Nobody knows how to be a villain better than me.

"Sure, when?"

The ancient snake closed the newspaper, smiled, and nodded.

Information about the Seven Riders is very scarce right now. When we go to the Shogunate, we will inevitably run into them. It's always good to spend some money and make some preparations.

After all, problems that money can solve aren't really problems.

And he just happened to be someone who wasn't short of money.

Seeing how readily the other party agreed, Sei Shonagon couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

It seems the estimate was too low...

However, it seems that professional ethics prevailed, and the shop owner ultimately did not resort to any last-minute price increases. Instead, he decisively closed his computer, shut the shop door, and walked out from behind the counter.

"Come with me."

Samael nodded slightly and started to follow.

Passing through the bookshelves on both sides, the two arrived together at the connected backyard.

Compared to the front hall, this place is extremely spacious, with pavilions and rockeries scattered among the lush greenery, and a mountain spring flowing down through bamboo tubes, exuding a strong sense of traditional Japanese charm.

The scenery along the way is not just barren.

A figure wearing a red military cap and a red cloak is squatting by the lake fishing, perhaps cursing at the overly cunning fish.

A swordsman with short pink hair, wearing a light blue haori, is sitting under a cherry blossom tree, sipping a cup of sake, looking quite poetic.

A young female painter with her hair in a bun is setting up her easel and is intently creating a ukiyo-e print.

……

"Let's go, the house in front is it."

Sei Shonagon walked through the corridor, pointed ahead, and gestured for the guests to follow.

However, Samael stopped in his tracks on the corridor, glancing to both sides, his eyes narrowing and his smile fading.

"Boss, isn't this a bit unethical of you to do business like this?"

Before anyone knew it, the fishermen in military caps, the swordsmen in haoris, and the young female painters along the way had all stopped what they were doing and focused their attention on him.

Sei Shonagon turned around, spread her hands, and revealed a bright and innocent smile.

"I have no choice. Selling a criminal like you to the Shogunate for 1000 million yen, or selling the Shogunate's information to you for 100 million yen, carries the risk of being shut down and investigated. What do you think I should choose?"

Immediately, the cunning writer, dressed as a delinquent girl, turned to look at the cherry blossom tree and spoke with a smile.

"Miss Okita, someone wants to inquire about the Shogunate and your Seven Riders. I've brought it to you. Remember to apply for the 1000 million yen tip-off fee for me. If you need any help, the fee will be calculated separately."

Looking at the pale blue-haired female swordswoman who stood up and drew her sword, Samael couldn't help but raise his hand to his forehead.

He finally understood why the Shunsho Bookstore, which engaged in the shady business of buying and selling intelligence, could openly operate near the Shogunate's gun tower.

It turns out they were in cahoots.

Chapter 47 Goo, kill me! (7.5k!)

"If I said this was an accident, would you believe me?"

In the courtyard, Samael forced a smile, raised his hands to show his harmlessness, coughed dryly, and tried to explain himself, attempting to salvage the situation as a last resort.

"How about we just pretend we never met?"

However, all that responded to him was the sharp edge that the girl in the light blue haori was gradually revealing, and the cold, solemn murmur that came from her cherry lips.

"I apologize, but I am on official business. Following the general's orders, all lawbreakers must be bound, and anyone who dares to resist will be executed!"

His pale hands gripped the hilt of the knife, the blade pointing forward. His seemingly frail and sickly body exuded a pure killing intent.

Feeling the sharp, overwhelming aura emanating from her, Samael had no doubt that the female swordsman with the cute face would attack immediately.

One of the Seven Riders of the Shogunate – Assassin Okita Souji.

The captain of the first division of the Shinsengumi, a security organization that operates in Kyoto during the late Edo period, and the strongest genius swordsman in the group.

At the age of nine, he became a disciple of Kondo Shusuke, a swordsman of the Tennen Rishin-ryu school in Edo, and became classmates with his future comrades-in-arms, Kondo Isami and Hijikata Toshizo. At the age of nineteen, he obtained the Menkō Kaiden (a type of swordsmanship).

