The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 603 The Goldsmith
On the 21st day of the fifth month of the 26th year of the Jiajing reign.

The rising sun slanted down the street, illuminating a signboard standing on the side of the street that read "Goldsmith Shop" in neat handwriting, but the door below the signboard was tightly closed.

Some bloodstains could still be seen on the ground outside the door.

The loud noise and flames at the Imperial Palace last night were clearly visible to everyone in Kyoto.

Although no one knows what happened, everyone at the bottom of society knows very well that nothing is the best thing.

For dust particles, whether it's a spring breeze or a cold wind, whether it's malicious or not, it's enough to sweep them into the mud.

So the streets, which should have been bustling with activity by this time, were deserted. Every household had closed their doors and windows, waiting for the situation to become clearer before going out to work.

However, for some people, trouble cannot be kept out by simply closing the doors and windows—especially for a workshop that deals in goldware.

Inside the shop, which bears the sign "Gold Forging Shop," the owner and master craftsman, Takeshi Yoshida, trembles and gasps for breath as he holds a blood-dripping forging hammer and stares at the corpse on the ground.

The corpse was shirtless, revealing faded tattoos covering its upper body. It was clutching a short knife in its hand, and a section of its forehead was sunken. Blood was seeping out through the crack in the door.

"It's over..."

Yoshida Takeshi's hand trembled, and the hammer fell to the ground.

He killed someone.

Killed a "Yakuza".

That is, the Japanese underworld.

Last night, upon seeing the great fire engulfing the Imperial Palace from afar, Yoshida Takeshi knew something was wrong. Chaos, for a gold shop, meant certain annihilation without a second thought.

He hurriedly tried to lock the doors and windows, but just before he locked the last window, the "Yakuza" grinned and climbed in.

Interrogation, threats, and scrambling.

Panic, anger, murder.

Whatever happened in between, things have already spiraled into an abyss of no return.

The Yakuza were an organized group.

Other "Yakuza" will likely arrive soon and discover the body. Whether he surrenders the gold or not, he'll be dead.

"...Go, yes, go!"

Yoshida Takeshi suddenly came to his senses, hurriedly ran to the living room, pulled out his savings from under the bed, grabbed some clothes and food, and turned to open the door to escape.

But that's it.

Knock, knock.

A knock sounded on the door of the quiet shop.

Wow.

Yoshida Takeshi shuddered, and the package in his hand fell to the ground, the gold and silver inside clattering loudly.

"It's over..."

Yoshida Takeshi heard laughter coming from outside the door. Through the paper window, he could see a figure outside pointing into the room, clearly having heard his voice. It was no longer possible to pretend that no one was in the shop.

There were still corpses lying on the ground.

There wasn't even time to clean the bloodstains.

He locked all four doors and windows last night, and now he has trapped himself inside.

knock knock knock.

The knock on the door sounded again.

"Open the door."

An impatient voice came from outside the door, a rather magnetic male voice, though the tone was a bit stiff, unlike the deliberately fierce tone of the "Yakuza".

Yoshida Takeshi's hope has been raised.

Perhaps the person outside wasn't another "Yakuza," or perhaps just a guest in a hurry... He would probably be scared away upon seeing the corpse, and he could simply run away.

With this thought in mind, he opened the door with trembling hands.

"...Closed today..."

He looked towards the door.

There were three people outside the door: two men and one woman.

The leader was an exceptionally tall man, pale-faced and dressed in all black, chatting and laughing with a beautiful woman. Another young man, seemingly preoccupied, stood silently behind him. Seeing him open the door, the beautiful woman turned and spoke.

"Why so slow?"

After saying that, he was about to walk inside.

Seeing that he couldn't trick the three away, Yoshida made a snap decision, turned around, revealing the corpse on the ground behind him, thinking that they would leave once they saw the body.

But the three of them didn't react at all.

The man glanced at the corpse, smiled almost imperceptibly, then stepped over it as if it were a dead dog, and went inside to sit down at the table.

The other two followed in. The young man wiped the table and poured tea, while the woman casually tossed a cloth bag onto the table.

clang.

The cloth bag was extremely heavy, and it made a dull thud when it hit the table.

Yoshida Takeshi, who had been a goldsmith for decades, immediately understood that the bag contained a solid gold ingot, probably weighing about a pound.

"I've heard you're the best goldsmith in Kyoto?"

The woman clapped her hands.

"Make a sign, and the rest of the materials will be your payment."

The boy who was with him walked up to the dazed Yoshida Takeshi and handed him a sketch.

Yoshida Takeshi instinctively took the blueprints, then immediately realized what was going on!
There are still corpses on the ground!
Why do these three people seem not to have seen anything?
Do I even look like I have the energy to work?

"Guests... We are closed today."

Although Yoshida Takeshi wanted to get angry, he saw that the three men were all dressed in extraordinary clothes, had an air of refinement, and looked like they were not good people. The young man even had a knife at his waist, so he didn't want to offend them.

He spoke in a gentle tone, while shifting his position again to reveal the corpse on the ground, pointing at it.

"Oh...I see it."

The woman glanced at it.

"In short, can the goldware I need be made within an hour?"

No.

Can't you understand human speech?
Yoshida Takeshi was both anxious and angry, and was already unable to contain himself. He didn't want to argue anymore, so he bent down to pick up the package and turned to run out the door.

But just as they reached the door, they heard a commotion outside.

"Is this the Yoshida residence?"

"That's right, this is it! He's the best goldsmith in Kyoto, and his shop has a lot of gold and silver... Now that the streets are deserted, it's the perfect time!"

"Oh."

The footsteps were hurried and chaotic, and in a moment they reached the door.

Dengdengdengdeng-

Yoshida Takeshi's face turned ashen. He staggered back several steps, then unexpectedly stepped on the "Yakuza's" corpse and collapsed to the ground with a thud.

Finished!

This is really the end!

Judging from the voices outside the door, especially the annoying clicking of the tongue, you could tell that it was a group of "Yakuza" who had come!
There were at least a dozen people!

He jolted awake, scrambling to his feet and lunging to close the door, but just as he reached it, a large, tattooed hand reached in from outside and pressed against his face.

"Damn it! Can't you see?!"

That hand pushed suddenly.

With a thud, Yoshida Takeshi was pushed to the ground. Before he could get up, more than a dozen "Yakuza" rushed in from outside, almost filling the space inside the store.

They saw the body immediately and recognized it from the tattoos.

"Asshole! What did you do!"

"You bastard!"

The Yakuza swarmed around, shouting.

(End of this chapter)