Edo, Yoshiwara, Rashomon Riverbank.
"Five Six, have you ever practiced martial arts like swordsmanship or ten surgery?"
Ogata was still patrolling around the Rashomon Riverbank.
And Goroku still followed Ogata, accompanying him to patrol the area around the Rashomon River and chatting with him.
"Hmm?" Wu Liu raised his eyebrows. "Why do you ask?"
"You have calluses all over your palms."
As Ogata spoke, he opened his left palm, which was also covered with calluses, towards Goroku.
"People who develop calluses in these places on their palms have either practiced swordsmanship or martial arts like the Ten Surgery."
“Hahaha.” After a few laughs, Wuliu slowly opened his hands. “As expected of a warrior, you are very sensitive to people’s palms.”
"Yes, I did practice swordsmanship."
"When I was young, I didn't have a master, so I just practiced blindly."
"After I grew up, for some reason, I was finally able to learn formal swordsmanship from someone who was quite accomplished in swordsmanship, instead of having to practice blindly on my own."
Ogata glanced at Goroku's hands and said slowly:
"Look at the calluses on your palms... You must have practiced swordplay very hard in the past."
“Hahahaha.” Goroku laughed again. “Mashima-kun, aren’t the calluses on your hands just as big and hard? You must be someone who wields the sword quite frequently, right?”
Hearing Goroku's words, Ogata smiled bitterly and lowered his head to look at the palms of his hands.
The palms of the hands, especially the base of the thumb, are covered with large and hard calluses - this is something that everyone who practices martial arts such as swordsmanship and martial arts will inevitably encounter.
The calluses on Ogata's palms were so thick that it felt like he had grown a new, hard layer of skin.
And these hard calluses have also caused Ogata some troubles recently - when hugging or doing something with Atachi, these hard calluses always hurt Atachi, causing Atachi to dislike them.
Every time Atachi complained about the calluses on Ogata's hands, Ogata felt a little aggrieved.
Because Ating also has calluses on her hands.
Although he is not good at close combat, Ating knows a little about swordsmanship, and his swordsmanship is more than enough to deal with ordinary people and martial artists with less sophisticated skills.
Because Ating also practiced swordsmanship, he also has calluses on his hands.
Once, when Ah-Ming was touching Ogata's back, because she was quite emotional at that time, the hard calluses on her palms almost scratched a bloody mark on Ogata's back...
"It seems like I've been chatting with you for a long time..." Wu Liu raised his head and glanced at the moon above his head to confirm the position of the moon.
Because it is not a sunny night, there are quite a few clouds in the sky, and I can only barely see a ball of light among the clouds - this ball of light is the moon.
"Well - let's talk about this for now." Wu Liu adjusted his women's clothes.
"Are you leaving?"
"Well, I also need to set aside some time to visit friends."
After straightening out the women's clothing on his body, Goroku smiled at Ogata.
"Mashima-kun, I'm very happy to meet you and chat with you tonight. Let's chat slowly in the future when we have time and opportunity."
"Yeah." Ogata also smiled faintly, "Let's have a good chat later when we have a chance."
Goroku waved to Ogata, turned around and walked towards the darkness not far away. After a while, Goroku's figure was swallowed up by the darkness that the candlelight could not reach.
After Goroku left, Ogata stretched himself, then looked up at the moon in the sky, estimated the current time, and said to himself:
——How are Makimura and Asai doing now...are they still in Shikiya?
"Hello! Hello!"
--Um?
A strange shout just came from beside Ogata, and Ogata immediately looked in the direction of the sound.
The person who kept saying "Hey" was a club official who was wearing a club haori just like Ogata.
The servant was holding up the trouser legs of his hakama and running towards Ogata quickly.
The reason why he called Ogata "Hello" was probably because he didn't know Ogata's name, after all, Ogata was just a newcomer.
After arriving at the Shirobei Club, Ogata did not have any close contact with other people in the club.
In the entire club, the only one who can be said to have a good relationship with Ogata is Guasheng.
"Is there anything I can help you with?" After the servant came to Ogata, Ogata was the first to ask the servant.
"There is...important...ha...news...ha..." The servant regulated his disordered breathing from running all the way while telling Ogata the "important news" he had just mentioned.
…
…
"Kiku-chan?" Ogata raised his eyebrows.
