As soon as Sakura heard the name "Yamada Asaemon" from Hasegawa, she shook her head violently.
"No, no matter what, I don't want Yamada Asaemon to help me."
Hasegawa seemed to have expected Sakura to say that, and only a hint of bitterness appeared on his face.
"Sakura-sama, since you don't want Yamada Asaemon to help... I can't think of any other suitable candidate at the moment..."
"Master Hasegawa." Sakura tapped her right knee with her fingers, "Don't you know any other skilled people in Edo besides Yamada Asaemon?"
"..." Hasegawa shook his head. "Besides Yamada Asaemon, I do know some other people who are equally good..."
"It's just that... I can't think of which of these people I can trust and which I can ask for help..."
"Then let's stop here for today's conversation." Sakura nodded slightly, "After you go back, Lord Hasegawa, think about who can be entrusted with this important task."
"I'll give you two days, is that enough?"
"Two days is enough." Hasegawa nodded.
"Then..." Sakura picked up the katana placed at her side, "I will wait for your good news in my house."
Sakura just stood up, then as if she remembered something, she lowered her head and spoke to Hasegawa who was still sitting on the tatami.
"Master Hasegawa, although I know you should know this, I will still remind you."
"If I can't stop Gokutaro from getting the first place in the 'Gozen Trial', I won't help you protect the Hitoshiyome field."
"I hope you understand."
"...I understand." Hasegawa nodded.
…
…
Sakura and Hasegawa walked out of the teahouse one after the other.
Sakura's residence and the headquarters of the Fire Thief Kai were located in opposite directions, so the two said goodbye to each other and went their separate ways after leaving the teahouse.
"Mr. Hasegawa." After Sakura completely left her sight, Imai, who was walking in front and leading the way with a lantern, turned his head and asked Hasegawa behind him, "How did the talk go?"
"...I promised Lady Sakura." Hasegawa gave a helpless smile.
"Did you promise him..." Imai said in a deep voice.
A few days ago, Sakura had found Hasegawa and mentioned to him that Shiranui was planning to "send their masters to participate in the 'Gozen Trial' in an attempt to win the first place in the martial arts test in the 'Gozen Trial' and thereby restore their image."
In other words, as early as the first meeting a few days ago, Sakura tried to get Hasegawa to join.
The first meeting between the two ended in failure.
Because Hasegawa had not made up his mind whether to cooperate with Sakura, he used the tactic of "delay" and asked Sakura to give him some time to think about it carefully after returning.
And Sakura also agreed to Hasegawa and gave Hasegawa a few days.
So - there was the second meeting between the two of them tonight.
Imai is Hasegawa's right-hand man.
Among the Fire Thieves Kai, his status is second only to Hasegawa.
As Hasegawa's confidant and a person of high status, Imai naturally knew that Sakura and Hasegawa had a secret meeting and knew the content of the meeting.
Imai, who was very concerned about whether Hasegawa had accepted Sakura's invitation to cooperate, couldn't help but ask Hasegawa about the results of the meeting as soon as Hasegawa came out and Sakura left.
After learning from Hasegawa that Hasegawa actually agreed to cooperate with Sakura, Imai's face darkened.
"…Lord Hasegawa." Imai smiled bitterly, "I thought you would refuse Lord Sakura... Haven't you always stayed away from such political struggles?"
"I wanted to reject Sakura at first." Hasegawa and Imai both looked bitter, "but the conditions offered by Sakura-sama were too generous..."
"Sakura-sama promised me that if I could successfully prevent Gokutaro from taking first place in the 'Gozen Trial', she would help me protect the Hitoshiyome."
"Really?" As soon as Hasegawa finished speaking, Imai's face showed excitement.
"Of course, the prerequisite is to successfully prevent Gokutaro from getting the first place in the 'Gozen Trial'." Hasegawa shrugged with a wry smile.
"...These conditions are indeed very generous." Imai shook his head helplessly, "I can understand why Lord Hasegawa agreed to cooperate with Lord Sakura."
"We are really short of allies right now..."
At this point, Imai let out a long sigh.
"Many officials in the shogunate, including Lord Rochu, think that our Hitoshiyome is of no use other than wasting money..."
"I don't think it's a good idea to waste money teaching prisoners a skill."
"Why don't they understand?"
Imai looked indignant.
"Allowing criminals who have committed minor crimes to acquire a skill can greatly reduce the possibility of them committing crimes again."
"Why do they all think that our human logistics center is just a waste of money..."
