I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“Ah Sui just came back.”

"Hmm?" Okita's eyes lit up. "Hijikata-san is back?"

Okita quickly turned his head and looked around: "Where is he?"

“He just went out again,” Kondo replied. “While you were out, Toshi went back to the Shieikan, stayed there for a while, and then left again.”

"He went out again? Has his injury healed?"

Kondo nodded: "Don't you know who A-Sui is? He's very strong, and that injury has completely healed."

“Mr. Hijikata is out now…” Okita’s handsome eyebrows furrowed slightly as if he were recalling some unpleasant memory. “Did he say what he was going out to do?”

He said he had been away from Edo for nearly two months and was going to say hello to some of his friends there.

Okita's furrowed brows relaxed slightly: "Going to say hello to his friend... I hope he really is going to say hello, and not causing trouble again..."

"Sōji, don't always think of Toshi as some kind of ghost or monster." Kondo said helplessly, "Toshi... he is indeed a lot of trouble, but he wouldn't go out and cause trouble on his very first day back in Edo."

……

……

Edo, Takucho, somewhere—

"One, three, five, odd!"

"Hahaha! I won! I won!! I'll have money to go to Yoshiwara again tonight!"

"Aaaaaaah! How did we lose again?!"

"Again! Again! I'm sure I'll win this time!"

……

Even across the street, the distinctive shouts and calls of the casino still reached Qingdeng's ears.

Qingdeng stood by the window, gazing at the casino diagonally opposite.

Although it's still broad daylight and not even noon yet, that doesn't stop gamblers from throwing their money and their lives at the gambling table.

Looking towards that casino, you can often see many people hurrying away as they pass by, unwilling to linger in front of the casino for even a second longer.

Gamblers emerging from the casino generally wore only two expressions—either smugly happy or agonizingly miserable.

Since the establishment of the Edo Shogunate, the shogunate has made explicit provisions prohibiting the opening of casinos and the gathering of people to gamble.

However, this law is as useless as farting.

For various reasons that cannot be discussed, the Edo Shogunate always turned a blind eye to the opening of casinos.

During the Edo period, most casinos were run by Yakuza.

Gambling, prostitution, and loan sharking—these were the three main and most profitable businesses operated by the Yakuza during the Edo period.

Just then, Nishino's voice came over: "How is it? Have you seen Kin'emon?"

Nishino's question wasn't directed at Aoto, but rather at a short, middle-aged man standing beside Aoto, who was also looking out the window at the casino.

"I haven't seen him yet," the middle-aged man replied respectfully.

Nishino nodded slightly, then said indifferently, "Then I'll trouble you to continue monitoring."

Short middle-aged man: "Yes!"

At this moment, Aoto and Nishino were staying together in a slightly dilapidated inn.

After receiving the order from Usui to "go to the casino and confront Kin'emon," Aoto immediately gathered his men with Nishino and headed to Takucho.

Of course—although saying something like "gathering your subordinates" sounds impressive, in reality, the only subordinate that Aoto could name was his bodyguard, Saito.

After arriving in Takucho with Nishino, Aoto and the others first met with the heads and servants of the Takucho household and asked them to send some people to help them capture Kin'emon. Only then did they head to the casino that Kin'emon frequented.

There was a hotel diagonally opposite the casino, which was a good surveillance location. So Qingdeng and his group booked a room on the top floor of the hotel to monitor the casino's activities from there.

The short, middle-aged man who was currently looking out at the casino with Aoto and had just been questioned by Nishino was an old servant of the Takumachi Self-Defense Force. He recognized Kin'emon's appearance, so Aoto and the others brought him over to help identify who Kin'emon was.

"Lord Nishino, water." At this moment, one of Nishino's subordinates, Okabe, handed Nishino a cup of water.

Nishino nodded and accepted the glass of water handed to him by his subordinate.

As he sipped the water in his glass, he suddenly turned his gaze to Qingdeng, who was still gazing out the window out of boredom.

"...Ju, what are you looking at?"

"Hmm?" Qing Deng turned his head and glanced at Xi Ye behind him. "I wasn't looking at anything, just looking at the scenery outside the window to relieve my boredom."

They had been staking out the hotel for almost an hour now, and Qingdeng was so bored that he was even considering counting the patterns on the walls of the room.

"Oh..." Nishino responded with an "Oh" and then fell silent.

A slightly awkward atmosphere settled over the room.

Teaming up with other groups for missions is a common practice.

But teaming up with this "top detective from the Beifan Police Station"... this is Qing Deng's first time.

Aoto and Nishino weren't very close, and the only connection he had with Nishino consisted of unpleasant memories.

When Qing Deng was still that "dumbhead Qing Deng", Nishino always treated Qing Deng with a rather arrogant attitude, not even bothering to look at Qing Deng properly or say a word to him.

