My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 335 - 134: Aoto and Mukiwa vs Arson and Theft Magistrate [6500]_3

"Cough... cough cough...!" Ichitaro, unable to control himself, spat out mouthfuls of fresh blood, glaring in astonishment at Aoto behind him.

It was only a moment... but Ichitaro caught the flash of Aoto drawing his blade out of the corner of his eye.

As Aoto brushed past Ichitaro on his left side, a silver-white blade filled his peripheral vision, sweeping across his waist and slicing through nearly half of his torso.

This massive gash left only half of Ichitaro’s flesh and blood to connect his upper and lower body.

Blood gushed out incessantly, and Ichitaro instinctively raised his hand, trying to cover the gash with his palm, but it was all in vain.

After staggering a few steps, Ichitaro’s body collapsed heavily to the ground, raising a thin layer of dust.

Aoto slowly released his stance, exhaling deeply, and then performed blood vibration, flicking away the blood remaining on the blade while turning to glance at Ichitaro’s corpse at his feet.

——No system sound... Not like his brother with special abilities...

Aoto had hoped that Ichitaro, as Kojirō’s brother, might also possess some special abilities, but it seemed that hope was wasted.

After waiting a few seconds and confirming no system sound appeared in his mind, Aoto sheathed the Orange Water.

——Alright... time to find Miss Kinoshita...

Aoto prepared to find Mukiwa, who had just run after someone.

But... just as he thought about this, a series of dense footsteps suddenly reached Aoto’s ears.

Those footsteps... were coming from the direction where Mukiwa had just left...

Aoto raised his gaze in confusion, looking towards the sound.

Soon after, he saw what was causing those dense footsteps.

He saw Mukiwa, who had just left to chase someone, at the east street entrance.

Mukiwa was sprinting towards him, her eyes full of confusion and bewilderment.

Behind her was a large crowd of people...

The majority of these people were in black uniforms, carrying jitte at their waists.

The lanterns they held had two large characters written on them: Fire Thief.

...

...

Time reverses to a moment earlier—

Edo, North Suburb, somewhere—

"So... someone just opened a small gambling den?" After listening to the report from his subordinate, Nishino raised his hand to rub his forehead, dissipating the fatigue there, "Did you find anything strange in the den?"

"No." A subordinate standing in front of Nishino shook his head.

"Mr. Nishino."

A muffled voice called out from behind Nishino.

The owner of this voice was a burly man in his thirties, wearing a black uniform and a black array hat.

"I’ve already tied up everyone involved. How’s the situation on your side?"

"We’ve thoroughly checked the den." Nishino replied indifferently, "No suspicious items."

The brawny man was named Shimizu Renzaburo.

His job title was probably more well-known than his true name—Captain of the Arson and Theft Magistrate Fourth Squad!

After the Shogunate deployed the Arson and Theft Magistrate to assist the Magistrate’s Office in dealing with the Anti-foreigner Group, the Arson and Theft Magistrate sent out two captains and their squads every night to patrol, with two captains and their units stationed at the South and North Guard Stations respectively.

Tonight, the North Guard Station was just under Nishino’s charge for the night watch.

And tonight, accompanying Nishino at the North Guard Station was the Arson and Theft Magistrate’s unit led by Shimizu’s Fourth Squad.

Not long ago, as they quietly guarded the moonlit and starlit night at the North Guard Station, a vendor operating "Nightingale Buckwheat" suddenly came to the North Guard Station.

Nightingale Buckwheat—a small street vendor selling buckwheat noodles late at night.

The vendor didn’t come for any other reason—just to report that in the North Suburb of Edo, he’d seen a group of people mysteriously coming and going from a small house.

Amidst the Shogunate’s strict crackdown on the Radical Anti-foreigner Faction led by the Anti-foreigner Group, such suspicious information couldn’t be ignored...

With a cautious mindset that "perhaps Radical Anti-foreigner Faction’s ruffians are gathering for a meeting," Nishino led his subordinates, along with Shimizu and his Fourth Squad members, hurriedly to the reported location.

Each squad of the Arson and Theft Magistrate had about 50 members, and Shimizu didn’t take his entire Fourth Squad, only half of them—26 people.

The group urgently raided the reported site, conducted a thorough investigation, and finally realized it was a false alarm—the small house was a private gambling den opened by someone.

And those mysterious people coming and going were just gamblers.

Though it was a false alarm, catching a group running an illegal gambling den meant the trip wasn’t entirely fruitless.

After wrapping up the remaining tasks, Nishino and Shimizu planned to return to the Guard Station.

But suddenly—

"Huh?" Nishino frowned deeply.

Beside him, Shimizu wore a similar expression.

Both of them, along with some of their subordinates, looked up at the northeast.

Not far to the northeast was the only Hieda Residence Area in Edo.

They had all simultaneously heard something strange coming from that direction...

Listening closely, the sounds... were very much like human screams.

"What’s going on?" Shimizu frowned, "This sound... why does it sound like someone screaming."