Early the next morning, Goro Fujita was stopped as he passed a corner of the Metropolitan Police Department's large, chaotic office.

It was Kobayakawa who was usually in charge of identifying the evidence. Kobayakawa seems to be a bachelor, busy in the office all day, he is not tall, he wears a pair of Western-style disc glasses, perhaps because of the bridge of his nose, the glasses are always sliding, and he has to push his glasses every once in a while.

When he stopped Fujita Goro at this moment, he habitually pushed his glasses again, and then said, "There are several different kinds of blood stains on the sword you brought back last night. There are dry, relatively old blood stains on the blade, indicating that the user has used the blade to commit murder, and the victim's blood has thus been stained on the blade. ”

This answer is not a surprise to Goro Fujita. He pursed his lips, his face tense, not knowing what he was thinking.

Kobayakawa continued, "On the handle of the sword, you can see two kinds of blood stains left at different times. One is at the bottom, which should have been formed earlier, so it has a darker color, and the other is on the top, partially covered by the bloodstains of the previous one, which is the part that was formed later, and you bring it back with a bright red color, which can be inferred to be caused by the injury to the opponent's arm when you fought with the original owner of the sword. ”

This answer was a bit unexpected by Fujita Goro, whose expression, which had been as calm as an iron mask all day long, finally fluctuated a little, and he let out a low sigh.

"Did you form it earlier?" he asked, a little surprised, as if he was thinking about the answer to the question as he said it. After a moment, he had a conjecture.

"It's unlikely that the person who left a blood stain on the hilt of the knife was a victim. "With the habit of using a knife, it is unlikely that even if the blood of the victim spurts out, it will leave a blood stain on the hilt, because the hand of the knife wielder can almost cover the hilt"

Kobayakawa nodded.

"Exactly. "The old blood stains on the hilt are much larger than the splattered blood stains can form, and I suspect that the wielder had suffered a previous hand injury, and the blood that flowed from his hand was on the hilt." After that, he fought you with an injury, and was injured again because of the knife, forming the latter kind of fresher blood."

Fujita Goro's expression froze slightly.

In this way, he had defeated an injured opponent last night, and while this is a common occurrence in war, there is nothing to be happy about in a one-on-one battle. Although he didn't know it beforehand, it was a fact that he took advantage of it.

Fujita Goro remembered the subtle smile on the boy's face. There was a hint of sneer hidden in the clear young man's voice.

Are you laughing at your own stupidity? Laughing at his own victory

There was no hint of wavering on Goro Fujita's face, only a slight lowering of his eyebrows. A fierce aura suddenly spread from him, and immediately stabbed the defenseless technical otaku Kobayakawa who was standing in front of him subconsciously shrank back.

"Feed Fujita Fujita" Kobayakawa had to raise his voice a little, feeling that he could only be described as "lustful and inward" now.

Fujita Goro's gaze swept to his face as he made the sound for a moment. It may have been only for a second, but Kobayakawa swore he saw a sword-sharp light in the depths of Fujita Goro's blue eyes.

Kobayakawa shrank his neck in fright.

The sharp light in Goro's eyes disappeared in an instant. Kobayakawa blinked, and found that the silent young inspector was still standing at his desk, silent, his gaze falling on the sword that lay across the table.

"Can you identify who the knifesmith of this knife is? He asked in a low voice.

Kobayakawa shook his head.

"No, I'm not a fan of this business. He scratched his hair and said a little embarrassed, "I don't know anything about knives, and most of those knife shops are closed now, otherwise I can find a familiar boss to help me inquire."

In order to prove that he was unable to identify the origin of the knife was not due to his lack of academic excellence, Kobayakawa pointed to the Taidao that was lying quietly on his desk.

"There is no inscription on this knife, maybe the other party decided from the beginning that you could not find out the origin of this knife through other clues, so they abandoned the knife at the scene and left without fear. ”

I don't know what kind of factor pricked Fujita Goro's nerves in this sentence, and a subtle emotion that was difficult to grasp passed through his eyes, and then he said in a deep voice, "Give me the knife." I'm going out to figure out how to find someone who knows it."

Kobayakawa glanced at him.

It's a bit out of the norm. However, it is not impermissible to report to the Nishino Police Department now and obtain his consent.

However, Kobayakawa did not have a bureaucrat to send Goro Fujita to the Nishino Police Department first.

He simply dodged away and motioned for Goro Fujita to get the knife.

"Take it. He said.

"I always think you'll find the answer. He added, laughing.

Fujita Goro traveled for almost half a day, and finally found a knife house owner he had known before.

He had used to color knives for his friends in this knife house before, and he took this opportunity to get to know the boss. However, now that the "Order to Distribute Knives" has been promulgated, the original store address of the knife house has been changed to a tavern. He had to ask neighbors and neighbors all the way about the previous owner of the knife house, and finally found a new shop opened by the owner.

