I was a swordsman in ancient Japan

"No, I'm leaving now."

"Now?" As soon as Ah Ding finished speaking, Ooja was the first to show surprise, "A Ding, don't you see that it's getting dark now?"

"Traveling at night is a piece of cake for a ninja like me." A-Machi shrugged, "In the evaluation of the completion of our mission in Shiranui, a very important criterion is time."

"The person who can complete the task in the shortest time can get the higher evaluation."

"So I have to go back to Shiranui as soon as possible, so that my mission can be completed more beautifully."

"...A-Machi." After hesitating for a while, Ogata asked A-Machi, "After handing in your task... Is it possible for you to be downgraded?"

"Hmm..." A-Machi pondered for a while, "Probably not. Shiranui judges whether you are downgraded or not based on whether you have completed the task beautifully."

"Only those ninjas who have been unable to complete the task will be downgraded to dirt."

"I've collected a lot of information about ogre-related ghosts now, and this task should be considered beautifully completed."

"With a successfully completed mission, you won't be reduced to dirt."

After learning that A-Machi will not be reduced to dirt, Ogata immediately felt relieved, like a big stone in his heart fell to the ground.

"That's it... that's good."

After muttering like this, Ogata originally wanted to say something like "I wish you good luck in martial arts" to see off Machi.

But he opened his mouth, and after the words came to his mouth, he couldn't spit out these farewell words.

For some reason, when thinking of A-Ming's imminent departure, Ooman feels a sense of emptiness in his heart...

At this moment, Mamiya, who had been standing beside Ogata, spoke softly to Ogata at a volume that only he and Ogata could hear clearly:

"Ogata-kun, although there is always a banquet in the world, there may be a day when I will meet someone again at a certain time and place."

Chapter 263 Red Moon Fortress and the Southward Lu Country

After saying this, Mamiya turned around and walked towards Mucun.

"Makimura, I see that there seems to be a stream there, let's go and fill up some water and come back."

"Fill water? Can't you do this kind of thing by yourself?"

"Stop talking nonsense, just follow me obediently."

"Yes……"

Mamiya led Mucun towards a small stream not far away, and after watching the two of them off for a while, Ogata turned his gaze back to A-Ming in front of him.

"Ayi... I wish you good fortune, we... see you in the future."

In the end, it was A-Machi who spoke softly to Ogata first.

But Ogata did not immediately respond to Ah-Machi's words.

Instead, he fixed his eyes on A-Ming in front of him for a while, and finally spoke slowly.

"A-Machi...you don't know where the fire is located?"

"Huh? Why are you asking this?"

Ogata shrugged: "If you don't even have your address, then no matter how destined we are, it's unlikely we'll meet again, right?"

"It's impossible for me to tell you where our Shiranui is." A-Ming smiled helplessly, "Telling outsiders the exact location of our Shiranui is a felony in our Shiranui."

"However... I can tell you which area our Shiranui is in. Our Shiranui is in the Omi area."

"Omi area...Amachi, do you know how big Omi is?"

"That's all I can tell you."

Speaking of this, Ah Ding paused.

Afterwards, a hint of slyness appeared on A-Ming's face.

"If you really want to come to me, go and find out the exact location of Shiranui by yourself."

"But I'll put my ugly words first—if you really find out where Shiranui is located someday in the future, you won't be able to enter Shiranui."

"It's impossible for an outsider like you to come in and out of Shiranui."

"Let's talk about this kind of thing at that time." Ogata said jokingly without thinking, "If the ninjas in Shiranui won't let me in, then I can only force my way in."

"Let's not talk about such big words." A-Ming smiled helplessly, "There are so many masters in Shiranui, and you alone can't break through."

Having said that, A-Machi raised his head and glanced at the sky that had started to blacken.

"……I should be going."

"Um……"

"Ayi... These days... I really appreciate your care..."

"You're welcome... I have also received a lot of care from you."

"Ayi...let me tell you the truth...in fact, when I first found you, I actually wanted to use you. After I used you, I abandoned you without hesitation, just like those of us who have suffered a lot. The ninjas everyone respects are as cold-blooded and ruthless, and everything takes the task as the top priority..."

"I've known about this kind of thing for a long time. The thing of forming a team is to get what you need."

"You're right. But——in the end, I'm just a low-level ninja."

A gentle smile bloomed slowly from A-Ming's face like a delicate flower.

"I haven't even done the most basic thing for a ninja, not to put your personal feelings into the mission."

"Goodbye, Ayi."

After saying that, A-Machi turned around and ran towards the forest in the distance that was about to become dark due to the loss of sunlight.

When A-Ming's figure was about to disappear into the woods, Ogata vaguely saw it—A-Ming looked back at him.

It was only when he was completely out of sight that Ah-cho took her gaze away.

……

……

"how?"

Jiangong and Mucun returned with a few bamboo tubes filled with fresh water.

"Did you say goodbye to Machi-san?"

A-Machi has left.

But Ogata still stood where he was, his eyes still fixed on the direction where A-Machi's figure disappeared.