After completing his training, he went to Kyoto in 1863 as a member of the Roshigumi and became a core member of the Shinsengumi, serving as the captain of the first division and assistant to the vice-captain.

Since the Shinsengumi's garrison was located in Mibu Village, most of the members were swordsmen who came to Edo from the countryside to learn swordsmanship. They were looked down upon by the people of Kyoto because they did not know etiquette and were ridiculed as "Mibu wolves." However, they later became the shogunate's trump card henchmen, feared by the anti-foreign faction led by Prince Sumeru.

During that period of change, Okita Souji slew wave after wave of assassins from the pro-imperial and anti-foreign faction. She was a true assassin, killing was both her profession and her talent.

Once they get to work, these hired ronin samurai are very professional.

It seems unlikely that a peaceful escape is possible.

Samael reluctantly lowered his hands, glared fiercely at the unscrupulous merchant who had sold him out, and felt depressed.

In contrast, this guy is much less classy; he doesn't treat his customers like customers at all.

But faced with the customer's silent accusations, Sei Shonagon stood with her arms crossed, waving at him with a smile, looking like she was watching a show, completely shameless.

opportunity!

At the same time, the advancing Shogunate hounds concentrated their momentum to the extreme through their footwork and breathing, seized the opportunity when their opponents turned their heads and revealed an opening, their sharp eyes flashed, and they charged forward with a thud.

However, at the very moment Okita Souji attacked, Samael suddenly turned around, a mocking smile playing on his lips, and with lightning speed, leaned forward, closing the distance between them even further.

In a battle between masters, a slight mistake can lead to a huge error.

Samael reversed the situation with a simple change of position, not only avoiding the blade's edge but also taking the opportunity to block the longsword's point of force, delivering a straight punch to his opponent's soft abdomen.

Oh no, a trap!

Realizing this as well, Okita Souji's pupils contracted sharply, his breathing became erratic, and he quickly stepped back and drew his sword.

"when!"

The fist struck the back of the blade, producing a piercing metallic clang.

Okita Souji felt a force like a landslide and a tsunami strike him from the blade, penetrating his limbs, bones, and internal organs. His body was dragged backward uncontrollably for dozens of meters before he finally stopped.

At the same time, her feet dug two deep furrows in the ground, her clogs broke and shattered, revealing her snow-white feet clad in black stockings.

“Woohoo…!”

The shock and surging of blood and qi in her lungs caused the young swordswoman who had crashed into the wooden bridge railing to stumble, lean on her sword, and vomit a mouthful of blood.

"Ms. Okita!"

Upon seeing this, Sei Shonagon, who had been watching the scene with her arms crossed, suddenly changed her expression.

The fisherman by the lake and the young female painter on the side couldn't help but turn their heads, their faces showing astonishment.

"It's nothing, just a relapse of an old illness."

With an unusually pale face, Okita Souji straightened up, leaning on his sword. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, smiled slightly, and spoke in a relaxed tone.

Historically, this genius swordsman of the Shinsengumi died of illness at the young age of 25, so even as a Heroic Spirit, his physical constitution still had considerable flaws.

The three people outside seemed to be convinced by this and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

However, whether it was a relapse of an old injury or not, only the two people who fought on the spot probably know for sure.

This guy is amazing!

He's stronger than any opponent I've ever faced...

Okita Souji's expression was solemn, his gaze filled with deep apprehension as he looked ahead, as if facing a formidable enemy. He slowly raised his beloved sword, which he knew so well, with both hands gripping the hilt.

Kikuichimonji Norimune was a Japanese sword forged by Ichimonji Norimune, a swordsmith of the Ichimonji school in Bizen Province, commissioned by Emperor Go-Toba during the Kamakura period.

It is a tachi, with the 16-petal chrysanthemum crest representing the royal family engraved near the hilt. The blade is 78.48 cm long, with an extremely long edge and a thin, slender blade, giving it an extremely powerful thrusting ability.

