Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 291: Found Ogata Ittosai! (Part 2)
"After talking so much, I even forgot to introduce myself..." The old man gave Ogata and Atachi a somewhat apologetic smile, "My name is Hirajo, and I have lived in Kyoto since I was a child. I have lived in Kyoto for decades, so I am quite familiar with Kyoto."
"Since you two are foreigners who have come to Kyoto for a special trip, you must not know much about Kyoto."
"If you have any questions about Kyoto, you can always come to me."
"I live nearby and usually only go out around here."
"Ah, but I certainly won't be here tonight."
"I'm going to take my family to see 'Yamaboko Parade' tonight."
After saying this, a faint smile of satisfaction appeared on Pingzhang's face.
Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be looking forward to tonight's "Yamaboko Parade" just like the people around him.
…
…
After bidding farewell to Hirajo and leaving the maintenance site of "Mantis Mountain", Ogata and Atachi began their search for the hotel again.
Since arriving in Kyoto, Osamu has never carefully observed the expressions and looks of the people around him, nor has he carefully felt the atmosphere around him.
It was not until he calmed down and carefully observed his surroundings that Ogata discovered that almost everyone on the street had a festive look on their faces.
There was a child not far away, holding a boy and a girl's hands in his left and right hands respectively. The boy and the girl must be the child's parents.
On the left side stood four young girls in their prime. They were all wearing beautiful, brand new yukatas and were talking and laughing.
Although they were quite far away, Ogata could still barely hear the four girls discussing whether or not to grab a good spot to watch the Yamaboko parade while there were not many people around.
On the right was an old man carrying a thick wooden pole and walking towards Ogata and the other man.
The uncle seemed to have met his friend by chance, and he was chatting with his friend while carrying the wooden pillar on his shoulder.
These two people have very loud voices, and you can hear what they are saying even if you don't listen carefully.
"Still working?"
"Yes! There is only one last bit of work ! Let's not talk about it for now! I have to finish this last bit of work quickly. My daughter is still waiting for me to go home and take her to see Yamaboko!"
…
The passers-by who passed by included men, women, old and young.
Some look like they have nothing to do, while others are busy.
And yet—no matter who they were, the expressions on their faces were all divinely similar—full of joy.
After withdrawing his attention from observing the passers-by around him, Ogata whispered in a voice that only he could hear clearly:
"It's just as Heijo said... At this moment, everyone in Kyoto is looking forward to the 'Yamaboko Parade' and fireworks tonight..."
At this moment, Omachi, who was walking beside Ogata, suddenly asked Ogata:
"...Ayi, are you free tonight?"
"Hmm? Of course I'm free. I'll be free until Master Fengma finds out which prison Xuanren is being held in."
"I see... I'm free tonight too."
Ogata turned his head and glanced at Atachi, who was hesitating and seemed to have something to say.
Thinking of how Atachi was very interested in Yamaboko after seeing "Mantis Mountain", a smile appeared on Ogata's slightly raised lips.
"…A-machi, let's go watch the 'Yamaboko Parade' together tonight."
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Atachi immediately said with a happy face:
"OK!"
——You answered really quickly...
Ogata said helplessly in his heart.
——Have you been waiting for me to say this in person?
…
…
It was not until they walked out of the residential area that Ogata and Atachi finally found a restaurant - a ramen restaurant.
Neither Ogata nor Atachi wanted to waste any more time on an aimless "restaurant search", so they decided to have dinner at this ordinary-looking ramen restaurant.
Until now, ramen is not very popular throughout Japan.
At the end of the Ming Dynasty and the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, a scholar named Zhu Shunshui saw that there was no hope of restoring the Ming Dynasty. In order to preserve the national integrity, he resolutely bid farewell to his homeland, abandoned his hometown, and went into exile in Japan.
When he went into exile in Japan, he was treated well by the then lord of Mito Domain, Tokugawa Mitsukuni, who invited Zhu Shunshui to give lectures in Edo.
Zhu Shunshui, who went into exile in Japan, not only brought advanced academic ideas and production technology, but also brought food - ramen.
There are generally two theories about how Zhu Shunshui brought ramen to the attention of the Japanese public.
The first theory is that when Zhu Shunshui first came to Japan, he was not used to the Japanese food, so he decided to do it himself and invented ramen by himself.
