Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 276: Kyoto, bloody storm
"I couldn't even find the bodies of the three of them. I don't even know whether they were burned to death or suffocated by smoke..."
"Since then, I have been the only one running the hotel."
"…I'm sorry." Ogata looked very apologetic.
"Hahaha~~" Granny Gao chuckled a few times, "No need to apologize, I've let it go a long time ago."
"It is natural for all men to die."
"I was just lucky enough to die a little later."
"Although my husband, son, daughter-in-law and grandson are all gone and I feel lonely sometimes, I am very happy every day now."
"There is grandma cake to eat every day."
“From time to time there are little surprises.”
"Like today - if I had died yesterday, I wouldn't have met a handsome young man like you today."
"As long as you keep living, you can experience these little surprises from time to time."
"If possible, I would like to live for a few more decades."
"Oh, am I talking too much? Am I disturbing your meal?"
The smile on Granny Gao's face showed a hint of apology.
"Before, some guests complained that I disturbed their meals..."
"Nothing." Ogata shook his head, "It didn't affect my eating."
Having said this, Ogata paused.
After a moment's silence, the cakes placed on the table smiled and pursed their chins.
"Grandma Gao, are there any specialties from your hometown?"
"Oh? Sir, you are interested in this."
"I have always been interested in food. Tell me more about the food in your hometown."
"Wow, wow, wow~~ I'm so happy. It's been a long time since I met a guest like you who took the initiative to ask me about the delicacies of my hometown."
"But if I introduce them one by one, it might take a long time."
"It's okay." Ogata waved his hand. "I have a whole night to chat with you."
"Wow wow wow~~" Granny Gao's eyes flickered as she looked at Ogata, "Sir, you are so gentle...Okay! Then I will introduce them to you one by one!"
Just as Granny Gao was about to introduce the delicacies of her hometown to Ogata one by one——
Crack...
The door of the hotel was slowly opened.
"Excuse me, do you have any vacancies here?"
A powerful and magnetic middle-aged male voice came from the open door.
Hearing this familiar voice, Ogata's pupils shrank slightly.
He suddenly followed the sound and turned towards the hotel gate.
At the entrance of the inn, there stood a large number of samurai wearing special black uniforms.
The middle-aged man standing in the front row had a heroic look and a righteous air—it was Hasegawa Heizo, whom I hadn’t seen for a while.
Several people led by Hasegawa Heizo blocked Ogata's view, so Ogata could not see how many subordinates were standing behind Hasegawa Heizo.
But according to his own observation, the number of officials beside and behind Hasegawa Heizo was at least over 20.
After seeing Hasegawa Heizo, Ogata subconsciously raised his hand and reached out to Daishakuten and Daijizai placed on the tatami beside him.
But just as he stretched out his hand, Xu Fang suddenly remembered something.
After taking a look at Grandma Gao who was sitting next to him, Ogata retracted his hand that was about to reach for his knife.
The same is true for Hasegawa Heizo.
After Hasegawa Heizo and other officials beside him, such as Imai, recognized Ogata, they subconsciously reached for the knife at their left waist.
But as soon as he raised his hand, Hasegawa Heizo glanced at Granny Gao - and then retracted his hand like Ogata did.
At the same time, he gestured to Imai and others beside him, indicating that they should not be nervous and should not draw their swords.
Grandma Gao, who didn't notice Ogata and Hasegawa's little actions, was full of excitement.
"Wow, wow, wow~~ I am so lucky today. There are so many guests visiting us."
"We still have rooms available, but the number of rooms is a little insufficient. It may not be enough for all of you to stay."
"It doesn't matter." Hasegawa shook his head. "We can share a room with a few people. As long as we have a place to stay overnight, it's enough."
"Okay! By the way, have you had dinner?"
"not yet."
"If it's convenient, would you like to have dinner here?"
"...Thank you very much."
…
…
When Hasegawa Heizo led his subordinates into the house, Ogata deliberately counted the number of Hasegawa Heizo and others - including Hasegawa Heizo, there were 23 people in total.
The number of people is much smaller than the last time they chased Kinoshita Lin in Tatsuno Domain.
