My personal opinion on Gensokyo

Starting from the early morning, heavy rain began to fall in the dry Edo, which had not rained for a long time. With the gloomy weather, the mood of everyone in the Yorozuya became increasingly gloomy.

"Ah, what a nasty rain..."

Leaning back in his chair, Sakata Gintoki turned around and complained to Kagura and Shimura Shinpachi, who were sitting on the sofa with their heads lowered sadly, and Okita Sougo, who had an expressionless face.

"Really? Why would you want to talk about something so gloomy on such a gloomy day...?"

"That's so embarrassing."

Upon hearing this, Okita Sougo still replied with a blank expression.

"I think I should come and tell you."

"I'm sorry, Xiaoyin..."

Sitting on the sofa, Kagura hugged her knees. The girl, who had always been full of energy, looked extremely lost and sad.

Hearing Kagura's apology, Shinpachi added sadly and unwillingly.

"If we had noticed from the beginning that Mr. Michinobu wanted to take the children and leave Edo..."

"It's not your fault."

Hearing this, Gintoki comforted calmly.

"That guy has killed countless people, and he should have been mentally prepared for a bad death."

"In the end, that guy died protecting his children. I think he would feel satisfied."

"Boss, I'm really sorry for getting you all involved in this strange situation."

Okita Sougo stood up and stated calmly.

"If we continue to get involved, nothing good will come of it. This matter ends here..."

Before the young captain of the Shinsengumi's First Division could finish his words, the living room door was pushed open with a "clatter", and all the children adopted by Doshin stood at the door of the living room with their heads lowered.

Seeing the children who suddenly appeared here, Okita Sougo was surprised and raised his voice to ask loudly.

"You little brats, didn't I tell you not to come here?!"

Hearing the noise, Gintoki turned back to his chair and looked at the children at the door in confusion.

"Brother... just, as long as I ask you to help me, you will help me with anything, right?"

The boy in the front asked nervously.

"It's a jack-of-all-trades, right?!"

"Please! Help the teacher get revenge!"

As if it was a fuse, all the children cried and choked with sobs as they made their "commissions".

Looking at the scene before them, Shimura Shinpachi and Kagura exchanged glances, seemingly feeling overwhelmed.

"This one……"

With tears in his eyes, the young boy placed a rare game sticker on the table in front of Gintoki.

“…It’s my most precious treasure.”

“We have no money…”

Following a noise, another older boy sobbed as he spread out a cloth package on the table. Inside the package were various old toys that filled the table.

"But, we will give you all our treasures, so please... Mr. Gintoki..."

Watching everything happening before his eyes, Okita Sougo silently glanced at the pile of old toys on the table in front of him, turned sideways, and his tone softened a little.

"...Enough is enough, everyone. Come back to the Shinsengumi with me."

"We all know..."

However, as if he hadn't heard Okita Sougo's advice, the boy unfolded the package and cried while wiping his tears.

"The teacher must have done something bad somewhere, so he was killed... But, to us, he will always be the most beloved father, the most outstanding father!"

silence...

Then, Gintoki asked calmly while picking up the game stickers on the table.

"Hey, kid, isn't this the latest popular battle sticker?"

"...Huh?" The young boy in front of him was stunned and asked subconsciously.

"Brother, do you know?"

"Of course I do."

Hearing this, Gintoki continued to speak slowly.

"Because I'm also collecting these battle stickers."

As he spoke, Gintoki stood up and smiled faintly.

"For this, I'm willing to do anything. If you want to go back later, it's impossible."

Everyone in the room was stunned when they heard the determination contained in Sakata Gintoki's calm words.

Then all the children burst into tears of joy.

The young captain of the Shinsengumi's First Division also found it unbelievable.

"Boss?!"

"Xiaoyin!"

Hearing this, Kagura was so shocked that she subconsciously stood up on the sofa and asked anxiously.

“Are you serious?!”

"I thought you were a crazy guy, but I didn't expect you to be so stupid."

Hijikata Toshiro, the deputy commander of the Shinsengumi, who had arrived at the Yorozuya at some point, stood outside the living room, leaning against the door frame, lit a cigarette for himself, and said lightly.

"The other party is not a weak force that can be easily defeated by a small character like you."

“…You’ll die.”

Hearing this, the boss of the Yorozuya just spoke calmly.

"I won't cause you any trouble."

"Of course your life or death has nothing to do with me."

Hijikata Jushiro also asked calmly.

"But, I don't understand. Is it necessary to go out of your way to die?"

"If I don't go, I'll die too."

Hearing this, Sakata Gintoki, the anti-foreignization patriot who once fought in the anti-foreignization war and was feared by everyone, and the current owner of the Yorozuya, smiled and spoke slowly in a proud tone.

"Inside my body, there is something more important than my heart. Although it cannot be seen, it is definitely present in my body, running from my head all the way down to my base."

"Because of it, I can stand and sit upright like this, and even if my steps are unsteady, I can still walk straight forward."

"If you stop your foot here, it will break."

"My soul will break."

"Even if my heart stops beating, it is still the most important thing to me. Even if I become hunched over due to old age, it must always stand straight."

Volume 4, Edo Chronicles: Chapter 197: The Exchange Terms for the Merchant House

?①

There was a soft applause from the side.

