The disciples of the Sakakibara Sword Hall, headed by Mikami, quietly looked at Matsudaira Gennai and his group sitting opposite them with nervous, confused, and overwhelmed eyes.
The sudden arrival of Matsudaira Gennai and others made everyone - including Hanbei feel quite uneasy.
Especially under the premise that their lord is still a cruel person.
Matsudaira Gennai's cruel temperament was well known among the warriors of Hirose Domain.
But no one dared to openly tell others about this fact.
Everyone, including Hanbei, was hoping that Gennai Matsudaira would simply come to borrow some tea.
Looking forward to Matsudaira Gennai leaving quickly after drinking tea.
Matsudaira Gennai was sipping the tea in his cup while talking to Hanbei next to him in a nonchalant manner:
"This is my first time coming to your Sakakibara Kenkan."
"I have heard before that there is a young swords hall in our domain named 'Sakakihara Sword Hall'."
"It wasn't until today that I changed my route back to the city on a whim and passed by the gate of your sword hall by chance."
"There are quite a lot of disciples in your sword academy."
As soon as Matsudaira Gennai finished speaking, the flattering smile on Hanbei's face became more intense, and he echoed what Matsudaira Gennai had just said.
While responding, Hanbei thought to himself:
——Looking at it this way, the lord is quite normal...
Hanbei was originally worried that the notorious Matsudaira Gennai would be a ridiculous person who could not even have a normal conversation with others.
But now it seems that Gennai Matsudaira can still talk to people well, and can even have a casual chat with Hanbei.
Hanbei, who felt that his worries were relieved a little, quietly waited for Gennai Matsudaira to quickly finish his tea and then leave.
However - at this moment, Matsudaira Genchi suddenly said something that Hanbei couldn't figure out what it meant.
Matsudaira Gennai looked at the disciples of the Sakakihara Sword Hall who were kneeling in front of him. As if he remembered something, he said softly "Ah" and then said:
"Since these people are all disciples of this sword hall, they should be very good at swordsmanship, right? In that case, let's play with that."
--that……?
Hanbei didn't know what "that" Matsudaira Gennai was referring to.
But he instinctively felt that there were bad premonitions emerging from his heart...
…
…
Hirose Domain, Kuranaga's residence.
Ogata, Kuronaga, and Tobiru returned to the room where they were at the beginning.
"The tragedy in Miaozhang Village... is just one of the thousands of tragedies that have happened since my lord came to the throne."
"If the lord is not stopped as soon as possible, there will be more people like the villagers of Miaozhang Village... no, more people will fall into a tragedy even more tragic than the villagers of Miaozhang Village."
Kuronaga spoke quietly, and Ogata listened quietly.
"In order to stop the lord's cruelty, I have thought of various methods and made various efforts."
"But... the lord's cruelty... seems to be innate..."
Having said this, Kurunaga closed his eyes in pain.
"No matter what I did, no matter what efforts I made, it was all in vain..."
"Not only has the lord's cruelty not been curbed, but it has intensified..."
"So... after some careful consideration, I decided..."
Kuronaga slowly opened his eyes that he had just closed due to pain.
Kurunaga's eyes at this moment were filled with intense light like fire.
"Assassinate the lord!"
"With the death of my lord, I can bring peace to the Hirose Domain!"
"Therefore - Ogata-kun, I need your help! I need your sword!"
"...I see." Ogata said softly, "That's what you meant by the question you asked me at the beginning - 'Are you willing to be an executioner?'..."
"Do you want me to be an executioner who can help you assassinate Matsudaira Gennai..."
Speaking of this, Ogata became silent.
After being silent for a while, Ogata Asakura Naga asked:
"My lord, let me ask you a question - how many executioners have you summoned?"
"Six." Kuranagi replied unequivocally, "If you, Ogata-kun, are willing to help us, it will be seven."
"Six..." Ogata said with a bitter smile, "Such a small number of people want to assassinate a country's daimyo... Lord, don't you think this is too forced? Isn't there any other way to assassinate? For example, in Matsudaira
Gennai’s daily meals are poisoned or something like that.”
"If you plan to assassinate the lord by poisoning, then it is almost impossible."
Kuronaga sighed softly.
“All the food eaten and all the water drank during the Lord’s Day will be tested for poison by someone specially assigned to do so.”
"As long as there are poison testers around, it is impossible to kill the lord by poisoning."
"...Then, if you have to use a sword to end Matsudaira Gennai's life, what are your plans, my lord?"
"How do you plan to take down Gennai Matsudaira's head with this scarce combat power?"
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Tobiru, who was kneeling next to Kurunaga, said first:
"Ogata-kun, I'm sorry. You haven't joined us yet, so we can't fully inform you of our plan."
"...That's right." Ogata sighed softly and raised his hand to scratch his hair.
Thanks to Tobiru's reminder just now, Ogata realized that he seemed to have asked a very stupid question just now.
His current identity is just an outsider.
How could Kuronaga tell an outsider like him all about their assassination plan?
"Ogata-kun."
Kuronaga looked directly into Ogata's eyes and said seriously.
"Now—can you tell me your answer?"
"Are you willing to join us and work with us to support the great cause?"
Hearing Kurunaga's question, Ogata suddenly felt that his thigh seemed to feel the warm touch of Riki's blood and tears falling on his thigh again.
Li Ji's screams echoed in his ears again.
The horrific scenes he had just seen in that dim room reappeared before his eyes.
Recalling these, Ogata's hands that were naturally placed on his legs began to slowly clench, and his lips tightened.
He looked to his right side uncontrollably.
He looked at the knife placed quietly on the tatami on his right...
…
Hirose Domain, Sakakihara Sword Hall.
Both the masters and disciples of the Sakakihara Sword Hall, as well as Matsudaira Gennai and his party, were all kneeling on the edge of the dojo.
Except for Matsudaira Gennai.
Matsudaira Gennai was carefree, sitting casually on the wooden floor at the edge of the dojo, with his legs spread wide.
At this time, Matsudaira Gennai looked at the center of the dojo with great interest.
In the center of the dojo, two people were standing facing each other holding real swords.
These two people are Mikami respectively.
And the youngest disciple of their Sakakihara Sword Hall—Goro Sawamura.