I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

After carefully noting down Aoto's requirements and the salary he could offer, Kiryu put down his pen.

"Okita-kun, thank you for making the trip to our shop."

"When you get back, please tell Tachibana-kun that I will find a suitable person for him as soon as possible in the next few days."

"Oh, right."

Kiryu got up, walked to the cabinet next to him, and took out a box of steamed buns from the cabinet.

“Okita-kun, since you’re already here… why not take this box of wagashi (Japanese sweets) back with you?”

“This box of wagashi was sent to me by an old friend of mine who has been my friend for over 70 years and now runs a wagashi shop.”

"He sent too much. The young master and I can't finish it all. Could you help me finish some?"

"Wagashi?" Okita's eyes lit up, staring intently at the box of wagashi in Kiryu's hand. "This box of wagashi looks expensive. Are you really going to give it to us?"

Kiryu laughed and said, "If we leave them like this, these wagashi will all rot."

"Rather than let them rot, it's better to give them to other people to eat."

"Take it back and eat it with the others at Shieikan."

Kiryu shoved the box of wagashi (Japanese sweets) he was holding into Okita's arms.

Okita, who has a sweet tooth, has always had little resistance to wagashi (Japanese sweets) that are predominantly sweet.

Seeing that Kiryu had directly stuffed the box of wagashi into his arms, Okita thought to himself, "Since Mr. Kiryu is so enthusiastic, I can't be too rude to him." Then, he "reluctantly" hugged the box of wagashi tightly to his chest.

After chatting briefly with Kiryu, Okita, while frantically swallowing his saliva, clutched the box of wagashi (Japanese sweets) tightly and cheerfully strode away from the Senjiya.

"Gang Yin..."

After watching Okita leave, Kiryu muttered something.

"I happen to have a pretty good candidate in mind right now..."

Kiryu pulled out a large book with a dark green cover from under the counter.

It's quite common for job seekers to go to employment agencies only to find they can't find any jobs they like.

Therefore, many job seekers often leave their names and contact information at employment agencies, entrusting the agencies to contact them as soon as they find a job that meets their requirements.

Kiryu recorded the information of these "unemployed" people at the Senjiya in this large book with a dark green cover.

Kiryu flipped directly to the last page of the large book, where only three names were written—

Nagakura Shinpachi.

Sanosuke Harada.

Toudo Heisuke.

As Kiryu carefully examined the three names, suddenly—the sound of Kinoshita Mai's footsteps came from behind him.

"Good morning, Mr. Kiryu..." Kinoshita Mai, her clothes and hair disheveled from sleep, walked slowly toward Kiryu while rubbing her still sleepy eyes. Her cute little bare feet were exposed.

"Good morning, young master." Kiryu turned his head and smiled slightly at Kinoshita Mai. "You got up quite early today."

"I've already made breakfast. Hurry up and wash up, then have breakfast."

"Mmm..." Kinoshita Mai nodded.

Just as Kinoshita Mai turned around to go wash up, she paused.

“Oh, right. Mr. Kiryu. We have to figure out how to deal with that pile of wagashi that Uncle Goro gave us today.” Kinoshita Mai said to Kiryu with a serious expression. “If we don’t find a way to deal with it, all those wagashi will rot.”

"Ah, about that... Young Master, you don't need to worry about that." Kiryu chuckled a few times. "When Okita-kun came to visit earlier, I gave him all the wagashi we couldn't finish."

"Okita-kun just arrived?" Kinoshita Mai blinked, then asked urgently, "Did Tachibana-kun come?"

"Tachibana-kun didn't come." Kiryu glanced at Kinoshita Mai with a slightly puzzled look. "What's wrong? Why are you specifically asking if Tachibana-kun came? Do you need to talk to him?"

"Huh? Uh... no, no..." Kinoshita Mai stammered slightly, "I just asked casually..."

"Hmm... just asking casually... I see..." Kiryu narrowed his eyes slightly, staring intently at Kinoshita Mai, whose expression was somewhat unnatural.

A subtle, enigmatic smile slowly crept onto his lips.

"Why did Okita-kun suddenly come?" Kinoshita Mai cleared her throat and abruptly changed the subject.

"They're here to discuss business with us." Kiryu's strange smile vanished.

Kiryu succinctly explained to Kinoshita Mai the purpose of Okita's visit.

“Tachibana-kun wants to hire Okabiki…” Kinoshita Mai said softly, “There should be quite a few people willing to be Okabiki for the ‘three rounds’ of mutual support.”

“Yes,” Kiryu agreed, “so it’s not too hard to find people.”

