I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Walking at night in this era is very dangerous.

One reason is the lack of lighting facilities such as electric lights.

Secondly, the security situation at that time made it unsuitable to travel at night.

Not to mention those remote areas, even around Edo, thieves and bandits often roam.

"There's no other way... This is a crucial time for Kondo-san. If he leaves Shieikan for too long, people will gossip about him."

"A critical period?" Qing Deng countered. "What do you mean?"

“Master is getting old…” Okita, with a hint of disappointment between his brows, raised his hand and played with the thin ponytail at the back of his head. “Whether it’s teaching the Natural Rishin-ryu school or managing the daily operations of the Shieikan, Master is finding it increasingly difficult to keep up.”

"Therefore, Master is already preparing to pass this Shieikan to Kondo in the coming years, and let Kondo succeed as the fourth head of the Tennen Rishin-ryu main family."

"Therefore, in this moment when I am about to become the new master of the Shiwei Hall, if I leave the Shiwei Hall for too long without a reason, it will be easy for some people to gossip and spread rumors."

"Being the young master of the sword hall isn't easy either..." Qing Deng sighed.

“Yes.” Okita nodded slightly as if he felt the same way. “So in order to make things easier for Kondo-nii, I also need to work harder on my arithmetic studies.”

"Arithmetic?" Qing Deng was taken aback. "Okita-kun, why are you learning arithmetic?"

“If you want to run a sword-making school, you can’t do it without knowing how to keep accounts.” Okita put his hands on his hips, puffed out his flat chest, and looked very confident. “Kondo-nii’s math skills have never been very good.”

"Therefore, in order to be able to help Kondo-nii in the management of Shieikan in the future, I am now working hard to learn arithmetic!"

"Oh...!" A look of admiration flashed in Qing Deng's eyes. "You and Kondo-nii have a really good relationship."

“After all, Kondo-nii is like an older brother to me.” Okita smiled shyly, then his smile slowly turned into melancholy. “However… though my words sound nice, my actions haven’t been so…”

"I've always had a lot of trouble learning arithmetic..."

Okita shrank his neck and shoulders inward with a wronged expression, making his body look much smaller.

"The last time I asked Mr. Hijikata to teach me arithmetic, after teaching me for a while, he just scolded me: 'Idiot! Why can't you even do this? Did you eat so much konpeito that your head turned into konpeito...'"

Hijikata?

After a moment of thought, Qing Deng remembered who Hijikata was—Hijikata Toshizo, one of the "Five Great Vajras" of Shieikan, who was very close to Kondo and Okita. Kondo rushed back to Tama yesterday to visit him who was injured.

"That's too much." Qing Deng frowned slightly. "It's normal for beginners to make mistakes during the learning process. How can you scold someone so harshly?"

“Exactly!” Okita puffed out his chest and chimed in with a pout, “I just miscalculated 9 plus 23 as 107, why are you scolding me like that?”

……

quiet……

……

The atmosphere between Aoto and Okita suddenly became unusually quiet...

My mind went completely blank.

It was like someone took an iron rod and gave him a hard beating on the back of the head.

It wasn't until an unknown amount of time had passed that Qingdeng finally felt his consciousness return to his body.

"...You calculated 107 as 9 plus 23...?"

"Hmm... I'm not very good at calculating equations where the sum of numbers exceeds ten fingers..." Okita chuckled, toying with the ponytail at the back of his head. "I easily make mistakes with any equation that I can't count on my fingers..."

"But I can calculate any equation that I can count on my fingers very accurately!"

As if trying to prove that his arithmetic wasn't too bad, Okita hurriedly continued.

"For example, equations like 4 plus 2."

Okita raised four fingers on his right hand and two fingers on his left hand.

"I can solve these kinds of equations perfectly every time!"

"4 plus 2 equals 6!"

After saying that, Okita, as if wanting to take credit for Aoto's achievement, pushed his six raised fingers towards Aoto's face.

With a blank expression... or rather, unsure of what expression to make, Aoto raised his gaze and glanced at Okita, who had a smile on his face, as if to say that his arithmetic skills weren't too bad...

This child has an exceptional talent for swordsmanship... but seems a bit dim-witted in other areas!

Qing Deng didn't know what expression to make or what to say to Okita, who was looking smug...

Just as Qingdeng was struggling with this dilemma—

"Hey! Shichiro! I've been waiting for you for ages! Why are you only arriving now?"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from the table next to Qing Deng and Chong Tian—three middle-aged men dressed as carpenters sitting around the table waved vigorously at a middle-aged man with a thick beard who had just entered the teahouse.

"Oh dear, sorry to keep you waiting! I was just watching the fun!" The middle-aged man with a thick beard said in a loud voice, and plopped down next to his three friends.

"Lively? What's so lively?" one of the bearded friends asked rhetorically.

Bearded Man: "Someone was murdered in the neighboring town of Mokuyanagi! I heard it was a horrific death! I wanted to go to the place where the body was found to see what was going on, but when I got there, the scene had already been sealed off by the local garrison, so I couldn't see anything!"

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[Japanese History Mini-Lesson Begins!]

During the Edo period, there were three types of men collectively known as the "Three Men of Edo" who were most favored by women in Edo.

These three types of people are: those who perform duties in the military, sumo wrestlers, and fire brigade captains.

There was a saying at the time: "Strength brings wealth, sumo wrestlers are powerful, and fire-wielding warriors have guts."

Working in the magistrate's office was incredibly comfortable; more than half the year was spent on paid leave, with both money and leisure. Officials like Qing Deng, who worked in the magistrate's office, were highly sought after in the marriage market at that time, and had no trouble finding a partner.

Many readers may wonder: How much do the members of Pig Valley and Ox Mountain actually earn? Why do they seem so wealthy, able to hire so many laborers to work for them using only their own money?

In reality—they are indeed very rich.

The income system for officials in the magistrate's office is very special and quite different from that of ordinary officials.

They also receive a salary.

But they don't live off their salaries at all; that little bit of salary is something they can disregard.

So what exactly is their income system like?

The rest of the story will be revealed to everyone.

Chapter 27 A Troublesome Case

The bearded man's words surprised both Aoto and Okita.

Mokuyanagi-cho—this town not far from here is also one of the districts under the jurisdiction of Aoto.

It also happened to be the next town that Qing Deng planned to visit after lunch.

A murder has occurred within your jurisdiction? This is not something you can simply ignore.

He couldn't bother with Okita anymore.

Qing Deng paused for only a moment before his gaze sharpened, and he quickly stood up and strode toward the burly man with the thick beard.

"Greetings. I am Doshin from Kitaban-sho-cho." After lifting his wine-red haori to reveal the jitte and ingo at his right hip, Aoto went straight to the point, "What happened with the dead people in Koyanagi-cho that you mentioned earlier?"

The sudden appearance of Qing Deng beside them startled the bearded man and the others.

Looking at the jitte around Qing Deng's waist and the inro that only officials of the outpost could wear, the bearded man swallowed hard.

"I don't know the specifics... I only heard that an old lady in Koyanagi-cho was murdered in her own home. When I ran over to join the fun, the scene had already been sealed off by the local garrison, and I couldn't see anything."

Seeing that the bearded man didn't know much, Qing Deng frowned slightly, said "I understand, thank you for your help," and then returned to Okita's side.

“Okita-kun, something seems to have happened in the neighboring town of Mokuyanagi. I have to go now.” Aoto took out some tea money and placed it on the table.

“Tachibana-kun…” Okita seemed to want to say something to Aoto.

But before he could even say "Tachibana-kun," Aoto had already hurriedly left the teahouse...

……

……

Aoto originally intended to go to the head of the household in Muyanagi-cho first to ask the head of the household and others in charge of managing the town about "what exactly happened" and "where the crime scene was."

But upon arriving in the town, Aoto discovered that it seemed there was no need for it at all.

Upon entering Mokuyanagi-cho, Aoto immediately saw countless people in small groups, with all sorts of expressions on their faces, converging in a certain direction.

In the dim light, Qingdeng overheard these people, who all seemed to be heading to some place, whispering:

"Hey... I heard that Granny Ping was killed, is that true?"

"It seems to be true..."

"Let's go! Let's see what's going on!"

With a slightly somber expression, Qingdeng followed the crowd, passing through three main streets and two side streets, turning one street corner after another, and finally stopping in front of an ordinary house that was surrounded by a large crowd.

Looking at the thick crowd tightly surrounding the ordinary house, Qingdeng couldn't help but let out a low gasp.

—Why are there so many people…

Qingdeng roughly counted that the crowd gathered in front of this ordinary house numbered at least over a hundred.

Among these people, some stood on tiptoe, craning their necks, constantly casting curious glances at the house.

A considerable number of people looked grief-stricken; some were in great pain and silently wept, while others even prostrated themselves on the ground, wailing and lamenting.

A human wall stood between the crowd and the house—the officials of the town's own district responsible for managing the town.

They held their walking sticks horizontally in front of them, connecting them one after another to form an invisible wall, enclosing the crowded people outside and preventing anyone from getting close to the house.

"Make way!" Qing Deng shouted at the crowd blocking his way, "I'm from Hokuban-sho-cho! Please make way!"

"Ah! It's Tongxin!"

"It's the Doshin from Sadamachi!"