Across from the Yorozuya, there was a grocery store called "Shangwu". A wealthy young businessman walked into the living room of Yorozuya and applauded.

“It’s truly an admirable belief.”

"However, everyone at the Yorozuya, please wait a moment... Ah, kids over there, don't rush to pack up your things yet. We at the Merchant House want to talk to you."

While greeting, the young man with gray hair, the wealthy young businessman walked past Sakata Gintoki and Hijikata Jushiro and walked towards the bewildered children.

Shimura Shinpachi and Kagura were surprised to see the young businessman who lived across the street appear here. They stood up and said in unison.

"Shang, Mr. Shang Yang (Shang Jun)?!"

“…Who is it?”

After taking a curious look at the young man who walked into the living room and the two girls beside him, the oni deputy chief of the Shinsengumi, the shogunate's direct police force, took a puff of his cigarette and casually asked Sakata Gintoki.

"These strange guests."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Shinsengumi Deputy Director. We are the "Shoya" (companies of the business)."

Before the silver-haired, naturally curly-haired owner of the Yorozuya could reply, the beautiful girl with short lavender hair, Ms. Komeiji Kaku, politely handed the Shinsengumi's deputy director a postcard with the words "Shangya" neatly written in regular script, and explained with a faint smile.

"We are just some small businessmen. Oh, by the way, we are not suspicious elements. Please don't think that way in your heart."

"If the Shinsengumi's Vice-Director leaves such an impression on me, it will be very troublesome for a small shop like mine."

"...I don't think a shop like you, a lady of heaven, can be a small business."

Hearing Jue nonchalantly revealing his thoughts, Hijikata Toshiro's pupils shrank slightly, and then he took the postcard as if nothing had happened.

"So, what brings you here?"

"For us businessmen, we will only take action when we smell business opportunities, Mr. Deputy Director."

After the young businessman answered Hijikata Toshiro's question, he turned back again and cast his gaze on the pile of old toys on the table.

After looking at it carefully, the young businessman exclaimed in admiration.

"As expected, some of these toys are quite old and precious, and have a history of many years. Ai, Shana, would you like to come and take a look too?"

Hearing Shang Yang's call, Ai and Jue, who were standing by the living room door, walked past Hijikata Toshiro and Sakata Gintoki and approached the table.

The little kid who was stunned by Shang Yang's words

"Woo woo, Aijiejie, the old, teacher..."

"Sister Jue, the old man, the teacher has been taken away by the bad guys... woooo!"

All the children, especially the young little girls, threw themselves into the arms of love and consciousness without hesitation, crying loudly and sadly.

He gently patted the thin backs of the little girls who threw themselves into his arms and cried. Ai didn't mind that the girls' tears wet his clothes.

Holding them gently, a hint of apology flashed across the girl's clear dark red eyes.

Seeing the children throwing themselves into the arms of the two girls and crying uncontrollably, everyone in the room fell silent again.

Seeing this scene, the young man with gray hair, the young businessman, rubbed his hair helplessly and explained softly.

"We're here for these 'old toys'."

"…For toys?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else in the room was stunned and felt extremely confused and puzzled.

"Yes, I came here just for these toys."

Nodding slightly and stating his purpose again, the young man casually picked up an old sword jade from the pile of worn-out toys on the table and examined it carefully.

"Among this pile of toys, there are some seemingly worn-out, antique toys. These are antique dolls made by artisans in this country, on this land, using pure handcraftsmanship before the celestial beings descended on this planet. Some of these dolls, crafted with such advanced craftsmanship, can even be considered works of art."

"However, although this country has achieved tremendous development in the short twenty years thanks to the advanced technology brought by the celestial beings, most ordinary people in this country have also neglected the precious things they once created."

Putting down the old sword jade in his hand, the young businessman picked up a wooden warrior doll on the table and looked at it carefully.

"Like this samurai puppet, you can tell it was made decades, or even nearly a century ago, by craftsmen for high-ranking samurai, daimyo, and even the sons of the Tokugawa Shogunate."

"This puppet, crafted by a bygone artisan, is based on the profound skills honed over decades. On planets across the universe, such meticulously crafted puppets would be considered exquisite works of art, not just ordinary toys."

"Unfortunately, in this country, in this emerging space route port city of Edo, most ordinary people living here are obsessed with pursuing the advanced civilization of the celestial beings from outer space, while viewing the precious things they created in the past as worthless, shabby toys."

Miss Gu Mingdi Jue, a girl with short lavender hair who was regarded by others as a celestial being from an alien planet, continued Shang Yang's words and spoke softly.

"The children's adoptive father, Mr. Kidomaru Doshin, had to spend most of his income on the children's food and clothing. He couldn't afford to buy them expensive electronic toys made by celestial beings from other planets. Instead, he bought them some old, unwanted 'junk toys'. Little did he know that some of these 'junk toys' he bought for the children at low prices were actually invaluable handmade works of art.

"In fact, our 'Trading House' in Edo has recently handled a lot of this kind of business. The 'junk toys' that the people of this country consider worthless and allow us to buy have become precious treasures sought after by the celestial beings on other planets in the universe, bringing huge profits to our 'Trading House'."

"W-what, is there such a thing..."