The moment his breathing stabilized, Okita Souji opened his eyes wide, adopted a level-eyed stance, frantically poured his magical power into his beloved sword, took a deep breath, and then leaped forward.

One step... two steps... three steps!

The distance of nearly 100 meters was swiftly closed by the genius swordswoman.

Due to its excessive speed, the body draped in a light blue haori even left a series of afterimages, creating muffled sonic booms in the air.

One step beyond sound, two steps without pause, three steps with a deadly strike! —The Three-Stage Strike of Ignorance!

The blade, wrapped in layers of ether, tore through the air and thrust forward.

Still not giving up?

Seeing that the swordswoman knew the difference in strength but still relentlessly pounced on him, Samael shook his head helplessly, drew an arc with his feet and stepped forward, forming a protective triangle of runes from Northern Europe on the ground.

Okita Souji's eyes lit up immediately, and the trepidation in his heart was replaced by a burst of excitement.

The "Three-Stage Strike of Ignorance" is her signature move, and the reason why she still has the confidence to reverse the situation even when she knows that the strength difference is huge.

As a result of being elevated to Heroic Spirit status, things that were impossible in life become possible.

Her three-stage burst is enhanced, and at the moment of explosion, the first, second, and third bursts "will exist simultaneously" in "the same position".

In other words, even if you manage to defend against the first thrust, you can still be pierced by the second and third thrusts, which are in the same position. This contradiction causes the sword tip to become saturated with chivalrous phenomena.

Therefore, the Triple Thrust was effectively an undefendable sword technique.

As an application, the saturation of phenomena resulting from the outcome is also adept at destroying things.

If the other party chooses to back down, one may find it difficult to escape defeat.

But that person was so confident that when they faced each other head-on, he nonchalantly erected a magic barrier.

It is fate; the outcome is already decided!

Okita Souji was thrilled and channeled all the remaining three-tenths of his power, which he had reserved for future changes, into the blade.

"Stab!"

Amidst a piercing screech, like fingernails scraping glass, the magical barrier blocking the way shattered in an instant.

But before Okita Souji could even rejoice, the protective triangle beneath the man's feet suddenly rotated on its own, and the other side lit up, instantly creating another magical barrier.

Double protection? Let's try again!

With the arrow already on the bowstring, Okita Souji hardened his heart and thrust forward a second time.

hum!

However, just as she barely broke through the second barrier, the final side of the protective triangle turned towards her, negating the third attack.

The opponent's defense was as if it were prophetic, perfectly anticipating all of her offensive tactics.

Magic tricks, can they be this precise?

how come!

The techniques have become outdated, and the strength has been exhausted.

With no other options, Okita Souji stared blankly, his face filled with disbelief.

Snapped!

At the same time, a crisp snap of fingers echoed in the young swordswoman's ears, and a beam of light formed from condensed magic burst forth from the protective triangle beneath Samael's feet, instantly binding Okita Souji, who was still in a forward-leaning posture, tightly.

Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the wriggling, transparent tendrils tightly bound together, tearing Okita Souji apart in mid-air in the shape of the character "大" (big).

The contours of the young swordswoman's body were accentuated by the tightness of the fabric, and an unnatural blush rose to her pale face.

"It looks like I've won, Ms. Okita."

Samael clapped his hands, his smile warm.

"However, I have no intention of being an enemy of the Shogunate. How about we make a deal? I'll put you down, and you..."

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Before he could finish speaking, hundreds of matchlock guns suspended in mid-air fired in unison, whistling iron pellets severing the light strands binding Okita Souji and unleashing a fierce barrage of fire on the culprit at the scene.

The billowing smoke instantly obliterated that extremely imposing figure.

At the same time, a red figure swiftly entered the flames and swept past, catching the falling Okita Souji.

That was a fisherman by the lake.

But despite offering help at a crucial moment, the black-haired, red-eyed tablet made sarcastic and cynical remarks.

"Hahahaha!! Good, very good! You, a butcher who only knows how to chop people, have finally been tied up. I can't help but want to whip you a few times. Tsk tsk, how pathetic."