I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Under the premise that one's own conditions are not in any major problems, adhering to celibacy in feudal society... such thinking is a bit too advanced.

At least Chiba Jutaro would find it hard to accept that his sister would spend her whole life without marriage or children, and grow old alone.

There is no pension or welfare system in this era.

Chiba Jutaro couldn't help but think deeper: If Sanako really never marries... what will happen to her in her old age?

My parents are still alive, and I am still young, so I can protect and take care of Sanako. But my parents and I can't take care of Sanako forever.

The more Chiba Jutaro thought about it, the deeper his brows furrowed.

At this moment, Sanako slowly stood up, pressing her delicate hand against the hem of her kimono.

"Brother, I have said everything I wanted to say."

In short, please, brother, do not add any more new names to this book.

After saying that, Sanako turned around and walked out of the room, her small, delicate feet, which were faintly visible beneath her clothes and had a fair complexion, were barely visible.

Watching Sanako's departing figure, Chiba Jutaro, feeling somewhat stifled by her earlier remarks, couldn't help but twitch his lips. Then, adopting a self-deprecating, "Ah, I don't care about you anymore" expression, he muttered to Sanako in a tone tinged with grievance and dissatisfaction:

"I have absolutely no interest in matters between men and women... Hmph, you said it yourself."

"Please don't come to me mysteriously one day in the future and ask me some strange questions."

At this point, Chiba Jutaro cleared his throat forcefully, then pinched his throat and tried to imitate a very girlish, shy tone.

"Brother, do men generally prefer women who are good at cooking?"

As soon as Chiba Jutaro finished speaking, Sanako, who was about to step out of the room, suddenly stumbled and almost fell to the ground.

She quickly steadied herself, then turned her head and glared at her brother behind her.

Sanako, who is usually composed and dignified, is now unable to maintain her composure due to the intense emotional turmoil.

With her beautiful eyes wide open, she glared fiercely at Chiba Jutaro, her pupils revealing anger and shame at the revelation of her painful memories.

Her delicate, fair face and ears flushed red with embarrassment at a visible speed.

Seeing his younger sister's ears turn bright red, Chiba Jutaro grinned, revealing a "plan succeeded" smile.

Chiba Jutaro knew exactly what kind of personality his younger sister, with whom he had grown up and shared a deep bond, had.

Sanako has a strong personality. Although she usually acts like a "strong woman", she is actually surprisingly thin-skinned. A simple word or gesture can often make her blush.

Sanako's moist red lips kept moving, as if she wanted to say something to Chiba Jutaro, but in the end she seemed to give up the idea of ​​talking to Chiba Jutaro.

She looked away, turned her face back, gave a heavy "humph," and continued walking out of the room.

However, she had only taken two steps forward when Chiba Jutaro's voice rang out again.

“Um… Sanako.”

Sanako stopped again, her face still flushed. Without turning around, she asked in an annoyed tone, "Is there anything else?"

Because Sanako didn't turn to look at Chiba Jutaro this time, she didn't notice that her brother had slowly put away the "successful plan" smile he had just worn.

Before you leave, I'd like to... confirm something.

Chiba Jutaro sighed heavily, then raised his gaze and cast a complicated look at Sanako.

"You just said you don't like anyone, including Sakamoto Ryoma... Is that true?"

"Don't you really like Sakamoto Ryoma anymore?"

Chiba Jutaro, who had been carefully observing Sanako's movements and demeanor, keenly noticed that before he had even finished speaking, Sanako's body stiffened noticeably.

Sanako didn't keep Chiba Jutaro waiting for her reply for too long.

Just a moment later, Sanako took a few light steps, slowly turned around, and faced Chiba Jutaro.

"Of course I'm telling the truth."

She smiled at her brother once again... a smile that evoked images of dark, rainy clouds.

Perhaps she was reminiscing... No, it doesn't seem so. In the depths of Sanako's eyes, which seemed to gaze into the distance, a certain melancholy seemed to be hidden.

This feeling... can be roughly described as "persistence" or "unwillingness to accept defeat".

"No matter what, I am not so humble as to continue to like someone who once said to me that 'women's power is too weak' and 'bringing you along will only restrict my movements'."

"I want to prove him wrong and show Sakamoto-kun that even though I am a girl, I am not weak and that I will make him realize his mistake... This is probably the last bit of feeling I have left for Sakamoto-kun."

After the sound faded, Sanako fell silent.

She dropped the unsettling smile from her face, reverting to her dignified and elegant demeanor as Miss Sanako. She quickly turned around and strode out of the room without pausing for a moment.

Her slender, delicate figure slowly disappeared from Chiba Jutaro's sight.

……

……

Edo, somewhere—

Led by a rather tall, burly man covered in colorful tattoos, Jinno returned to the empty teahouse he had visited many times before.

There was no furniture, and the only decoration was a screen painted with a picture of a hundred demons parading at night.

In front of this large screen sat the familiar duo of "Rasetsu and Shimizu Eiichi".

The Rakshasa, with a faint smile on his lips, sat cross-legged in a carefree manner.

His beloved sword... a katana with a red scabbard and red handle, lay quietly on his right side.

Regarding Rakshasa's beloved sword, Kamino had once heard its name by chance: Choyo Masamune.

