I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Page 1712

"It's ridiculous that I would do anything to become a higher-ranking slave, even at the cost of killing all my fellow villagers."

"After the epiphany, I immediately felt lighter—I had never felt so free and joyful to let go of my long-held obsession."

"But at the same time, I was overwhelmed with intense regret and felt like I was dying."

Why am I so stupid?

"Why couldn't I have grasped these principles sooner?"

"Whenever I think of the tragic deaths of my fellow villagers, I feel like tearing my own skin apart with my bare hands."

"After my injuries healed, I declined Shangguan's offer of admission and became a wandering vagabond with no fixed abode."

"The 'Qilin' of Langhua disappeared without a trace, becoming an insignificant ripple in the long river of history."

"I was really in a daze during that period."

"When we were hungry, we would just eat some wild fruits or gnaw on some tree bark; when we were tired, we would just lie down and sleep."

"Sometimes I go east, sometimes I go south, just wandering aimlessly like this."

“'Let’s just walk to our deaths’—that was my only thought at the time.”

"Until one day, I met Miss Sumire."

At this point, Shintaro Toujou paused, then changed the subject and asked Aoto:

"Your Highness, you must not know about Miss Jin's past, right?"

Qingdeng shook his head.

He only recently learned that she was the head of the Great Salt Party's intelligence network, so how could he know about her past?

Seeing Aoto shake his head, Shintaro Toujou put on a calm smile:

"In that case, I'll explain it to you in a simple way."

"The vast majority of the members of the Great Salt Party are impoverished people from the lower classes who are struggling to make ends meet."

"That's why they're thinking of 'rebelling against the hell'."

"However, Miss Violet is not like that."

"She is the daughter of a bannerman with an official salary of eight thousand shi (a unit of grain), a true lady of high birth."

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng looked surprised.

A hatamoto with a fief of 8,000 koku... In the Edo period, this was truly a person among people!

Hatamoto of this rank would generally hold important positions in the shogunate, enjoying both status and income.

A daimyo has an entire samurai group to support. Although he may have tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of koku of land, he often cannot make ends meet and has to rely on loans to survive.

In contrast, the Hatakemoto family doesn't have such a heavy burden.

Therefore, the quality of life of a hatamoto (a member of a family with a stipend of 8,000 koku) was superior to that of the vast majority of daimyo.

Since Miss Jin comes from a prestigious family, Qing Deng can understand where her extraordinary and refined temperament, excellent speech, and the confidence in her behavior come from.

Shintaro Toujou continued speaking:

"She could have lived a happy life in luxury."

"However, she has a kind and compassionate heart."

"Simply out of sympathy for the poor and a desire to eliminate injustice in the world, she resolutely abandoned her privileged life and joined the Great Salt Party without hesitation."

"Miss Violet is like the opposite of me."

"She's a rich heiress, and I'm a 'Trinity Samurai'."

"She regarded fame and fortune as dirt, and tirelessly and willingly devoted herself to realizing the great ideal of 'universal harmony'."

"But I did all sorts of bad things for my own selfish desires."

Compared to her, I'm nothing but a maggot in a cesspool...

"I'll skip the details for now. In short, after meeting Miss Jin by chance, I explained my past to her."

"I thought she was going to give me a good scolding."

"No matter how you look at it, I am a heartless beast."

"No matter how vicious the language she used to curse me, I deserved it."

"But to my surprise... after listening to my story, she actually said to me: 'Do you want to join the Big Salt Party?'"

"To be honest, I thought I misheard."

"I am an executioner with blood on my hands, having personally murdered countless patriots of the Great Salt Party."

"I contributed to the failure of the 'Oshio Heihachiro Uprising'."

"After I questioned her, she coldly said to me: 'Your first half of life has been pathetic enough, do you want the second half to be pathetic as well?'"

"Heh...that's quite a blunt remark..."

"At that time, Miss Jin was just a little girl in her early teens—thinking about it, she was really remarkable. Despite being a young, unmarried girl, she already had such a high level of awareness."

"It's quite an amazing experience that I was lectured by a girl who is less than half my age."

"There's not much to say about what happened after that."

"Perhaps I was moved by Miss Sumire's words, and I finally agreed to join the Big Salt Party."

"With Miss Sumire's introduction, I successfully became a new member of the Big Salt Party."

"Then, the organization obtained a completely new household registration and identity for me, and helped me infiltrate the Edo Hokuban-sho."

"Thus, Kazami Kazuma, the 'prodigy of the South,' has passed away, and in his place are Edo Hokuban Shojo-machi-kai and Riki Tojo Shintaro."

"The official position I once longed for has now been obtained so easily, and it's even held by Yoriki, one of the 'Three Men of Edo'... It makes me realize even more that I was a ridiculous buffoon in the past."

[Note: The Three Most Popular Men of Edo: The three professions most sought after by women in Edo (Yoriki, Sumo Wrestler, and Firefighter Captain). Yariki were wealthy, sumo wrestlers were strong, and firefighter captains were charismatic.]

"I chose to join the Big Salt Party not to atone for my sins."

"Like I said, I don't have that kind of awareness."

"I did this purely to make myself feel better."

“Whenever I make a small contribution to the growth and development of the Great Salt Party, it brings me some comfort and makes me feel that I am not so hopeless.”

"This is my story."

"There is no dramatic or epic plot."

"Only one clown was jumping around on the stage, putting on a ridiculous and absurd performance."

[Note: Kyogen: Kyogen is a type of comedic dialogue. It uses humor to satirize samurai and other noble classes by referencing real-world characters or events.]

"Since I'm already a ridiculous clown, I'm too lazy to bother with my appearance. Let it be whatever it wants."

"Drink whatever you like."

Eat whatever you like.

"I will no longer study gun techniques... To be more precise, unless absolutely necessary, I don't want to get involved in gun techniques that I have no interest in at all."

"Without realizing it, I've become like this."

As he spoke, he lifted his enormous, ball-like belly, the soft, flabby flesh jiggling back and forth.

"That's fine too."

"This appearance is even more suitable for the image of a 'clown'."

Shintaro Toujou has finished speaking.

Qingdeng remained silent.

A deathly silence descended between the two.

To be honest, Qing Deng really doesn't know what to say right now.

Without a doubt, Shintaro Toujou's past is a tragedy.

The heavy pressure of reality and the flaws of human nature have turned the once brilliant and talented gunslinger into the degenerate person he is today.

Before Aoto could break the silence, Shintaro Toujou spoke again, ignoring him:

"Your Highness, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave."

Qingdeng paused for a moment, then nodded mechanically:

"Ah."

Shintaro Toujou turned around and walked towards the door.

As he reached out to open the door, he seemed to remember something, stopped, and said seriously:

"Your Highness, please do not call me 'Kazami Kazuma' anymore."

"And never again mention the title 'Lang Hua's prodigy'."

"'Kazami Kazuma' is dead."

"The one standing here now is 'Shintaro Tojo'."

"How could a beast like me bear the name 'Lang Hua'?"

Having said that, Shintaro Toujou didn't linger any longer. He flung open the door and left.