"Um... Sir." Granny Gao said to Ogata with an apologetic look on her face, "Excuse me, do you mind if these guests sit next to you?"
"I don't mind." Ogata smiled, "It would be nice to have a few more people to chat with me."
Seeing that Ogata agreed, Granny Gao immediately smiled happily.
The person who came and sat next to Ogata was, as Ogata had expected, Hasegawa Heizo.
Hasegawa Heizo led several of his subordinates and sat next to Ogata.
Although Hasegawa and his friends were many in number, if they squeezed together, they could all be seated in the restaurant on the first floor.
Granny Gao quickly prepared the dishes ordered by Hasegawa and brought them all up.
Even a country girl like Granny Gao could tell that Hasegawa and the others were officials - after all, apart from the officials, no one else would wear such neat and uniform uniforms.
Granny Gao couldn't hold back her curiosity and couldn't help asking about the identities of Hasegawa and the others.
Hasegawa did not hide anything and directly said which government office they were from and revealed his own identity.
After learning that this group of people were the officials of the fire thieves Kai, and the middle-aged man in front of her was the famous Hasegawa Heizo, Granny Gao showed a look of surprise.
"You are Lord Hasegawa Heizo of 'Ima Ooka'!"
"I didn't expect that you, mother-in-law, actually knew me..." Hasegawa smiled slightly.
"Of course! Those storytellers in Kyoto are always telling your stories!"
"I remember that the office you are in charge of, Mr. Hasegawa, specializes in investigating thieves and arsonists, right?"
"That's right." Hasegawa nodded.
"While pursuing thieves and arsonists, we also catch murderers from time to time." Ogata, who was sitting nearby, responded in a half-joking tone.
"So! May I ask if you are here with your men to investigate the Tianming Fire?"
Because of her excitement, Granny Gao's body involuntarily leaned forward towards Hasegawa.
"Huh?" Hasegawa was stunned when he heard Granny Gao's irrelevant question.
After a while, Hasegawa came to his senses and shook his head with a wry smile.
"I'm sorry, I didn't come to your place to investigate the Tianming Fire."
"The Tianming fire happened two years ago."
"It's been so long, there's no way to investigate."
"Besides—the Tianming fire had already been decided."
"It was a tragic incident in which a vacant house on the outskirts of the city caught fire for unknown reasons."
"So there's nothing to investigate."
A look of disappointment appeared on Granny Gao's face at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"But, but...I heard that the fire was man-made..."
"Mother-in-law..." Hasegawa smiled bitterly, "These rumors are just hearsay, don't take them seriously."
"This is a common occurrence. Whenever a major case occurs, all kinds of rumors will circulate among the people in the market."
"These rumors are basically just made up by people after dinner."
"So, mother-in-law, you should take the shogunate's announcement as the standard and listen less to these rumors whose origins are unknown."
"...That's true." Grandma Gao raised the corners of her mouth slightly and revealed a smile.
However, there was something... far-fetched about Grandma Gao's smile.
"Even if we really want to investigate, we won't find anything after two years..."
"Ah, just then." Ogata, who had half a granola cake in his mouth, suddenly whispered, "Grandma cake. I just realized now that this granola cake is filled with a lot of red bean paste. It's sweet and delicious."
"Yes." Hearing what Ogata said, Granny Gao's eyes lit up a little, "The grandma cakes here are the most authentic grandma cakes, eat more ."
"Mr. Hasegawa." Ogata handed a piece of grandma cake on the table to Hasegawa, "Don't just talk, eat some of this grandma cake together, it tastes very good."
When saying "Don't just talk," Ogata emphasized the tone.
After hearing that Ogata had something else in mind, Hasegawa narrowed his eyes slightly.
After saying "You're welcome", Hasegawa stuffed the grandma cake handed to him by Ogata into his mouth.
The moment after taking the laolao cake into his mouth, Hasegawa's eyes lit up.
"Grandma Gao, let's continue with the topic we were talking about." Ogata smiled at Grandma Gao and said, "Tell me about the various specialties of your hometown - Asai Kusatsu."
"Wow, wow, wow~~Okay!" Granny Gao seemed quite interested in this topic, and the sparkling .