The ramen he created not only suits Zhu Shunshui's own taste, but also the Japanese's.
There is also a second version that Zhu Shunshui personally cooked a dish - ramen - to entertain Tokugawa Mitsukuni in order to thank him for taking care of him.
Regardless of which statement is correct, in short, Zhu Shunshui successfully brought ramen to Japan.
Although more than a hundred years have passed since ramen appeared in Japan, it has not yet become widely popular in the country.
It seemed that Atachi had never eaten ramen before. After entering the ramen restaurant, she kept looking around with curiosity.
Although it is already lunchtime, there are still many empty seats in the ramen restaurant.
Ogata and Atachi randomly found an empty seat and sat down.
After sitting down and casually ordering two bowls of ramen, Atachi let out a long sigh:
"Ah... I'm so tired... I really can't get used to wearing wooden clogs... The space between my big toe and second toe is a little painful..."
"I'm not used to wearing wooden clogs either." Ogata, who was sitting opposite A-machi, agreed, "They're too inconvenient to move around in. Straw sandals are more convenient."
"Yes." Atachi nodded slightly, then suddenly looked straight at Ogata.
Just when Ogata was wondering if there was something on his face, Atachi suddenly said seriously:
"Ayi... when I was cleaning the mansion of Master Fuma with you, I discovered..."
"Isn't the 'dark purple' area on the left side of your neck a little bigger..."
"Really?" Ogata looked a little surprised and raised his hand to touch his left neck. "I just looked in the mirror and checked my left neck yesterday. The area shouldn't have expanded, right?"
"…That must be my illusion. After all, I haven't seen you for a while."
Because there were not many customers at the moment, the ramen ordered by Ogata and Atachi was served quickly.
At that time, Japanese ramen was still in its infancy and did not have so many varieties and flavors.
This ramen shop sells only two kinds of noodles: clear soup ramen and soy sauce ramen.
Although you can freely choose the toppings for your noodles when ordering, the only toppings available are common ones like bamboo shoots and fish, and there are not many types of toppings.
You can't eat while wearing this mask that only reveals a pair of eyes.
So after the ramen was served, Obe took off the Tengu mask on his face and placed it on a corner of the table.
Ogata was not worried that the people in the ramen restaurant would recognize him as the famous Ogata Ittosai.
First of all, there are not many people in this ramen restaurant now.
Secondly, almost all civilians would not pay much attention to the faces on the wanted posters.
Even in modern times, where information flows at an astonishingly fast speed, few ordinary people would remember the faces of wanted criminals.
This is the experience that Ogata has gained since leaving the Hirose domain.
Just as Ogata and Omachi were silently enjoying each other's ramen, Omachi suddenly raised his head.
"Ogata, did you hear that?"
"What did you hear?"
Ogata raised his eyes from the bowl in front of him and listened carefully.
"Listen to the noise outside the store. Do you hear the candy man seller?"
Ogata devoted more attention and energy to his ears.
After exerting almost all of his strength, Ogata finally heard the sound of someone selling sugar figures outside the ramen shop.
However, the shouting was intermittent and it was possible that it would not be heard at any time - the candy seller should be about to go far away.
"I'll go buy some candies." Ating licked his lips and put down the chopsticks in his hand. "You continue eating. I'll be back soon."
After saying that, without waiting for Ogata to respond, Atachi quickly left his seat and walked out of the ramen shop.
After watching Atachi leave, Ogata's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a smile with a hint of helplessness.
After taking his eyes away from Atachi who had already left, Ogata continued to concentrate on finishing the ramen in front of him.
But - before I could take a few more bites, a very loud noise suddenly came from outside the ramen shop.
Ogata turned his head and saw five men of different ages wearing ordinary kosode pull open the paper sliding door of the ramen shop, then walked in one after another through the opened paper sliding door and stood at the door of the ramen shop.
These five young men were all wearing very ordinary clothes and had no swords on their waists.
The manager of the ramen restaurant mistook these five people for important customers and immediately came over with a smile on his face.
The young man standing in front of the five young men was quite polite. He leaned over and whispered something in the manager's ear. The manager then immediately retreated with a respectful look on his face.
