I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“A uniform that is eye-catching, pleasing, and carries profound meaning will give the public a good impression, thereby greatly increasing the public’s goodwill towards us.”

"Now, please feel free to discuss and speak your minds!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the meeting room erupted in discussion.

The group either pondered alone or discussed the matter with those around them.

"Toudou-kun, what are your thoughts?"

Inoue Genzaburo turned his head and asked Todo Heisuke, who was to his left.

Todo Heisuke smiled bitterly:

"Sorry, I know absolutely nothing about clothing..."

Kinoshita Mai rubbed her palms together—"I really want to share my thoughts with others"—that was practically written all over her pretty face.

However... she turned her head and looked around at herself.

Those with odd-numbered squad numbers sat in one row, and those with even-numbered squad numbers sat in the opposite row.

Because Kinoshita Mai is the captain of the Ninth Division, she is the last one in the odd-numbered queue, so there is no one to her left, while the captain of the Seventh Division, Sanako, is sitting to her right.

Kinoshita Mai glanced at the empty space to her left, then at the expressionless Sanako to her right… Finally, she lowered her head, looking dejected.

Sanako caught her every move out of the corner of her eye.

After a moment of silence, Sanako sighed silently.

"Ms. Kinoshita, if you have something on your mind, why not just say it out loud? Why be so secretive and hesitant?"

Suddenly being called out by Sanako... Kinoshita Mai's delicate body trembled violently a few times.

"me……"

She mumbled something as if she were chewing on something, her head drooping lower and lower as she fiddled with her fingers.

Seeing this, Sanako sighed again.

"If you don't dare to speak up in front of everyone..."

After saying that, she leaned her upper body towards Kinoshita Mai and peeked out her crystal-clear left ear towards her.

"You should have the courage to talk to me, right? If you have anything to say or say, just tell me."

Kinoshita Mai raised her eyes, her surprised gaze falling on Sanako.

"This position is tiring. If you don't say anything, I'm going to ignore you."

Sanako's words were like blocking off all escape routes.

After hesitating for a few moments, Kinoshita Mai took a deep breath.

"Um... I think we could design the haori as—"

She spoke quickly and concisely in a volume that only she and Sanako could hear.

Sanako's face was expressionless.

But gradually, her beautiful eyes slowly opened, and a look of surprise flashed across them.

……

At the same time—

"Haori..."

The commander tilted her head back, blinked her beautiful eyes, and stared intently at the ceiling above her, as if deep in thought.

A moment later, as if she had thought of something happy, an excited blush spread across her cheeks, and she exclaimed enthusiastically:

"Tachibana-kun, I have a suggestion! Let's design our haori to be purple! What do you think?"

After listening to her speech, Nagakura Shinpachi, who was sitting opposite her, subconsciously asked in return:

"Purple? Isn't that way too expensive?"

The world is colorful, but not everything that has color is suitable to be used as dye.

If you apply some water-soluble colored liquid indiscriminately, even if the color is very bright at the time, it will be exposed as true color after washing with water.

Therefore, dyeing can only be considered truly successful when certain colors can be fixed on the fabric and not easily faded.

In ancient times, when technology was limited, such natural dyes were rare, and purple was even rarer.

As the saying goes, "rarity makes things valuable."

Due to the scarcity of dyes and the complexity of the process, this fabric was naturally expensive, thus becoming a symbol of wealth.

Both the East and the West in ancient times regarded purple as a noble color.

For example, in ancient Rome, the government legislated that only the highest-ranking nobles could wear purple robes, and anyone who dared to overstep this rule would be punished.

Thus, the West has a proverb that says "be born to the purple," which literally means "born of purple," implying being born into a noble family.

As for the East, needless to say.

The idioms "bright red and purple," "yellow flag and purple canopy," and "golden seal and purple ribbon" all highlight the exalted status of purple.

Although obtaining purple dye has become less difficult with the rapid development of dyeing technology, its price is still not cheap enough for ordinary people to afford.

Otherwise, the Souji, who has a particular fondness for purple, wouldn't cherish his few purple outfits so much.

Kinoshita Mai, who likes red, and Sanako, who likes blue, can both wear red and blue clothes casually as everyday wear, respectively.

