Edo, Yoshiwara, Four Seasons House.
"...Then, I defeated the four warriors who provoked me one by one."
"I was in a good mood at the time, so I spared the lives of those four people."
…
Ever since Gokutaro mentioned to the girl next to him that he was going to take part in the Imperial Examination which was about to begin, Gokutaro began to chatter on and on about his various heroic deeds in the past.
Neither Makimura nor Asai knew how many stories of his heroic deeds Gokutaro had told them.
I just remember that I was very impatient listening to it.
How long will he continue to talk about his heroic deeds? Makimura and Asai also don't know how many times they have whispered this sentence...
Makimura was somewhat impressed by the two girls who were sitting next to Gokutaro and Gokutaro's followers...
After listening to "Gokutaro's heroic deeds" for such a long time, he can still look interested.
I don’t know if they are good at acting or if they are really interested in the heroic deeds that Gokutaro tells us…
After finishing the drink in the glass, Gokutaro, with a very red face, said to his follower:
"How long have we been here?"
"One hour." Gokutaro's follower answered without hesitation.
"It's been so long." Gokutaro stretched hard, "Okay, let's stop drinking here tonight."
"Keitaro, let's go."
Jitaro put the money on the table, said goodbye to the girl he ordered tonight, and strode out of the Four Seasons House with his followers.
Although he drank a lot of alcohol, Gokutaro's steps were still steady and powerful. If it weren't for his red face, he wouldn't look like someone who had drunk a lot of alcohol.
After Gokutaro and his followers left, Asai whispered to Makimura beside him:
"Finally they left..."
"Maybe he went to have fun." Mucun responded.
According to the information given by Ogata, Gokutaro would come to Yoshiwara every night to have fun without exception. After drinking in the Four Seasons House, Gokutaro should have gone to a prostitute house to have fun.
Makimura and Asai's eavesdropping mission tonight has come to an end.
Gokutaro left the Four Seasons House and went out to have fun, and they had no way of eavesdropping on Gokutaro's conversation with others.
It was not until Gokutaro and his followers were some distance away from Shikiya that Makimura and Asai left Shikiya together.
After walking out of the Four Seasons House, the two came to a secluded corner and talked in low voices.
"We did gain something tonight," said Asai.
"Yeah." Mucun smiled bitterly, "But the price I paid was very high... I listened to that guy talking nonsense for an hour, and my head was swelling..."
"I am a little concerned." Asai frowned slightly, "Why did Gokutaro want to participate in the 'Gozen Test'? He can come to Yoshiwara every night to play, so he should not be short of money."
"Is it so that I can compete with various masters and hone my skills?"
The "little gain" that Asai mentioned just now refers to the knowledge that Gokutaro is going to participate in the "Imperial Trial".
Makimura shrugged. "Who knows? Judging from the results, the information we got tonight is still too little. We didn't get some more interesting information."
"But it doesn't matter. It's better to have some gains than no gains."
When Makimura and Asai were discussing tonight's harvest, the conversation between a group of people in the distance suddenly caught their attention.
"Hey, have you heard? At the gate of Yoshiwara, the officers from the Shirobei Club and officers from other places got into a fight."
"Officials from other places? Officials from which places?"
"It seems to be modified by the fire thief."
"The Fire Thief Kai? Why is the Fire Thief Kai in Yoshiwara? Is there any vicious thief or arsonist in Yoshiwara?"
"I don't know the details, I just know that two groups of people started fighting, and then all the officers who were changed by the fire thieves were beaten down!"
"When did the officers from Shirobei Club become so powerful? They were able to beat down the officers of the fire thief Kai?!"
"And I heard that the officers of the Fire Thief Kai were all defeated by one person."
"Alone? Did you hear wrongly?"
"I heard about just one person! A servant from the Shirobei Club, who single-handedly defeated more than 20 fire thieves and police officers!"
"Is this true? Let's go to the Yoshiwara gate and see what's going on."
"That's true. Let's go and take a look. I want to see if the police officers who were killed by the fire thieves are really defeated."
After the group finished their conversation, they pulled up the sides of their hakama and ran quickly towards the main gate of Yoshiwara.
Makimura and Asai had been quietly listening to the conversation between the group of people since the beginning.
After the group finished their conversation and quickly ran towards the Yoshiwara gate, Makimura and Asai looked at each other with complicated expressions.
"Makimura," Asai said, "The man who single-handedly defeated more than 20 fire-breathing thieves and police officers, could it be that he is..."