After the store manager left, the five young men moved their eyes around the ramen shop, as if they were looking for something.
Due to the distance and the fact that the young man spoke to the store manager in a low voice, Ogata did not hear what the young man said to the store manager.
Ogata didn't care what they said to each other.
After glancing at the five young men a few times, Xu Fang withdrew his gaze and prepared to continue concentrating on eating the noodles in front of him.
However, just as Ogata scooped up a handful of noodles with his chopsticks, a terrified shout suddenly rang out from the entrance of the store:
“Look!”
This horrified shout immediately attracted the attention of everyone in the ramen shop, including Ogata.
Ogata turned his gaze back to the store door.
After turning his gaze back to the five young men, a look of surprise appeared on Ogata's face.
Because Ogata discovered that the eyes of these five young men seemed to be fixed on him.
The person who just shouted in fear was one of these five young men.
This person's finger was pointing at Ogata...
After the young man uttered this terrified shout, the other four young men turned their eyes to Ogata.
After all eyes were focused on Ogata, the expressions on the faces of the other four young men also changed suddenly.
——What happened...
Before a complete doubt could even emerge in Ogata's mind.
The five young men reached behind their backs with their right hands in unison, as if they had rehearsed the move beforehand.
Then each of them pulled out a ten-handed sword from his waist.
The total length of the ten hands is shorter.
The five young men had their weapons stuck on their waists all the time, so everyone in front of them - including Ogata - did not notice that they had weapons stuck on their waists.
After pulling out their respective ten arms, the leader of the five young men said to Ogata in a deep voice:
"Sir, please come with us!"
"We now suspect that you are related to the murder case that is causing unrest in Kyoto!"
As soon as the young man said this, the other people in the store looked terrified.
Some people who were closer to Ogata even crawled away from him.
"Murder case?" Ogata frowned. "Did you make a mistake? I'm just a wanderer who just came to Kyoto for sightseeing today."
"If we are mistaken, please come with us first and then we will tell you! If you are really innocent, we will set you free and apologize to you!"
"I advise you to cooperate. If you resist, you will only appear more suspicious!"
After saying this, the officers clenched their hands tightly and strode towards Ogata without waiting for Ogata to explain anything.
Just now, when Ogata asked the five officers whether they had made a mistake, he was not just asking a simple question.
While asking the five officers whether they had made a mistake, Ogata secretly observed the location of every window of the ramen restaurant.
Not far to his right, there happened to be a window that was wide open, just wide enough for him to pass through...
After taking an inconspicuous glance at the window, a bitter smile appeared on Ogata's face.
"...I understand. I'll go with you." Ogata grabbed the mask placed on the corner of the table, and slowly stood up while speaking.
After hearing what Ogata said, the five young men's tense faces relaxed.
However, before they could relax for long, they saw Ogata slowly standing up and suddenly speeding up and running towards the window not far from him...
"Quick! Catch him!"
"Catch him! Catch him!"
…
By the time the five young men realized Ogata's intention and chased after him, Ogata had already successfully passed through the window and escaped outside the store...
Even though he knew he was innocent, Ogata would not just follow the officers obediently.
Although he had not committed any murder in Kyoto, the various sins he had committed, such as regicide and the killing of hundreds of people, were all much more serious than ordinary murders...
If you choose to lay down your weapons and follow the government obediently, you will be doomed.
Therefore, when the five young men came towards him with their hands clasped, Obe was left with only two options: to escape or to kill the five young men.
And Ogata chose the former without hesitation.
The reason is very simple—there are many innocent people in the ramen shop.
Not far from Ogata, there happened to be a couple of parents and a little girl - a family of three having dinner there.
Fighting one against many in such a cramped environment, even someone as strong as Ogata could not guarantee that he would not accidentally hurt others when swinging his sword.
Even if Ogata could avoid causing any casualties, these five officers might not be able to do so.
What's more, Ogata didn't intend to kill anyone in front of a child or let the child see with his own eyes the scene of a human being killed.
After escaping from the window to the outside of the ramen shop, Obuchi held the two swords at his waist, lowered his body's center of gravity, and quickly ran towards a dim alley not far away.
Although his mind was still in a state of confusion, Ogata instinctively realized that he might have been involved in some big trouble without knowing it...