The knife shop couldn't be operated anymore, so the owner opened a small grocery store elsewhere, which also sold kitchen knives. This is a new product produced by those knifesmiths who suddenly had no livelihood after the promulgation of the "Scattering Knife Order".

When Goro Fujita opened the curtain and walked in, the honest boss looked startled.

So Fujita Goro had to introduce himself again.

"At Shimofuta Goro, now I work for the Metropolitan Police Department. For the sake of a sword related to the case that is being investigated now, I have come to ask you for advice, and please do not hesitate to give advice. ”

The boss seemed to suddenly taste something deeper from these simple words, nodded again and again, and stammered, "Ah, Fujita inspection, welcome, welcome, please sit inside", while welcoming Fujita Gorou to the store, moved a chair and invited Fujita Goro to sit at the counter, took the unsheathed knife in his hand as if he was facing a great enemy, turned it over and looked at it for a long time, and slowly stroked it back and forth on both sides of the blade a few times.

Finally, he cautiously took out a ruler and measured the length of the knife. Then, he looked up at the young patrol sitting at the counter.

"No, Fujita-kun. The former owner of the knife house, who looks to be in his fifties, said.

"Actually, you should have guessed in your heart about the origin of this knife. ”

Goro Fujita was silent.

The boss sighed.

"Pickaxe, Andong, the head of the knife is the head of the pig," the boss pointed to the blade, the shape of the knife, and the blade of the knife in turn with his fingers, and said slowly.

This is a characteristic of Taidao that was popular from Heian to Kamakura periods. ”

Goro Fujita remained silent.

"The stem of the knife is sharpened, first chestnut jiri, and the nail hole is a straight blade," the boss continued to slowly count the other features of the knife.

"Although there is no inscription, the length of this knife is about two feet, two inches and seven minutes," the boss said slowly.

Goro Fujita's eyes suddenly flashed with a very bright light.

The boss stopped at this point, and seemed to hesitate for a moment before saying, "If the knife is still there, you can make an immediate conclusion based on its pattern, but now we can only infer it."

"Of course, it can't be genuine. Because the original product is a royal treasure. ”

"But it's rare to see how Fujita-kun got such a beautifully made imitation. ”

Goro Fujita finally moved his lips and asked a simple question.

"Well, you also think it's"

The boss smiled wryly.

"Ever since I couldn't open a knife shop anymore, I never thought that I would ever see such a noble and exquisite knife one day. ”

"Imitated from Awataguchi Yoshimitsu's highest masterpiece, a sword that vibrates in one issue. ”

A glimmer of light, almost blinding, suddenly flashed in Goro Fujita's eyes.

"Yes, Yoshimitsu Awataguchi," he whispered.

After a moment of silence, he slowly continued.

"Yoshimitsu Awataguchi was a famous swordsmith in the Kamakura period, and he was a master of making short knives"

"A period of a vibration is the only one in his life in the inscription of the knife, so the name of the knife is called a period of a vibration, that is, there is only one treasure in his life"

As he spat out this paragraph of the description of Yoshimitsu Awataguchi and his supreme masterpiece "One Episode One Vibration", word by word, it was as if two small flames slowly ignited in Goro Fujita's eyes that had been silent for a long time, and became brighter and brighter.

"Is this a coincidence? He said as if to himself.

"The streets of the imperial capital, the bloodthirsty murderers who come and go in the middle of the night"

"Now that the order to distribute the knife has been issued, the boy who took the imitation of the first issue and threw it in front of me at will"

He paused, and the hand on the counter slowly clenched into a fist.

"She's already very good at that, disguised as another person or something."

"In the past, I used to disguise myself as a man, so I joined"

He stopped just in time before he could say the forbidden term, his eyes flickering, as if he were caught in some deeply buried memory.

"Also, disguise yourself as such an ordinary townin's daughter, and go"

The face that had gone through countless wars and tribulations, still young and handsome, and immobile as a mountain, suddenly appeared with a look similar to a mixture of confusion and sadness.

"But if it's really her, why would?"

His gaze fell on the hilt of the knife. The dark blood stains on it soaked through the dark handle, forming irregular patterns on the handle.

The owner of this knife is a suspicious of the serial killings in the capital. He must be arrested

"Why did you become a murderer," he muttered under his breath, staring at the beautiful replica of the "One Episode One Vibration" on the counter in bewilderment.

The small shop is poorly lit, and sunlight slanted into the room through the small windows that are half-blocked by the shelves, and falls on the counters, creating dappled shadows.

Like the dark shadows of the night that always obscured most of her face.

Her face was always hidden in the shadows, making it impossible for him to see clearly.