In order to become a Heroic Spirit, I had no choice but to cause trouble in history.

Zuocun stood by Luslan's bedside, looking at his old friend who had been in Japan for almost twenty years.

"Zomura...don't be sad for me...we'll meet again in the next life..."

After saying this, Ruslan breathed his last.

Zuocun didn't feel anything, he just sighed.

He stared at the ceiling, trying to hold back his tears.

"I've witnessed too many partings..."

"So it's possible to become numb afterward..."

They hired some people to bury Ruslan by the river, next to Inoue Genzaburo.

There wasn't much sadness; the tears had long since been shed.

It's just that there's one more person to worship each year.

......

Life was peaceful, and occasionally when Samura went to sweep the graves, he would run into the police chief of Kyoto City.

From Saito Hajime, Samura learned a lot about the outside world.

For example, a group of people visit Europe and formally establish diplomatic relations with foreigners.

For example, education reforms, such as the new government establishing elementary and junior high schools throughout Japan.

Etc., etc.

Zuocun listened to the news with a smile.

"Ryoma... our efforts finally paid off..."

He arrived at the beach, looked around, and shouted, exclaiming in amazement.

One day, Saito came to his door.

"So... you still want me to take a position in the new government?" Samura looked at Saito as if he were an idiot.

Saito took a drag of his cigarette: "You're overthinking it. I'm too lazy to be their advocate."

"It's just that Kyoto University recently opened in Kyoto and they're recruiting teachers right now." Saito, dressed in a police uniform and looking quite energetic, said, "I thought you speak several foreign languages, so I came to find you and see if you'd be willing to become a university professor or something."

"I..." Zuo Cun seemed a little hesitant.

“What are you hesitating about?” Saito rolled his eyes and pointed to the courtyard of Samura. “Look at yourself now. Although you’re not exactly living a bad life, you’re still incredibly poor. This is a new era. You need to find a way to make a living.”

Zuocun fell silent.

He turned his head and glanced at his knife rack.

"How about it?" Saito took another drag of his cigarette. "If you refuse, I won't come back a second time. After all, I know what kind of person you are."

Zuocun pondered for a moment, then sighed.

"I only speak English and Dutch, and I can only speak Russian and French by ear."

Saito was taken aback.

He then smiled and said, "Okay."

Samura moved to Kyoto City with Kanna.

Zuo Cun entrusted the old house to the tavern owner he knew, since Zuo Cun might want to come back and live there someday.

After more than a year of discussion, with Saito's help, in the summer of 1875, Samura and several partners established Kyoto University more than a decade ahead of schedule, and single-handedly established the Department of Foreign Languages ​​at Kyoto University.

Kanna also began her studies and later became a Japanese language teacher at a national elementary school in Kyoto.

Zuocun thus gave up swords and picked up a ruler to become a teacher.

This time, the classroom became Zuocun's battlefield.

The students all liked the one-armed professor very much, but they had never seen him smile.

In his spare time, Samura would drink with Saito at izakayas in Kyoto and talk about their recent lives. Occasionally, Katsura Kogoro, who had changed his name to Kido Takayoshi, would also come to Kyoto to have a drink with Samura.

The crane and hawk feathers were treasured by Samura, and he would only take them out to wear during festivals.

In 1877, Saigo Moritaka launched a rebellion, and war broke out again.

Zuocun chose to ignore it and did not choose to participate in the war.

After the war ended, Samura felt a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

In 79, after sending his first group of students out of school, Zuocun chose to resign and return to Mibu Village.

Although he enjoyed getting along with the students, Samura didn't really like the feeling.

He lives alone in the old house in Mibu Village, and Kanna occasionally comes back to visit Samura.

Zuocun lived alone in Mibu Village for several years.

1882 years.

A coup occurred in Meiji 14.

Under Emperor Meiji's administration, the radicals were purged from the upper echelons, and for the first time since Ruslan's death, Samura shed tears.

He brought his three swords to Kyoto and found Saito.

Two middle-aged men entered the izakaya.

"Why are you in such a hurry to drag me to an izakaya? I have to go to work tomorrow." Saito took a sip of beer and looked at Samura strangely.

Zuo Cun now sports a full beard, and the handsome young man he once was is no longer recognizable; he's just an ordinary middle-aged man.

"You must have heard about what happened in Tokyo Prefecture," Zuocun said with a smile.

"I heard about it. Shigenobu Okuma and his radical gang have been purged from the upper echelons. What happened?" Saito took a bite of meat and looked at the eagle that could no longer fly.

“Well, so Saito… I have no regrets…” Samura’s eyes were slightly lowered, and a slight smile played on his lips.

Saito was stunned.

"Would you mind giving me a ride home?" Samura asked Saito with a smile.

Saito wanted to say something, but after opening his mouth for a long time, he finally nodded slowly.

"Thank you." Zuo Cun breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought you wouldn't agree."

"...Does Kanna know?"

"...I didn't tell Kanna about this." Samura shook his head. "So please inform her afterwards."

"...Alright then."

......

Saito took a few days off and went with Samura to a seaside in Iwate Prefecture.

This is a high cliff.

Below the high cliffs, there are raging waves.

Zuocun shaved his beard and looked refreshed.

“Do you know Saito?” Samura said to Saito behind him, sitting on the cliff looking at the sea, “I died after Okita died.”

Saito stood behind Samura without saying a word.

“Ryoma... Okita... and Kondo and Hijikata... I’m already grateful to have survived for so many years.”

He took off the crane's wings, along with the scabbard, and stuck them directly into a rock.

Pheasant feathers and poisonous feathers were placed beside it.

"I have many regrets, but they are all beyond my control. I... no longer want to stay in this world for another moment."

Saito looked at Samura with respect in his eyes.

Zuo Cun unscrewed the bottle and poured himself a bowl of wine.

He raised the wine bowl high.

"respect!"

"Everyone who struggled in that era!"

Zuo Cun drank the wine in one gulp and smashed the wine bowl on the ground.

"Hahahaha—this is the eagle's last flight!!!"

Zuocun jumped up.

He jumped high into the air.

Just like a real eagle.

The warm era has arrived, the sun is rising, and an executioner like me should obediently be buried in the sea along with that reckless era!

thump--

......

Japanese Bakumatsu, Assassin Volume, Completed.

------------

Chapter 424 Epilogue

Zuocun left.

He leaped off that high cliff.

That was a leap carrying the bloody memories of the old era, embracing a cruel past. The eagle fell into the sea and died at the age of forty-four.

When Kanna learned of the news that Samura had jumped into the sea, she cried so much that she fainted several times.

She followed in Sasamura's footsteps and continued in the education field after his death, eventually becoming the principal of a national elementary school. She never married.

After retiring, she lived alone in her old house in Mibu Ward until she passed away at the age of 65.

After hearing the news of Samura's death, Kyoto University erected a statue of Samura on campus to commemorate the founder and also granted him the title of honorary president.