I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"what?"

Ito Kashitaro smiled slightly and met Kondo Isami's gaze without flinching:

“If you truly hate me, despise me, and want to kill me, then in that instant, my head would have already fallen to the ground.”

“But I’m still alive…which only proves one thing: Chief Kondo, you don’t want to kill me.”

"Director Kondo, please listen to the voice in your heart."

"Prick up your ears and listen carefully. There is a voice in your heart repeatedly shouting: I am not reconciled!"

"I'm not content to be just a so-called 'bureau chief'."

"I am unwilling to be relegated to a lower position than Ju Qing Deng."

Kondo gritted his teeth and squeezed out the words:

"Shut up……!"

Ignoring Kondo Isami's threats, Ito Kashitaro adopted an even more impassioned tone:

"Director Kondo, if I may be so bold, your career in the Shinsengumi is basically over."

"As long as you're in the Shinsengumi, you'll live in Tachibana Aoto's shadow!"

"No, you don't even need Tachibana Seito to personally intervene! Hijikata Toshizo, Yamanami Keisuke, Okita Souji, and Nagakura Shinpachi alone are enough to completely overshadow your brilliance!"

"Director Kondo, are you willing to accept this?"

"Is it enough for you to just be a so-called 'bureau chief'?"

Don't you want to take it a step further?

In that instant, Kondo Isami's vision blurred... In his eyes, Ito Kashitaro seemed to have changed—as if he had transformed into a ferocious, terrifying venomous snake, hissing and flicking its tongue at him!

He lowered his head and repeated:

"Shut up……"

Compared to before, his "shut up" sounded weak and feeble this time.

Ito Kashitaro observed Kondo Isami's changing expression thoughtfully.

"...It seems I won't get a definite answer anytime soon."

As he spoke, he tilted his head to deflect his neck away from the blade of Nagasone Kotetsu, and then slowly stood up.

"I hope that my future close comrade-in-arms will be a truly determined and ambitious person."

"So, I'll give you some time."

"Whether you will fight alongside me or continue to stand with Tachibana Aoto... I hope you can give me a definite answer by tomorrow night."

"That concludes tonight's 'lesson,' please return now."

Having said that, Ito Kashitaro turned and left without pausing for a moment.

Kondo Isami did not give chase, nor did he hold the knife to the other man's neck again. Instead, he stared intently at the man's receding figure.

"Aren't you afraid that I'll turn around and tell Tachibana-kun about your 'rebellious' plot?"

Ito Kashitaro smiled and said without turning his head:

"If that's your intention, then please go ahead."

"Even if I force you to join my camp now, you can tell Tachibana Aoto about it after dawn tomorrow."

"When I decided to be frank with you first, I was already prepared for the possibility that my efforts to win you over would fail and I would perish before I even got started."

"Compared to Tachibana Seiden, the power I currently possess is far too weak."

"If we want to surpass Tachibana Seiden, we have no choice but to take a risk! We have no choice but to gamble everything we have!"

"Tonight, I bet you won't tell Ju Qingdeng."

"Tomorrow, I bet you'll become my partner."

"Since it's a gamble, I'll accept whatever the outcome may be."

After speaking, Ito Kashitaro said no more, and his footsteps faded into the distance.

After a while

Ito Kashitaro's presence had completely vanished, but Kondo Isami remained seated, motionless for a long time.

He stared intently at the void before him, his focus unfocused, as if looking at something close at hand, yet also gazing into the distance, a complex and indescribable emotion etched on his face.

Before they knew it, the candle beside them had burned out.

The light faded, and a deep, inky darkness enveloped him...

……

……

The first year of Kuangtian/the first year of Meiji (1865), November 10th——

Qinjin Fan, Otsu, Judi, the ward of the General Secretary——

Kondo Isami stood by Souji's bedside, staring blankly at Souji's face.

As Souji's sworn brothers, Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo both had the privilege of "freely entering and leaving Souji's hospital room".

To be honest, Kondo Isami had absolutely no recollection of when he entered Souji's hospital room.