"Now that you, Kiryu-san, have handed over the wagashi we can't finish to Okita-kun, I'm relieved." Kinoshita Mai looked relieved. "It would be such a waste to let those wagashi made by Uncle Goro and Aunt Machi go to waste."

……

……

While Okita was helping him negotiate business with Kiryu, Aoto was having a meeting at the Hokuban-do.

I had just arrived at the Hokuban-do office today when I received an order from Usui to convene an emergency meeting, in which all members of the Stachi and Temporary districts were required to attend.

As the town magistrate of the North District, Usui was only slightly busier than Aoto and his colleagues in the past two weeks.

Upon closer inspection—Bo Jing's once chubby body had become much thinner, and dark circles had appeared around his eyes.

Because he had a mountain of work to deal with, once everyone had arrived, Suzui didn't even exchange pleasantries and went straight to the point—

"Based on reports from our spies and informants, we have obtained intelligence related to a 'masked gang'."

Upon hearing Bo Jing's words, everyone, including Qing Deng, immediately perked up.

Masked Gang – A criminal gang that recently emerged in Edo.

The group consisted of five people, all wearing wide-brimmed straw hats and black face masks, and carrying banners that read, "I am a patriot who wants to expel foreigners. Pay up! If you don't, you are a traitor and will be punished by heaven!" They robbed merchants everywhere.

So far, a total of five shops have fallen victim to their crimes.

His crimes were heinous, and he has been designated as a "key target" by the Edo Magistrate.

Because they always wore black masks when committing crimes, the police station gave them the code name "Masked Gang" for convenience.

"According to reports from spies and informants, a local thug named 'Kin'emon' in Zhuo Town is very likely a member of the 'Masked Gang'."

"Someone in the 'Masked Gang' has a dark red birthmark on his ankle—Kin'emon has the same physical characteristic."

"Moreover, their height and build are quite similar."

"Considering Kin'emon's usual character—who doesn't do anything serious and only knows how to do all sorts of dirty things to make a living—there is a very high chance that he is a member of the 'Masked Party'."

"so--"

Bo Jing shifted his gaze, scanning the faces of everyone present.

"Let's make a trip!"

"Kin'emon usually only goes to two places—his house and a casino in Takomachi."

"Therefore, two teams were sent to capture him."

"One team was responsible for staking out his house, while the other team was responsible for blocking him at the casino he frequented."

"Whether we can capture Kin'emon is directly related to whether we can eradicate that wicked 'masked gang'."

"Therefore, I have decided to deploy a large force for this operation! Success is the only option; failure is not an option!"

"Hyuga-kun, Kitaoji-kun, you two are in charge of leading the team to stake out Kin'emon's house."

"Yes!" *2

Hinata and Kitaoji, who had been chosen, responded in unison.

Hinata was a temporary member of the Doshin, while Kitaoji was a member of the "Tojo-gumi" from the Sadamachi branch.

"Then……"

Usui slowly turned his gaze to Aoto, and... to Nishino, who was sitting not far from Aoto.

"Tachibana-kun, Nishino-kun."

"You two are responsible for leading a team to monitor the casino that Kin'emon frequents."

Suddenly being called out by Bo Jing, Qing Deng was stunned for a moment, then quickly reacted.

"Yes!" *2

Qing Deng and Xi Ye shouted "Yes!" at the same time.

……

……

"Hmph! Hmph hmph hmph~! Hmph la la~~"

Okita, who had just received a box of wagashi (Japanese sweets) from Kiryu under his right arm, hummed a tune he had composed in just two seconds while fiddling with a calamari in his hand.

"Karakara" is a type of children's toy from the Edo period that resembles a rattle drum.

As Okita left the Senjiya and headed back to Shieikan, he spotted a purple Cara Cara Cara that he really liked at a street vendor who sold children's toys.

Purple is Okita's favorite color, and she never uses any other color than purple for the ribbons she uses to tie her hair.

Okita, instantly captivated by the purple Caracalla coin, pulled out his wallet without hesitation.

And that's how Okita ended up looking like this, playing with the cara ...

Humming a self-composed song, Okita returned to the Shieikan and immediately went to greet Kondo, who was currently organizing bamboo swords in the dojo.

"Kondo-kun! Look at this!" Okita waved his caracalla vigorously, making it crackle loudly. "Isn't it beautiful?"

Kondo looked speechlessly at the Cara Cara in Okita's hand, then at Okita, who was looking at him with excitement.

"Sōji, you're 16 this year, why are you still like a child, liking to play with these kinds of children's toys?"

“A toy is a toy,” Okita said matter-of-factly. “Who said that adults can’t play with children’s toys?”

Kondo sighed. "Fine. Whatever you like."

"Let's not talk about that. Souji, I have some good news to tell you."

Kondo grinned.