I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Nishino gave Komatsu no time to react. The instant he straddled Komatsu, he delivered three heavy punches to his face.

Three clean and efficient attacks.

Saliva mixed with blood splattered everywhere.

“呜……呜……呜……呜……”

Komatsu let out several groans that had no specific meaning. Although he tried to fight like a cornered beast, human mental strength is ultimately limited.

Before long, his two legs, which had been kicking repeatedly, stopped moving—his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

“呼！呼！呼！呼！呼！呼！”

Nishino's chest heaved violently like a bellows, and the scorching gas exhaled from his mouth and nose instantly turned into a translucent white mist upon contact with the cool air.

After confirming several times that Xiaosong had indeed passed out, he closed his eyes, unable to hide his exhaustion, and lay back on the ground with a movement resembling a backward dive.

"Nishino-kun, thank you for your hard work~ That was a fantastic battle~~"

Nishino felt the light shining on his eyelids dim.

He looked up and saw my grandson kneeling beside him with a slight smile on his face.

Do you need me to help you up?

Nishino glanced at my grandson's outstretched right hand, hesitated for a moment, and then handed over his left hand.

“…My grandson, thank you so much for what you did earlier.”

When my grandson helped him up, Nishino thanked him in a nonchalant tone.

He was thanking my grandson for his successful sneak attack on Komatsu, which created a good opportunity for him to counterattack.

As soon as Nishino finished speaking, my grandson gave a carefree smile.

"No need to thank me~ I just did what I could to help~~"

After saying that, my grandson gestured with his lip towards the little pine tree on the ground.

"Are you planning to take this person back to the magistrate's office for interrogation next?"

"of course."

Nishino answered without hesitation.

My grandson blinked thoughtfully.

Then, he made a request that surprised Nishino.

"...Nishino-kun, when you get anything out of this person, could you share some of the information with me?"

"what?"

"I really want to know who killed the Kanazawa siblings."

As my grandson spoke, he smiled peacefully, and his tone of voice gradually returned to normal, no longer drawing out the last syllable.

"I came to the scene of the murder of the Jinze siblings today purely on a 'try my luck' basis, but I never expected that I would actually run into a suspicious person today."

"Perhaps this is what they call 'divine will'."

"In any case, regardless of whether it was 'fate' or not, I am now more eager to know who the murderer who killed Jinze and his sister is."

“Nishino-kun, I won’t make things difficult for you.”

"I don't expect you to share all the intelligence and case progress with me."

"Just tell me what you think is something that outsiders should know."

After speaking, my grandson stared intently into Nishino's eyes, awaiting his reply.

"..."

Nishino pursed his lips, remaining silent, seemingly calm while deep in thought.

To be honest, Nishino doesn't like outsiders interfering with his investigations, even if that outsider is the famous "Fire Dragon".

However... there were two main reasons that made it difficult for Nishino to refuse my grandson.

Firstly, my grandson deserves credit for Nishino's ability to capture Komatsu alive.

Without my grandson's help in finding a shortcut by memorizing the entire Edo area map, and without my grandson's timely ambush of Komatsu during the most intense moment of the battle, it is entirely unknown whether Nishino could have captured Komatsu so easily.

Secondly, the request made by my grandson is not excessive.

Tell him things you feel you can share with outsiders... This request won't put Nishino in too much of a difficult position.

"...I understand. As long as it's not crucial core information, I can relay it to you."

After thinking for a long time, Nishino nodded slightly.

"I am extremely grateful."

My grandson smiled.

"Nishino-kun, you've really helped me a lot."

"For me, nothing is more important than satisfying my personal thirst for knowledge."

My grandson's way of speaking has reverted to his old habit of dragging out the last syllable.

……

……

That night--

Edo, Hatchobori——

Yoriki and Doshin, the Edo-cho Magistrates' Office, used to live in the area from the main office's second bridge to Hoonji Temple. Later, they moved to the Aoyama-Harima-no-kami residence in Nihonbashi-Osaka-cho. In 1713, they officially moved to Hatchobori.