"Yeah." Before Asai finished speaking, Makimura smiled bitterly and continued, "Except for that guy, no one else would have the strength to defeat more than 20 fire thieves and police officers in one go..."
…
…
Edo, Yoshiwara, the main gate.
The officials from the club who gathered at the gate of Yoshiwara were divided into three groups.
Some people drove away the crowd of onlookers who gathered around.
After all, this is the main entrance to Yoshiwara. If too many people gather here, it will cause great inconvenience to the guests entering and exiting.
Some people moved the fire thieves and police officers who were defeated by Ogata into the club one by one.
Because Ogata used the back of the knife, no one was bleeding or died.
The most seriously injured people only have some bone injuries, which can be healed by applying some medicine.
Even though some unpleasant things had just happened with the fire thieves and the officers, they were still subjects of the shogunate after all, and it was impossible for them to just lie on the street like that.
Therefore, Ueo and his team assigned a group of people to move all the members of the Fire Thieves Kai Sixth Division into the clubhouse.
There was also a small group of people surrounding Ogata, looking at him with admiration and respect.
"Mashima-kun! You are so amazing! You can defeat 25 fire thieves by yourself."
"Mashima-kun, what style of swordsmanship do you use?"
"Just now I saw you use a special technique of stepping on the thorns when dealing with the person using the thorns. This technique is really amazing! What is the name of this technique?"
"Well done, Mashima-kun! Those guys' bossy looks are really infuriating! You helped us vent our anger!"
…
The people around him were talking at once, throwing all kinds of praise and questions at Ogata.
Looking at the group of people surrounding him, a helpless smile appeared on Ogata's face.
Just now, when he was fighting against the twenty or so fire-beaten thieves and the police officers, the system's prompt sound rang continuously in Ogata's mind.
His mind had just cleared up, and Ogata really didn't want to hear these people's noisy praise and questions...
Just when Ogata was thinking about how to break free from the "encirclement" of these people, he caught a glimpse of Uesugi walking slowly towards him from the corner of his eye.
"Ms. Ueyu," Ogata asked, "Have the fire thieves and the officers been settled?"
Ueo did not come towards Ogata alone.
Kawajiro was also beside her.
The ones in charge of directing everyone to settle Natori and others were Ueo and Kawajiro.
"Yes." Guasheng nodded, "We have placed them all in the lounges in the clubhouse."
"Is your face okay?" Ogata pointed to his left cheek.
Just now, when Guasheng was pushed away by the fire thief's officers, he did not expect them to attack suddenly, so when he was pushed down, he did not have time to adjust his landing posture, and his left cheek accidentally rubbed the ground, leaving several bloody marks.
"It's okay." Guasheng touched his left cheek.
There was a piece of sackcloth on Guasheng's left cheek.
There were no such things as bandages in this era, so linen was generally used to stop bleeding or bandage wounds.
"I have already applied medicine and bandaged it. It's just a minor injury and will heal in a few days."
"Mashima-kun..." At this moment, Kawajiro, who was standing next to Uesugi, suddenly smiled bitterly and said, "You beat down all the officers of the Fire Thief Kai. Although it makes you feel better, it's not easy to end it now..."
"What should we do if the fire thieves come to trouble us and say that we beat up their people?..."
It has to be said that Kawajiro's concern is quite realistic.
After hearing what Kawajiro said, the faces of the people surrounding Ogata and Uesugi all changed.
"Yes, we are right!" a servant shouted, "Those people robbed the prisoner we captured, and they were the first to attack us. Miss Uesugi's face was injured by them! Is there anything wrong with us fighting back against them?"
"Although we are indeed right." The bitterness on Kawajiro's face became even more intense, "But if the people of the Fire Thief Kai are unreasonable and insist that we are at fault, it will still be quite troublesome..."
When the faces of the people around him all became heavy, only one person's face did not change.
He also showed a faint smile.
"Don't worry, Mr. Kawajiro." Ogata smiled, "I have a way."
"Hmm?" Kawajiro's eyes widened. "What's the solution?"
Just as Kawajiro finished speaking, a voice that was quite familiar to Ogata suddenly rang out from the crowd not far away:
"Mashima... you really defeated all the fire thieves' officers..."
"Hey." Ogata looked in the direction of the voice, "Makimura, you're here."
Makimura and Asai, with complicated expressions on their faces, squeezed through the crowd and slowly walked towards Ogata.
After learning that a guy had dealt with more than 20 fire thieves and police officers, the two vaguely guessed who "this guy" was and rushed to the gate of Yoshiwara.
As soon as I arrived at the gate, I saw Ogata being surrounded by officials from the club...