"...I feel a little lost."

Ogata raised his head, looked at the almost black sky above his head, and let out a soft sigh.

This faint sense of loss reminded Ogata of the day he left the Hirose Domain alone a few months ago.

"It's good to get used to this feeling." Mamiya said in a tone that was neither salty nor bland, "This is how a person's life is, constantly repeating encounters, separations and reunions."

"I just vaguely saw that there seems to be a cave there. The three of us will spend the night in that cave tonight."

"Yeah." Ogata nodded lightly to Mamiya's suggestion.

"Ogata-kun, what do you plan to do when the sun rises tomorrow? Will you leave for Kyoto as soon as the sun rises?"

"Yeah." Ogata nodded without hesitation.

"Why are you in such a hurry to go to Kyoto?" Mamiya shrugged, "Before going to Kyoto—why why not come to our gourd house as a guest?"

"A guest?" Ogata frowned slightly.

"Although Ogata-kun you do not join our Gourd House, it is very regrettable, but the door of our Gourd House is open to you at any time, and you are welcome to come to our Gourd House at any time as a guest and take a look around."

"Invite me to your gourd house for no reason...you don't have any bad intentions, do you?" Ogata asked in a joking tone.

"I don't have any bad intentions." Jiangong smiled slightly, "But it is indeed for a small purpose to invite you to our gourd house."

"I want the lord and Master Yuan to come and see that there is a third person in the world who has mastered the 'Nugo Two Swords Style' set of swordsmanship."

"If Master Genda knows that someone has really succeeded in acquiring Wugo Two Swords style with the help of the swordsmanship cheats he wrote, he will be very happy."

"Ogata-kun, don't you want to take this opportunity to visit our gourd house?"

"Look at the heroic appearance of the second-generation direct successor of the Wuwo Two Swords Style."

"And...the undeniable unparalleled figure in the world—the heroic figure of Genichi Kinoshita, the 'Sword Master'."

Hearing Mamiya's words, Ogata raised his eyebrows slightly.

After contemplating for a while——

"...Okay." Ogata nodded, "If I just go to your Gourd House as a guest, I'd be happy to go. Your Gourd House's base shouldn't be far away, right?"

"Not far." This time, Mucun, who hadn't spoken much since just now, answered, "The base of our gourd house is in the Owari area. If you ride a horse, you can arrive soon."

"Horse? Where did the horse come from?"

"I told you about half an hour ago - the Japan of our gourd house is all over Japan."

"In short—" Mamiya said, turning around and walking towards the cave he saw just now, "Let's have a good rest tonight, and then we will officially set off tomorrow to find the guy who can provide us with horses, and who can go to A place to take a shower. Then go back to Owari!"

After Jiangong turned and left, Mucun immediately followed behind him.

Looking at the backs of these two people, a helpless smile appeared on Ogata's face.

After lifting Da Shitian and Da Zizai on his waist, he quickly followed.

……

……

at the same time--

The camp of the shogunate army, the camp of Matsudaira Sadanobu.

"My lord..."

There were only Matsudaira Sadanobu and Inamori in the camp.

Because there are some things I want to confirm with Matsudaira, I came here to bother Matsudaira.

"Are we really going to let the islanders of Butterfly Island go?"

This is what Inamori wanted to confirm with Matsudaira Sadanobu.

"Yes."

Regarding the question raised by Inamori, Matsudaira Sadanobu, who was sitting behind the table looking at something, said without hesitation.

"If the series of disturbances on Butterfly Island were really man-made, then we have to change our approach to deal with Butterfly Island and ogres again."

"I just ordered Mr. Banjing to start the research on ogres immediately."

"Since it is decided to restart the research, these islanders are precious experimental observation objects, and their lives have to be saved."

"Anyway, they can't escape from our grasp now. If we want to kill them in the future, we can kill them all at any time."

"And—that monk has a point."

Speaking of this, Matsudaira Sadanobu's eyes burst out with a breathtaking coldness.

"If it is really an unknown power that turns people into ogres... then this power can only be controlled by our shogunate! We cannot let other people and other forces have this power!"

"Even if you can't have this kind of power, you must destroy this terrible power!"

"I have already sent people to look for the suspicious master and apprentice named He Shi and He Zhi."

"It's just that it's very difficult to find them."

A slight bitterness appeared on Matsudaira Sadanobu's face.

"This name is most likely a pseudonym, and there are too few clues. If you are looking for a needle in a haystack like this, I really don't know how long it will take to find these two people."

"Let's not talk about this, let's talk about something more important."

After finishing speaking, Matsudaira Sadanobu gathered and aligned the few pieces of paper he had been looking at just now, and then handed the few pieces of paper to Inamori.

"Inamori, you came just in time. I just happened to have something to go to you."

"This is...?" Inamori took the papers from Matsudaira Sadakano with a puzzled face.

"This is the latest information about Ezo that just arrived at me."

"It's related to Lu Country and Red Moon Fortress."