I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

More samurai charged down with swords—this time, three of them came down at once.

The three men gasped the moment they saw the flintlock muskets gleaming with a beautiful metallic sheen and the iconic black uniforms.

"Ah! It's the Fire Thief Gai! The Fire Thief Gai's soldiers are here!"

"Go back quickly! Go back quickly! It's the Fire Thief! They have arquebuses! Lots of arquebuses!"

"Damn it! What are these government soldiers, disguised as fire thieves, doing here?!"

The three people cursed and shouted as they scrambled to escape upstairs along the same route.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang...

Gunfire erupted again.

Because they ran fast enough, the dense hail of bullets only hit the spot where the three samurai had just been standing. Only one unlucky fellow was a fraction of a second slower and was accidentally hit in the calf by a stray bullet, but he still managed to hop back to the second floor on one foot thanks to his tenacious will.

There was no one in sight on the first floor of the building, so the members of the Seventh Division, who encountered no resistance, took less than three minutes to capture the entire first floor.

The soldiers guarding the stairwell exchanged glances and then began to advance upstairs in an orderly manner.

At that moment, a sound came from the second floor:

"The first floor is full of thieves disguised as government soldiers! If we stay here any longer, we'll be caught in one fell swoop! Let's jump out the window and get out!"

"Hey! Wait a minute! Check what's going on outside first!"

This attempt at dissuasion, though seemingly ineffective, came too late.

A young man with a childlike face, who should not be even twenty years old, hurriedly opened a window on the second floor and jumped onto the roof outside, despite still having his hair loose and wearing pajamas.

The instant his feet touched the sloping roof—

砰！砰！砰！砰！砰！砰！砰！砰……

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...

The sounds of bullets leaving the barrel and bowstrings vibrating enveloped the young man from all directions.

Kimura's Fifth Division was also a unit that was concurrently composed of the First-Hand Gunners.

The Third and Fifth Divisions, responsible for the "siege," had long been bored out of their minds because they had nothing to do.

Finally, they discovered a fool who jumped straight out of the window without even looking at what was happening outside. All the members of the Third and Fifth Divisions who could see this young man immediately grabbed their bows and arrows and arquebuses without saying a word, and began to fire their guns.

And so, this young man became the one who died the most gruesome death since the start of the battle that night—six arrows were stuck in his body, and four more holes were opened in his body.

Before he could even let out a scream, his body swayed lightly for a few moments, then his eyes rolled upwards—and he collapsed to the ground, tumbling down the sloping eaves and kicking up a cloud of dust.

"What's that noise? What happened?"

"Where's that noise coming from? Is that the sound of a cannon firing?"

"Oh no! Someone's dead! Someone's dead!"

……

Gradually, nearby residents were awakened by the thunderous gunfire.

They opened the window and went outside to check what was happening.

Then, unsurprisingly, they encountered intimidation from the members of the Third and Fifth Divisions, who were in charge of the "siege":

"What are you looking at?! Everyone disperse! Everyone disperse!"

"Get to your jobs and get back to work!"

"The thief has switched to handling a case! All bystanders, leave immediately!"

"Fire-fed thief"—this phrase is like a curse. Anyone who hears it will change color and flee in panic.

"Eek! It's... it's the fire thief!"

"Close the window quickly! Close the window!"

"Mom, what is a fire-fighting thief?"

"I'll explain later! Now, make sure the windows are tightly closed!"

……

In the blink of an eye, all the open windows and doors were closed.

The chattering voices vanished completely.

Upon seeing this, Qing Deng was speechless, thinking to himself:

—Although both the arsonist and the magistrate's office had the function of catching thieves, their working environments were worlds apart…

Because the number of officers in the "Sanhui" branch of the Magistrate's Office was small, the number of people who could investigate cases was always the same few. In addition, they had more opportunities to have direct contact with the people. Therefore, compared with the Fire and Thief Bureau, the people were undoubtedly closer to the "Sanhui" branch of the Magistrate's Office.

The privilege granted to the Fire Thieves—the freedom to enter and exit samurai territory, town and shrine territory, and to arrest and interrogate people at will—was truly terrifying and chilling.

Since the establishment of the unit, countless innocent people have been wrongly arrested by thieves and those who have been tortured into confessing.

On the one hand, the people respected the fire-fighting thieves who fought against all kinds of vicious criminals all year round, but on the other hand, they were afraid of the power of life and death in their hands.