"Mashima-kun." Ueki asked, "Who are these two?"
"They are my friends." After answering Uesugi's question, Ogata turned his attention back to Makimura and Asai. "You two came at the right time. I don't have to look for you later."
…
…
at the same time--
In Edo, an inconspicuous teahouse.
"Master Hasegawa."
Imai, who was walking in front and leading the way, whispered to Hasegawa Heizo behind him.
"We're here."
"Yeah." Hasegawa nodded, "Let's go in."
The only person beside Hasegawa was his adjutant, Imai Tsuyoshi.
Apart from Imai, Hasegawa did not have any other guards or attendants with him.
After taking off the katana from his left waist and holding it in his right hand, he and Imai walked into the inconspicuous teahouse in front of them one after the other.
As soon as I entered the teahouse, I saw .
When the samurai saw Hasegawa, he nodded slightly to Hasegawa as a greeting, and then led Hasegawa to the second floor of the teahouse.
Before following the samurai up to the second floor of the teahouse, Hasegawa said to Imai:
"Imai, you stay here and wait for me."
"yes."
After giving this order to Imai, Hasegawa followed the samurai upstairs.
The samurai led Hasegawa all the way to the door of a room on the second floor, knelt on one knee beside the door, and then slowly opened the door of the room.
The door opened, and the scene inside the room appeared before Hasegawa's eyes.
The layout of the room is just that of an ordinary tea house room.
A middle-aged man, probably in his 40s or 50s, with a neatly shaved head, was kneeling in the middle of the room.
After seeing Hasegawa, the middle-aged man smiled slightly and said in a half-joking tone:
"Good evening, Master Hasegawa."
"I'm sorry, Master Sakura." Hasegawa said to the middle-aged man in an apologetic tone as he walked into the room, "I'm a little late."
Hasegawa knelt in front of the middle-aged man in a very standard posture, and then placed his sword on the tatami to his right.
"It's okay, it's okay." The middle-aged man called "Sakura" by Hasegawa waved his hand, "You and I both have a lot of official duties on weekdays, I understand."
After Hasegawa entered the room, the samurai who had led Hasegawa to this room slowly closed the door.
Inside the room, there were only Hasegawa and the middle-aged man named "Sakura".
"Mr. Hasegawa, you and I both don't like to talk nonsense." Sakura said to Hasegawa in front of her, "So let's get straight to the point and continue the topic that we didn't discuss last time."
Sakura cleared her throat, then lowered her voice and said in a deep voice:
"Lord Hasegawa, are you willing to lend a hand and sabotage Shiranui's plans in the 'Gozen Trial'?"
"Seven days have passed since our last discussion."
"This amount of time should be enough for you to come up with a specific answer, right?"
After hearing what Sakura said, Hasegawa lowered his head slightly.
A solemn look appeared on his face.
…
Volume 6 Bonus 2: "The Legendary Adventure of the Sword Master and the Wind Demon! (1)"
…
…
The story's timeline begins 47 years ago - in the third year of Kanpo (1743 AD).
That year, Genichi Kinoshita was 17 years old and Fuma was 25 years old.
That year, the two didn't know each other.
That year, the two were still unknown.
(Note: Before Fuma took over the name of the 17th Fuma Kotaro, his name was "Kanshi", which means that Kanshi is the Fuma that everyone is familiar with)
No one expected that the first conversation between these two heroes would be like this...
…
…
June 11, 1743.
Kobe, somewhere.
It is midsummer now.
It is only mid-June, but the sun has already mercilessly poured its light and heat upon the world.
The scorching sun rays, like barbed whips, lashed the earth fiercely.
Under the scorching sun, the summer cicadas moaned weakly hiding on the branches. Heat was steaming everywhere as far as the eye could see, and it seemed as if the world was about to melt into a sticky liquid.
Ganshi wiped the sweat beads from his cheeks, took out a bamboo tube with some water left in it from his waist, and poured all the remaining water in the tube into his mouth without leaving a drop.
After wiping off the remaining water drops from the corners of his mouth, Ganshi let out a sigh of relief.
"Okay, let's get on with our journey."
After whispering a simple encouragement to himself, Ganshi lowered the hat on his head a little, and then continued to walk straight forward along the street below.
Kanshiro is now located on an ordinary street in Kobe.
His destination was a magnificent mansion in the center of Kobe's town.
The town center of Kobe is where the dignitaries live.
Compared to the crowded and densely packed residences in other areas, the layout of residences in the center of Kobe Castle is much more sparse.
