In Edo, the inn where Ogata and others stayed.
call--!
After returning to the inn, Makimura and Asai pulled open the paper sliding door of the large room where their group of men lived.
After opening the door, the two were shocked to see Asai sitting on the tatami, while Mamiya was nowhere to be found.
"Asai." Makimura asked, "Where's Mamiya?"
"Mamiya just went to the bathroom." Asai said lightly.
"Where are the lord and Mr. Ogata?"
"They haven't come back yet."
"So that means there are only four of us going back to the inn..." Mucun muttered as he casually found a place to sit cross-legged.
"Ah... I'm so tired..." Shimada complained softly and sat down on the tatami casually.
As soon as Shimada's buttocks touched the tatami mat at his feet, Asai, who was sitting in front of Shimada, suddenly raised his eyebrows:
"Hmm? Shimada, why do you have an extra wakizashi on your waist? What's with that extra wakizashi?"
At this moment, Shimada had three swords stuck in his left waist - one katana and two wakizashi.
"Ah? Oh, this one."
Shimada took off one of the wakizashi from his waist.
“I bought it today.”
"Did you buy it today?"
Shimada told Asai the origin of the knife in detail.
According to Shimada, he bought this wakizashi from a pawnshop he happened to pass by when he was out with Makimura to collect intelligence.
This wakizashi was placed on the counter of the pawnshop at that time. Shimada fell in love with it at first sight, and the price was not very expensive. The only drawback was that the guard and the blade were obviously not matched, and the hole in the guard was smaller than the blade.
But after weighing the pros and cons, Shimada felt that the mismatch between the guard and the blade was just a minor problem that outweighed the merits, so he bought the wakizashi back.
Asai is currently in a state of having nothing to do and feeling bored.
After learning that the wakizashi around Shimada's waist was a newly bought sword, Asai became very interested and asked Shimada to take out the new sword so that they could appreciate it together.
Shimada, who also didn't know what to do next, readily agreed to Asai's suggestion and handed the wakizashi to Asai.
Just as Asai took the wakizashi from Shimada, the door of the room was opened again.
The person who opened the door this time was Mamiya who had just returned from urinating.
Seeing Mamiya coming back, Asai immediately said:
"Mamiya, you're back just in time. You're the one who has to judge the sword."
"What is knife appraisal?" Mamiya was confused.
Asai and others explained to Mamiya what had happened in the simplest terms possible.
"Oh! Is this the new sword that Shimada bought?" Mamiya raised his eyebrows, and a hint of interest appeared on his face. "Then let's take a look together. It's just right to kill some time."
After saying that, Mamiya sat cross-legged in front of Asai.
After Mamiya sat down on the tatami, Asai handed Shimada's wakizashi to Mamiya.
As soon as Mamiya took over Shimada's wakizashi, Shimada asked in confusion:
"Hmm? Mamiya-senpai, you can actually appraise knives?"
Just as Mamiya was about to say something, Makimura took the lead and said in a joking tone:
"Shimada, you just joined us last year, so you are not as familiar with every aspect of Calabash House as we are."
"Once you stay in the Calabash House for a long time, you will find that it is difficult to encounter things that Mamiya cannot do."
Mamiya just laughed off Makimura's joke.
After taking the wakizashi from Asai's hand, Mamiya did not rush to draw , but placed the sword on the tatami in front of his knees, and then took out a handkerchief from his arms.
"Does anyone have a handkerchief or paper?" Mamiya asked the three people in front of him, "Lend it to me."
"I have a handkerchief." As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Asai nodded, then took out a handkerchief from his arms and handed it to Mamiya.
"Thank you. Remember not to talk and breathe lightly later, so as not to let your saliva spray onto the blade."
Since he was already back in the hotel, there was no need to disguise himself anymore. Before returning to the room, Mamiya had already put his glasses back on his nose.
After instructing Makimura and the other two in this way, Mamiya first adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose, then folded his own handkerchief into a square shape, placed it under his lips, and bit it with his teeth.
After blocking his mouth with a handkerchief, Mamiya pulled the wakizashi out of the sheath, and then used skillful techniques to remove the nails that fixed the handle and the blade.
Then separate all the parts such as the handle, guard, and blade.
Because the size of the sword guard was not suitable, Mamiya had to take a lot of effort to remove it.
