I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

At first glance, this seems to be just a common street beggar who failed to get money, and no one would pay special attention to such a thing.

However, if you look closely, you will see that after the beggar retreated to the street corner, he pulled down his tattered Sojuro headscarf to hide his eyes, while secretly glancing sideways and staring intently at the receding figures of the two ronin.

[Note: Sojuro headscarf: A type of men's headscarf from the Edo period, named after its design by Sawamura Sojuro]

His expression had completely lost its previous shabby and sordid demeanor, leaving only thoughtful consideration and muttering to himself:

"The accent of Changzhou..."

Who would bother to pay attention to an inconspicuous, dirty beggar on the street?

No one noticed the beggar quietly backing away, disappearing into the deserted, deep alley in the blink of an eye...

……

……

Kyoto, Sanjo Avenue, Izutsuya——

"Boss! Which one is the boss?"

Two young samurai lifted the curtain and swaggered into the shop.

"Hey! They're here!"

A middle-aged man with half-gray hair and beard nimbly rushed out from the inner room and knelt down to greet the guest.

"Boss, we're having a banquet tonight! Do you have any rooms available?"

Upon hearing that it was a big business opportunity, the boss immediately beamed with joy and became even more enthusiastic:

"Of course we have rooms! How many people do you need to prepare?"

"About 30 people. Here, this is the deposit."

"Alright! Sir, please rest assured, we will make sure the banquet is prepared perfectly!"

After giving their orders, the two samurai didn't linger. They left with the words, "Boss, it's all yours now," and strode away.

"Hey everyone, a big customer has arrived! Time to get busy!"

The boss rolled up his sleeves and rushed to the kitchen.

A ronin, who was staying at the inn and was hiding on the stairs, was drinking alone when he overheard the entire conversation between the innkeeper and the two samurai.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, he secretly slipped out onto the street and disappeared into the crowd...

……

……

Kyoto, Sanjo Avenue, Ikedaya——

"Taiyusuke! Taiyusuke! Where are you?"

"I'm here."

"Whoa! You are... Reinosuke?"

"Yes, I am Tatsunosuke."

"Oh, right! I almost forgot again... Tatsunosuke, I'm sorry."

Before the boss could finish speaking, "Tuizhizhu" interrupted:

"It's okay, it's my own problem, I'm just too unremarkable in appearance."

"Tai-no-suke, where have you been? I've been calling you the whole time."

“I’ve been sweeping here all this time.”

"Huh? Were you sweeping the floor before? Oh well, it's not important. Uenosuke, hurry up and carry all this rice into the kitchen."

"Okay, no problem."

After saying that, "Tuizhizhu" bent down and carried the heavy rice bags on his shoulders, one on each shoulder.

Upon seeing this, the boss clicked his tongue in amazement:

"Tai-no-suke, you look so thin and small, but I didn't expect you to be so strong! We are so lucky to be able to hire you as our shop's assistant!"

"You flatter me."

After saying a few modest words, "Tuizhizhu" quickly carried the bags of rice into the kitchen.

Looking at the hardworking "Tai-no-suke," the boss nodded with satisfaction and then went to attend to other matters.

After "Tai-no-suke" carried the last bag of rice—

"Meow~~ Meow meow~~ Meow meow~~ Meow~~"

Suddenly, a cat's meow came from outside the shop.

One short, three long, and one short.

If an average person heard this, they would probably just think it's a stray cat meowing nonsense.

However, when "Tai-no-suke" heard this voice, he was slightly taken aback, and then turned his head to look around.

After confirming that no one was around, he tiptoed toward the back door of the hotel.

Then, he went to a secluded spot behind the hotel and peered at a screen.

[Note: Shoji: A type of partition in Japanese houses placed inside doors, windows, or corridors. It has a wooden frame covered with highly translucent paper to allow light into the house. Also known as "myōshōshi".]

Beyond this screen is a secluded, open road.

[Note: An open alleyway is a narrow path between two rows of houses without any roof overhang.]

