I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

My cough isn't as bad anymore, but I'm still very weak and have a lot of low energy... Ugh!

P.S.: The readers of this book are indeed a bunch of old perverts. Once the scenes with female characters like Sanako and Souji are gone, the comments on each chapter drop precipitously, even though the number of subscriptions hasn't changed much compared to previous chapters...

Chapter 405 Ten thousand people bullying one person is justice [4600]

"Isn't this completely baseless?"

Qing Deng frowned.

"What evidence is there to prove that Kikuchi Chisui and Arden had an affair?"

The old man shrugged.

"Of course there's no evidence."

"The Ardennes people are all dead, so even if we wanted to find evidence, there would be no way to do so, right?"

"But what does it matter?"

"I've lived to be fifty-seven. Although I've spent most of my life in a daze, I've been fortunate enough to come to understand a few simple philosophies of life after witnessing many ups and downs. For example—ordinary people like vulgar, tasteless stories."

"Stories like 'wife falls for the young termite exterminator' or 'sister eloped with her husband'—people are incredibly interested in these tasteless and vulgar tales!"

"Upon witnessing a murder case, people immediately think of crimes of passion, infidelity, incest, and affairs with one's sister-in-law... Ordinary people always have endless imaginations on this level."

Even if it's completely fabricated, you can make it sound incredibly plausible.

"Moreover, before Arden was murdered, her relationship with Kikuchi was indeed quite good. If Kikuchi hadn't intervened, she would have been kicked out of the street by Akira long ago—which only fueled the speculations of busybodies."

That's true... Qingdeng thought to himself.

Throughout history and in all places, people have generally been drawn to grotesque stories like "Sister-in-law, come here~", "Brother-in-law, don't do this~", and "Madam, you don't want your husband to know about this, right? So please~", which are stories that would leave even the most hardcore fans speechless and bring tears to the eyes of those who love pure love.

Take Aoto as an example—after he rose to fame and became a celebrity in Edo, all sorts of bizarre rumors about him continued to emerge.

For example, some people say he is gay, and the evidence is that he spends all his time hanging out with Kondo, Hijikata, and others.

For example, some people say he is a lecherous scumbag who has been involved with many women in ambiguous relationships—this is the rumor that Qingdeng hates the most!

Given the public's tendency to enjoy a good show and get more excited the more exciting it is, it's not surprising that rumors like "Kikuchi Chisui had an affair with Arden" would circulate without any sufficient evidence.

“I’m not familiar with Kikuchi, so I don’t know if he’s the kind of beast who likes to do immoral things.”

The old man took a puff of his cigarette and continued the conversation.

"But to be honest, I personally think that the claim that Kikuchi had an affair with Arden is completely unfounded and cannot stand up to any scrutiny."

"But... what good is my personal opinion anyway?"

"In short, after Arden's death, rumors circulated that 'Aqi killed her own sister to avenge the loss of her husband.'"

"Gradually, people's opinions of Kikuchi and his family became increasingly unpleasant."

Kikuchi was denigrated as "a scumbag who can't control his lower body".

Arden was denounced as a "harlot who interferes in other people's marriages".

“And Aqi was also labeled as an ‘extremely wicked woman’.”

"Oh, right, I almost forgot to mention that."

"Although all the evidence points to Aki as the murderer, Kikuchi has always insisted that Aki was not the one who killed Arden, that the real culprit was someone else, and that Aki was framed."

"To prove that he was not lying, Kikuchi even went to the magistrate's office to report the case and asked the officials to reinvestigate the case and clear Oki and Aden's names."

As soon as the old man finished speaking, Qingdeng suddenly raised an eyebrow.

"Reporting to the authorities... Sir, could you tell me the details of how Kikuchi reported to the authorities?"

The old man looked troubled.

Then, his face was filled with apology:

"Um... Sir Samurai, I'm sorry, I don't know much about the specifics either."

"All I know is that after Kikuchi reported it to the authorities, there was indeed a man named Tachibana something... whose name I don't remember, Sadamachi Kaitoshi, who came to take over the case and reopen the investigation."

"However, Kikuchi and that Sadamachi Kaishin's re-investigation of the case seems to have come to nothing in the end."

"In short, Kikuchi was a nobody, and although he insisted that Aki and Arden were innocent, nobody paid any attention to him."

"Time flies... Kikuchi probably realized that he was doing something completely futile, so he gradually calmed down and stopped arguing with people."

"Then he became what he is today—spending his days holed up in the house drinking, and when he ran out of money to buy more alcohol, he would pawn the valuables in the house. When there was nothing left to sell or pawn, he would borrow money and take out loans."

"Sigh, Kikuchi... he's pretty much done for."

"What a pity. Because of an undeserved disaster, a spirited private tutor has degenerated into a muddle-headed drunkard."

“Kikuchi is still young. If he can pull himself together, he might be able to start over.”

