Volume 2 The Executioner Chapter 83: Playing Games (Part 1)

The disciples of Sakakibara Sword Hall, led by Mikami, looked quietly at Matsudaira Gennai and his group who were sitting opposite them with nervous, confused and at a loss.

The sudden arrival of Matsudaira Gennai and others made everyone, including Hanbei, feel quite uneasy.

Especially when their lord is a cruel person.

Matsudaira Gennai had a brutal temperament - this was well known among the samurai of the Hirose domain.

But no one dared to tell this fact to others.

Everyone, including Hanbei, hoped that Matsudaira Gennai really just came to borrow some tea.

I was hoping that Matsudaira Gennai would finish his tea and leave quickly.

Matsudaira Gennai sipped the tea in his cup and spoke to Hanbei beside him in a nonchalant manner:

"This is my first time at your Sakakibara Sword Hall."

"I've heard before that there is a young sword school in our domain called 'Sakakibara Sword School'."

"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."

"You have quite a lot of disciples in your sword hall."

As soon as Matsudaira Gennai finished speaking, the flattering smile on Hanbei's face became even more intense, and he responded to what Matsudaira Gennai had just said.

While responding, Hanbei thought to himself:

——Looking at it this way, the Lord seems quite normal...

Hanbei was originally worried that the notorious Matsudaira Gennai would be an absurd person who couldn't even have a normal conversation with others.

But now it seems that this Matsudaira Gennai can still talk to people properly and can even chat with Hanbei.

Hanbei felt a little relieved of his worries and waited quietly for Matsudaira Gennai to finish his tea and leave.

However - at this moment, Matsudaira Gennai suddenly said something that Hanbei couldn't understand.

Matsudaira Gennai looked at the disciples of Sakakibara Kenkan who were kneeling in front of him, and as if he remembered something, he uttered a soft "ah" and 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 that."

--that……?

Hanbei had no idea what "that" Matsudaira Gennai was referring to.

But he instinctively felt that a bad premonition was constantly emerging from his heart...

…

Hirose Domain, Kuranaga's residence.

Ogata, Kuranaga, and Tobisaru returned to the room where they were at the beginning.

"The tragedy at Myozhang Village... is just one of the thousands of tragedies that have occurred since my lord ascended the throne."

"If you don't stop it quickly, my lord, there will be more people like the villagers of Miaozhang Village... No, there will be more people who will fall into a tragedy even more miserable than the villagers of Miaozhang Village."

Kuranaga spoke quietly and Ogata listened quietly.

"In order to stop the lord's brutality, I have thought of various methods and made various efforts."

"But... the lord's cruelty... seems to be innate..."

Having said this, Cangyong closed his eyes in pain.

"No matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, it was all in vain ..."

"Not only has the lord's brutality not been curbed, but it has become even worse..."

"So... after careful consideration, I decided..."

Kuranaga slowly opened his eyes which had just been closed due to pain.

At this moment, there was a fierce light like fire in Cang Yong's eyes.

"Assassinate the lord!"

"The death of my lord will bring peace to the Hirose Domain!"

"So - Ogata-kun, I need your help! I need your sword!"

"...I see." Ogata said softly, "The question you asked me at the beginning - 'Are you willing to be an executioner?' This is what you meant..."

"Do you want me to be your executioner who can help you kill Matsudaira Gennai..."

Having said this, Ogata fell silent.

After a long silence, Ogata asked Kuranaga:

"Master, may I ask you a question? How many executioners have you summoned?"

" Six," Kuranaga answered without hesitation, "if Ogata-kun is willing to lend us a hand, it will be seven."

"Six?" Ogata said with a wry smile. "Such a small number of people want to assassinate a daimyo... Elder, don't you think this is too much of a stretch? Is there no other way to assassinate him? For example, poisoning Matsudaira Gennai's daily meals."

"If you intend to assassinate the lord by poisoning him, it is almost impossible to do it."

Kuranaga sighed softly.

"Every meal the Lord eats and every water he drinks is tested for poison by a special person."

"As long as there is a poison tester, it is impossible to kill the lord by poisoning."

"…Then, if you want to end Matsudaira Gennai's life with a sword, what are your plans, elder?"

"How do you plan to take down Matsudaira Gennai's head with your limited combat power?"

As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Tobisaur, who was kneeling next to Kuranaga, spoke first:

"Ogata-kun, I'm sorry. You haven't joined us yet, so we can't tell you all about our plans."

"...That's true." Ogata sighed softly and raised his hand to scratch his hair.

Thanks to Tobisaur's reminder, Ogata realized that he seemed to have asked a very stupid question just now.

His current identity is still just an outsider.

How could Cangyong possibly tell their entire assassination plan to an outsider like him?

"Ogata-kun."

Kuranaga looked directly into Ogata's eyes and said seriously.

"Now—will you tell me your answer?"

"Are you willing to join us and help us achieve our goal?"

Hearing Kuranaga's question, Ogata suddenly felt that his thighs seemed to sense the warm touch of Rikichi's tears of blood falling on his thighs again.

Reggie's screams echoed in my ears again.

The horrific scenes that he had just seen in that dim room reappeared before his eyes.

Recalling this, Ogata's hands, which were originally placed naturally on his legs, began to slowly clench up and his lips were tightly pursed.

His eyes also looked to his right uncontrollably.

He looked at the katana quietly placed on the tatami to his right...

…

Hirose Domain, Sakakibara Sword School.

Whether it was the masters and disciples of Sakakibara Sword Hall or Matsudaira Gennai and his group, they were all kneeling at the edge of the dojo.

Except for Matsudaira Gennai.

Matsudaira Gennai sat carefree and casually on the wooden floor at the edge of the dojo, his legs spread wide.

At this time, Matsudaira Gennai was looking 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.