Simulation: Starting from Under One Person

Therefore, when they learned that the general was missing, the crowd was not particularly alarmed, since they were sure he would return.

However, this is the first time the princess has gone missing, not to mention that thieves had been seen around the general's residence before, causing quite a stir...

After a moment's thought, everyone panicked.

Immediately, notifications were sent to various locations, and security organizations dispatched personnel to search for Princess Chengye.

however……

Princess Chengye, whom everyone was searching for, was currently in the Otose Tavern, watching a group of drunkards making a ruckus.

Fang Rui sat beside him, holding a glass of wine and slowly sipping it.

As mentioned before, Otose has a wide network of connections, which allows him to obtain all sorts of wines, such as those from this planet and famous wines from other planets.

Fang Rui was drinking a famous wine from some planet; it was very expensive, and its taste...

It's just average.

Perhaps it's because Fang Rui has drunk so many spirit wines in the past, that ordinary wines now seem a bit lacking in flavor...

"Is the wine... not to your liking?" Otose, noticing Fang Rui's expression, asked softly.

"You're so observant? My expression didn't change, did it?"

Upon hearing this, Fang Rui did not answer Deng Shi's question, but instead asked another question out of curiosity.

"No matter what, I am the owner of the tavern, so of course I can tell whether a person likes the drinks they are drinking."

Otose's tone was very calm, as if he were saying that practice makes perfect.

Thinking about it carefully, it's quite normal that Otose has seen a considerable number of drunkards and developed some skills in the process.

"You're right, give me a different kind of wine."

Fang Rui nodded slightly, not dwelling on the matter any further. Fortunately, the place had a wide variety of alcoholic beverages, so he could try different bottles and find one he liked.

"These wines are very expensive," Otose reminded her. If it were ordinary wines, she wouldn't mind getting a little free, since there was a guy who often came to her place to get free wines.

“I have money.” Fang Rui took out several dozen small gold coins and placed them on the counter.

"You can verify the authenticity of the gold coins before giving me the wine."

In this day and age, the currency used is paper money and coins. Small coins are used in some special transactions, but they are still hard currency.

"Wait a moment." Otose took the small gold coin and left the tavern to go to the back room to verify its authenticity. He returned a few minutes later and gave Fang Rui a bottle of wine.

"Why are you carrying small sums of money around?" Otose's tone was somewhat strange.

"It's just a habit," Fang Rui replied.

He traveled to various parts of the world where paper money was not interchangeable, but gold was a hard currency in most worlds, so he preferred to pay with gold or exchange it for currency at pawnshops, gold shops, and other similar stores.

Having lost interest in continuing the conversation, Fang Rui poured himself a drink and watched as Cheng Ye strolled around the tavern, encountered Kagura who was looking for food, and the two whispered to each other about something...

Kagura's cooking skills are very poor; she only has a basic grasp of cooking techniques. Therefore, she avoids cooking herself whenever she has the chance.

Given that Sakata Gintoki is hospitalized, Otose is temporarily taking on the task of caring for Kagura, which basically means providing her with three meals a day.

To be more precise, it's lunch and dinner, since the tavern opens quite late.

'The ways we met were indeed different.'

'But...it seems there's no difference.'

The two became acquainted within seconds of meeting and are now having a great time...

Simply put, it's about catching someone's eye; the moment you see them, you feel you can become friends with them.

Compared to the peaceful atmosphere inside the tavern, the atmosphere outside was a bit worse. As news spread that "the princess was suspected of being captured by thieves," police officers patrolling the streets increased their patrols to search for the princess's whereabouts.

Meanwhile, the Shinsengumi and the patrol team temporarily abandoned other tasks and devoted themselves to searching for the princess's whereabouts.

Upon hearing this news, the anti-foreign organizations also sprang into action, hoping to seize the opportunity to cause trouble...

As for informing the general, that was already done; a simple phone call to Matsudaira Katakuri was all it took to reach the general.

Upon learning of Chengye's disappearance, the general immediately lost interest in investigating the people's situation and ordered everyone to search for information.

Therefore, the city was in considerable chaos.

However, there are not many police officers in Kabukicho for the time being, partly because Kabukicho is quite chaotic and its inmates are not very obedient.

"It's so noisy outside!"

Inside the Otose Tavern, Fang Rui suddenly turned to look outside. He seemed to hear the sound of police sirens; some sirens were closer, while others were farther away…

However, I didn't see any police cars passing by the pub, so the sound must have come from somewhere else.

"That's normal, they're probably chasing something." Otose was used to it; if they encountered some arrogant criminals, the sirens would go on for a long time, after all...

The world is not very stable right now.

Criminals from other planets, an anti-foreign organization attempting to expel the Amanto, internal strife within the Shogunate, illegal criminal organizations...

In such a diverse and complex environment, how could there possibly be peace?

"Pursue them?" Fang Rui muttered softly, glancing at the person who was smiling happily.

Judging by the timeline, Princess Chengye's disappearance should have been discovered by now.

only……

In Fang Rui's opinion, the discovery happened a bit late, several hours ago!