After separating the various parts of the wakizashi, Mamiya used the handkerchief lent to him by Asai to grab the blade at the bottom of the blade, lifted up the blade of the wakizashi, and began to carefully inspect every part of the blade from top to bottom.
The blade of a samurai sword can be roughly divided into two parts: the lower stem that fits into the handle, and the upper blade.
Some famous knife makers will engrave their names on the blade.
Only those swordsmiths with top-notch skills are qualified to engrave their own names on the blade of the sword they make.
Therefore, knives with the name of the knife maker engraved on the blade are basically excellent swords.
Knives that do not have the name of the knife maker engraved on the blade are collectively called "unmarked knives".
Mamiya first took a look at the stem of the wakizashi sword, and after confirming that the swordmaker's name was not engraved on the stem, he began to check the blade.
Mamiya sometimes held the blade upright, sometimes held it horizontally, and scanned every corner of the blade with a serious look.
Mamiya's extremely serious look made the atmosphere around him become serious.
After checking the blade, Mamiya reassembled the sword guard, handle and other parts one by one, and reassembled the originally scattered parts into a complete wakizashi.
"It's a good sword." The next moment after sheathing the sword, Mamiya took out the handkerchief from his mouth and said with a smile.
Mamiya spoke in his usual gentle tone, breaking the solemn atmosphere around him.
"The blade has a shallow curvature, a tight boiling point pattern, and a fine interlocking pattern."
"A common mistake made by knife makers with insufficient skills is to pursue hardness or sharpness blindly, resulting in a blade with less core iron and thicker skin iron."
"The result is that the blade is hard and sharp, but lacks flexibility."
"A knife without flexibility is tense. It is no different from a useless knife. It will break after just a few cuts."
"But this wakizashi doesn't have that problem."
"The core iron is flexible enough, and the quenching of the blade is small. The flexibility, hardness and sharpness of the blade have reached a good balance."
“Although the person who made this sword is not a famous craftsman, he must be a very experienced veteran.”
"Not only that, there are also dark patterns of Yaezakura carved on the blade."
“Although the carving technique of this dark pattern is not very advanced, it still looks pretty good.”
"As an unmarked sword, this is a rare and good product."
"From what I can see, this knife should be able to easily cut through a piece of meat."
"If someone skilled in swordsmanship were to do the killing, they might be able to do a bitōkiri."
"It's a pity that the iron used for this knife is not of the best quality."
"If the knife is made of high-quality iron, its quality will be much better."
"Shimada, how much did you pay for this knife?"
"5 taels." Shimada stretched out five fingers.
"Five taels?" Mamiya exclaimed in surprise. "Then you made a fortune, Shimada. You can buy such a good quality sword with only five taels."
"The only flaw with this sword is that the guard is the wrong size."
"The guard is a little smaller, so it takes a lot of effort to put it on or take it off."
"You should go to a pawn shop and buy a hilt that matches your blade."
"As long as you put on a matching blade guard, it will be a good knife."
After saying this, Mamiya held the wakizashi in both hands and returned it to Shimada.
After accepting the wakizashi that Mamiya handed back to him with a stunned look, Shimada said to Mamiya in a tone of surprise and astonishment:
"Mamiya-senpai, you are amazing!"
"Your actions in appraising the knife and your comments were so professional, just like a real knife appraiser!"
If anyone who has a little knowledge of knife appraisal watches Mamiya's knife appraisal movements just now, they can see how professional the movements Mamiya used were.
Before drawing the knife, bite something with your teeth to prevent your saliva from spraying onto the blade.
When taking out the knife blade for appreciation, hold the blade with a handkerchief to prevent your fingers from directly touching the metal blade.
The movements that Mamiya used when holding the blade upright and horizontally to view it were also extremely standard, and could be used as a model for reference when appraising knives.
In response to Shimada's praise, Mamiya just smiled:
"It's no big deal. Compared to those real sword appraisers, I'm still far behind."
"Senior Mamiya, you must have learned this skill of identifying knives from somewhere, right?" Shimada said with a hint of joking in his tone.
Although it is a question, the tone is affirmative.
"...Yes." After a moment of silence, Mamiya nodded, "I learned the skill of sword appraisal... in Edo."
"Did you learn this from a very good sword appraiser in Edo?" Shimada asked.
