After coming to Edo, Yanagizumi didn't have the opportunity to go out every day with Hijikata. He always went out alone, and returned to their temporary abode in silence. At night, after barely finishing the food she cooked, they were often relatively silent.

Sometimes they would make small talk about topics that seemed completely unrelated to the current situation, but no matter what the topic was, it would eventually come back to Kondo - when recalling the past, Kondo was also an inescapable being.

At first, they all seemed to tacitly try to avoid mentioning Kondo as a person. She would recall things about her childhood—though limited to the premise of being forced to undergo harsh training at her uncle's house who worked for Choshu, and even after searching her mind for the memories of the person "Kiyohara Yukiba", not many of the things she could talk about were rosy.

He will also recall interesting things from his childhood, or some of the memories of his young days as an apprentice and a pharmacist.

Later, after a few days, it seemed that they could slowly let go of Kondo's arrest, so Hijikata tentatively mentioned Kondo's name, as if he wanted to see how deep the wound in his heart was.

It seemed painful at first, but slowly they seemed to be able to try to talk about the man.

So they gradually talked more about the evening, and he could also talk about the story of the trial hall period. And those beautiful old days when the Shinsengumi were in Kyoto, sometimes those things seem as far away from reality as if they were in a dream, and they are not real.

On this day, Hijikata said goodbye from the Enomoto house and walked down the street.

Takehiro Enomoto was the last person he could think of. He even went to ask the shogunate who didn't seem to want to see the Shinsengumi-sama, Katsu Kaishu. But with Katsu Haizhou, he didn't get the slightest hope that he would do his best.

The man didn't seem to be going to turn his face on Kondo and Sacho - no, he got it clear. Katsu Haizhou personally told him that as a person, the shogunate no longer had the capital and ability to turn against Sacho for Kondo.

Of course, such words can only come out of my mouth and into your ears. The old fellow even winked at him in a hateful and cunning way. "You can't just say it to the rest of the shogunate. But I guess I can think about this kind of thing?...... The Shogun is a person who can give up even Edo and Daimasa to save his life. A Isamu Kondo, could it be more important than Edo or Daimasa?"

In the end, the slippery old fox still did not kill all his hopes.

"If the shogun doesn't make a move, I won't do it, but maybe there are other people in the shogunate or those who are close to the chief of the sacho, and there are also people who are able and willing to help. There are so many people in this world—ah, look at those stupid people, I really think that killing a Sakamoto Ryoma in the first place can save the shogunate from defeat. It's not about handing over everything to the chiefs at the same time, and at the same time smiling at the same time, for fear that one of them will be upset and take something and turn their faces ruthlessly—" he said mockingly, and then suddenly realized.

"Ahh Please forget about jì immediately. In an instant, he regained his previous attitude of nonchalance, and continued to play two corners by himself, playing chess against himself on the chessboard in front of him.

After carelessly dropping a white seed, he said to Hijikata, who was still kneeling in front of him, without raising his eyes:

"In these years, those who will not betray themselves may no longer be adults, not bosses, not colleagues, not friends...... It's your own subordinates, the kind of lowly, rightfully owned, that you haven't really noticed......"

As a former unattainable shogunate and family elder, Lord Katsuyasu Bomori, who was still seriously relied on by the general's family until the end, said this with a peculiar expression and tone.

“...... It's a pity to have such valuable subordinates, and I haven't cherished them properly. - Is this the last thing I want to say to the Shinsengumi?"

However, although Takehiro Enomoto promised to help today, how many connections or energy can he have enough to save Kondo-kun in the hands of the sa cho who is eyeing him and the tosa who hates the red eyes?

On the shogunate's side, all the people he could think of had already managed to plead and plead again and again...... There is no other way to go.

So, who else is close to Sacho's side as Katsuyasu-samaru said, and maybe has that ability and is willing to help?!

“...... Mr. Hijikata?!"

Suddenly, a familiar call sounded not far in front of the earth, interrupting his thoughts.

Hijikata stopped abruptly and looked at the person standing in front of him with a slight sense of astonishment.

“...... What are you doing here?" he asked after a long breath, slightly apprehensive, with a slight hint of apprehension.

The tall, men's woman in front of him smiled and shook the empty basket in his direction slightly.

"I bought some things, and I just went to visit the general secretary. ”

Okita left the Shinsengumi team earlier because of the aggravation of his cough, and moved to a reliable family here in Edo with Chizuru to recuperate. Hijikata was a little surprised by the thought of this.

I almost completely forgot that the head office was still recuperating in Edo...... These days, it's all about Kondo-kun......

Walking side by side on the street with him, Yanagizumi naturally said in a casual tone: "Mr. Chief-kun, he looks very good, and he jokes and says, 'Fortunately, you came alone, otherwise you would have wanted to cough when you see Mr. Hijikata's face that is always so rigid......"

Earthwork: "......"

For a moment he wanted to get angry, and then suddenly a little nostalgia for Okita's vicious joke came to his mind. This emotion made his anger disappear for a moment, and he sighed slightly.

“...... That guy, it's going to be ...... right now Not bad, right?"

Perhaps wanting to change the slightly dull atmosphere between the two by talking about a light-hearted topic, Willow smiled.

"Ah, it looks pretty good, although the intention to try it out with me with a knife was stopped by Chizuru in time...... After being stopped, he was unconvinced and kept yelling energetically, asking me if there was anything he didn't know about anything in his absence—"

As if one of the words in her words touched Hijikata, he repeated to himself, "...... What he doesn't know?"

Then, he tugged at the corners of his mouth and smiled faintly.