There are only seven or eight households on one street, but the land occupied by each household is frighteningly large.
Ganshi walked very fast and arrived at his destination in a short while.
This is a very impressive and magnificent mansion.
The gate of the mansion is wide, and the walls on both sides are more than thirty steps long.
If you stand on a high place and look down at the house, you can see that behind the wall there are green plants such as pine, bamboo, and vines, which are sparse and suitable.
The roofs of the mansions in the courtyard are covered with light blue tiles. The tallest one is 4 stories high, which is very majestic.
There happened to be an old man with white hair and beard sweeping the floor in front of the mansion's gate.
Ganshi walked up to the old man and said politely:
"Gui An, I am Gan Shi..."
Before Ganshi could finish his words, the old man let out a soft "ah" and then laughed.
"Are you Ganshi? I've been waiting for a long time. I heard about you yesterday. Come in."
"Excuse me." After bowing respectfully, Ganshi followed the old man into the mansion.
Before passing through the mansion gate, Ganshi paused slightly and looked up at the majestic gate above his head.
Looking at this magnificent gate, Gan Shiyong said in his heart with a sonorous tone:
——Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to save enough money!
In order to improve his skills, Gan Shi resolutely decided to leave Fuma Village half a year ago and travel around to practice "warrior training".
In order to hone their skills and physical and mental will, many warriors choose to travel the world with swords, fighting and learning from masters all over the world.
The most famous representative among them is Miyamoto Musashi, who was active in the late Warring States period.
According to Miyamoto Musashi himself, when he was traveling around and practicing "martial arts", he had sparred with more than 60 masters.
Miyamoto Musashi won all of the more than sixty matches.
"I fought more than sixty matches and won all of them" - after all, this was said by Miyamoto Musashi himself, so it is difficult to tell whether it is true or not.
But it is true that Miyamoto Musashi traveled around and practiced with many masters.
However, the exact number of masters he has sparred with remains to be discussed.
Kanmi decided to learn from Miyamoto Musashi and traveled around the country, honing his mind, body, and skills.
However, it has only been half a year since he left Fuma Village and began his "warrior training", but big problems have already arisen in Kanshi's training.
The big problem is: Ganshi has no money.
Find a way to get enough money to support your own practice - this is also one of the trainings of "martial arts practice".
And it might be one of the most difficult trials.
When he wandered to Kobe, Kanshi's wallet was basically empty.
It’s just that Ganshi is really lucky.
As soon as he wandered to Kobe, Kanshi came across a good opportunity to make money.
A wealthy businessman in Kobe, Hanae Tachibana, is recruiting guards to protect his mansion.
Not only are food and accommodation provided, but the salary offered is also shockingly high.
The only drawback is probably that the salary is only paid once a month.
Although this salary is only paid once a month, a large number of ronin still flock to it.
It is naturally impossible for the Huajiang family to take in all the ugly ones.
In order to hire true masters, the Huajiang family set up an assessment.
The assessment is very simple - as long as you defeat the people they send, you can become the guard of their Huajiang family.
The people sent by the Huajiang family are all "active guards" currently serving in the Huajiang family.
Each of the "active guards" of the Huajiang family is very powerful and they defeated all the applicants.
Among the ronin who applied for the job, less than one in a hundred were successfully selected.
Ganshi, who is just short of money, went to the "job application point" in the south of the city yesterday with the mentality of "giving it a try".
Then he was successfully selected.
The Hanae family sent out their people.
Then Kanmi used their Fuma-no-Sato ninjutsu and defeated the people sent by the Hanae family in just three moves.
The above is the entire process of Ganshi passing the assessment.
There were no waves.
After defeating the people sent by the Hanae family in three moves, all the people from the Hanae family present at the time were shocked.
The person in charge at the time said directly to Gan Shi: "Come to our Huajiang family's mansion tomorrow!"
Thus, there is a scene where Ganxian is standing in front of this magnificent mansion.
After following the old man into the Huajiang family's mansion, the old man led the way in front and enthusiastically introduced himself to Ganshi behind him.
"My name is Hara Shiro." The old man smiled, "The superiors told me yesterday that our Hanae family has hired a new guard named Ganshi. If Ganshi comes to the mansion, I will take him on a simple tour of the mansion first."
"Mr. Ganshi, I will take you on a brief tour of the mansion now."
"Thank you very much." Kanmi smiled and said, "Mr. Hara Shiro, you don't need to use honorifics to me, and you don't need to use any suffixes when addressing me. Just call me Kanmi."
…
…
The Huajiang family's mansion is very large.