The old man twitched the corners of his mouth, forcing out a regretful expression that was neither a smile nor a frown.

"It's a pity... judging from his current state, it seems there's no way he can recover..."

……

After waving goodbye to the old man, Qingdeng walked straight ahead along the path the old man had pointed out.

Before long, a grocery store that was, to put it nicely, full of historical charm, but to put it bluntly, very dilapidated came into Qingdeng's view.

Qingdeng lifted the curtain and stepped into the shop, where a middle-aged man dressed as a shopkeeper with dark skin greeted him with a warm smile.

"Hey! Sir, what would you like?"

"Do you have any alcohol? Sake will do."

"Of course we have sake! How much sake would you like, sir? If you're looking for sake, we have one-packs and three-packs."

One box = 180 ml

"A bottle of sake in one-pack will do."

"Okay! Please wait a moment!"

The shopkeeper nimbly slipped into the depths of the container.

At this moment, Qingdeng suddenly noticed three simply dressed middle-aged men sitting in a small open space not far from the grocery store.

Each of them held a bottle of sake, drinking heartily and chatting away. Even from a distance, their chatter could be clearly heard.

"Sir! Here you go! Your wine!"

The shopkeeper returned to Qingdeng with a bottle of sake in a single pack.

Qingdeng took the bottle, weighed it in his hand for a few moments, and seemed to be deep in thought.

"...Excuse me, could you please bring me three more bottles of sake in a single pack?"

"Three bottles? Great! No problem! Not only three bottles, but even if you want thirty bottles, I have the goods!"

……

After leaving the grocery store, Qingdeng did not immediately return the way he came. Instead, he took the wine he had just bought and strode toward the three old men not far away.

"Excuse me, do you have a moment now?"

The old men were all taken aback. Realizing that Qingdeng was speaking to them, they immediately turned around blankly and stared at Qingdeng with wary expressions.

"Don't be nervous. As you can see, I have no ill intentions. I just have a few questions I'd like to ask you, and it will only take up a little of your time."

After saying that, Qing Deng placed the three bottles of sake he had just bought from the general store in front of the three old men.

Upon seeing the drinks Qingdeng had laid out, the three old men all swallowed hard in unison.

"We have time! We have time! We may not have much else, but we have more than enough time!"

One of the older men grabbed the three bottles of sake that Qing Deng handed him and put them into his arms, as if afraid that Qing Deng would change his mind.

"Sir Samurai, what do you want to ask? Just ask! The three of us brothers will answer everything we know!"

"Alright, my question is simple. First of all, are you all residents of Haramachi?"

"Yes, yes! We all grew up here!"

"Alright, do you know Kikuchi Chisui?"

"Kikuchi Chisui? I know him! I know him! Of course I know him! That kid is a celebrity around here!"

"I've heard that Kikuchi Chisui's wife is a murderer. Is that true?"

"Ah, yes, that's right. I think it happened quite a while ago. Back then, the Kikuchi family's mess was a huge scandal!"

"Oh! Now that you mention it, I remember—that Kikuchi Chisui is a real scoundrel! He had an affair with his sister-in-law and drove his wife insane and made her kill people."

"Yeah, that's terrifying. Men really do need to control their lower bodies."

"He brutally murdered his own sister with his own hands, and then committed suicide... Kikuchi's wife was quite a fierce and ruthless woman..."

"What nonsense about being fierce! This just looks like she's out of her mind. Her husband has fallen for someone else, there are plenty of solutions. At worst, she can just get a divorce and never see him again. Why resort to murder? Killing that slut who stole her husband might feel good, but she'll end up dead herself. What's the point?"

"I remember Kikuchi's wife was named Aki, and his sister-in-law was named Aden? Right?"

"That seems to be its name."

"Hey, Kikuchi's wife and sister-in-law both deserved to die. One was an extreme and wicked woman, and the other was a slut who stole men."

"I heard that Kikuchi's sister-in-law is very beautiful."

"Hey, you know what, as far as I know, Kikuchi's sister-in-law is really beautiful. Not only is she outstanding in appearance, but her figure is also amazing. She's incredibly voluptuous here!"

"Is that so? Hey, if I had such a beautiful sister-in-law around all the time, I might fall for someone else too!"

"But in the end, Kikuchi Chisui's wife is too terrifying. She'll draw her sword and kill someone at the drop of a hat, and the victim was even her own sister... Tsk tsk tsk, marrying a woman like that is truly the worst luck imaginable!"

The older men chattered amongst themselves.

Their evaluations of Kikuchi Chisui, Aki, and others perfectly matched what the old man had said earlier—Kikuchi was denounced as a "scumbag," Aden as a "harlot," and Aki as a "wicked woman"...

Qingdeng listened silently.

"...Thank you for your cooperation. You can continue your conversation; I won't disturb you any longer."

Finally, he left behind a cold, bureaucratic remark, then slowly rose and departed…

……