The Ancestral Legacy Begins in the Wild West

Chapter 99 The Destined Place Ikedaya

On the same day, at another Mibu camp in Kyoto, the Shinsengumi's headquarters, a strange atmosphere pervaded the place.

Most of the people were injured and extremely angry because of what had happened a few days ago, but at the same time, their morale was exceptionally low.

The news of the complete revocation of the ruling has spread to every corner of the world. Some remained silent, some gritted their teeth, and some gripped knives with bulging veins.

"No matter what, the shogunate's orders are orders. Our Shinsengumi are here to work for the shogunate."

Cannot be disobeyed —

"Bullshit! We work for the people of Kyoto. We exist precisely because the shogunate can't protect the people of Kyoto!"

"But loyalty is a samurai's duty!"

"Duty? We risked our lives to defend Kyoto, and they think they can just dismiss us with a single sentence?! On what grounds?"

""

"Mr. Yamanami hasn't woken up yet! Captain Okita hasn't recovered either, nor have Captain Saito and Captain Harada. And then there are the ordinary soldiers; that one night alone, a full twelve died!"

"Moreover, those new recruits on the shogunate's side, they even kill civilians. Mr. Yamanami was hacked to pieces by them. How can we hand over Kyoto to them!"

"Where did those monsters come from?"

"No matter what, they are the ones the shogunate intends to use to replace us."

There was a moment of silence after those words were spoken.

Then someone whispered, "So what are we then?"

That night, on the festival street, I vividly remember what those two men in ancient armor said to Saito Hajime and some of his men.

The new power of the shogunate, a sword sharper than the Shinsengumi.

With swords and spears, they slaughtered the ronin, leaving rivers of blood, and then, these same people would easily replace them.

That's enough.

The door was pushed open.

Kondo Isami strode in, his haori billowing like a cloak. Hijikata Toshizo followed behind him, shaking off some unknown substance that had gotten on his hands.

All eyes in the room immediately fell on them.

Kondo glanced around, his gaze calm, yet it only heightened the tension in the room.

These people still revered their bureau chief, but they didn't know if this would be the last time they saw him.

"Is everything here?" he asked, his voice not loud, but it silenced everyone.

No one spoke until Kondo took a few steps forward and stopped.

"You've all heard about the revocation of the order," he said. "That's exactly what the shogunate said; there's no mistake about it."

Some people lowered their heads, while others gripped their knife handles tightly.

Kondo then changed the subject: "But—the Shinsengumi wasn't originally formed by the shogunate."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present: "We were founded by ronin who picked up swords. We grew from a dozen people to where we are today, and we earned our current reputation by the people we have cut down."

"The shogunate can certainly restrict our activities and force us to disband, but before that, put away all your hesitation, sorrow, and indecisiveness! Even if the Shinsengumi really has to disband, it must first complete one last task."

He took a step back, while Hijikata Toshizo took half a step forward.

Everyone could see the color on his hand clearly; it was scarlet, and the earliest part of it had dried to a dark red.

His face was as cold as a knife, and when he spoke, his voice was completely flat: "Kurutaka Shuntaro has given instructions on their next move."

Everyone immediately recalled one of the origins of his title "Demon Vice-Commander": because with people like Commander-in-Chief Yamanami and Second Division Captain Nagakura Shinpachi, Hijikata generally didn't need to participate in decision-making.

However, aside from that, he was always in charge of matters such as the team's laws and regulations, as well as matters of torture and punishment.

He decisively explained the details: "The people from the Satsuma and Choshu domains planned to set fire to Kyoto. Taking advantage of the strong winds before the Gion Festival, they surrounded the area near the Imperial Palace and assassinated members of the Imperial Family and high-ranking officials of the Shogunate."

Then, taking advantage of the chaos, they kidnapped the Emperor, dealt with Prince Nakagawa and Lord Matsudaira Katamori, and restored power to the Emperor.

Upon hearing this, everyone present was shocked. They knew that many of the ronin in this group who were dedicated to overthrowing the shogunate were madmen, and their methods were becoming increasingly radical. But they still couldn't believe that these people would go this far.

Hijikata continued, "Their further discussions will take place today. The location is..."

He looked at everyone and slowly uttered the name: "Ikedaya".

Night falls on Kyoto.

Three small bridges, Ikedaya.

To be honest, this was an ordinary inn in Kyoto, a two-story wooden building with dim lanterns hanging at the entrance. It seemed that only some ordinary travelers and merchants of modest means would stay here.

But tonight is different.

From around dusk, one figure after another silently disappeared into that doorway.

----------------------

Yoshida Toshimaro, a samurai of the Choshu Domain, was twenty-eight years old, with eyes as sharp as an eagle's. He paused at the doorway, glanced at both sides of the street, and then strode into the house.

Miyabe Teizō was already inside. Upon seeing Yoshida, he immediately nodded to him. He was a samurai from the Higo Domain and a key organizer of this meeting.

There are also Kitazojima, Ishikawa Junjiro, the Tosa feudal lord, Mochizuki Kameyata, Otaka Matajiro————

In total, there were nearly a dozen people, almost covering the vast majority of the prominent figures among the anti-shogunate ronin in Kyoto.

They sat there in the dimly lit upstairs room, at a low table with food on it, but that didn't matter.

Their eyes were almost entirely fixed on a huge map among them, which was densely marked with key points of Kyoto, including the Imperial Palace, the Shogunate residence, warehouses, and post stations.

"The night will be darker when the crescent moon is waning—" someone whispered.

No one responded; they remained silent, observing the map, but soon their gazes all turned to the same person.

At the head of the table sat Katsura Kogoro, dressed in a dark kimono, with a straw hat used to conceal his face beside him. His thin, alert face was fixed on the map, and he calmly spoke under the watchful eyes of everyone.

"Gentlemen, let us together knock on the door of a new era."

The room remained silent, but the atmosphere was vastly different. Outside the window, however, the night deepened, and the silence was unusually profound. From the distant street, only the occasional bark of a dog could be heard.

No one noticed that just a few streets away, countless people wearing light blue haori were surging towards this place.

They were all clad in heavy chainmail, yet their steps were more compact than ever before.

One knife after another was poised to strike.

Kondo Isami, wielding the famous sword Kotetsu, stood at the very front of the group.

Saito Hajime, Hijikata Toshizo, Nagakura Shinpachi, Sixth Division Captain Todo Heisuke, Harada Sanosuke, and even Okita Souji, whose body had not fully recovered, were all in the crowd, their gazes exceptionally firm.