“…I guess so. Although that person’s main job is not knife appraisal, he is indeed a very professional knife appraisal master.”
Having said this, Mamiya suddenly paused.
After listening carefully to the noise outside the room, Mamiya smiled and said:
"The lord is back."
As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Makimura beside him also echoed with a smile:
"Yeah, I heard that too."
Almost the moment Makimura finished speaking, the paper sliding door of the room was pulled open.
The person who opened the door and stood outside the room was Lin.
And Genichi stood behind Lin.
After Lin and Yuan entered the room, they first glanced at the scene in the room, and then asked:
"Where are Ogata Ittosai and Ms. Atachi?"
"They haven't come back yet." Mamiya replied.
"I see..." Lin muttered as she closed the door. "Hmm? Shimada, what's up with that wakizashi in your hand?"
"I bought it from a pawnshop today," Shimada replied, "We just had Mamiya-senpai appreciate this sword."
Shimada briefly explained to Lin the two events that took place during the day, namely, his purchase of a sword and the sword appraisal by Mamiya just now.
"Katsurokuro, you're lucky." Lin said calmly, "You can buy such a good quality knife with only 5 taels."
Although there was a hint of fatigue on Lin's face, she still knelt on the ground properly instead of sitting cross-legged like Mucun and the others.
“This is the steamed bun I just bought.”
As Lin spoke, she took off the small package on her back, placed it on the tatami, and opened it, revealing more than 20 steamed buns that were still steaming.
"I thought the steamed buns smelled delicious, so I bought some."
"Anyone who wants to eat can eat it."
"Oh! Thank you, my lord! I'll be welcome then!"
Mucun, the most casual person among the crowd, was the first to grab the steamed bun and start eating it.
It's getting late now.
If converted into modern Earth time units, it is now around 10 p.m.
At this point in time, Mamiya and the others also felt a little hungry.
Seeing that Makimura had already started, Mamiya and the others no longer hesitated. After thanking Lin, they picked up the steamed buns and started to eat them.
Looking at Mamiya and others who were eating heartily in front of her, Lin's mouth corners curled up in an imperceptible arc.
"Did you guys collect intelligence properly today?" Lin asked casually.
"Of course." Mucun said in an unclear voice with his mouth full of steamed buns.
"Anyway, let's wait for Ogata Ittosai and Ms. A-machi to come back." Lin said softly, "When they come back, we can share and integrate the information we have collected...ah, they are back."
After saying that, Lin turned her gaze and looked at the closed door behind her.
Outside the door, two footsteps were heard approaching from afar.
One footstep was heavier, the other was lighter.
call--!
The paper sliding door, which had not been closed for too long, was opened again.
"Sorry." After opening the door, Oobe apologized to everyone in the room, "Did Atachi and I come back too late?"
After saying goodbye to Ueyu and leaving Yoshiwara, Ogata and Atachi first returned to the teahouse called "Seya".
After returning the furoshiki used to wrap the box of steamed buns and the receipt to the teahouse, they immediately rushed back to the inn where they were staying.
The father and daughter in the teahouse wanted to make a few cups of good tea to thank the Ogatas for kindly helping them deliver the steamed buns, but they declined.
"Nothing." It was Yuanyi who answered, "Xiaolin and I just came back not long ago. You two come in quickly."
…
…
After Ogata and Atachi returned , their small alliance finally had all its members together.
After everyone arrived, they immediately began to share and integrate the intelligence they had collected today.
The information collected by Mamiya, Makimura and others about the "Imperial Trial" is exactly the same as that collected by Ogata.
There are literary test and martial test, the literary test is conducted first and then the martial test, only those who pass the literary test can participate in the martial test, and the first place in both tests can receive a reward of 100 taels of gold... The contents are exactly the same.
After sharing the information they had gathered about the "Gozen Trial", Mamiya made a summary speech:
"According to the information we have collected so far, this 'Gozen Trial' is just an ordinary event held by the shogunate."
"It's an activity that has nothing to do with our expedition against Shiranui. I think we can ignore it from now on."
As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Asai nodded and agreed:
"I agree."
Lin did not respond to Mamiya's summary, but asked immediately:
"So - apart from the 'Gozen Trial', have you heard anything about any major events worth mentioning in Edo recently?"
