I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

……

The sound of Qingdeng and the others talking gradually faded into the distance.

With the departure of Qing Deng and his group, the once bustling Senjiya suddenly became quiet and deserted.

“Great, I’ve successfully recommended three samurai to Aoto who would satisfy him…” Even though Aoto’s figure had long since left, Kinoshita Mai’s eyes were still fixed on the closed shop door.

Even now, her gaze, still fixed on the shop door, carries a hint of regret.

Kiryu smiled without saying a word. He casually placed the brokerage fee that Aoto had just given him into the drawer under the counter and said:

"Young Master, it's almost time for us to have lunch."

"I'm going back to the kitchen to cook. Call me if any guests come over."

"Hmm!" Kinoshita Mai pecked her head. "Kiryu-san, I want to eat saury for lunch today!"

Meow!

At the opportune moment, Toto, who was standing next to Kinoshita Mai, meowed at Kiryu.

"Look, Duoduo said she wants to eat it too!"

Kinoshita Mai will lift and hold many of them in her arms.

"I'll fry the saury for you tomorrow," Kiryu said. "For lunch today, you'd better eat radish."

"I don't want to eat radishes!" Kinoshita Mai protested urgently.

"You have to eat it even if you don't want to. Radishes are very nutritious, and eating more radishes is good for your health."

"But……"

Kinoshita Mai wanted to say something more, but Kiryu spoke first:

“If you don’t finish the radishes you ate at noon today, I’ll send a letter to Osaka and report to the lord… to your grandmother: the young master is ignoring my advice and insists on being picky about food.”

"Hmm...!" Kinoshita Mai's expression froze.

After leaving behind this brief warning, Kiryu casually turned and went back to the inner room of the Senjiya.

Kinoshita Mai, whose frozen expression gradually eased, stuck out her tongue at Kiryu's back and made a face before sitting behind the counter with Toto in her arms.

Suddenly—just as Kinoshita Mai sat down behind the counter, the door of the Senjiya shop was suddenly pulled open with a "whoosh"!

The person pulling the door was a young man, panting heavily.

The young man was panting heavily, his back bent, one hand gripping the opened shop door, the other hand supporting his thigh.

He quickly raised his eyes and scanned the front hall of the Senjiya. After spotting Kinoshita Mai sitting behind the counter, he released his hand from his thigh, reached to his waist, and pulled out a Magistrate's Inro.

"Excuse me, is Lord Tachibana Aoto here?"

The young man asked Kinoshita Mai in a rapid-fire manner while showing her the inro from the Magistrate's Office in his hand.

"I am from the Northern Garrison! I am looking for Lord Tachibana Aoto!"

"Huh?" Kinoshita Mai was taken aback.

Kiryu, who had just entered the inner room, turned back to the front hall after hearing strange noises from it.

"Who are you?" Kiryu frowned at the young man.

"I am from the Northern Garrison! I am looking for Lord Tachibana Aoto!" The young man repeated what he had just said loudly, "Is Lord Tachibana Aoto here?"

……

……

On a certain street in Kanda-Ogawa-cho, Edo—

“If you’re asking what the most delicious sushi is… well, it has to be salmon sushi.” Harada said, plucking a nose hair that was sticking out of his nostril and flicking it to his side.

“Ah, I agree,” Nagakura chimed in. “I also think salmon sushi is the most delicious.”

"Then our tastes in food are quite similar!" Harada laughed. "Mr. Tachibana, what about you? What kind of sushi do you think is the best?"

"Me? The best sushi..." Qing Deng pondered for a moment, "...eel sushi, I guess. But rather than saying I like eating eel sushi, it's more accurate to say I like eating eel."

"Wow, the eel sushi is really good! I know a shop that makes amazing grilled eel. I'll take you there next time you have the chance."

Aoto and his friends, who had decided to have a sushi feast for lunch today, headed to a sushi restaurant that Harada had described as quite delicious.

Nagakura, Harada, and Todo had only met each other today.

Aoto and Saito had only just met Harada and Todo. Although they had met Nagakura before, they had only met him once.

Although they weren't very familiar with each other, they chatted quite enthusiastically on the way to the sushi restaurant.

The reason for this is that Nagakura and Harada are both very outgoing people. They were very proactive in finding topics to chat about throughout the trip, which prevented the atmosphere among the group from becoming too dull.

“I used to work around here,” Harada said, gesturing to the surroundings. “I was a bodyguard for a merchant here for a while, so I know this area very well! I know every single tree in this area!”

"Hmm? Here..." Toudou, walking beside Harada, seemed to recall something, and looked around. "This place... I have a vague memory of it. I remember the Military Academy was nearby, wasn't it?"

“Yes,” Harada replied, “the Military Academy is located right here. Look, that large group of buildings in front of you is the Military Academy!”

Following the direction Harada pointed, Aoto looked—right in front of them stood a rather large complex of buildings.

“That’s the Military Academy…” Qing Deng murmured. “It’s the first time I’ve ever seen it.”

Six years earlier, the Edo Shogunate, deeply aware of the power of the Western powers, opened a school in 1854 to strengthen national defense. In addition to teaching traditional martial arts, the school also taught artillery and Western military techniques.

This military academy is known as the "Military Training Institute".

