I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"My thoughts are the same as yours—I will spare no effort to help Xiao Si recover!"

……

……

That night--

Kyoto, a certain wagashi shop—

Tap tap, tap tap tap, tap tap tap...

The sound of abacuses being tapped could be heard incessantly.

Goro Komaki sat behind the counter, silently tapping on his abacus.

*******

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Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Thanks to a fellow reader's reminder, Leopard suddenly remembered that Kinoshita Rin had personally mentioned that she knew Ogata Itsuki.

Oh dear, that's the downside of long-running serials without an outline; I always forget about these side plots.

Chapter 1037 So you're Ogata Ittosai! [4400]

Because it was already closed, the store was dark, with only a candle lit on the counter.

Under the bright candlelight, Goro Komaki was intently organizing the account books, the abacus clicking away, becoming the only sound in the room.

Suddenly, footsteps approached from the direction of the shop door, followed by a series of knocks.

Without looking up, Komaki Goro said, without any emotion:

"Sorry, we're closed. Please come back another day."

The knocking stopped... However, the person outside didn't leave. He said in a half-joking tone:

"It's rare to have an old friend visit, so let's stay open for a little longer."

Suddenly, the clicking sound of the abacus beads stopped abruptly.

Goro Komaki stopped using the abacus in his left hand and the brush in his right, his expression changing slightly—his previously emotionless face now showed a joyful smile.

"Oh, it's you... Since it's you, why are you knocking? Come in."

As soon as he finished speaking, a "whoosh" was heard, and an elderly man with white hair and glasses on his nose slowly pushed open the door and stepped inside.

The visitor was none other than Mr. Kiryu.

Komaki Goro closed the ledger, put down his brush, and smiled as he looked at the old man. Their eyes met.

On one side is an elderly man with white hair and a weathered face, and on the other side is a middle-aged man in his prime... At first glance, it is indeed a strange combination.

As Mr. Kiryu removed his straw hat, he was the first to greet them:

"Ogata-kun, it's been a long time."

Upon hearing this, Komaki Goro raised an eyebrow.

“'Ogata-kun'... It's been so long since I've heard that title, it feels a bit strange. Kuro, how have you been?”

Both of them were very relaxed and unpretentious, making it clear that they were close friends.

"Hey, you guys close way too early! What time is it? Why are you closing already?"

Komaki Goro… or rather Ogata, shrugged:

"Business is too slow at night. Even if we stay open until late, we don't make much money. It's better to close early and rest."

"Anyway, the savings I've accumulated so far are enough for Ah-ch and me to live a carefree life for twenty or thirty years, so this little bit of money won't make a difference."

The Kiryu boss chuckled to himself:

"Twenty or thirty years... For you, savings that are only enough to squander for twenty or thirty years are probably not enough, are they?"

Ogata gave a mysterious, noncommittal smile and waved his hand:

"Alright, stop standing there, take off your shoes and come in."

Having said that, he looked up and shouted:

"A-Machi!"

Soon, a response came from the second floor:

"what happened?"

"Prepare tea and snacks! We have guests!"

……

……

Ogata locked the shop door and led Mr. Kiryu to the hall on the second floor.

Is black tea acceptable?

"Sure, I'm not picky. But speaking of which, is it just my imagination? I always feel like every time I come to your house, I can only drink black tea."

"It's because both Ah-ch and I only like drinking black tea. Don't worry, our black tea is very safe. We would never put sleeping pills or any other strange stuff in it."

The main feature of the second-floor living room is "simplicity"—aside from a round table and a traditional Chinese cabinet, there is no other furniture.

[Note: Tang cabinet: a cabinet with legs.]

However, despite its simplicity, the room was very clean and spotless, with a pleasant fragrance in the air.

Ogata casually laid out a cushion, and the two sat facing each other across the round table.

A moment later, a beautiful and charming married woman, with delicate steps, brought over a tea tray with three cups of freshly brewed black tea on it.

"Jiulang, it's been a long time!"

A visit from an old friend—and a long-lost friend at that—made Atachi very happy.

But she was all smiles, her pretty face filled with joy.

"Here! Please have some tea!"

After serving the tea, she obediently sat down next to Ogata.

Mr. Kiryu accepted the tea, thanked him, and then looked up at Omachi with a strange expression.

"Since I got older, every time I face you two, I feel complicated."

"Although we are of the same generation, we are already very old, while you are still young."

Ogata smiled without saying a word, while Omachi gave a wry smile:

"Sigh...we're not young anymore. Look, wrinkles are starting to appear at the corners of my eyes."

As she spoke, she turned her head to the side and pointed to the corner of her right eye.

Although it is inconspicuous, if you look closely, you can find that the skin at the corner of its eyes is not smooth and has sparse wrinkles.

Upon hearing this, the Kiryu boss couldn't help but change his tone to one of annoyance:

"If these are considered wrinkles for you, then what are ours?"

As he spoke, he pointed to his face.

To be fair, among his peers, he is considered to be well-preserved, but he still cannot escape the erosion of time. His skin is dull and covered with wrinkles, resembling a dried orange peel.

"Although your bodies are aging, judging from your current condition, you can live for at least another hundred years."

Atachi blinked, making a gesture of reflection:

"A hundred years... I really don't know how to get through this long period of time."

"To be honest, I'm starting to get tired of wagashi (Japanese sweets) lately."

"There's always dough to knead every day, it's so tiring and boring."

At that moment, Ogata suddenly interjected:

"Why don't we close this shop and go abroad? Atachi, didn't you say you wanted to go to Europe and the Americas?"

Upon hearing this, Atachi's eyes lit up, and she immediately showed an enthusiastic expression.

"Although I don't like Westerners, I have to admit that Western firearms are indeed impressive! One day, I must go to the West and see how they manufacture firearms!"

Ogata smiled:

"I am quite interested in the 'Bacchus of Immortality' from Western legends."

He had barely finished speaking when he received a glare from Atachi.

"You traveled all the way to a foreign country, yet you still want to continue investigating the 'power of immortality'... Don't you have anything else you want to do?"

Ogata coughed twice, then explained in a serious tone:

"I just want to investigate whether the 'Baccano!' really exists and whether it's related to 'immortality.' Anyway, we have plenty of time to spare."

Mr. Kiryu took a sip of tea and thoughtfully brought up a new topic:

"Speaking of which, there's something I've been paying attention to for a long time."

“Ogata-kun, your ‘power of immortality’ should be much more abundant.”

"It seems like Atachi is younger."

On the surface, Ogata appears to be in his early forties, while Atachi appears to be around 36 or 37 years old.

Hearing Kiryu's words, Atachi chuckled lightly, put her hands on her hips, and revealed a smug expression:

"Who told me I'm naturally beautiful! I'm only two years younger than Ah Yi, and I happen to have a body that doesn't age easily, so naturally I look younger than Ah Yi!"

Since then, Ogata has rarely spoken.

Suddenly, at that moment, he spoke abruptly:

"Jiulang, what brings you here so suddenly?"

They were just talking about lighthearted topics, and suddenly they veered straight to the point... This unexpected change altered the atmosphere of the room.