I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"You...! My grandson, you've vomited blood!"

I saw drops of bright red blood dripping down between my grandson's fingers as he covered his mouth.

Just as Genjuro was about to call for help—

puff!

The dull thud of a sharp blade piercing flesh assaulted Genjuro's eardrums.

"Ugh...! Pewter...!"

Genjuro lowered his head, staring in disbelief at the blade that had pierced his heart from behind.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something.

But when he opened his teeth, which were stained red with blood, the intense pain and his gradually fading strength left him only able to utter meaningless groans.

A blood-stained blade piercing his chest, blood continuously flowing out, and the eerie smile on his grandson's face as he looked up—this was the last scene Genjuro saw before his death…

……

"Nishino-kun, well done!"

My grandson wiped the cow blood off his face and said to Nishino, who was wiping his knife, in a praising tone.

"How was my acting? Pretty good, right?"

The most important actions often require only the simplest strategies.

My grandson approaches Genjuro from the front to attract his attention, while Nishino takes the opportunity to approach Genjuro from behind. During this time, my grandson coughs violently to cover up Nishino's footsteps—this is the "anti-Genjuro plan" devised by my grandson.

Nishino ignored my grandson's boasting and said coldly:

"Time is of the essence, so let's not waste time."

"Okay, okay~~"

Nishino pulled open the paper sliding door to Rakshasa's bedroom.

Rakshasa's bedroom looked as if the word "serious" was pasted on it.

The room is approximately 30 square meters in size.

Whether it's the bookshelves or the desks, everything is neatly arranged.

The tatami mats were spotless, and a faint, fresh scent wafted in the air.

The room was so clean and beautiful that it was hard to imagine that it belonged to a murderous tyrant who treated human life like dirt.

"Nishino-kun, could you please keep watch for me? I'll try to hurry."

After saying that, my grandson rushed to the desk in the corner of the room, picked up an account book with no words written on the cover, and began to flip through it quickly.

Meanwhile, Nishino stood by the door frame, sword in hand, nervously peering out repeatedly, his ears perked up, not missing a single sound from his surroundings.

Ah... I've really gone mad... I actually joined forces with a traitorous official who was determined to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate... Nishino sighed sincerely in his heart.

At this thought, he subconsciously turned his head and, with mixed feelings, looked at a face that was intently scanning the book in its hands.

This is a critical moment where every second counts... People could come at any time.

Nishino didn't want to rush my grandson, fearing it would affect his search efforts.

However, the current tense atmosphere caused his heart rate to gradually climb to an unprecedented peak.

Under the influence of his alarmingly high heart rate, the thought of urging my grandson to speak up kept flashing through Nishino's mind, but he suppressed it again and again.

How much time has passed?

5 minutes? 10 minutes?

Excessive stress has caused Nishino to lose his sense of time.

At this critical moment, Nishino suddenly heard footsteps approaching from outside, growing clearer as they drew nearer...

……

……

In the past few days, I've been helping my dad run his shop while also writing.

Every chapter since the day before yesterday was written little by little by the author in between running the shop.

Please, considering how hard Leopard has worked, be sure to vote for this book with your monthly ticket! (Leopard is crying.jp)

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Crying leopard head.jp)

Chapter 446 Qingdeng: Declaring War on the Qingshui Clan! (Part 1) [5100]

The sudden sound of footsteps, my grandson still flipping through his book... each of these things made goosebumps rise under Nishino's clothes.

"My grandson...!"

Nishino turned his head, lowered his voice, and said quickly:

"Someone's coming...!"

Compared to the anxious and constrained Nishino, my grandson's expression remained calm.

"Yes, I heard you."

After saying that, my grandson moved a small stool over from the side, stepped onto the stool, and calmly began rummaging through the Rakshasa's bookshelf.

Upon seeing this, Nishino felt both admiration and annoyance.

When a huge crisis struck, he remained calm and composed—Nishino admired his grandson's composure, which seemed to disregard life and death.

Seeing my grandson's calm demeanor, Nishino's tension unconsciously eased considerably.

At the same time, he felt deeply frustrated—so much time had passed, and he still hadn't found what he wanted?

From the moment my grandson opened the prison door for him and he walked out of the cell, his life and fortune were entirely in my grandson's hands.

There's no turning back now that the arrow has been released; feeling regret and remorse is useless.

Nishino shook his head a few times to clear his mind of negative emotions.

Since I've already decided to "go along with" my grandson, I have no choice but to take a gamble!

With this thought in mind, he gritted his teeth, turned around, fixed his gaze on the door, raised the knife in his hand, and assumed a fighting stance.

He made a silent vow: no matter who it is, whether it's an ordinary servant or a demon himself, he will not let them disturb my grandson!

Every minute and every second right now feels like an hour or a day to Nishino.

The approaching footsteps sounded to Nishino like thunder shaking the mountains.

To Nishino, the deserted corner of the corridor looked as if a hideous monster might leap out at any moment.

Just as this opportunity arose, my grandson found an envelope among the stacks of books.

Letters—for intelligence agents, these are targets that absolutely cannot be overlooked.

So my grandson didn’t hesitate to pull out the letter from the envelope and quickly read it at a glance.

"What is this...?"

The moment my grandson finished reading the letter, his pupils suddenly contracted.

……

……

"Ugh, I'm exhausted. I really want to go to Yoshiwara and relax properly."

"Go to Yoshiwara? Wouldn't that be even more tiring?"

"What do you know? Is the 'tiring' of working and the 'tiring' of playing with women the same thing?"

"That's true."

Two servants, each holding a rag, walked side by side, chatting idly.

At that moment, one of them suddenly sniffed.

"Hmm? Do you smell anything strange?"

"Hmm? Wait, there really is a strange smell, it smells like... burnt smell?"

Instantly, the expressions of the two servants changed drastically as they realized what was happening.

The next moment, they took off running in a frenzy, heading in the direction from which the smell of burning was coming.

They walked through the corridor, around the corner, and up the stairs... Before long, they gradually heard a noisy commotion.

Finally, panting, they arrived at the source of the burning smell—Rakshasa's bedroom.

"Ah! Fire! Fire!"

"Quick! Call for help!"

"Where's the water? Get some water quickly! We can't let the fire spread any further!"

The blood-splattered corridor, Genjuro's corpse lying on the ground, the room billowing out acrid black smoke, the crowd rushing to extinguish the flames... these visually striking scenes vividly entered the eyes of the two servants.

They were caught off guard by this unexpected turn of events and were stunned.

At that moment, a sudden shout pulled them back to reality.

"Hey! You two! Yes, I mean you two! What are you standing there for?! Hurry up and get some water!"

"Yes, yes!" *2

……

……

At this very moment—

Nishino and my grandson, lurking in a dark alley, looked up at the houses not far away, illuminated by the firelight.

"Phew~ That was a close call... I almost didn't make it out!"

My grandson muttered to himself while wearing a knowing look on his face.

Nishino leaned against the wall beside him, greedily inhaling the surrounding air.