"That's right." After wiping the beads of sweat from his forehead, the servant said to Ogata, "A villain named Kiku-koseng entered our Yoshiwara tonight."
"The fire thief Kai's officers are now searching Yoshiwara."
"Kiku-san is short, has a bald head, and carries a wakizashi with him."
"Shirobei-sama asked us to keep an eye out for people who match these characteristics."
"Kiku-san is good at the Koguzokujutsu, so Lord Shirobei specifically told us that if we find someone who looks like Kiku-san, we should not rush forward and inform the nearby fire thieves first."
The "important news" that the servant just mentioned was "the villain Kiku-komon is suspected to have entered Yoshiwara."
Because the Rashomon River Bank is located at the westernmost part of Yoshiwara, Ogata and others who happened to be standing guard and patrolling on the Rashomon River Bank tonight were among the last to receive this news.
After hearing the term "Fire Thief Kai" from the servant's mouth, Ogata raised his eyebrows.
"I see." Ogata nodded, "I'll keep an eye on it."
"Well - I still have to deliver messages to other people, so I'll take my leave first." The servant bowed to Ogata, pulled up his trouser legs again, and quickly walked away from Ogata's sight.
"The fire thief is coming..." Ogata muttered softly after the servant left.
Ogata was quite familiar with this term.
He has now encountered this armed security force of the shogunate twice.
The first time was at the beginning of this year, in Tatsuno Domain.
The second time was this summer, in Kyoto.
When Ogata thought about the possibility that he would encounter the fire thief for the third time in Edo this autumn, he couldn't help but smile helplessly, thinking to himself:
——Is it possible that I am destined to be with the Fire Thief Kai?
The Fire Thief Kai appears in front of Ogata so often that Ogata has a feeling that the Fire Thief Kai is everywhere.
However, Ogata was not too surprised that the Fire Thief Kai appeared in Yoshiwara.
After all, the headquarters of the Fire Thieves Kai is in Edo, so they would have suddenly popped up somewhere in Edo.
Since the higher-ups had not given the order to stop patrolling along the Rashomon River, Ogata could only continue wandering around along the Rashomon River.
Many prostitutes have already found customers and brought them into their homes, so there are fewer prostitutes standing on the streets.
Ogata had just walked around the Rashomon River for who knows how many times while chatting with Goroku.
As the number of patrol circles increased, fewer and fewer girls came forward to harass Ogata.
The prostitutes around him all saw that Ogata really would not seek pleasure here, so they treated him as a stone and were unwilling to waste their time on him.
"ha……"
Ogata was not in a hurry to continue his patrol. He continued to stand where he was, blowing some warm air on his slightly cold hands.
"Come to think of it...it's already October..." Ogata tightened her kimono.
These days, you can feel a noticeable chill at night.
The coolness that penetrates the skin announces the arrival of autumn to everyone.
——In a few days, it will be time to buy some winter clothes...
Ogata raised his hand and patted the purse placed in his arms.
When leaving Owari and heading for Edo, Ogata divided the money he had with him into two halves, gave one half to Atachi, and kept the other half for himself.
——I’ll ask Uesugi which stores in Edo sell good quality winter clothes…
"Quick! Stop him!"
"Don't let him get away!"
"Chase him! Chase him!"
Ogata had not yet finished the conversation in his mind when a noisy sound coming from not far away interrupted his thoughts.
The sound was very chaotic, mixed with countless other people's voices.
But among this sea of ​​voices, Ogata heard a voice that sounded quite familiar to him.
"Ms. Ueyu...?" Ogata muttered to himself as he adjusted the sword at his waist and quickly ran towards the source of the noisy sound.
This chaotic sound, which even included the sound of melons, came from the east side of the Rashomon River.
Ogata, who happened to be in the central area of ​​the Rashomon Riverbank, quickly arrived at the source of the sound.
“What’s going on…?” As soon as he arrived at the scene, a look of surprise immediately appeared on Ogata’s face.
The situation at the scene can be described with one word: chaos.
More than 10 club officials, including Guasheng, were shouting and chasing a short middle-aged man.
Ogata also noticed that some of the more than 10 club officials seemed to be injured.
The short middle-aged man that Guasheng and his companions were chasing was very fast. Guasheng and his companions could only try not to be left behind, but they could not close the distance between them and the short middle-aged man.
Although the prostitutes and pedestrians on the street had no idea what was going on, after seeing such a big scene, they subconsciously stayed close to the side of the street to avoid being implicated.
Ogata wasn't quite sure what was going on.
But he knew that the short middle-aged man must have committed some crime, otherwise he would not have been chased by so many people including Guasheng.
"Working at the Shirobei Club is busier than I thought..." After muttering this softly in a helpless tone, Ogata took a deep breath.
Then he raised his left hand to stabilize the Great Shitian and Great Zizai on his left waist, lowered his body's center of gravity, poured strength into his legs, and then like a gust of wind, he blew towards the short middle-aged man.
Ogata's current strength is 14 points and his agility is 12 points.
Compared to when he first arrived in the Edo period and all his stats were only 5 points, Ogata's physical strength has now increased by an unknown amount.
In terms of explosive power and speed, Ogata can now say this to most people: I'm not targeting anyone, I'm saying that everyone here is garbage.
Ogata first passed Uesugi and others who were following the short middle-aged man one by one.
Guasheng and others only felt as if there was a gust of wind blowing past them.
After seeing clearly that the "wind" was Ogata, they all widened their eyes in surprise.
The short middle-aged man heard the sound of running behind him gradually becoming louder and closer to him.
Turning his head and looking back, he saw Ogata who was gradually closing the distance between them.
After seeing Ogata running towards him at an incredibly high speed, the short middle-aged man showed the same expression as Uesugi and others just now.
After gritting his teeth, the short middle-aged man sped up again - although not by much.
The distance between him and Ogata was getting closer and closer.
When the distance between the two men was only about 3 steps away, Ogata relied on his arm length advantage, raised his hand forward, and grabbed the kimono on the back of the short middle-aged man.
As soon as his hand grabbed his kimono, a disgusting feeling immediately spread throughout Ogata's palm.
The short middle-aged man's kimono had not been washed for some time, and it was covered with all kinds of dirt and grease.
The disgusting touch scared Ogata so much that he almost dropped his hand.
But Ogata suppressed his nausea and clutched the guy's kimono tightly.
When Ogata was about to pull this guy over, the sound of clothes tearing suddenly rang out.
This middle-aged man staged a "escape plan".
Because his kimono was old and torn, it could be torn easily with just a little force.
After Ogata grabbed his clothes, the middle-aged man used his left hand to pull out the wakizashi from his left waist, then struggled to tear his kimono apart, leaving the torn kimono to Ogata.
With only a loincloth on his body and a wakizashi on his left hand left, he continued to run away.
The loincloth on his lower body was just like his kimono, so dirty that you couldn't even see its original color.
——Let’s play this trick…
After the middle-aged man performed the "escape trick", Ogata hurriedly threw away the disgusting clothes in his hand.
In Ogata's eyes, what this middle-aged man did was nothing more than a last-ditch struggle.
If he could catch him once, he could catch him a second time.
The middle-aged man's "escape" only delayed the time of his capture a little bit.
Just as Ogata was about to cheer himself up and close the distance between him and the middle-aged man again, a thin black shadow suddenly cut across Ogata's field of vision.
It was a stone as big as a baby's fist.
The stone flew across Ogata's field of vision at high speed and accurately hit the side of the middle-aged man running in front of Ogata.
The middle-aged man let out a shrill scream and then fell to the ground.
——What’s going on?
Ogata quickly turned his head and looked in the direction where the stone had just flown.
The stone just flew out from a dark alley where no light reached.
However, when Ogata cast his gaze towards the alley entrance, he saw nothing but darkness where no light reached.
And it is normal that Ogata did not see anything.
Because after throwing the stone, the person who threw the stone immediately left the place.
…
…
at the same time--
In the shadows somewhere not far away.
"You can catch that guy by yourself, but I'll do you a small favor so you can save some energy."
After muttering these words with a playful tone, the young man in a kimono dusted off his hands and strode towards the outside of the Rashomon River.
…
…
The middle-aged man fell to the ground, and Ogata took advantage of this good opportunity and rushed to the middle-aged man in one breath.
Just as Ogata was about to bend over and help the middle-aged man up, he saw a cold light coming towards his face.
Ogata was very familiar with this kind of cold light.
This is the unique light reflected by the blade when it is illuminated by light.
Facing the oncoming cold light, Ogata leaned back as if by reflex.
As if it was precisely calculated, when Ogata leaned back, his body just happened to flash past the cold light, and the distance he used to dodge was neither more nor less.