Shinno, who had once been pointed at by Rakshasa with a drawn Nagayo Masamune, had a profound understanding of just how sharp and swift that blade was.

The leader of the "Shimizu Clan," Shimizu Eiichi, with a large burn scar on his left cheek, sat behind and to the right of the Rasetsu.

When his gaze fell upon Rasetsu and Shimizu Eiichi, Kanno was surprised to find that there was someone he had never seen before in the tea room today.

To the left and behind the Rakshasa sat a young man who was about 25 years old and had a very strong build.

Jinno had never seen this young man before, so he couldn't help but take a few more glances at him.

"Oh, Kanna-kun. You've arrived." Seeing Kanna stride into the tea room, Rasetsu grinned and put down her teacup. "Come, have a seat."

After Kanna entered the tea room, the burly man who had led Kanna out of the tea room and gently closed the door behind him.

"Lord Rasetsu, Lord Shimizu." Kamino sat down respectfully in front of Rasetsu and bowed to Rasetsu and the others.

Although he didn't know the name or who the unfamiliar young man sitting behind and to the side of Kamino was, Kamino still bowed to him anyway.

At this moment, Rakshasa seemed to realize that Shinno and the burly young man beside him were complete strangers. He laughed a few times and gestured towards the burly young man.

"Kano-kun, before we get down to business, let me introduce the person next to me."

"This is one of our law enforcement officers—Kamaitachi. For some reason, he came to Edo two days ago to assist me."

After introducing the young man beside him to Jinno, Rasetsu looked at the young man... that is, at Kamaitachi.

"Kamaitachi. This is the leader of the Extermination Group: Tatsugoro Kanno."

cadre!

When he heard the word from the Rakshasa, Kamino's pupils immediately contracted sharply.

Having cooperated with the Fazhu Party for so long, over time, Jinno also learned some basic information about the Fazhu Party.

The leader and all cadres of the Fa-Zhu Party would give themselves a code name. All the code names they used were taken from the fierce demons and monsters in mythology.

While adopting the names of those vicious demons as their code names, the leaders and cadres of the Fazhu Party would also tattoo the monster that served as their code name on their backs.

Kamaitachi... Even an illiterate person who can't read a single word has surely heard of the name and story of this famous monster.

The Kamaitachi is a wind spirit in the legends of the Koshinetsu region of Japan. It appears as a whirlwind and attacks those it encounters with its sharp, scythe-like claws. Although the victim's skin is slashed with long wounds, they feel no pain whatsoever.

Although it is not a very scary monster, the Kamaitachi is one of the most well-known monsters in folklore because its story is widely circulated.

Unexpectedly, this young man is one of the cadres of the Fazhu Party... This is the first time that Jinno has seen a Fazhu Party cadre other than Rasetsu.

Kamino quickly and respectfully bowed to Kamaitachi.

When Kamano greeted him, Kamaitachi simply nodded slightly without expression, then looked away without responding to Kamano's greeting or even glancing at him.

This person was so indifferent... Jinno, who had been given the cold shoulder, felt a sinking feeling in his heart and was slightly displeased.

He raised his gaze and carefully observed the Kamaitachi's face, discovering a hint of impatience and irritation hidden deep within the Kamaitachi's eyes.

"Alright." After introducing Jinno and Kamaitachi to each other, Rasetsu stretched vigorously. "The introductions are done. Now... let's get down to business."

"Kano-kun, what brings you here all of a sudden?"

Yesterday afternoon, Shinno suddenly contacted him, saying he had something important to discuss with him.

Rasetsu never refused to see Shinno – because he quite admired this young man, whose thoughts and actions were rather extreme.

Seeing that Rakshasa had asked him directly about his purpose, Shinno cleared his throat and straightened his back even more.

"Lord Rakshasa, I'll get straight to the point."

"Could you please use your power to prepare 100... no, 150 bottles of kerosene for me?"

"Oil?" Rakshasa raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise appearing between his brows.

Shimizu Eiichi looked astonished, like a demon.

Kamaitachi, who hadn't given Jinno a second glance, now glanced at him with a meaningful look.

“Kano-kun.” Rasetsu propped himself up on his right arm, a smile playing on his lips. “What do you need so much kerosene for? Winter is still a long way off.”

"Lord Rakshasa, you must have heard about this recently, right? The fox monk and the cat monk raided the hideout of a group of smugglers and found a large amount of kerosene."

"Because of this matter, the South and North Magistrate Offices of Edo, as well as the fire-fighting thieves, are now conducting a thorough investigation into smugglers and the sale of kerosene in Edo."

"To be honest..."

Jinno's face suddenly darkened, and he gritted his teeth, squeezing out one word after another from between his clenched teeth.

"The people who bought that batch of kerosene from the smugglers who were wiped out by Fox Monk and Cat Monk... were our Extermination Group."

Upon hearing this, Rasetsu, Kamaitachi, and Shimizu Eiichi all subtly changed their expressions.

"So you were the ones who bought that batch of kerosene from those smugglers." Rakshasa grinned.

"Thanks to those hateful fox and cat monks, all the kerosene we bought at great expense has vanished." Jinno clenched his teeth even tighter, making a squeaking sound. "Heiemon is such a useless piece of trash! I entrusted him with such an important task!"