As soon as Lin finished speaking, Mamiya and others shook their heads.
"We asked a lot of people," Shimada said with a wry smile, "and everyone said nothing big has happened recently."
"Edo has been very peaceful recently," Makimura responded.
"The only major event..." Mamiya muttered, "was probably because the shogunate was going to hold the 'Gongzen Trial', which attracted many ronin from other places to Edo, causing the public security in Edo to deteriorate a lot."
"…It's the same for A-machi and I. We haven't heard anything about any major events from passers-by." Ogata suddenly interrupted in a serious tone, "But we two have collected important information in Yoshiwara."
"Yoshiwara?" Genichi raised his eyebrows after hearing the word Yoshiwara from Ogata's mouth. "What a coincidence! Xiaolin and I also went to Yoshiwara tonight, but we didn't go deep into Yoshiwara. We just walked around the gate of Yoshiwara and left."
"Brother Ogata." Makimura, who was sitting next to Ogata, smiled strangely, "You went to Yoshiwara to gather information."
"Or did you go to Yoshiwara for some other purpose, and then accidentally heard some important information in Yoshiwara?"
When saying the word "other purposes", Makimura emphasized the tone.
"Don't give me that." Ogata patted Makimura's shoulder gently, "I went to Yoshiwara for a very serious reason."
After a little frolicking with Makimura, Ogata returned to a serious tone.
"This information I have is related to Shiranui."
"One of the Four Heavenly Kings in Shiranui, Gokutaro, goes to Yoshiwara every night to have fun."
After hearing what Ogata said, the expressions of everyone present immediately became serious.
Even Makimura, who had just made a joke about Ogata, was no longer smiling.
"Ogata Ittosai." Lin said seriously, "Tell us about this in detail."
…
…
From helping someone deliver steamed buns to Yoshiwara, to finally meeting Gokutaro while watching "Oiran Dochu" - Ogata used the simplest sentences possible to explain what happened to him and Atachi tonight.
After listening to Ogata's explanation quietly, Lin asked:
"Does that Gokutaro really appear in Yoshiwara every night?"
"According to the 'Yoshiwara Doshin' named Uekushi who I just mentioned, Gokutaro does come to Yoshiwara to have fun every night," said Ogata.
“…Ogata Ittosai.” Lin, who had been stern-faced since they started sharing their information, finally smiled faintly. “You really have collected some incredible information.”
"This information is really useful to us."
"Now that we know where one of the Four Heavenly Kings in Shiranui appears every night, it will be easy!" Shimada said suddenly, "Let's go and assassinate him! In this way, we can greatly weaken Shiranui's combat power..."
As soon as Shimada finished speaking, Ogata and Lin said in unison:
“No!”*2
Shimada was at a loss when his proposal was rejected by two people at the same time:
"Why not? Wouldn't it be great to kill that Gokutaro? It would remove a capable general from Shiranui."
"Shimada." Ogata said, "Do you know what our biggest advantage is when facing Shiranui?"
"Uh..." Shimada pondered for a while, "We are much richer than them?"
"This is just one of the advantages." Ogata said, "Our biggest advantage against Shiranui is that Shiranui is in the light and we are in the dark."
"The people in Shiranui are unaware of the Gourd House and the alliance they have formed with the executioner Ittosai and one of their renegade ninjas specifically to deal with them."
"They also didn't know that we had arrived in Edo and were preparing to deal them a fatal blow."
"This is the biggest advantage we have right now against Shiranui."
"With this advantage, we can slowly accumulate strength, and then take advantage of Shiranui's unpreparedness to launch a thunderous attack on them."
"If you assassinate Gokutaro, one of the Four Heavenly Kings, just imagine how the higher-ups in Shiranui would react."
"They will definitely be on high alert and investigate who killed Gokutaro."
"Maybe Shiranui will find out that we came to Edo."
"That is to say, if we kill Gokutaro now, it will alert the enemy and make us lose the biggest advantage we have now."
"The purpose of our coming to Edo is to make sure that Shiranui will no longer be able to pose any threat to your Huluya, me and A-Machi."
"Instead of coming here specifically to kill the Four Heavenly Kings."
“Don’t throw away the watermelon for a sesame seed.”