After dodging the cold light, Ogata quickly stepped back two steps, putting some distance between himself and the middle-aged man.
The cold light that just attacked Zhao Xu's front door came from the middle-aged man.
After Ogata retreated, the middle-aged man clenched the wakizashi in his hand and rushed towards Ogata, shouting.
The middle-aged man also realized that Ogata's running speed was faster than his, so if he didn't kill Ogata, he would not be able to escape at all.
Therefore, there was an icy cold light in the middle-aged man's eyes.
The wakizashi in his hand was therefore filled with fierce murderous intent, and the blade went straight to Ogata's vital points.
Ogata remained expressionless in the face of the wakizashi in front of him that was carrying a fierce murderous intent.
Ogata has seen countless swords like this that carry strong murderous intent.
He calmly pulled out the Great Shitian, then blocked the middle-aged man's attack.
Ogata had never seen the martial arts used by this middle-aged man before.
From what Ogata could see, this seemed to be a martial art that combined wakizashi and bare-handed tactics. The middle-aged man tried to trip Ogata several times.
This type of martial arts for middle-aged people was almost completely defeated by Ogata.
Because this type of martial arts requires you to close the distance between yourself and the enemy, it can only exert its power by getting close to the enemy.
The middle-aged man is only about 1.4 meters tall and uses a wakizashi with a blade length of only about 35 centimeters.
Ogata is 1.7 meters tall and uses a katana with a blade that is 75 centimeters long.
The huge difference in attack distance made it impossible for the middle-aged man to get close several times.
After blocking the middle-aged man's sword again, Ogata quickly changed his stance to an upper stance.
Sakakibara Ittoryu: Water Falls!
The blade of Dashitian fell towards the middle-aged man like a waterfall.
clang!
The middle-aged man raised the wakizashi in his hand and barely blocked Ogata's downward attack.
After the wakizashi's blade collided with Ogata's sword, the middle-aged man and the wakizashi in his hand all let out wails.
Ogata's Daishakuten was lifted in the opposite direction by the recoil force.
But the blade did not rise very far, and Osamu used his brute force to stop the recoil.
Then——
call!
The blade slashed towards the middle-aged man from top to bottom again.
Ogata used Sakakibara Ittoryu's Waterfall again.
The middle-aged man had no time to dodge and could only raise his knife to block again.
This time, the middle-aged man's wakizashi failed to protect him again.
After the two swords collided again in mid-air, Ogata's Daishakuten directly cut the middle-aged man's wakizashi blade in half.
Da Shitian's blade swept towards the middle-aged man's neck with undiminished force.
However, when the blade was about to hit the middle-aged man's neck, Ogata stopped the knife in time, then turned the knife and chopped the middle-aged man's neck with the back of the knife, knocking the middle-aged man unconscious.
Ogata still doesn't know what this middle-aged man did wrong and why he was being chased by Ueo and others.
So Ogata did not kill the middle-aged man, but knocked him unconscious first.
[Ding! Use Sakakibara Ittoryu: Waterfall to defeat the enemy]
[Gain 90 personal experience points, and 80 swordsmanship "Sakakibara Ittoryu" experience points]
[Current personal level: Lv32 (3065/4800)]
[Sakakibara Ittoryu Level: 11th Stage (3655/7000)]
After knocking the middle-aged man unconscious, Uesugi and others who had been chasing the middle-aged man finally came to Ogata's side.
"Mashima-kun!"
Just as the panting Uebu was about to say something, Oufang, who was putting away his knife, spoke first:
"Ms. Guasheng, you guys take your time to deal with this guy first, I'll be back soon."
After saying that, Ogata quickly ran towards the place where the stone had just flown out.
When he arrived at the entrance of the alley and looked inside, the scene inside was just as Ogata had expected - there was no one there.
——Who threw that stone just now...
As soon as these words fell in Ogata's heart, a figure wearing a kimono that he had just met tonight suddenly appeared in Ogata's mind for some reason...
…
…
After slowly walking back to Guasheng's side, the middle-aged man had been tied up by Guasheng and others.
"Mashima-kun, what's wrong?" Ueyoshi asked, "Is there anything in that alley?"
"You should have seen the middle-aged man fall to the ground for no apparent reason just now, right?" Ogata said, "I was relatively close to the middle-aged man at the time, so I saw that the reason why he suddenly fell to the ground just now was because he was hit by a rock."