"Master Hasegawa, are you interested in joining us?"
"...Sure. I happen to be interested in this kind of local delicacies."
…
…
at the same time--
In a certain alley in Kyoto——
"belch……"
The drunk young samurai, Koga Shichisaburo, was holding on to the wall and moving forward step by step along the alley.
Because the Gion Festival was being held, the whole of Kyoto was immersed in a joyful atmosphere.
Influenced by the joyful atmosphere, Koga drank a little too much tonight.
"It's so uncomfortable... I shouldn't have drunk so much..."
Although he said this, there was no remorse on Koga's face.
In order to go home and rest early, Koga chose this shortcut that he rarely takes.
This shortcut is just an ordinary alley.
Although it is just a somewhat remote alley, it is not completely deserted on weekdays.
At this moment, there were five people, including Koga, walking in this alley.
With the help of the wall, Koga moved forward slowly and methodically.
Just then - Koga suddenly saw someone standing still in front of him.
Raise your eyes and look forward.
He is a samurai who also has two swords on his waist.
The samurai just casually stood with his legs apart, blocking Koga's way.
"What?" Koga's mood was a little unstable due to drinking.
Koga continued shouting at the samurai who was blocking his way in front of him with an obviously impatient tone.
"Don't block other people's way! Get out of the way!"
The samurai ignored Koga's words.
He responded to Koga with just... one action.
The samurai lifted up the thumb of his left hand which was pressed on the scabbard at his left waist, and ejected the blade of the katana from the scabbard, then slowly drew the sword out of the scabbard.
The cold light reflected from the blade of the katana slightly illuminated the dim alley.
At this moment, Koga and the samurai were not the only people in this alley.
Seeing the warrior suddenly draw his sword, other passers-by around him exclaimed in surprise.
"...It looks like he's someone who's looking for trouble with me!" Facing the samurai who suddenly drew his sword, Koga was not afraid at all.
Koga, who felt a little sober, slowly drew out his katana and said:
"Do you know who I am?"
"I am the third seat of Seigakukan - Koga Nanashiburo!"
"I don't know if you're here to make money or just to kill people."
"But you're unlucky to run into me!"
"Come on..."
Before Koga could utter the last syllable of the sentence "Come on," the samurai in front of him suddenly kicked forward in front of Koga at a speed far beyond Koga's imagination.
His pupils suddenly shrank, and he subconsciously wanted to swing his sword at the warrior in front of him.
But before Koga could even raise his sword, the samurai's blade had already cut Koga's neck.
Large streams of blood spurted out from Koga's neck, splattering all over the wall next to him.
After beheading Koga with one blow, the samurai did not stop at all. He swung the sword in his hand downward heavily, shook off the blood on the blade, and quickly left the place.
Only the other passers-by who happened to be in the alley were left screaming in fear...
…
…
After receiving reports from the citizens, several like-minded people quickly rushed to the scene of Koga's murder.
Looking at Koga's tragic death, these people all felt uncomfortable in their stomachs.
"Hey!" One of them asked the citizens who happened to be at the scene when Koga was killed, "Did you see what the murderer looks like?"
The citizens nodded.
Seeing that these citizens had seen the murderer's appearance, the fellow believers felt relieved.
Someone had seen what the murderer looked like - this would make their investigation much easier.
"We'll have to trouble you to come with us later." Another fellow said to the witnesses, "We need you to describe the murderer's appearance to us in detail."
These witnesses all showed obvious reluctance on their faces.
It was already late, and no one wanted to be questioned by the government warriors so late at night.
Although unwilling in their hearts, none of the witnesses explicitly expressed their dissatisfaction out loud.
After all, they are just ordinary people who usually behave themselves and do not have the courage to disobey the government.
Just as these like-minded people were about to take these witnesses back to their office, a man dressed in the same like-minded manner ran towards them.
"Oh no! There's a murder in Mihara District! A civilian was killed by having his throat slit!"
"Sanyuan District?" Several like-minded people exclaimed in surprise.
Sanyuan District happens to be nearby.
An ominous premonition arose in the hearts of these like-minded people.
Two murders happened in such a short time - they haven't encountered such a sensational thing for a long time...