The Edo Shogunate paid close attention to the operation of this military academy. They spent heavily to recruit renowned instructors and poured resources into continuously expanding its scale…

In 1857, the Military Academy merged with the Naval Training Institute, which was specifically used to train naval personnel. Now, the Military Academy is a large military academy with both naval and army capabilities.

The military academy, established with great effort by the Edo shogunate, was naturally not a place where just anyone could study.

Only members of the Hatamoto clan could become students of the Kōbu-shō (Military Academy). This meant that samurai from various domains, as well as gokenin (family members) like Seito, were not qualified to study at the Kōbu-shō.

Because the Military Academy was outside Qing Deng's jurisdiction and far from where he lived, Qing Deng had only just seen the full extent of this famous Military Academy.

Qing Deng wasn't particularly interested in the martial arts institute. After glancing at the entrance a few times, he looked away.

However, suddenly—the heavy doors of the military academy were slowly pushed open.

Immediately afterwards, a middle-aged man, surrounded by several warriors who looked like guards, strode out of the military training center through the opened door.

This middle-aged man was around forty years old, rather thin, with slightly dark skin and graying temples. He had an ordinary appearance and an ordinary demeanor; he was the kind of person you would easily lose in a crowd.

Logically speaking, such an ordinary-looking middle-aged man should not have attracted much attention from Qing Deng and others.

But in fact, the moment this middle-aged man came out of the martial arts institute, his figure immediately drew the attention of Qing Deng and his group.

It's not because this person's clothes or any other part of their body are special.

Rather, it was because this person was holding something that is still very rare in Japan today—a globe.

This globe is very large, with a diameter of about 40cm. The middle-aged man hugged it tightly in his arms as if it were a priceless treasure.

Suddenly, a cherry blossom petal, covered in mud, fell onto the globe in the gentle breeze.

Upon seeing this, the middle-aged man immediately blew the cherry blossom petal away with a nervous expression, and then used his sleeve to wipe the area on the globe that had been soiled by the cherry blossom petal.

One of his guards then spoke to him.

Although they were quite far apart, Qingdeng could vaguely hear the guard asking the middle-aged man if he wanted him to carry the globe.

The middle-aged man waved his hand, his lips moving slightly.

Although he couldn't hear what the middle-aged man said to his guard, judging from his actions, Qingdeng guessed that the man was politely declining the guard's request to "help him carry the globe".

Qingdeng felt that the middle-aged man's face looked somewhat familiar...

As Qing Deng carefully examined the middle-aged man's face, pondering where he had seen him before, he suddenly heard Yongcang beside him mutter hesitantly:

"Walking around the street with a globe in his arms... Could he be that Katsura Rintarou?"

Yongcang's muttering caused the confusion and contemplation on Qingdeng's face to vanish instantly.

“Yes.” Qing Deng looked enlightened. “I remember now… Nagakura, you guessed right. This middle-aged man holding the globe really is Katsu Rintaro.”

As soon as Qing Deng finished speaking, everyone around him... including Saito, all changed their expressions slightly, and then focused their gazes, which were mixed with surprise and curiosity, on the middle-aged man... namely, Katsura Rintarou.

"He's the same Katsura Rintaro who's currently very popular and highly regarded by the General..." Todo muttered to himself.

Katsura Rintarou: One of the most dazzling rising stars in politics in recent years.

Anyone who pays even a little attention to the recent political situation in Japan will basically know this legendary figure who is a prime example of an underdog's rise to success.

Qingdeng had a lot of information about this person in his memory.

Katsura Rintaro was born into a lower-ranking hatamoto family. In this society with its extremely strict class system, someone of his family background could at best only get a minor official position in the government.

However, this person defied fate and changed his destiny through his talent and luck.

As early as 1841, before the Western powers invaded Japan, this man, after watching a Western-style artillery firing and gunnery drill conducted by a gunner, realized that this was no longer an era of swords and spears. Therefore, he resolutely abandoned swordsmanship and instead studied Western weapons and warships.

In 1853, after the American Black Ships "visited" Japan, the shogunate, bewildered by the Western invasion, widely solicited opinions from its retainers, feudal lords, and even townspeople on the issue of coastal defense.

It was at this time that Katsura Rintaro, who had been studying Western military affairs for more than a decade, submitted a "Proposal on Coastal Defense" to the Shogunate.

Katsura Rintaro's opinion was highly appreciated by Abe Masahiro, the senior councilor who was in power at the time, who promoted Katsura Rintaro despite his family background and social status.

From then on, Katsura Rintaro rose rapidly in rank.

*******

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I had a lot of personal matters to attend to yesterday, so there will be fewer updates today.

I'll try to update more tomorrow (leopard crying.jpg)

Chapter 117 The Extermination Group Attacks! A New Mission! [6200]

In 1854, Katsura Rintaro was promoted to the position of translator of foreign books, specifically responsible for translating foreign books (Western books).

In 1855, Katsura Rintaro participated in a coastal defense inspection team to investigate the defense system from Ise to Osaka Bay.

In the same year, he entered the Nagasaki Naval Training Institute to study navigation and served as the head of the naval training students, whose function was similar to that of the chief student commander of the naval academy.

Because of his fluency in Dutch, he also served as an instructor, responsible for communication between the military academy students and the Dutch instructors.