As soon as Ogata finished speaking, Lin nodded:
"What Ogata Ittosai said just now is absolutely correct. If we kill that Gokutaro now, the disadvantages will far outweigh the advantages."
After listening to what Ogata and Lin said, Shimada apologized with a guilty look on his face after realizing that he had just proposed a stupid plan that lacked foresight.
"I'm sorry, I just said something stupid."
"No need to apologize," Lin said softly, "You just spoke your mind, and that's good."
After briefly comforting Shimada, Lin sat up straight and said seriously:
"There's still a lot we don't understand about Shiranui."
"How many ninjas do they have left? How many ninjas have been sent out? Have there been any new changes since they cooperated with the shogunate? We don't know anything about these things."
"So, I think - instead of killing that Gokutaro now, it's better to use that Gokutaro. Try to get some useful information from that Gokutaro."
As soon as Lin finished speaking, Xu Fang grinned:
"Ms. Kinoshita, what a coincidence." Ogata said, "You and I are thinking the same thing. I thought so too."
"Instead of killing Gokutaro now, it is better to try to get some useful information from Gokutaro first."
"Then the problem comes." Makimura gave a helpless smile, "How can we get information from Gokutaro?"
"That's easy." Ogata said calmly, "Have you forgotten the extremely important information I just mentioned? That Gokutaro goes to Yoshiwara every night."
"So - all we have to do is sneak into Yoshiwara."
Hearing Ogata's words, Mamiya, who was sitting opposite Ogata, smiled strangely, and asked in a half-joking tone:
"Ogata-kun, are you planning to sneak into Yoshiwara and become a prostitute?"
"What? Brother Ogata is going to be a prostitute?" As soon as Mamiya finished speaking, Makimura immediately responded with a serious face, "In fact, brother Ogata is quite handsome. If he disguises himself as a woman and becomes a prostitute, he might be able to become the top prostitute."
"Are you two idiots?" Ogata said angrily, "Why is it that when I said 'sneak into Yoshiwara', the first thing you two thought of was to dress up as prostitutes?"
After harshly complaining about Mamiya and Makimura who were clearly making fun of him, Ogata cleared his throat and continued seriously:
"Because more people flocked to Edo, Yoshiwara's customers increased significantly. The Shirobei Club, which was responsible for managing Yoshiwara, was seriously short of staff, so they decided to hire someone to fill the vacancies."
Lin realized what Ogata meant and raised her eyebrows:
"Ogata Ittosai, do you mean... to sneak into Shirobei's club?"
"That's right."
Ogata nodded solemnly.
"That Gokutaro goes to Yoshiwara every night to have fun."
"After sneaking into the Shirobei Club, you will be able to move around the streets of Yoshiwara and the prostitute houses with greater ease."
"As long as you wear the Shirobei Club's special haori, even if you stand in the same place for half an hour, no one will think you're weird. They will just think you're standing guard."
"Sneak into Shirobei's club, travel around Yoshiwara as a Yoshiwara manager, and use this to get information from Gokutaro... That's a good idea." Lin's two mouth corners curled up.
"I think this is a good idea too." Mamiya agreed, "But who should we send to infiltrate Shirobei's club?"
"Let me go." Ogata said without hesitation.
"Hmm?" Mamiya frowned slightly, "Ogata, are you going to take on this task yourself?"
"It was my suggestion to sneak into Shirobei's club," Ogata said calmly, "and I'm acquainted with the 'Yoshiwara Doshin' - Uekushi."
"Ms. Ueura has a high status in the Shirobei Club."
"So it would be most appropriate for me to sneak into Shirobei's club since I know Ms. Uekusa and might be able to get her help."
Ogata did not finish explaining the reasons why he planned to infiltrate Yoshiwara himself .
There is another very important reason why he recommended himself - Ogata was confident that he could escape unscathed if he accidentally came into conflict with Gokutaro, or even kill Gokutaro directly.
Of course, Ogata did not reveal this reason.
Lin stared at Ogata for a while, then said slowly:
"Ogata Ittosai, if you plan to sneak into the Shirobei Club yourself, I won't stop you."
"But before you sneak into Shirobei's club, I need to tell you something very important."
"During your stay in Edo, you'd better try to reduce the use of 'Muga Nito-ryu' as much as possible."
"If someone sees you using the 'Two Swords Style', it might cause unnecessary trouble."