Looking up, one could see a mosquito net merchant standing outside the screen, carrying a shoulder pole with large paper boxes hanging from both ends, the boxes filled with mosquito nets.

Once summer arrives, mosquito net vendors, repeatedly calling out "Mosquito nets~~Mosquito nets~~", will be everywhere.

Upon seeing "Tai-no-suke" arrive, the mosquito net merchant paused strangely before quickly moving closer, and the two began to converse through the screen.

"Vice Captain, something's up."

A few days ago, on the day Shintaro Tojo arrived in Kyoto, Aoto told him at the welcoming banquet that in order to keep a close watch on the Ikedaya, he had sent one of his capable subordinates who was good at hiding himself.

The capable assistant he mentioned was none other than the vice-captain of the Ninth Division—Yamazaki Susumu.

In terms of "concealing oneself," even if you searched the entire Shinsengumi, you wouldn't find a second person who could compare to Yamazaki Susumu; he was truly the best candidate for an undercover agent.

After receiving the mission from Seido to "monitor the Ikedaya," Yamazaki, under the alias "Tai-no-suke," applied for a job as a handman at the Ikedaya. With his exceptional physical abilities and diligent work ethic, he successfully joined the company and has been working undercover ever since.

As for this mosquito net merchant, he was a member of the Ninth Division and a well-trained ninja. He often disguised himself as a mosquito net merchant, a wine seller, or other traveling merchant, and was responsible for observing the movements on the street and acting as a liaison to deliver messages.

While carefully observing his surroundings to avoid being overheard, Yamazaki asked directly:

"What happened?"

The mosquito net merchant swallowed hard and began to explain in detail:

"Vice Captain, there has been a large-scale disturbance along the route from Gion to Sanjo Avenue."

"Or perhaps suspicious-looking ronin are appearing on the streets."

"Or unidentified samurai may go to inns, izakayas, or ryotei to reserve banquets of varying sizes and times."

"So far, the shops that have received reservations for banquets from samurai are Izutsuya in Sanjo Ohashi and Shimuraya in Gion..."

After listening attentively, Yamazaki Susumu fell into deep thought.

"...This is troublesome. The patriots are making a big move."

"It is obvious that their inexplicable actions were intentional."

"They deliberately make some meaningless moves to confuse us and mislead us, so as to cover up their real actions."

The mosquito net merchant frowned slightly:

"Vice Captain, what's our next move?"

Yamazaki Susumu replied calmly:

"We are only responsible for gathering intelligence, not for analyzing it, let alone making decisions. Those are other people's jobs."

"Pass down my orders: Everyone stay at your posts, continue to observe and monitor, do nothing unnecessary, and report whatever you see or hear truthfully."

"Also, from now on, our intelligence exchange with Otsu must not stop."

"Whenever new intelligence is obtained, regardless of its content, it must be transmitted back to Otsu immediately."

The mosquito net merchant nodded vigorously:

"Yes! I understand!"

……

……

Kyoto, Mibu Village, Shinsengumi Garrison, Prison—

As time passed, the screams gradually turned into groans.

As his physical strength waned and his vocal cords became overburdened, Yoshiemon was no longer able to shout and could only utter meaningless groans of "hoh" and "hoh".

Half an hour had passed since he was subjected to this torture.

It must be said that his will is indeed firm and his perseverance is quite tenacious.

Even while enduring multiple forms of suffering, including pain, burning sensation, and dizziness, he still did not utter a single word.

Serizawa Kamo is an impatient person by nature.

Seeing that the other party was so stubborn, he was already very anxious.

If Hijikata Toshizo hadn't been there, he probably would have taught the other party a lesson.

Fortunately, it was Hijikata Toshizo who was there.

Hijikata Toshizo possesses both the military strength to contend with Serizawa Kamo and the authority to temporarily command him.

It's not certain that Serizawa Kamo would be so obedient if it were someone else.

Apart from Serizawa Kamo, the executioners were also scratching their heads and looking extremely anxious.

Only Hijikata Toshizo remained calm, sitting imposingly with no expression on his face, making it impossible to guess what he was thinking.