"And this rock flew out of that alley."
"It's a pity that I just went to the alley and took a look. There was no one there, so I don't know who threw the stone."
After hearing what Ogata said, Uesugi was amazed.
"Maybe it was some expert who happened to pass by here." Guasheng said, "Don't storytellers always like to tell stories like this? An expert who happened to pass by a certain place did some good deeds."
"That stone just now might have been thrown by some expert who happened to pass by here."
"...Maybe." After shrugging with a wry smile, Ogata pointed at the middle-aged man who was already tied up and said, "What crime did this guy commit? His skills are pretty good. He doesn't look like a simple thief."
Upon hearing this, Guasheng gave a bitter smile.
"This person is incredible. This person is the monk Ju."
When Uesugi finished speaking, Ogata's eyes unconsciously widened a little.
"This guy is Kiku-chan?" Ogata cast his gaze on the Kiku-chan at his feet again.
…
…
Uesugi briefly explained to Ogata how she had encountered Kiku-chan just now and how she had hunted him down afterwards.
On the way that Kiku-chan fled to the Shirobei Club, he encountered many club servants who were patrolling and standing guard along the street.
Most of the servants in the Shirobei Club are actually just ordinary people. At most, they have slightly more physical strength and power than ordinary people.
Ordinary people are naturally no match for Kiku-chan, who is quite accomplished in the art of small body parts.
Along the way, Kiku-chan encountered a total of 9 guild servants.
These nine servants were extremely brave. After meeting Kikukomon on a narrow road, they all bravely went forward to stop Kikukomon, although in the end these nine servants were all injured by Kikukomon and failed to successfully stop Kikukomon.
Among the nine club officials, four were more seriously injured and have been taken away for treatment.
The other five people were less seriously injured. After being chopped by Ju Xiaoseng, they still endured the pain and chased Ju Xiaoseng together with Guasheng and others.
After explaining the details of the pursuit of Kiku-chan to Ogata, Ueyu turned his head and looked at an older servant not far away and asked:
"Ping Jiu, is your arm injury okay?"
"It's okay, it's okay." The servant, whom Uesugi called Heijiu, smiled, "It's just a minor injury. I can just go back and apply some medicine."
Although Ping Jiu said so, the wound on his arm did not look light at all. He was stabbed in the upper left arm and blood was all over his left arm.
"You guys are really amazing." Ogata praised sincerely, "Even though you were injured, you still insisted on chasing after Kiku-chan."
"Of course." Heijiu grinned, "Our duty is to protect Yoshiwara."
"Let's not talk about the bad things this bastard did outside of Yoshiwara."
"The fact that this bastard attacked our Yoshiwara girls is enough for us to catch him at all costs."
"It's not like I'm seriously injured and can't move. As long as I can move, of course I'll continue chasing that bastard."
As soon as Ping Jiu finished speaking, several other people who had been injured by Kiku Xiaoseng just now but still insisted on chasing Kiku Xiaoseng all laughed and echoed him.
"It's a pity that we didn't help much in the end..." A younger servant who was also injured but insisted on chasing Kiku-chan laughed bitterly, "In the end, we were able to catch Kiku-chan, all thanks to Majima-kun."
"That's not true." Ogata shook his head. "The reason we were able to successfully capture Kiku-chan was all thanks to everyone."
"It took everyone's combined efforts to catch Kiku-chan."
"If you hadn't chased after Kiku-chan all the way, preventing him from escaping and wearing down his energy, I wouldn't have been able to capture him so easily."
"So I was just lucky enough to be the one who dealt the fatal blow to Kiku-chan."
After hearing what Ogata said, the servant who had just lamented that he had not made any contribution, as well as several other servants, all looked better.
"Okay, stop chatting." Guasheng clapped his hands, "Let's take this little monk Ju to the club quickly!"
"Hehehe!" Heijiu laughed happily. "I can't wait to see what expressions those fire thief officers will have when they see us catch Kiku-chan!"
"We have caught a thief of this level, and I don't know what reward the shogunate will give us."
As Heijiu finished speaking, the others, including Uesugi, began to laugh.
"Reward?" Ogata asked doubtfully.
"Mashima-kun, don't you know?" Uesugi said, "For an organization like ours that is related to maintaining public order, if we catch an important criminal, we can get different levels of rewards based on the level of the criminal we caught."