Because the Edo-machi Magistrate's Office's Yoriki and Doshin mostly lived in Hatchobori, "Hachibori" became a synonym for the Edo-machi Magistrate's Office.

"I'm going to take you to the authorities!"—This means I'm going to file a complaint against you.

Because of the special nature of the residents, the common people of Edo often made fun of Hatchobori.

Over time, Hatchobori became a popular meme that persisted throughout the Edo period.

The most popular meme created by ordinary people around Hatchobori is undoubtedly the "Seven Mysteries of Hatchobori".

First, it has the appearance of an inner palace but not the appearance of a main palace.

Second, the knife holder in the women's bath.

Third, money can connect to the head.

IV. The Bridge to Bliss in Hell

Fifth, the poor alleyway with lanterns hanging on it.

Sixth, there is a temple but no tomb.

7. Sase Yutaro's true nature

It is worth mentioning that the so-called "seven wonders" mentioned above are not supernatural tales.

The word "unbelievable" here is a roundabout way of mocking and being sarcastic.

Wow, your skin is so thick, it's unbelievable—that's probably the feeling.

Yes, the aforementioned "seven mysteries" are all mocking the Yori and Doshin of the Edo-machi Magistrate's Office.

For example, there is the phrase "there is an Okushang but no Dōninshang". Generally speaking, a servant with a salary of 200 koku would be respectfully addressed as "Dōninshang" by commoners. However, since Yoriki's status was below that of a Gomeshimi, even if his salary was as high as 200 koku, he could only be addressed as Dōna. The same was true for Dōshin. However, Yoriki and Dōshin's wives could be respectfully addressed as "Okushang". This was a sarcastic remark that Yoriki and Dōshin were nothing special, acting all high and mighty, but in the end, they didn't even have the title of "Dōninshang".

For example, the saying "money can reach the head" means that Yu Li and Tong Xin often let people off the hook because of money.

Another example is the "Bridge of Paradise in Hell," where there is a bridge in Hatchobori called the Bridge of Paradise, which represents Hatchobori as a metaphor for hell.

Based on these references, it's easy to see how the people of Edo viewed Hatchobori and the officials of the Edo Town Magistrate's Office on a daily basis.

Wearing a brand-new straw hat, Qing Deng stood on a snow-covered clearing in Hatchobori.

"I really miss it..."

Gazing at the empty space beneath his feet, Qingdeng murmured in a daze.

This place was his former home.

After his original home was burned down by the madmen of the Expeditionary Group, this place was cleared away and left with nothing but a blank white ground.

With Qingdeng's current financial resources and savings, he is certainly capable of building a larger and more beautiful house.

But he has already gotten used to living in the test facility.

A large group of good buddies who could train and play with him every day lived under the same roof; there was an extremely spacious dojo at his disposal; and from the Shieikan, the distance to the Senjiya, the Chiba Sword Hall, the Tsukimiya Shrine, or the foreign settlement was not too far.

With such a great living environment, I really don't want to move.

Therefore, although he had long been able to move out of the Shieikan, Aoto still stayed in the Shieikan with a clear conscience.

Slap, slap, slap...

At that moment, Qingdeng suddenly heard light footsteps behind him.

It must be the Tsujiban people patrolling at night... Aoto thought to himself.

[Tsujiban: During the Edo period, these were sentry posts established by daimyo and hatamoto at various intersections in the samurai residential areas of Edo. Their purpose was to strengthen the self-discipline of samurai and prevent them from killing people randomly in the streets at night.]

Let's put the nostalgia aside for now... Qing Deng lowered the brim of his hat, took a step to the side, and disappeared into the darkness beside him.

……

The house of Arima Hideyuki in Kitaban-sho-cho—

Arima knelt alone on the edge of the courtyard veranda, a white cloth in his mouth, a knife in his left hand, and a powdering stick in his right, meticulously dusting the knife with powder.

"...Mr. Arima."

"!"

Arima Hideyuki's eyes suddenly widened.

He quickly looked in the direction of the sound and met Qingdeng's eyes, who was hiding in the bushes in the yard.

"Mr. Arima, it's me."

To completely put Arima at ease, Aoto removed his straw hat.