Even while riding a horse, Arima’s spine remained perfectly perpendicular to the ground.
Seeing a familiar face approaching, Aoto felt a surge of warmth in his heart and quickly moved forward to greet him.
"Lord Arima, are you leading this troop?"
"Yes. Upon receiving Lord Governor’s orders, I imdiately rallied our forces and rushed over to support you."
With that, Arima dismounted and stood before Aoto.
"Mr. Tachibana..." Arima, with a mix of emotions including relief and joy, looked Aoto over several tis before urgently asking, "You’re not hurt, are you?"
"If I were seriously injured, I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you like this." Aoto joked.
Arima chuckled softly, then raised his hand and patted Aoto’s shoulder with a moderate strength, "It’s good that you’re not seriously hurt, it’s good that you’re not seriously hurt..."
Countless words were expressed with that gentle pat on the shoulder.
...
...
Edo, in a spacious residence, a certain room—
This was a room with an extrely simple arrangent.
There was almost no furniture, the empty room contained only a large decorative screen.
On the screen was a painting of extre grotesqueness: Night Parade of Hundred Demons.
In the painting, there were hordes of nacing evil ghosts, brandishing claws and roars.
With a faint smile on his face, Rakshasa sat nonchalantly in front of this screen.
A tachi with a red scabbard and handle lay quietly to Rakshasa’s left.
A middle-aged man with a large burn scar on his left cheek solemnly sat behind Rakshasa to his right.
If there were soone with sufficient knowledge of Edo’s "underground world" present, they would surely be surprised upon seeing this middle-aged man.
This person was none other than the leader of Edo’s largest Yakuza Group, to whom Aoto owed money: Shimizu Eiichi.
In Edo’s "underground world," Shimizu Eiichi, who wielded imnse influence, now sat in dignified solemnity like a "devoted child" behind the only just over twenty-year-old Rakshasa...
Whoosh...
At this mont, a sliding door on the east side of the tea room was suddenly pulled open.
"Oh oh... Mr. Kamino." Rakshasa turned his head toward the door being opened, revealing a radiant smile, "You ca quickly. Co, sit down quickly."
Rakshasa pointed to the spot in front of him.
Standing outside the opened door was Shinno, his face very dark.
Shinno glanced at Rakshasa seated in the main position of the tea room and at Shimizu Eiichi behind Rakshasa, before quickly entering the tea room and walking to the front of the two.
"Lord Rakshasa, Lord Shimizu."
Shinno did not sit imdiately, but first bent respectfully at a ninety-degree bow to the two before kneeling down at the spot Rakshasa had indicated.
"Lord Rakshasa." Shinno asked Rakshasa softly using the most respectful language possible, "May I ask why you summoned here?"
"Nothing much." Rakshasa stretched out the pinky finger of his right hand and scratched his right ear, "I just wanted to see how you’re doing these days."
"I’ve heard—your Anti-foreigner Group failed the mission to take Anthony and Elodie’s heads."
"Not only did you fail to kill them, but you also lost over sixty lives including Mogami and Yamada."
As soon as Rakshasa finished speaking, Shinno’s already sour face grew darker, and his hands resting on his thighs subconsciously clenched.
"...Lord Rakshasa, I am truly ashad to see you." Shinno shut his eyes.
"You’ve provided with the intelligence on Anthony the faction traitor’s whereabouts and even sold us matchlock guns."
"In the end, our supposed sure-fire operation ended in utter defeat..."
"Hahaha, there’s no need to worry about displeasing ." Rakshasa laughed heartily, "Losing is nothing serious; in the seventy years since we established the Law Punishnt Faction, countless battles have been lost."
"Even several tis, our entire organization nearly disappeared into the annals of history."
"Failure isn’t frightening; not knowing why you failed and not knowing how to avoid repeating the sa mistakes is what’s truly terrifying."
Having said that, Rakshasa adjusted to a more comfortable sitting position.
"Shinno, have you uncovered any clues on how your operation failed?"
"I’ve thoroughly questioned those who escaped back." Shinno replied, "It’s already clear; our Anti-foreigner Group suffered such a miserable defeat because of one person."
"One person?" Rakshasa’s eyebrows slightly raised.
"A samurai nad Tachibana Aoto."
"Tachibana Aoto...? Is it that Tachibana Aoto from the Edo North Guard Station Patrol District?"
"Lord Rakshasa, do you know him?" Shinno looked at Rakshasa’s strange expression in surprise.
"...I suppose I know of him." The odd expression on Rakshasa’s face faded, returning to a gentle smile, "Shinno, tell in detail; how did this Tachibana Aoto cause your operation to result in total defeat?"
Shinno nodded vigorously several tis and began to systematically narrate to Rakshasa what he had heard from the n who had returned, detailing the "battle’s beginning and end."
Aoto had long been on their Anti-foreigner Group’s "assassination list," so quite a few mbers of the group knew Aoto’s face.
When Aoto erged to lead the counterattack with Oomura and others, many of them imdiately recognized that this man was the "faction traitor" their group had tried and failed to assassinate three tis.
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