However, Souji, who likes purple, cannot do this.

Before meeting Aoto, apart from the purple ribbon she used to tie her hair, the only purple clothing Souji owned was a haori and a hakama.

The former was a congratulatory gift from Kondo Shusuke after she received the unrecognized transmission of the Natural Rishin-ryu school.

The latter was a coming-of-age gift jointly given to her by Kondo Isami, Hijikata Toshizo, Inoue Genzaburo, and her sister Okita Hikaru.

She treasured these two pieces of clothing, only wearing them when she was in a good mood or during holidays.

It wasn't until Qing Deng, who had become a close friend of Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya and was quite wealthy, gifted her several purple garments that she finally achieved "purple freedom."

Faced with Nagakura Shinpachi's questioning, Souji chuckled:

"Since it's free, it's okay to splurge a little, right?"

No sooner had she finished speaking than Qingdeng retorted in an annoyed tone:

“That won’t do. As I just said, we can’t let Yagi Gennojo spend too much money.”

Immediately afterwards, Hijikata Toshizo grinned:

"Souji, you just want to take this opportunity to get a piece of clothing you like for free, right?"

"I... I didn't mean that..."

The commander laughed awkwardly and guiltily looked away.

At this moment, Kondo Isami's deep voice interrupted:

"Tachibana-kun, may I speak?"

"Please feel free to speak, everyone is welcome to do so."

"Then—ladies and gentlemen, please hear me out!"

Kondo Isami sat up straight and cleared his throat:

"Actually... I admire the Ako righteous people. The person I admire is Oishi Kuranosuke. I think he is the samurai among samurai."

"Therefore, I have long hoped to wear the clothes that the Ako warriors wore when they charged into battle!"

"What do you think about designing the haori to resemble the style of the Ako warriors?"

Upon hearing this, Yamanami Keisuke couldn't help but ask:

"Is it the kind of haori with mountain-shaped patterns on the cuffs?"

As he asked the question, Keisuke Yamanami gestured a few times with his fingers toward his sleeve.

Kondo Isamu nodded vigorously.

"That's right! It's the kind of black haori with mountain-shaped patterns on the cuffs!"

The Ako Righteous Men—also known as the Forty-Seven Righteous Men of Ako.

In 1701, the lord of the Ako Domain was ordered to receive the Emperor's envoy. However, he was fooled and disrespected by a retainer named Kira. Enraged, the lord of the Ako Domain injured Kira, which violated the law. He was sentenced to seppuku, and his retainers later avenged him.

In 1702, the 15th year of Genroku, the chief retainer of the Ako Domain, Ōishi Kuranosuke, led 46 samurai into the Kira residence under the cover of night.

At that time, the righteous men all wore black haori with mountain-shaped patterns embroidered on the cuffs.

After successfully taking Kira's head, they surrendered to the shogunate's officers and were imprisoned.

The shogunate ordered them to commit seppuku (ritual suicide). In the end, all but one man, Terasaka Uemon, died by seppuku.

The loyalty and bravery of these 47 samurai of the Ako Domain earned them praise and they were known as the "Ako Righteous Men".

The "Ako Incident" has also been adapted into various forms, including Kabuki, Joruri Bunraku puppet shows, and other forms of entertainment.

Kondo Isami's proposal sparked widespread discussion.

Yamanami Keisuke crossed his arms and muttered to himself:

"Imitating the attire of the Ako warriors...?"

Todo Heisuke asked:

"Won't this cause misunderstandings? Others might think we're going to emulate the heroic deeds of Ako and brutally kill the treacherous officials!"

Harada Sanosuke quickly joined the discussion:

"Wouldn't black clothing be too dull and inconspicuous?"

Just then, a series of cold laughs suddenly rang out:

"Hmph hmph hmph...!"

Everyone shifted their gaze to the source of the cold laughter: Serizawa Kamo.

"Kondo, let me remind you: the truth of the 'Ako Incident' is not as beautiful as the folk tales portray it, so I do not recommend imitating the Ako righteous men's clothing."

Upon hearing this, Kondo Isami immediately retorted with a defiant expression: