Lin, they all picked up the steamed buns and started to eat them.
Looking at Mamiya and others who were feasting in front of her, the corners of Lin's mouth curved upward in an imperceptible small arc.
"Have you all gone to collect intelligence today?" Lin asked casually.
"Of course." Makimura said in a vague voice with his mouth full of steamed buns.
"Anyway, let's wait for Ogata Ittosai and Miss Atachi to come back." Lin said softly, "When they come back, we can share and integrate the intelligence we collected... Ah, they are back
Woolen cloth."
After saying that, Lin moved her eyes and looked at the closed door behind her.
Outside the door, two footsteps approaching from far away were heard.
One footsteps is heavier, the other is lighter.
call--!
The paper sliding door that had not been closed for too long was reopened.
"Sorry." After opening the door, Oubon apologized to everyone in the room, "Did Amachi and I come back too late?"
After bidding farewell to Guaou and leaving Yoshiwara, Ogata and Atachi first returned to the tea house called "Shiya".
After returning the furoshiki used to wrap the steamed bun box and the note to the tea house, they hurried back to the hotel where they lived.
The father and daughter in the teahouse wanted to make a few cups of good tea to thank Ogata and the others for their kindness in delivering steamed buns to them, but Ogata and the others declined.
"It's nothing." It was Yuan Yi who answered, "Xiao Lin and I have only just returned. You two, come in quickly."
…
…
After Ogata and Omachi returned, all members of their small alliance finally gathered together.
After everyone arrived, everyone immediately began to share and integrate the information they had collected today.
The information collected by Mamiya, Makimura and the others about the "Gozen Trial Combination" is completely consistent with what Ogata collected.
There is a literary test and a martial arts test. The literary test is conducted first and then the martial arts test. Only those who pass the literary test can participate in the martial arts test. The first place in both competitions can receive a reward of 100 taels of gold...these contents are exactly the same.
After sharing the information they collected about the "Imperial Trial Match", Mamiya made a concluding speech:
"According to the information collected so far, this 'imperial trial' is just an ordinary event held by the shogunate."
"It is an activity that has nothing to do with our subjugation of Shiranui. I think we can ignore it from now on."
As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Asai nodded and agreed:
"I agree."
Lin did not respond to Mamiya's summary, but immediately asked:
"So - apart from the 'Gozen Trial Alliance', have you found out whether there are any major events worth mentioning that have happened in Edo recently?"
As soon as Lin finished speaking, Mamiya and others shook their heads.
"We asked a lot of people." Shimada said with a wry smile, "Everyone said nothing big happened recently."
"Edo has been very peaceful recently." Makimura responded.
"The only thing that can be considered a big deal..." Mamiya murmured, "Probably the only reason is that the shogunate is going to hold the 'Imperial Trials', which attracts many ronin from other places to Edo, causing the security of Edo to deteriorate.
A lot."
"...It's the same with Atachi and I. We haven't heard from passers-by about what happened recently." Ogata suddenly interjected in a serious tone, "But the two of us collected an important piece of information in Yoshiwara.
.”
"Yoshiwara?" After hearing the term Yoshiwara from Ogata's mouth, Genichi raised his eyebrows, "That's a coincidence. Xiaolin and I also went to Yoshiwara tonight, but the two of us didn't.
We went deep into Yoshiwara and only walked around the gate of Yoshiwara before leaving."
"Brother Ogata." Makimura, who was sitting next to Ogata, showed a strange smile, "You went to Yoshihara to get information."
"Or did you go to Yoshiwara for some other purpose, and then accidentally overheard some important information in Yoshiwara?"
When saying the word "other purposes", Makimura specially emphasized his tone.
"Don't do this." Ogata patted Makimura next to him on the shoulder, "I went to Yoshiwara for a very serious reason."
After a small fight with Makimura, Ogata changed to a serious tone.
"This information I have is related to Shiranui."
"One of the Four Heavenly Kings in Shiranui, Kitaro, goes to Yoshiwara every night to have fun."
After hearing Ogata's words, the expressions of everyone present immediately became serious.
Even Makimura, who had just made a joke about Ogata, no longer smiled playfully at this time.
"Ogata Ittosai." Lin said seriously, "Tell us about this in detail."
…
…
From helping people deliver steamed buns to Yoshiwara, to finally meeting Gokutaro accidentally while watching "Oiran Road" - Ogata used the simplest possible sentences to explain clearly what happened to him and Omachi tonight.
After quietly listening to Ogata's explanation, Lin asked:
"Does that Gokutaro really show up in Yoshiwara every night?"
"According to the 'Yoshiwara Doshin' named Guashu that I just mentioned - Nagoku Taro does come to Yoshiwara every night to have fun." Ogata said.
"...Ogata Ittosai." Lin, who had kept a straight face since she started sharing information, finally showed a faint smile, "You really have collected incredible information.
.”
"This information is really useful to us."
"Now that we know where one of the Four Heavenly Kings of Shiranui shows up every night, it's easy to handle!" Shimada said suddenly, "Let's assassinate him! This way, we can greatly weaken him.
Shiranui’s fighting power..."
As soon as Shimada finished speaking, Ogata and Lin said in unison:
"No!"*2
When two people rejected his proposal at the same time, Shimada looked confused:
"Why not? Wouldn't it be great to kill that Jitaro? It would save Shiranui a capable man."
"Shimada." Ogata said, "Do you know what our biggest advantage is when facing Calabash House now?"
"Uh..." Shimada thought for a while, "We are much richer than them?"
"This is just one of the advantages." Ogata said, "Our biggest advantage when facing Shiranui is that 'Shiranui is in the light, we are in the dark'."
"The people in Shiranui don't know about the Calabash House and the alliance they formed with the executioner Ittosai and one of their traitorous ninjas specifically to deal with them."
"At the same time, they didn't know that we had arrived in Edo and were already preparing to give them a fatal blow."
"This is the biggest advantage we currently have against Shiranui."
"With this advantage, we can slowly accumulate strength, and then take advantage of Shiranui's unpreparedness to launch a thunderous strike against them."
"If you assassinate Jitaro, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, just think about how the top brass in Shiranui will react."
"They will definitely be on heightened alert and investigate who killed Kitaro."
"Maybe Shiranui will find out that we are in Edo."
"That is to say, if we kill Ji Tairou now, it will alert the enemy and cause us to lose the biggest advantage we currently have."
"The purpose of our coming to Edo is to make Shiranui no longer able to pose any threat to your Gourd House, me and A-Machi."
"Instead of coming here specifically to kill the Four Heavenly Kings."
"Don't throw away the watermelon for a sesame seed."
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Lin nodded:
"What Ogata Ittosai said just now is absolutely correct. If we go to kill that Gokutaro now, the harm will far outweigh the good."
After listening to what Ogata and Lin said, and knowing that he seemed to have made a stupid plan that was far-sighted just now, Shimada apologized with shame on his face:
"Sorry, I just said something stupid."
"No need to apologize." Lin said softly, "You just expressed your thoughts, which is good."
After briefly comforting Shimada, Lin sat up straight and said seriously:
"There's still a lot we don't know about Shiranui."
"How many ninjas they have left now, how many ninjas have been sent to other places, and whether there have been any new changes after cooperating with the shogunate... We don't know any of these things."
"Therefore, I think that instead of killing that Gokutaro now, it is better to use that Gokutaro and try to get some useful information from that Gokutaro."
As soon as Lin finished speaking, Oufang grinned:
"Miss Kinoshita, what a coincidence." Ogata said, "You and I thought about it together, and I thought so too."
"Instead of killing Ji Tairou now, it is better to try to get some useful information from Ji Tairou."
"Then the question comes." Makimura smiled helplessly, "How to get information from that Ji Tairou?"
"It's quite simple." Ogata said calmly, "Have you forgotten the extremely important information I just mentioned? That Gokutaro goes to Yoshiwara every night."
"So——just sneak into Yoshiwara."
Hearing Ogata's words, Mamiya, who was sitting opposite Ogata, showed a strange smile, and then asked in a half-joking tone:
"Ogata-kun, are you planning to sneak into Yoshiwara and become a wandering girl?"
"What? Ogata-san is going to be a traveling girl?" As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Makimura immediately answered with a serious face, "Actually, Ogata-san has a pretty face. If he were to dress up as a woman to travel,
If she's a girl, she might become the number one."
"Are you two idiots?" Ogata said angrily, "Why did you two first think of dressing up as wandering girls when I said 'sneak into Yoshiwara'?"
After harshly complaining about Mamiya and Makimura, who had made it clear that they were joking about him, Ogata cleared his throat and then said seriously:
"Because more people poured into Edo, the number of guests in Yoshiwara also increased a lot. The Shirobei Club responsible for managing Yoshiwara was seriously short of manpower, so it was decided to hire people to fill the manpower vacancy."
Lin, who realized what Ogata meant by this statement, raised her eyebrows:
"Ogata Ittosai, do you mean to... sneak into the Shirobei Club?"
"That's right."
Ogata nodded solemnly.
"That Gokutaro goes to Yoshiwara every night to have fun."
"And after sneaking into the Shirobei Club, you will be able to travel through the streets of Yoshiwara and the maid's house with a more comfortable identity."
"As long as you are wearing the special haori worn by the Shirobei Club, even if you stand in the same place for half an hour, others will not think you are strange, they will just think you are standing guard."
"Sneak into the Shirobei Club and travel around Yoshiwara as the manager of Yoshiwara to get information from Gokutaro... It's a good idea." The corners of Lin's mouth turned up.
"I also think this is a good idea." Mamiya agreed, "But who should be sent to sneak into the Shirobei Club?"
"Let me go." Ogata said without hesitation.
"Huh?" Mamiya frowned slightly, "Ogata, do you plan to take on this task yourself?"
"Sneaking into the Shirobei Club - this is what I proposed." Ogata said calmly, "And I know the 'Yoshiwara Doshin' - Kuao Hide."
"Miss Guasheng's status in the Shirobei Club is not low."
"So it would be most appropriate for me to get acquainted with Miss Guasheng and maybe invite Miss Guashou to help me sneak into the Shirobei Club."
Ogata did not explain all the reasons why he planned to sneak into Yoshihara himself.
There is another very important reason why he self-recommends himself - Ogata is confident that he will escape unscathed when he accidentally conflicts with Gokutaro, or directly kill Gokutaro.
Of course, Ogata did not reveal this reason.
After Lin stared at Ogata for a while, she slowly said:
"Ogata Ittosai, if you plan to sneak into the Shirobei Club yourself, I won't stop you."
"But before you sneak into the Shirobei club, I need to tell you something very important."
"During your stay in Edo, you'd better try to minimize the use of the 'Musoku Nito-ryu'."
"If someone sees you using the 'No Self Two Sword Style', it may cause unnecessary trouble."
*******
*******
Let me share with you a still photo.
I will post this still photo in the "commentary" of this paragraph. You can just click on the right side→
This still photo comes from the Taiga drama "Shinsengumi!". It is the two bald characters of Taifu Miyuki in the drama.
I have watched so many Japanese costume dramas with oirans appearing, and the bald figure in this drama is the cutest and has the most "oiran candidate" feeling.
In normal times, bald people will wear the cute long black straight hairstyle in the picture. Only on important occasions such as "Oran Road", they will tie their hair into a bun.