It's impossible to say that Princess Chengye is not valued; after all, she is the current general's favorite younger sister, and how could ordinary servants dare to ignore her?

It can only be said that it's related to Princess Sumire's lifestyle. Before meeting Kagura, Princess Sumire was a relatively quiet person who often spent time alone, therefore...

That's why they were discovered missing so late.

"Ask her! See if she wants to go home, or let her know she's safe and sound and then continue playing outside."

Fang Rui spoke in a low voice, and no one else heard him, not even the boss, Otose, who was standing right next to him...

Chapter 552: Joining the Wild People

"Your brother is looking for you. Should you let him know you're safe?"

Upon finding Cheng Ye, Fang Rui explained the situation clearly and awaited her decision.

"Won't this cause you trouble?" Cheng Ye looked up when she heard this. The first half of her words made her think that she was going home, but she didn't expect the second half of her words to bring her a twist.

"No, just explain things clearly. Don't let your brother overthink things. The rest is unimportant..."

After a pause, Fang Rui added, "Also, arrange a meeting with your brother for me. He can choose the location, and he can bring people, but don't bring too many..."

"Okay." Cheng Ye stared at Fang Rui with her round eyes for a while, and seeing no malice in his eyes, nodded gently.

One minute later, Tokugawa Shigeshige, who was at the shogun's residence, received a call from Sumiyo. Matsudaira Katakuri, who was nearby, immediately arranged for someone to track the phone signal.

"Sumiya, where are you?!" Tokugawa Shigeshige's tone was very anxious.

"I'm having fun at an izakaya~" Sumire's tone was quite cheerful, causing Tokugawa Shigeshige's tense mood to falter, as the situation was not quite what he had expected...

Listening to the noisy sounds coming from the loudspeaker, Tokugawa Shigehiro fell silent, feeling that... the atmosphere on the other side was quite cheerful.

Because it was on speakerphone, Matsudaira Katakuriko, who was standing next to him, heard it all clearly, and his expression was also somewhat strange...

He had a feeling that the person who kidnapped the princess must have something in common with him, since their styles of doing things were very similar. He often took the general out to play, and the person who "kidnapped" the princess also took the princess out to play.

To be honest, when Matsudaira Katakuriko heard Princess Sumire's tone, he already sensed something. If she had been kidnapped, Princess Sumire's tone wouldn't have been so cheerful. Even if it was an act, it didn't feel that way...

As someone who travels around a lot, he clearly understood the tone of "having fun," which was exactly the same tone Princess Chengye had used before.

The fact that she can have so much fun means that her safety is guaranteed and she has not been coerced.

"An izakaya?" Tokugawa Shigeshige sounded quite surprised. He had guessed many places, but an izakaya was not among them...

Should we notify the police to search all izakayas (Japanese pubs)?

But isn't it a bit too late to search now?!

“Yes, an izakaya, the people here are very interesting…” Sumiyo’s cheerful tone echoed in Tokugawa Shigeshige’s ears, causing him to show a surprised expression.

how come?

He had been to izakayas.

A higher-end izakaya might be better, with no drunkards causing trouble, but ordinary izakayas occasionally have drunkards causing trouble.

Besides, izakayas are places for drinking, what does that have to do with having fun?

Tokugawa Shigeshige's thoughts were interrupted, and for a moment he didn't know what to ask.

"By the way, brother, the gentleman who took me out asked me to tell you that he wants to meet you. You can choose the meeting place, and you can bring some people with you."

After reporting that she was safe, Cheng Ye took the opportunity to tell Fang Rui what he had asked her to do, and then hung up the phone. Before hanging up, she said, "I'll stay out for two more days and then go home."

Hearing the "beep beep" sound, Tokugawa Shigeshige's expression stiffened. Her cute and obedient little sister wasn't so obedient anymore.

"Meet?" Matsudaira Katakuri frowned in thought. Since the other party was able to sneak into the general's residence without being heard, unless some people were arranged to take turns protecting the general, the other party would always have a chance to get close to the general.

Since there's no way to avoid it, let's just have a go at it...

"How about meeting at the Shinsengumi location?" Matsudaira Katakuriko suggested.

Tokugawa Shigeshige, who was standing nearby, was surprised. "Will the other party agree?"

Meeting someone from the Shinsengumi would be like delivering goods to their door; there's no way they'd agree to that!

"Let's give it a try! Since they said we can choose the meeting place, we should definitely choose a good one."

Matsudaira Katakuri added later, "If it doesn't work out, we'll try another place."

“Okay.” Tokugawa Shigeshige trusted Matsudaira Katakuriko very much, so he chose to adopt his suggestion.

"Should the patrol team also be temporarily transferred to the Shinsengumi garrison?"

Before calling back to relay the message to Sumiyo, Tokugawa Shigeshige suddenly spoke, and what he said surprised Matsudaira Katakuri.

“I have no objection, but…” Matsudaira Katakuri recalled the behavior of certain people for a moment, “they will fight… no, they will argue!”

With the general present, a fight is out of the question, but an argument is absolutely certain, and it will be a sarcastic and witty one, since the general is there and they have to be polite.

"They started arguing? Is their relationship that bad?"