Given Nishino's attitude, Aoto naturally didn't bother trying to win him over.

Because of the slightly awkward relationship between the two, when they left the magistrate's office and went to Takucho to carry out the mission, Aoto didn't talk much to Nishino, and only exchanged simple opinions on work.

However, it's unclear whether it's just Qingdeng's imagination.

He always felt that Nishino's tone had become... gentler when he spoke to him.

Just then—the old servant beside Qingdeng suddenly cried out in alarm:

"Ah! My lords, Kin'emon has appeared!" the old servant shouted, pointing eastward toward the street outside the window.

As soon as the old servant finished speaking, Qing Deng quickly turned his head to look in the direction the old servant was pointing.

Nishino also dashed to the window.

The old servant was pointing at a young man who walked unsteadily.

He was around 20 years old, with a slovenly face, a crooked bun, loose clothes, and a toothpick in his mouth, looking like a lazy, good-for-nothing.

According to intelligence, this Kin'emon is a notorious thug in Takumachi. Almost every resident of Takumachi knows this shameless, infamous villain who only knows how to bully men and women.

In hindsight, this intelligence was indeed correct.

Wherever Kin'emon went, passersby avoided him with disgust, swerving to either side of the street as if they were avoiding excrement.

Despite being avoided by people with disgust, Kin'emon was not ashamed but rather proud, raising his head even higher with a smug look on his face.

"Is that Kin'emon?" Nishino asked the old servant to confirm.

"Yes!" The old servant nodded vigorously. "I'd recognize Kin'emon even if he were reduced to ashes. Sirs, shall we go down and arrest him now?"

Nishino opened his mouth, about to answer.

However, Qing Deng, who was standing to the side, had already responded before him:

"There's no rush. Kin'emon is still a bit far away from us. It'll be safer to catch him when he gets closer."

Nishino glanced at Aoto with a look that was mixed with a bit of surprise: "...Yeah, just like Tachibana said, we'll go down and grab him when he gets a little closer."

Qingdeng and his group stood by the window, intently observing Kin'emon, who was getting closer and closer to the casino, and also closer and closer to Qingdeng and his group.

Just then, Qing Deng suddenly caught a glimpse of a "masked man" wearing a white fox mask on the west side of the street outside the window.

This person was quite tall; judging by appearance, he was only slightly shorter than Qingdeng.

Because of the mask covering his face, the person's features were not clearly visible, but judging from the exposed skin on his neck, hands, and other parts of his body, he should be quite young.

The masked man walked with an air of grandeur and imposing presence.

His height, far above the average for this era, coupled with the fact that he was wearing a white fox mask that covered his entire face even though it wasn't a festival, and his imposing gait, made this masked man quite conspicuous on the street. Qing Deng couldn't help but take a few more glances at him.

However, Qingdeng didn't pay much attention to this person, treating him as just an ordinary passerby with a slightly strange appearance.

After glancing at the masked man a few times, she looked away and continued to focus intently on observing Kin'emon's movements.

Accidents... often come unexpectedly.

Just as Qing Deng turned his gaze away from the masked man... a sudden change occurred.

The masked man coming from the west side of the street was walking in the opposite direction from Kin'emon coming from the east side of the street.

Suddenly, the masked man quickened his pace.

Start by walking slowly, then gradually increase the pace to brisk walking, and then further increase the pace to sprinting.

He sped across the street like an arrow released from a bow.

Then, when he was only a few steps away from Kin'emon, he leaped and pounced on Kin'emon—

"Aaaaaah—!"

Kin'emon let out a piercing scream.

The masked man's right fist slammed into Kin'emon's left cheek, knocking Kin'emon to the ground.

While walking peacefully down the road, Kin'emon was suddenly punched and knocked to the ground by a masked man's surprise attack. He clutched his left cheek tightly, staring at the masked man in terror.

That right hook was just the beginning.

The masked man flipped over and straddled Kin'emon, then swung his fists and punched Kin'emon's face repeatedly.

"Aaaaaaah! Who the hell are you?!"

Kin'emon is the kind of person who looks like he has a lot of experience getting beaten up.

With a very professional gesture, he raised his arms, using them to protect his face while loudly questioning the masked man's identity.

The masked man remained unmoved and continued to beat Kin'emon without uttering a sound.

Immediately, passersby stopped and watched this sudden "street encounter" with curiosity or astonishment.

Inside the inn, Aoto, Nishino, and the others stared in shock at this sudden and unexpected event...

Huh? What's going on...?

Suddenly, a mysterious person appeared and began to beat the suspect they were trying to catch without saying a word... This unexpected turn of events left Qingdeng and the others dumbfounded.