"...Some of them do understand." Hasegawa sighed. "At least - Lord Matsudaira Sadanobu, who holds the high position of Elder Councillor, must know the benefits of establishing the Hitoshiyome Field."
"Lord Matsudaira Sadanobu is currently carrying out the shogunate reforms in full swing."
“There are a lot of places that are desperate for money.”
"So what Lord Matsudaira Sadanobu hates most right now is people who waste money."
"The reason why Lord Matsudaira Sadanobu tried every possible way to put pressure on me and force me to close the Renzukuri Station is that he thinks that there are many other things that have higher priority than operating the Renzukuri Station ."
After saying that, Hasegawa let out a sigh of relief.
"But - no matter what Master Matsudaira Sadanobu says, I will not close the Hitoshigi-no-Machiba."
Imai nodded solemnly and said:
"If we can have the support of Lady Sakura, our pressure will definitely be much less..."
"Only if we succeed in stopping Shiranui from taking first place in the martial arts test of 'Gozen Test', Sakura-sama will be willing to help us protect the Hitoshiyome."
"Master Hasegawa," Imai asked, "Since you have already started cooperation with Master Sakura, what exactly are you going to do?"
"My job is simple."
"The 'Imperial Trial' is personally organized by Lord Matsudaira Sadanobu. Even Lady Sakura cannot tamper with the 'Imperial Trial'."
"So if you want to prevent Shiranui's people from getting the first place in the 'Gozen Trial', there is only one way to do it - send someone strong enough to defeat Shiranui's people in the 'Gozen Trial'."
"So the mission Sakura-sama has assigned me is a simple one."
"Let me send out my most elite subordinates, or use my network of contacts to get some friends with good skills to participate in the 'Gozen Trial'. Defeat Shiranui's people in the 'Gozen Trial'."
"That's easy then!" Imai shouted with great enthusiasm, "We have a lot of talented people in the Fire Thieves Kai, and there are at least ten of us who can fight ten of them at once."
"Sakura-sama is quite good at finding people."
"If you want to find someone with great strength, you, Lord Hasegawa, who possesses the Fire Thief Kai, are indeed the best choice."
A bitter smile appeared on Hasegawa's face again.
"Imai, do you know who Shiranui sent to participate in the 'Gozen Trial'?"
"have no idea."
"They sent Gokutaro."
"…Gokutaro, one of the Four Heavenly Kings?"
"You actually know him."
"Master Hasegawa, I am the deputy commander of the Fire Thief Kai after all, and I know all these things."
"Yes, it's Gokutaro, one of the 'Four Heavenly Kings' in Shiranui. He is one of the four strongest jonin in Shiranui."
"Although I have never seen him in person, I have heard of his strength."
"Most of our elite members of the Fire Thieves Kai have been transferred to the northeast to capture Aoi Ichiro."
"I don't think anyone among those who are staying in Edo has the ability to defeat Gokutaro..."
"...Then we can only ask some friends with good skills for help." Imai said in a deep voice.
"I just recommended Yamada Asaemon to Lady Sakura."
Hasegawa shrugged.
"It's a pity that Lord Sakura rejected it without hesitation."
When he heard the name "Yamada Asaemon", Imai's face changed slightly and he shrank his neck.
Looking at Imai's reaction, Hasegawa said to him in a joking tone:
"Why? Imai, are you also afraid of the Yamada Asaemon family?"
"Of course." Imai admitted directly, "Normally anyone would be afraid of the Yamada Asaemon family..."
"I once went to the residence of the Yamada Asaemon family for some matters."
"As soon as I stepped into their mansion, I smelled a faint stench of corpses..."
"Not only that, I also happened to see their family's servants carrying a somewhat decayed corpse into the backyard of their mansion."
"It is said that the corpse was used to train the young men of their family."
"I think that family is not normal... If possible, I don't want to have any contact with anyone from that family for the rest of my life."
"Sakura-sama may have refused because he didn't want to have any dealings with the Yamada Asaemon family, just like me..."
"Maybe." Hasegawa shrugged, "Sakura-sama is always old-fashioned ."
"He always felt that the executioners whose job it was to take other people's lives - even those from the Yamada Asaemon family - were still unclean."
"If you associate with such an unclean person, you will also suffer bad luck."
"That's probably why Lady Sakura is unwilling to let the Yamada Asaemon family help."
"And I heard that Lady Sakura has always been critical of the Yamada Asaemon family's practice of using human gall to make 'human gall pills'."
"This may be one of the reasons why Lord Sakura is unwilling to let the Yamada Asaemon family help."