"You can use foreign guns, does this count? ...... Looks like the Director-General is no match for you, huh?"

The deputy chief's tone as if he was joking inexplicably relieved Liu Quan's heart.

The next second, however, the deputy asked questions that were difficult for her to answer.

"Speaking of which...... Where did you learn this skill, I haven't heard you mention it before. ”

Liu Quan: "......"

Teeth are defeated, and the questions that will be faced sooner or later are now popping up.

Although it was a desperate choice at the time, I didn't know in advance whether the system bacteria would agree to let her exchange the skill huàn, and whether there was this skill in the list of redeemable huàn, but in the eyes of people in this world, when the Shinsengumi failed so badly at the beginning and urgently needed foreign spear guidance, as one of the most loyal cadres to the director and deputy director, Liu Quan did not say the matter, and the reason was quite suspicious.

...... You can't say she didn't know how to do it at the time?!

Thinking about finding a convincing reason to convince Hijikata in a matter of seconds, Liu Quan didn't know that a toothache-like expression had appeared on his face.

"Uh...... That one...... I was forced to learn when I was at my uncle's house before, and I wasn't very proficient in it, and I hadn't practiced it for many years, so I thought it wouldn't be of much use...... I didn't expect that when life is at stake, people's potential is still infinite. ”

In the end, she still decided to let the same author fungus bear this pot for the tragic life story constructed by "Kiyohara Snow Leaves".

The uncle's family of "Kiyohara Yukiba" is probably a little colluded with the Choshu Domain, and Choshu is one of the first forces to purchase Western-style weapons from Neon, even if the time sounds a little early, but if you want to train talents or thugs for Choshu, it makes sense whether you are forced to learn swordsmanship or foreign spearmanship.

Sure enough, Hijikata accepted her statement without any doubt.

"Really...... That's where you studied......" Hijikata said with a deep groan.

However, he did not turn the page away, but continued to mutter:

"Is it a life-threatening moment......"

Although he was strolling through the streets, he seemed to be completely distracted, as if for a moment he had forgotten where he was and what kind of people were passing him, and he followed Liu Quan's footsteps blankly and mechanically. If it weren't for Ryuzumi's attitude of leading the way to the house where they were temporarily borrowing, she had no doubt that the deputy chief, who had fallen into the long examination, would have left herself in the streets of Edo.

When the third deputy chief almost turned in the wrong direction and the door of the borrowed house was in sight, Liu Quan finally decided that he had had enough.

She reached out and pulled Hijikata's arm violently, forcibly pulling the deputy chief ninety degrees from a dead alley by the side of the road, and finally corrected his wrong direction.

Maybe she was a little harder, and the deputy chief was dragged to stand firmly. As if he had only come to his senses at this time, he stood in place, his eyes blank for a moment, and then his eyes came into contact with Liu Quan, who was standing in front of him, with his hands on his waist and an empty basket in the crook of his arm, his face suddenly changed, as if he had done something wrong.

That expression instantly made Liu Quan's confusion and incomprehension due to the deputy chief's frequent wrong turns disappear without a trace. She couldn't help but chuckle and turned to point to the door in front of her.

"Deputy Chief, where we live. Where else are you going?"

Originally, it was just a very ordinary question, but Hijikata's face changed. His face slowly darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he turned his gaze slightly away from her gaze, lowered his head and pursed his lips around her, and walked straight in the direction of the door of the house.

Liu Quan???: Don't you like me to tease or laugh at him?

She hurried after him.

After entering the gate, the owner of the house was standing in the courtyard trimming the flowers and trees in the courtyard. Tufang bowed slightly to the other party, and Liu Quan added a sentence of "excuse me", and then looked at the deputy chief inexplicably without saying a word to himself, but walked straight to his room.

...... Maybe it's because I hit a lot of embarrassing nails outside today.

Thinking so, Liu Quan planned to go to the kitchen to return the basket he had borrowed from his master's family, and then start making dinner.

However, as she stepped down the hallway, intending to turn to the kitchen in the opposite direction of Hijikata's room, Hijikata, who had just opened the sliding door of the room, suddenly spoke.

"Kiyohara, come in with me. I have something to say to you. ”

Willow Springs: ...... There is always a sense of "what did the scumbag commit when I was in school, so I was about to be arrested by the director of discipline and sent to the punishment station"?!

Confused, she carried the empty basket and followed the director of discipline...... No, behind the deputy chief, he also walked into that room.

The deputy chief had already pulled out the handle on his waist, "Izumi Shoukaneji", intending to put it on the knife holder. Hearing her footsteps coming in, he said without looking back, "Close the door." ”

Willow Springs: ...... Oops, this seems to be getting more and more dangerous...... Deputy Chief, you asked me to close the door and leave the two of us alone in the room, do you think that in broad daylight, no matter how great the power of the desolation surges, it is impossible for me to invade you. I hate being despised by others, do you want to see the courage of our women?!

...... In fact, she is also taking advantage of the mouth cannon. She hadn't gotten to the point where she was going to go berserk and assault the deputy chief. No, it's better to say that I haven't even thought about it.

She closed the sliding door in silence, and when she looked back, she found that the deputy chief had already placed the knife and was standing in front of the knife holder, her face was extremely ugly, as if she had a premonition that she would be overwhelmed by the power of the woman in front of her in the next second. [Nope.]

But the next moment, her relaxed mood of complaining disappeared.

Because I heard the deputy chief say something unbelievable.

He said, "Kiyohara ...... Can you go back to your uncle's house?"

Liu Quan: !?