I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Shintaro Kusaka must have heard a lot of noise outside, so he quickly led his subordinates out to check the situation.

Almost at the same time that Kusaka Shintaro and the others rushed to Aoto's side, Tokugawa Iemochi, Tenshōin, and the Nie sisters arrived behind Aoto.

"..." Shintaro Kusaka did not rush to ask the people present "What happened?", but instead quietly surveyed the scene with a solemn expression.

The Eita sisters, still with tears streaming down their faces, are embracing each other tightly...

The injured and unconscious lay scattered on the ground...

A samurai wearing a low-brimmed straw hat, obscuring his face, stood calmly amidst the group of people lying motionless on the ground, seemingly detached from the situation...

Having worked at the health center for so many years, Shintaro Kusaka has seen plenty of the various conflicts and disputes commonly encountered at the Koishikawa Health Center.

Based on his past experience and his own on-site observations, Shintaro Kusaka has a general deduction about the facts of the incident.

Next, Shintaro Kusaka began his formal questioning.

After thoroughly questioning Aoto and his group, the Eita sisters, the mob that Aoto had beaten up, and the innocent bystanders, Shintaro Kusaka concluded that the facts were exactly as he had guessed.

"How many more times do I have to repeat myself like this?"

Shintaro Kusaka sighed heavily, then took a deep breath and pointed to the Koishikawa Health Center behind him.

"Do you know why the Koishikawa Health Center exists?"

"This building was built to save more lives!"

"Whether you are a samurai with a sword at your waist or a beggar in rags, once you enter the gates of the Koishikawa Sanatorium, you are a patient!"

"In this place, you won't receive extra treatment just because you're a samurai; in this place, you won't lack medical care or medicine just because you're an Eta non-human!"

"Your actions just now have disappointed me greatly!"

"What you just did is an insult to the founding principles of Koishikawa Health Center!"

“I am but a mortal, not so powerful as to restrain you every moment and in every place, but at least here! In this great place that countless people of virtue and talent have painstakingly built! I will not allow anyone to act recklessly!”

"As long as I am still serving at the health center, I will not allow any incidents of discrimination to occur at the Koishikawa Health Center!"

Watching Shintaro Kusaka deliver his impassioned speech, Aoto thought to himself:

—The benevolence and righteousness under the sun are indeed well-deserved...

Although he was not familiar with Shintaro Kusaka, Aoto had long heard of his reputation for benevolence.

In the North District, Shintaro Kusaka was known as a kind-hearted man, and he was very upright in his conduct.

Shintaro Kusaka's speech was undeniably passionate and earnest.

Judging from his indignant expression of "hating their lack of resistance and lamenting their misfortune" at this moment, he genuinely wanted to persuade the people present to abandon discrimination, and at least not to engage in the barbaric behavior of "I may be poor, but I am at least a normal person, and you lowly people must obey me" in the charity hospital.

It can be said that Shintaro Kusaka did his best—but all his efforts only earned him a cold response.

Most people kept their heads down, eyes downcast, expressionless... No, that's a bit of an inappropriate way to describe it.

Their faces were indeed expressionless at this moment, but "numb and unable to bear" would be a more accurate description of their expressions.

……

Huh? What is this person saying?

Has he finished speaking yet?

What does what he's saying have to do with me?

……

Their blank expressions silently conveyed their incomprehension and impatience.

A very few individuals, even when Aoto and Shintaro Kusaka were not paying attention, secretly continued to cast disgusted glances at the Eita sisters as if they were looking at filthy garbage.

Qingdeng noticed the indescribable attitude and reaction of the people around him.

To be honest, Qingdeng didn't even know what kind of expression he should make right now.

As for Shintaro Kusaka, he also noticed the changes in the expressions of the people he had painstakingly tried to teach.

"..." Shintaro Kusaka silently kept quiet, his eyelids slightly lowered.

A gloomy look appeared on his face, which was well past forty.

"Ugh……"

A long, drawn-out sigh drifted softly from Shintaro Kusaka's lips.

Whether it was Qing Deng's imagination or not, he felt that after Kusaka Shintaro let out that long sigh, there seemed to be one or two more wrinkles on his face.

……

……

Shintaro Kusaka ordered his men to take away the ragged samurai and others who were causing trouble, and then he strode towards Aoto.

"Thank you for your help!"