"I think it's okay for the Yamada Asaemon family to use human gallbladders to make medicine." Imai muttered, "The gallbladders they use are all dead people's gallbladders anyway."
"Using the gallbladder of a dead person to make medicine to save lives, I think this is a good thing."
"It would be even better if the price of 'Human Bile Pills' could be lower ..."
"In short," Hasegawa sighed, "Since Lord Sakura is unwilling to let the Yamada Asaemon family help, I can only find someone else..."
"But among the people I know who are decently skilled, it seems that no one has a strong chance of defeating Gokutaro..."
Hasegawa looked at Imai.
"Imai, do you know anyone with extraordinary skills?"
Imai shook his head with a bitter face.
"Whatever." Hasegawa shook his head helplessly, "I'll think about the right person later."
"If possible, I would actually like to fight with the ninjas from Shiranui." Imai smiled, "I have never fought with a ninja before."
"Come to think of it - the shogunate once recruited ninjas as 'official ninjas' just like it does now."
"You are talking about Iga no Sato, right?" Hasegawa smiled. "You are right. When Lord Ieyasu established the Edo Shogunate, he did recruit Iga no Sato as the shogunate's official ninja unit."
"It's a pity that 'Iga no Sato' was destroyed due to civil strife 40 years ago."
"Now that I think about it carefully, I feel really emotional."
"Two hundred years ago, the five great ninja villages of the Warring States Period - Iga no Sato, Koga no Sato, Fuma no Sato, Manten no Sato, and Togakushi no Sato - have all been destroyed now."
"At present, Shiranui is the only ninja family left in the whole country."
"And during the Warring States Period, Shiranui was just an unknown ninja who relied on Taiko-sama to survive."
"The once unknown Shiranui Village has now become the only remaining ninja village. Just like Iga Village in the past, it has become the official ninja of the shogunate."
"The changes in the world are really hard to understand."
"From a certain perspective, Taiko-sama is considered to be the benefactor of Shiranui."
"Without Taiko-sama's help, the weak Shiranui would have perished long ago."
"Taikou-sama?" Imai seemed to have remembered something, and a thoughtful look appeared on his face. "I have heard a lot of anecdotes between Taikou-sama and Shiranui."
"I heard that Shiranui also participated in the two decisive battles in which Lord Ieyasu conquered the Toyotomi clan - the Winter Campaign of Osaka and the Summer Campaign of Osaka."
"I've heard of this rumor, too." Hasegawa said, "But it's just a rumor after all. No one knows if this is true or not."
While Hasegawa and Imai were chatting, they unknowingly returned to the Fire Thieves Kai headquarters that they were most familiar with.
Outside the gate of the Fire Thieves' headquarters, there are two spring lanterns.
The lantern is painted with the family crest of the Tokugawa family, the family that ruled all of Japan: the three-leaf sunflower crest.
The faint light emitted by the candle in the lantern illuminated the entire gate and the wooden sign hanging on the side of the gate with the five powerful Chinese characters "火付盗贼改" written on it.
Looking at the wooden sign, Hasegawa and Imai both showed a faint smile on their faces.
The headquarters of the Fire Thieves Kai is like home to them.
Coming back here is like coming home for them.
No... to be more precise... for Hasegawa, coming back here is really like coming home.
In order to facilitate his work, Hasegawa moved his entire home into the headquarters.
In other words, returning to the headquarters is like returning home for Hasegawa.
As they passed through the gate of the yamen, Hasegawa and Imai saw Yamazaki walking towards them quickly.
Yamazaki is the leader of their Fire Thieves Kai's 8th Division.
The Eighth Division is the only division among the Fire Thieves Kai whose main job is clerical work.
The members of Group 8 are all proficient in writing.
As the leader of the eighth team, Yamazaki is also trusted and relied upon by Hasegawa.
Because the Eighth Division was mainly responsible for clerical work, Yamazaki rarely left the headquarters or traveled far.
When Hasegawa and Imai are not around, Yamazaki is usually in charge of the headquarters.
"Yamazaki." Hasegawa asked the anxious Yamazaki, "What happened?"
"Lord Hasegawa, something happened." Yamazaki said in a deep voice, "Natori had an argument with the officials of the Shirobei Club in Yoshiwara."
Yamazaki explained the whole story to Hasegawa and Imai in the simplest terms possible.
"The entire sixth division was wiped out?" Imai's eyes widened in shock, "And they were all wiped out by one person?"