"We at the Shirobei Club haven't caught any serious criminals in several years."
Having said this, Guasheng straightened her chest which looked like it was stuffed with two small buns, and her face was filled with joy.
"So it's a great joy that we were able to capture Monk Ju this time!"
“Not only can I get a reward from the shogunate, but I can also hold my head high.”
"Let those who always look down on our Shirobei Club see our strength!"
"Although our strength is indeed a little bit different from other law enforcement organizations, when it comes to defending our own duties, we will not lose to anyone!"
…
…
Ogata and his group dragged Kiku-chan back to the door of the club in a proud and confident manner.
Now it was Kei'emon's turn to guard the club's gate.
When Keimon saw Ogata and his companions striding towards them with a bald head, his eyes widened immediately:
"Ms. Guasheng, who is that person?"
"It's Chrysanthemum Monk!" Gua Sheng said loudly, "We successfully captured Chrysanthemum Monk!"
"Really? Is it true?" General Qingwei's already wide eyes widened even wider.
"It's true." Ueyo nodded, "Is Lord Shirobei in the club now?"
"I don't know! You guys wait here for a moment, I'll go see if Lord Shirobei is in the clubhouse!"
After saying that, Kei'emon turned around and rushed back into the club.
While Ogata and others were waiting for Shirobei to come over, a chaotic sound of footsteps suddenly sounded from beside them.
"Oh my." Ueyu smiled slightly, "The fire thief's officers are finally here."
The owners of this chaotic sound of footsteps were none other than Natori and his companions who had come here after hearing the news.
Just now, Natori and his friends received the news that Kiku-chan was captured by the officers of the Shirobei Club.
When Natori first heard this rumor, he thought it was just a boring rumor.
However, when he learned from a subordinate who came to deliver a message that the officials of Shirobei Club were taking a bald man to the club, Natori realized that this might not be a rumor.
When Natori and his subordinates hurriedly ran to the front door of the club, he saw a bald man who was tied up.
Looking at the bald man, Mingdori's face instantly turned ugly.
They, the fire thief, changed their job and tracked down Kiku-chan for half a month.
They had already memorized Ju Xiaoseng's face clearly in their minds.
So when he saw the bald man tied up, Natori immediately recognized that this person was Kiku-koseng.
Looking at the group of "men in black" in black uniforms running towards them, Ogata smiled bitterly and muttered in a low voice that only he could hear:
"What a familiar uniform..."
After quickly running up to Ogata and the others, Natori, with a rather ugly expression on his face, first looked at Kiku-chan, and then at Ogata and the others.
After a long while, Natori finally managed to squeeze out a sentence:
"...I didn't expect you to be able to arrest Kiku-chan."
"It took us a lot of effort." Guasheng puffed out his chest again, a look of pride on his face.
Not only Guasheng, but almost all the club staff around him looked proud.
They had more or less heard that this gang of fire thieves, who had been replaced by police officers, had previously called them "outsiders" and themselves "experts" in the clubhouse.
Now, the people they call "outsiders" have successfully arrested the thieves, while the "experts" have done nothing except wandering around Yoshiwara.
This made Uesugi and the others, who had been sulking about being looked down upon by the Fire Thief, very happy and proud.
"…Set off the smoke." Natori said to a subordinate behind him.
"yes."
The man who received Natori's order took out a cylindrical object from his arms, and after fiddling with it up and down for a while, a conspicuous orange smoke emerged from the cylindrical object and rose into the sky.
"What is this?" Guasheng frowned.
"This is a tool we use to send a message to our companions," said Natori. "It means 'emergency call'. Once you see this orange mist, you must rush to where it is."
…
…
Natori's subordinates who were scattered in other places in Yoshiwara acted quickly.
Not long after releasing the orange mist, the rest of Natori's subordinates arrived beside Natori.
Just as Natori's 24 subordinates returned to Natori's side, the door of the club was suddenly opened.
The person who opened the door of the club was Keiemon.
Keiichiro, Kawajiro and others filed out of the club.
"Ms. Uesugi." Keiemon said with regret, "Lord Shirobei was out on some business just now, so he's not in the club right now."
"Is that so...never mind, it will be the same when Lord Shirobei comes back. Keiemon, take this Kiku-chan to our cell!"