Shintaro Kusaka, with a sincere smile on his face, placed his hands on his thighs and bowed deeply to Aoto.

"Without you, I really don't know what the consequences would have been..."

Aoto nodded and returned Shintaro Kusaka's bow.

"You're too kind. I was just doing what I was supposed to do."

To prevent Shintaro Kusaka from recognizing him, Aoto deliberately lowered his voice to an extremely deep and hoarse tone, while also raising his hand to pull his low-brimmed straw hat down even further.

"Haha, you are truly a righteous man!"

Shintaro Kusaka's expression of respect deepened.

"May I ask your esteemed name?"

After a moment's thought, Qing Deng replied, "I am merely a passing swordsman."

Seeing that the person in front of him was deliberately concealing his identity, Shintaro Kusaka wisely decided not to delve any further into the matter.

"Your Excellency," Qing Deng suddenly said, "My companions and I have important matters to attend to and cannot stay here for long. Please protect these two young ladies."

Qing Deng glanced at the Eita sisters, who had now stopped crying.

"That's natural!"

Shintaro Kusaka nodded vigorously without hesitation.

"It was my momentary negligence that I failed to notice the unusual commotion outside the building immediately, which nearly led to an irreversible consequence. I swear on my samurai spirit... no! I swear on my integrity that as long as these two sisters are still at the Koishikawa Sanatorium, I will never allow anyone to bully them again."

After saying that, Shintaro Kusaka unfastened the katana from his waist, grabbed the scabbard with his left hand and the hilt with his right, pulled the blade out a little, and then forcefully pulled it back.

The oath was made by striking the metal, and the agreement was fulfilled.

Shintaro Kusaka, known for his benevolence, made a promise that was worth a fortune.

Relieved, Qing Deng glanced back at Tokugawa Iemochi.

Tokugawa Iemochi nodded knowingly: "Yes, let's go."

The incognito visit continues.

Just as Qingdeng and his group were about to leave Koishikawa Health Resort behind—

"Grandpa Samurai!"

Suddenly, Eita's voice came from behind Qing Deng.

Qingdeng stopped and turned around.

Eta, the older sister, was holding her younger sister's hand, and the two sisters stood awkwardly side by side.

After Qing Deng looked over at them, the two sisters took a deep breath in perfect unison.

"Thank you so much!

The two women shouted this in unison as they knelt down and performed the highest Japanese courtesy to Aoto: Dogeza.

Their expressions and movements were completely natural.

Comfortable and simple.

Although it may sound like self-praise, Qing Deng believes that he has done quite a few good deeds and acts of kindness.

Eliminating the anti-foreign group and eradicating the bandits entrenched in the Kai Mountains—any one of these achievements would be a glorious feat worthy of boasting about for a lifetime.

Strangely, as he received the Eta sisters' profuse thanks, Aoto felt a surge of pride and satisfaction.

This pride and satisfaction are no less than the exhilaration I felt when I defeated Shenye and broke through the three gates of Soma.

Qingdeng humbly stood half a step to the side, refusing the great courtesy from the Huiduo sisters.

At the same time, he slowly raised his gaze, looking towards the Koishikawa Health Center and the "oil-like patches" surrounding the tall building.

Everything went back to the way it was before.

Patients and their accompanying relatives and friends lined up eagerly.

Groans and cries of pain echoed continuously into the sky and far away.

Someone continued to comfort the patient beside them.

Someone continued to plead with the people in front of him to give him their place in line.

Thousands of patients are waiting for treatment.

In total, Koishikawa Health Center only has about ten doctors.

Faced with such a large number of patients, such a small number of doctors is simply a drop in the ocean.

The stark disparity in the doctor-patient ratio means that most of the patients currently gathered here will not be able to cross the threshold of the Koishikawa Health Center anytime soon.

The unchanging scenery—it was as if Qing Deng and the others had never been here before.

Whether it's discrimination between social classes or a severe shortage of medical resources, these are not easy problems that can be solved by throwing money around or killing a few people.

At that moment, Qingdeng felt he suddenly understood the two famous quotes by the great writer Lu Xun:

……

I opened the history book, but it had no dates. On each page, scrawled crookedly, were the four characters for "benevolence, righteousness, and morality." I couldn't sleep, so I scrutinized it for half the night, finally discerning the true meaning between the lines: the entire book was filled with the two words "cannibalism!"

……