"Yes." Yamazaki nodded with a heavy face, "But because the man who wiped out the entire Sixth Division used the back of a knife, there were no casualties or serious injuries."
"I have just sent people from Division 7 to take Natori and the others back to the headquarters, and have called a doctor to treat their injuries."
"Just now a very burly man came and said he wanted to have a serious talk with us about the Sixth Division."
"And that person..."
Yamazaki looked at Hasegawa with hesitation.
"That person said his name was Makimura Yahachi, and he was an old acquaintance of Lord Hasegawa."
"Because I'm not sure if he is really an old acquaintance of yours, Lord Hasegawa, I temporarily placed him in the guest room."
After hearing the name "Makimura Yahachi" from Yamazaki, Hasegawa's pupils shrank slightly.
"...I understand." Hasegawa turned his head and looked at Imai, "Imai, go check on the situation of the Sixth Division."
"yes!"
"Yamazaki, take me to Makimura Yabana."
"yes!"
Yamazaki led Hasegawa through several corridors and came to a paper sliding door.
After Yamazaki opened the paper sliding door, Hasegawa saw a familiar figure in the room.
Makimura was now sitting cross-legged on the tatami.
Seeing Hasegawa coming, Makimura immediately smiled and waved to Hasegawa.
"...Yamazaki, please leave first." Hasegawa said to Yamazaki, "I want to be alone with this person for a while."
…
…
at the same time--
Somewhere not far from the headquarters of the Fire Thieves Kai——
"Are you really not going to meet Hasegawa with Makimura? You and Hasegawa should have a good relationship."
Asai, who was still dressed as a woman, asked Ogata beside him.
The two are now in a remote alley.
Ogata leaned against a wall, playing with the leaves in his hand out of boredom.
Asai was leaning against the wall opposite Ogata.
Because there was no one around and there was no need to pretend anymore, Asai no longer had to raise his voice and speak like a eunuch.
After hearing Asai's question, Ogata gave a helpless smile.
"My relationship with Hasegawa is... complicated."
"At the beginning of this year, I fought Hasegawa in Tatsuno Domain."
"And this summer, I fought side by side with Hasegawa to protect Kyoto..."
"So I can't even tell myself whether Hasegawa and I are enemies or friends."
"I don't think Hasegawa himself can tell whether I am a friend or an enemy."
"Although I'm wearing a human skin mask, Hasegawa should still remember my voice, so if I meet him, he should still be able to recognize me quickly."
"I just burned down the Nijo Castle tower three months ago."
At this point, the helpless smile on Ogata's face turned into a bitter smile.
"Although I didn't set the fire myself, I still bear a great deal of responsibility for the burning of the Nijo Castle's castle tower."
"So, given the current situation where I am accused of 'burning down the Nijo Castle tower', it would be better for me not to meet with Hasegawa Heizo, the fire thief commander who specializes in catching vicious thieves and arsonists."
"Just let Makimura help me negotiate with Hasegawa and report the evil deeds of the Sixth Division to Hasegawa."
"Makimura is not a wanted criminal. Three months ago in Kyoto, he was the one who fought alongside Hasegawa for the longest time, and he and Hasegawa had a life-and-death friendship."
"So let Makimura negotiate with Hasegawa on my behalf."
Having said this, Ogata paused and then looked at Asai in front of him.
"Asai, you should go back to the hotel first. I'll wait for Makimura here."
"Please tell everyone for us - Mucun and I may be back late tonight."
"I'd love to." Asai answered without hesitation, "All I want now is to take a quick shower and wipe this stuff off my face."
…
…
"It's been a long time since we last met, Makimura. It's been three months since we last met in Kyoto."
Hasegawa knelt in front of Makimura obediently.
"Yeah." Makimura nodded. "It's October now, so three months have passed. Lord Hasegawa, you're still as energetic as ever."
"I've been so busy." Hasegawa said bitterly, "After returning to Edo from Kyoto, all kinds of things have come one after another."
After saying that, Hasegawa sighed softly.
"The longer you live, the faster time seems to pass."
"Three months ago, I can still vividly remember the scenes of running around Kyoto with you, Shimada-kun, and Ogata Ittosai. It's like it happened just yesterday..."
For some reason, Hasegawa suddenly stopped talking in the middle of his words.
"Ogata Ittosai...?"
After mumbling this softly, Hasegawa's pupils suddenly shrank.
Then he slowly raised his head and looked at Mucun in front of him.
"Yeah... I remember now. Makimura-kun, you and Ogata Ittosai know each other, right?"
Then he said something that left Makura confused.