This resulted in the fire-fighting thieves never having a very high reputation among the common people.

Fire-tack Thief Kai was only truly beloved by the people during certain special periods—for example, 70 years ago, under the leadership of the legendary samurai, Hasegawa Heizo, known as "Onihei," Fire-tack Thief Kai reached its unprecedented golden age.

Aside from these very few exceptional periods, people generally avoid "men in black" whenever they see them, fearing they might get involved with these all-black-clad individuals.

At the same time that the onlookers were driven away, a soldier ran out of the house and reported the battle situation to Kimura, Tsuchida and others outside.

Upon learning that the battle inside the house was going smoothly, Kimura and Tsuchida both showed expressions of contentment and relaxation.

Caught off guard and thrown into panic, routed by the might of the matchlock gun... the "One-Armed Party's" series of actions were exactly as Kimura and Tsuchida had predicted.

"Lord Kimura!"

Tsuchida said to Kimura triumphantly.

"At this rate, we will be able to wipe out all the traitors in this house in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn!"

Kimura nodded slightly, then smiled happily and turned to look at Aoto not far away.

The gaze that swept over Qingdeng and then quickly looked away carried a hint of disdain and provocation.

Kimura was proud of his accurate judgment, but he also felt contempt for Aoto, who made the wrong judgment.

His eyes conveyed this message: Hmph! How about that? I wasn't wrong, was I? The "One-Armed Party" is just a bunch of rabble! Sending just one Seventh Division would have been enough to rout them; there was no need to send two divisions at the same time!

—When it comes to commanding troops, I'm the real professional! That guy didn't even have a thorough understanding of our combat capabilities before making a rash judgment!

Thinking of this, a unique sense of superiority filled Kimura's heart, and he involuntarily raised his head and put his hands behind his back.

Of course, Aoto had no idea about Kimura's little schemes.

At this moment, he was intently staring at the wagashi shop in front of him, where gunshots could be heard from time to time.

His relaxed brows now slowly furrow.

Something's... not quite right...

The battle is going very smoothly, and it won't be long before all the bandits in the house are wiped out—based on the intelligence and the current situation, it should be... no, it must be!

however……

Qing Deng himself couldn't explain why.

He could feel his heart racing.

I have a strange, ominous feeling...

This ominous premonition caused Qing Deng's nerves and muscles to tense unconsciously, and his right hand reached to his left waist and pressed on the hilt of the sword that had been used to subdue ghosts and spirits.

……

……

At this very moment—

Inside this wagashi (Japanese sweets) shop that Kimura and Tsuchida could acquire immediately—

Caught off guard, the "one-armed party" is now truly a rabble in the literal sense.

The vast majority of them had been fast asleep until just now.

Awakened by the sounds of breaking down doors, footsteps, and gunshots from the burglars, they were all wearing pajamas and in a daze.

The soldiers who had been arrested for killing were far more ruthless than the officials in charge of the "Three Rounds" and the "Eight Prefectures' Expeditionary Service" when they approached, and they were also responsible for dealing with the bandits.

The outside was completely surrounded, like an iron barrel, making escape impossible.

These people were so stunned by the fast punches that the Fire Thief had modified that they couldn't even tell which way was which.

Or perhaps they are trapped in their rooms, feeling lost and confused.

Or perhaps they gritted their teeth, rushed out of the room, and prepared to fight the soldiers to the death.

Or they might panic and run around aimlessly.

Those who wanted to die together with the officers and soldiers, as well as those who ran around like headless flies, were shot dead one by one by the members of the Seventh Division, like turkeys.

So far, the Seventh Division, which has the advantage of surprise attack and better equipment, remains unscathed.

The fact that the "One-Armed Gang" was unharmed brought a sense of relief and ease to the members of the Seventh Division.

The battle will be over soon—that's what most of the Seventh Division members thought.

……

……

Meanwhile, in a certain room—

"Aaaaah! Damn it! Damn it!"

A warrior with only one arm paced anxiously in a room on the second floor.

"How could those thieves and government troops know we were hiding here! Damn it! Damn it!"

The one-armed warrior pounded the wall with his only arm, his face filled with resentment and unwillingness, ashen...

"It's over...it's all over...surrounded by so many corrupt officials disguised as thieves, how could we possibly break out..."

Just as the one-armed warrior was making this desperate monologue—