Just touring around the Hanae family mansion took Hara Shiro and Kanmi nearly half an hour.
After walking around Hanae's house, Hara Shiro said to Kanmi:
"I'll take you to your room now. I've already helped clean and tidy up your room yesterday. You can just carry your luggage in and check in."
"Oh, thank you so much." Ganshi, who was somewhat flattered, bowed and thanked him quickly.
"Come with me."
Before Hara Shiro and Ganshi walked a few steps away, a man dressed also as a servant walked quickly up to Hara Shiro from a distance and whispered something to him.
"Yes." Yuan Shilang nodded, "I understand. I'll be there right away."
After the servant who came to tell Hara Shiro the news left, Hara Shiro said to Kanmi behind him with an apologetic look:
"I'm sorry, Kanshi. Something urgent has come up, so I have to excuse myself for a moment."
"This area is where we servants live, so there's no need to worry about entering anything you shouldn't."
"So, Ganshi, you should just walk around here and get familiar with it ."
"I'll see you later. I'll be back soon."
"Yes." Ganshi nodded, "Mr. Hara Shiro, just take your time and do it at your own pace. Don't be in a hurry. There's no need to mess up or do a bad job just to get back quickly."
…
…
After watching Hara Shiro leave, Kanmi crossed his arms and started wandering around to kill time.
The surrounding area is quite spacious, so Ganshi doesn't have to worry about having nothing to do in the short term.
——It’s really huge… If you’re not familiar with this place, it’s easy to get lost…
Ganshi was wandering around aimlessly.
Before he knew it, Ganshi had wandered into a corridor that was neither long nor short.
As soon as he stepped into the corridor, Ganshi's brows immediately frowned.
Because… he saw something strange.
At the eastern end of this corridor, there was a person lying.
To be more precise, it was a person lying on his side.
This person is a very young youth.
His skin exudes a youthful aura and judging from his appearance, this young man is probably less than 20 years old.
The young man was lying on his side at the easternmost end of the corridor with his right cheek facing downward and his right hand under his right cheek.
His face was facing straight towards the west side of the corridor, his eyes not blinking, as if he was looking at something seriously.
On the ground in front of him lay a katana and a wakizashi - these should be the swords of this young man.
The young man's strange behavior aroused Ganshi's curiosity.
After quickly walking to the side of the young man, Gan Shi asked:
"Um--excuse me, what are you doing?"
Just as Ganshi finished speaking, footsteps were suddenly heard from the west side of the corridor.
Ganshi turned his head and saw a person dressed as a maid.
She was barefoot, holding a large cloth bag, and walking slowly towards the east side of the corridor, which was the direction where Ganshi and the young man were.
The maid didn't show any surprise when she saw the young man lying on his side on the ground at the end of the corridor at her feet.
But... his expression became a little strange, and then he continued to walk through the corridor at a leisurely pace.
Ganshi glanced at the maid and then looked away.
Ganshi thought that the young man didn't hear his question just now.
So I asked again:
"Excuse me, what are you doing..."
Before Ganshi could finish his words, he was rudely interrupted by the young man:
"Shh, if you have any questions, ask them later. Don't bother me now."
Although Ganshi was confused and had many questions, he still kept quiet.
The corridor was not very long, so the maid quickly walked through it and left from the easternmost side of the corridor - in front of Ganshi and the young man.
As she passed in front of Cong Ganshi and the young man, the maid bowed slightly and saluted to them.
Only after the maid left did the young man turn around and ask Gan Shi:
"Okay, what did you ask me just now?"
"Let me ask you..." Gan Shiyong said helplessly, "What are you doing lying here?"
“Oh, you asked me why I was lying here…” The young man retracted his gaze and continued to look at the west side of the corridor.
"I'm looking at my feet."
"...Huh?" Ganshi tilted his head, wondering if he had just heard something wrong.
"This corridor is where the maids in this mansion pass most often."
The young man continued in a calm tone.
"I love women's feet the most."
"It is one of my few pleasures to lie here leisurely like this, and look at the feet of the maids as they pass along this corridor."
After saying that, the young man lying on his side in the corridor turned his gaze again and looked at Ganshi.
"I haven't seen you before. Are you a new guard?"
"Yes." Ganshi, who had not yet recovered from the young man's outrageous remarks, nodded in a daze, "I am the new guard who officially entered the palace today - Ganshi. Please give me your guidance."
"My name is Kinoshita Genichi," the young man said, "Please give me your guidance."
(The Legendary Adventure of the Sword Master and the Wind Demon - To be continued...)