He only remembered that when he came to his senses, he was already sitting next to Souji, as if his legs had a mind of their own and had automatically brought him here.

Looking at the sleeping Souji, his empty eyes regained some of their light.

Suddenly, Hijikata Toshizo's voice rang out from behind him:

"Huh? Ah Sheng, what are you doing here?"

Kondo Isami was taken aback and turned to look, only to see Hijikata Toshizo standing outside the door, carrying something in his hand.

"Ah Sui, what is this?"

"It's nothing, just konpeito."

Hijikata Toshizo strode into the room, tossing the rather heavy konpeito in his palm.

"Let Xiao Si smell the aroma of her favorite konpeito more often; it might help her recover sooner."

As he spoke, he sat cross-legged next to Kondo Isami, held the konpeito in his palm to Souji's nose, and waved it.

"Hey, Tsukasa, smell this! It's your favorite konpeito. If you can smell it, you'll recover quickly. Once you're fully recovered, you can eat as much candy as you want, just like before."

"..."

The only response he received was the souji's light, gentle breathing.

"Tsk... still not working... Normally, even if she's fast asleep, she'll wake up immediately if she smells konpeito."

Hijikata Toshizo sighed silently and casually tossed the konpeito in his hand onto the side of Souji's bedside—where a mountain of konpeito already stood.

Everyone knows that Souji loves to eat konpeito (Japanese candy), and she eats it like it's her main meal. So everyone who comes to visit her brings her a bag or even several bags of konpeito.

By now, the number of konpeito (Japanese candy) given to us by everyone has reached an astonishing amount, enough to fill most of a room.

After exchanging brief greetings, the two brothers remained silent, quietly keeping their troublesome sister company.

Suddenly… truly suddenly, Kondo Isami abruptly asked Hijikata Toshizo:

"...A-Sui, if one day I become an enemy of the Shinsengumi, what will you do?"

"Aha?"

Hijikata Toshizo raised an eyebrow, his expression changing slightly, his face turning hostile:

"Ah Sheng, why are you asking such nonsensical questions?"

Kondo Isami subconsciously looked away, unwilling to meet Hijikata Toshizo's gaze.

"It's nothing, I just... asked casually."

Hijikata Toshizo squinted at Kondo Isami with a deep, indifferent gaze, devoid of any joy or sorrow.

After a short while, he spoke.

Instead of giving a direct answer, he abruptly threw out a counter-question.

"...Ah Sheng, do you know the origin of the idiom 'to risk one's life for a single place'?"

Before the other party could answer, he answered his own question:

The so-called "risking one's life for a place" means "to protect a place with one's life until the very last moment".

"For me, the Shinsengumi is this 'school'."

At this point, he abruptly changed the subject, bringing up a completely unrelated topic:

"I had a strange dream a while ago."

Kondo Isami raised an eyebrow, then chuckled twice in an annoyed tone.

"Another strange dream? Ah Sui, why do you have so many strange dreams?"

Kondo Isami clearly remembered that on the eve of the "Chōshū Campaign," when Hijikata Toshizo invited a photographer to take pictures of everyone as a memento, he also shared with him and Souji a strange dream he had.

Kondo Isami still clearly remembers the dream that Hijikata Toshizo described: He stood blankly in the empty, barren wasteland, his companions were all running into the distance, he wanted to chase after them, but he couldn't catch up no matter what he did, and could only helplessly watch them get further and further away from him...

At that time, Hijikata Toshizo, who was always fearless, was disturbed by this strange dream and believed that it was a premonition that he was about to die.

The reason he specifically hired a photographer to take pictures was because he was disturbed by this strange dream and wanted to prepare for his "afterlife".

As it turns out, dreams are just dreams and shouldn't be taken seriously.

To this day, he is still alive and well, and nothing unexpected has happened.

After casting a look at Hijikata Toshizo that was half amused and half helpless, Kondo Isami asked, half-jokingly:

"What did you dream about this time?"

“I dreamt that we lost to the ‘Western Alliance’.”

His very first words made Kondo Isami's eyes widen in surprise.

Hijikata Toshizo calmly continued speaking as if on his own: