I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Qingdeng, this banquet wouldn't be complete without you, so if you have time, please come and join us. It'll be a good opportunity for you to relax."

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng blinked, a smile appearing in his eyes—coincidentally, Kondo Isami arrived just in time.

Influenced by his longing, Qingdeng now has an urge to "leave the cold room".

He's currently quite free and doesn't have any important matters to attend to, so it's not impossible for him to attend the banquet.

—That's true... It's a real shame to stay cooped up in a room all the time since we've come all this way to Oshu.

He silently echoed what Kondo Isami had just said.

So he turned around, picked up the sword from the sword rack beside him, and smiled:

"Alright, let's hold a long-awaited 'Shinsengumi banquet' then."

……

……

Wakamatsu Town, somewhere——

Aoto, Kondo Isami, Nagakura Shinpachi, Saito Hajime, Serizawa Kamo, Inoue Genzaburo, and Harada Sanosuke—a group of seven dressed in casual clothes and wearing low-brimmed straw hats to conceal their faces—walked discreetly through the streets of Wakamatsu-cho.

The accompanying personnel included Noboru Nakajima, the vice-captain of the 2nd Division; Sagami Nakazawa, the vice-captain of the 3rd Division; Kazue Soma, the vice-captain of the 6th Division; and Koto Nakazawa, the vice-captain of the 7th Division.

The others who didn't come, such as Abe Juro (captain of the 11th Division) and Tani Sanjuro (vice-captain of the 4th Division), declined Kondo Isami's invitation with various reasons such as "not being good at drinking" or "not being used to the local environment".

When I first left Wakamatsu Castle, I didn't notice anything unusual.

It wasn't until we entered the "downtown area" that we were surprised to see the lively street scene.

Looking up, one sees dense crowds filling the streets and alleys.

They were bustling about, rubbing shoulders and backs.

In many situations, Qing Deng and others could only "go with the flow".

When a gap appeared ahead, we quickly moved forward to occupy it, and we moved forward little by little.

Upon seeing this, Nagakura Shinpachi clicked his tongue and muttered to himself:

"There are so many people...it's almost like a temple fair."

Serizawa Kamo said calmly:

"It would be strange if the lords of the various domains of Ou were not making a commotion here."

The lords of the Ou Retsu Domain arrived at Wakamatsu Castle with their respective entourages. Although no exact calculations have been made, it is conservatively estimated that Wakamatsu Town now has at least 10,000 more people!

With hotels fully booked, Yokoyama, the tax collector, had to personally rent a large number of houses to properly accommodate the samurai from various domains.

Most of these people are young and vigorous.

It's easy to imagine that energetic young people could not possibly restrain themselves.

Therefore, whenever night fell, the feudal lords would go out in groups to have fun.

Whether they were singing and drinking, lingering in brothels, or burying themselves in casinos, their extravagant spending greatly boosted the economic development of Wakamatsu Town.

Recently, business owners in various industries in Wakamatsu Town, including restaurants, gambling, and adult entertainment, have been all smiles.

Edo, which was once very backward, was able to rise to become the "number one castle town in the land" in a very short time because of the "sankin kōtai" (official appointment to the emperor).

Every year, hundreds of feudal lords would travel to Edo with a large retinue, which greatly promoted the economic circulation of Edo.

However, it is worth noting that the surge in foot traffic is a double-edged sword, with both considerable benefits and significant negative impacts.

"Poor mountains and bad waters breed unruly people"—this is not regional discrimination, but a legitimate scientific conclusion.

In contrast, "When the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they are well-fed and clothed, they know honor and shame."

Only when the people have ample food and clothing can they pay attention to etiquette and value honor and shame.

The samurai and commoners of the Kyoto and Kanto regions discriminated against the Oshu people, regarding them as barbarians, and this was not without reason.

Due to its environment, Ou is known for its tough and fierce people.

He has a bad temper, is aggressive and violent, and will brandish knives and guns at the slightest provocation.

With a sudden influx of young men from the Ou Regiment... one can imagine how much security pressure Wakamatsu Town is under right now!

Recently, Wakamatsu Town has been quite unsettled, with frequent security incidents.

Especially after nightfall, those drunkards, after drinking a few ounces of horse urine, lost all sense of their own identity, speaking recklessly and behaving erratically, as if they all thought they were "Eternal Sword Saint" Ogata Itsuki or "Nioh" Tachibana Aoto.

They are both a source of wealth and a source of trouble... Because these guys come from other domains, it is inconvenient to deal with them, which gives Yokoyama tax collectors a real headache.

He had to mobilize a large number of officials and order them to patrol the "bustling downtown area" day and night in an effort to maintain order.

While this approach has been effective, it has its limits.

Security personnel do not always arrive promptly at the crime scene.

For example, right now, not far from Qingdeng and the others, a fierce conflict has broken out.

"Hey! Don't you have a mouth? You bumped into someone and didn't even know to say 'sorry'?"

"Huh? It's clearly because you're blind,"

The sudden argument immediately attracted the attention of those around them.

In the blink of an eye, a crowd of onlookers, three layers deep, gathered around the crime scene.

Qing Deng and the others also stopped to watch.

The two sides arguing were two groups of four samurai, all of whom reeked of alcohol.

"Stop talking nonsense! Apologize to me now!"

"Judging from your weak tone, you must be from Mize. No wonder you sound so poor and stingy. Since you come from Mize, the poorest region in the world, it makes sense."

"What did you say?! Damn it! Draw your sword!"

"Hmph! You can't even walk properly, yet you want to fight us head-on? Fine, draw your swords! Bring it on!"

"Hey, hey, hey, don't be impulsive. Let's talk this out. We're all samurai, and we should know the consequences of 'drawing our swords'."

"With so many people here, bumps and scrapes are inevitable. Please calm down!"

In just a few words, the argument escalated into a physical fight.

Fortunately, a few rational onlookers rushed out and stood between the two groups of warriors, trying to mediate and cool down the argument.

It's not hard to see that neither group of people really wanted to draw their knives and fight each other.

Seeing that someone came out to mediate, they took the opportunity to back down, saying things like "Consider yourselves lucky" and "There are too many people here, it's inconvenient to take action, I'll spare your lives." Then they all sheathed their half-drawn swords and turned away with an air of nonchalance.

Seeing that there was no more excitement to be had, the crowd gradually dispersed.

Harada Sanosuke looked regretful.

"That's it? What a pity, I was hoping to see a good show."

Nagakura Shinpachi retorted irritably:

"Stop fooling around, I don't want to see blood, it'll spoil my drinking mood."

Although Wakamatsu Town has been somewhat unstable lately, most of the fighting has been arguing and brawling; cases of actual armed clashes are very rare.

Unless you're a drunkard who's completely out of it or a mentally challenged idiot, any normal person knows that the thing on their waist isn't a toy. Once it's pulled out, it's not something that can be easily resolved by saying a few soft words.

This "street incident" was just a minor episode, and Qingdeng and the others continued on their way.

Nagakura Shinpachi and Harada Sanosuke led the way, chatting casually.

Saito walked behind them, frequently turning his head to admire the surrounding street scene with great interest.

This is actually one of his hobbies; whenever he's in a crowded place, he likes to observe the expressions of passersby.

Next up is Serizawa Kamo, who seems to be in a good mood, softly reciting Wen Tianxiang's "Ode to Righteousness".

His rough and unruly nature always made people forget that he was a talented man skilled in both literature and martial arts.

Aoto, Kondo Isami, and Inoue Genzaburo walked side by side in the middle of the line.

Vice-captains Nakazawa Satag and Nakazawa Koto followed closely at the back.

At that moment, Aoto suddenly noticed that Kondo Isami, who was standing next to him, had a wide smile on his face.

He asked, half-jokingly:

"What's wrong, Yong? Why are you smiling like that? Did you think of something good?"

"Well, it is."

Kondo Isami readily nodded in agreement.

"Everyone went out for drinks together... This long-lost scene made me happy, nostalgic, and a little sad at the same time."

After saying this, a hint of sadness appeared on his face.

“After my father died, I was suddenly struck by the realization that ‘eternity’ does not exist in this world.”

"What you think will last forever may disappear tomorrow."

"After tonight, we don't know how long it will be before we can gather together again."

"Thinking about this makes me feel sad."

"I really hope that even fifty years from now, we can still go out and get drunk in groups like we are tonight."

"If it could be like that, there would be no greater happiness."

Kondo Isami's words caused a subtle change in Aoto's facial expression.

After a moment, he adopted a serious tone and said, word by word:

"Yes, we can do it."

Inoue Genzaburo, standing to the side, grinned and said in a mocking tone:

"Will we still go drinking together fifty years from now...? Then we'd better take good care of our health!"

Upon hearing this, Kondo Isami chuckled, and the sadness on his face gradually faded.

"Uncle Yuan, you are the oldest, and you are the one who needs to pay the most attention to your health."

"Although I am the oldest, I am only 36 years old this year, which is the prime of my life!"