"Okay!" Just as Keimon patted his chest and prepared to walk towards Kiku-chan...
"Thank you for your hard work!"
Natori suddenly shouted loudly.
"I didn't expect that the servants of Shirobei Club could be so skilled."
“This is really beyond my expectation.”
"I underestimated you before, and I apologize."
Although Natori's apology was a bit sudden, after hearing Natori's apology, Uesugi and the others were stunned for a moment, and then the joy on their faces became even more intense.
However, Natori's next words froze the smiles on Ueyuu and the others' faces.
"Thank you for your cooperation tonight. Leave the rest to us."
Anyone with a decent brain could understand the hidden meaning behind Mingdori's words.
"...What do you mean by this?" Guasheng slowly put away his frozen smile.
"Kiku-san is the criminal that our Fire Thief Group is responsible for." Natori continued expressionlessly, "Since Kiku-san is the criminal that our Fire Thief Group is responsible for, isn't it only natural that he should be handed over to us for handling?"
"Don't worry, in order to thank you for your help, we, the Fire Thieves, will give you a reward after the reform..."
"Who wants your thank-you gift?" Guasheng shouted, "You guy, are you trying to steal the credit?"
The club officials around them all cast angry glances at Natori and the others.
And Ogata's eyes narrowed slightly at this time.
"Stealing credit is really unpleasant to hear." Natori said calmly, "Didn't I just say that? Kiku-chan is the criminal that our Fire Thieves are responsible for, so isn't it reasonable for us to be responsible for dealing with him?"
"Do you think I'm a three-year-old kid?" Guasheng's face was full of anger at this time, "This criminal was caught by our Shirobei Club, so naturally he should be dealt with by our Shirobei Club!"
"We have injured so many people in order to catch this little monk Ju. Do you have the nerve to take away the criminal we have worked so hard to catch?"
Natori remained unmoved by Uesugi's sharp accusation, his face remaining expressionless.
"Forget it." Natori said, "I'll explain it to you slowly later. Hey, take Kiku-chan back to our station."
"yes!"
Following Natori's order, the four subordinates behind him quickly walked towards Kiku-chan who was still unconscious.
The surrounding club officials were thrown into confusion when they saw that the Fire Thief Kai was actually planning to rob them of their work.
Their backbone is Shirobei.
Shirobei happened to be away from Yoshiwara at the moment, and they didn't know what to do.
Even Uesugi looked surprised and anxious because he did not expect that the Fire Thief Kai would actually steal their credit.
"Get away from me!"
Guasheng happened to be standing next to Ju Xiaoseng.
Seeing the four officers who had been transformed from fire thieves approaching, Guasheng quickly took a step forward and blocked their way.
However, just as Guasheng stood in front of the four officers, one of them suddenly raised his hand and pushed Guasheng away.
Guasheng had never expected that these people would dare to use violence against them. In addition, the distance between the two was too short, leaving Guasheng little time to react, so he was pushed to the ground.
“It hurts so much…!” Guasheng let out a low cry of pain.
Because he didn't have time to adjust his landing posture, Guasheng's cheek accidentally rubbed against the ground, and his left cheek was immediately scratched by the rough ground, leaving several bloody marks.
"Ms. Guasheng!"
"Ms. Guasheng! Be careful!"
"Hey! Why are you still hitting people?"
The servants who were closer to Guasheng quickly picked up Guasheng from the ground.
"I'm sorry. My subordinates seemed to be a little rude." Although Natori apologized, there was no apology in his tone. "I hope you can cooperate with us. Hurry up and arrest Kiku-chan!"
"yes!"
The four officers who were already standing next to Ju Xiaoseng nodded and raised their hands to grab Ju Xiaoseng.
However... just as one of the four officers was about to grab Ju Xiaoseng, a big hand suddenly stretched out from his side and clamped his hand like a pair of pliers.
"Hmm?" The officer with his hand clamped turned his head and looked at the person standing beside him and holding his hand.
The person who clamped his hand was a young man with ordinary features, who looked like a simple farmer.
"Please apologize to Miss Guasheng and leave here." The young man said in a calm tone, and suddenly exerted force with his palm to pull the fire thief-turned-officer who was under his control to the side.
The officer, who felt his hand was about to be cut off, also cried out in pain.
"Mashima-kun?" Uesugi, who was helped up from the ground by his colleagues, covered his injured face and cast a surprised look at the young man.