"What's the matter, this is a very urgent situation," she first learned Kane-san's tone, and urged in a rough voice, and then her expression changed, revealing a suspicious and more serious look.

"Could it be that something is wrong here," her voice suddenly raised, "But Bentendaiba can't wait any longer, and if you can't decide, let me go and see Mr. Hijikata, Mr. Hijikata will definitely see me, and he won't leave all the Shinsengumi behind."

Just as the guards were being forced to retreat by her momentum, a man walked out of the door.

The man walked out with a straight face and hurried steps, as if he were some kind of man with a small surname, and he came out, glancing blankly at Liu Quan, who was standing in the doorway, blocked by the guard's rifles, and said, "Come in with me." Mr. Otori has something to say to you. ”

Yanagizumi immediately realized that this man was talking about Keisuke Otori, the army commander of the Republic of Ezo.

For a moment, she remembered a long, long time ago, in front of her, Keisuke Tori, a baby-faced Otori, with a teasing smile, and said to her and Hijikata, "If we had a competition as a couple or a family, the combination of Hijikata-kun and Kiyohara-kun would surely sweep all of Japan."

Ah, that scene, looking back on it now, it was like a dream. Distant and unreal, when I think of the scene now, it is like a veil on it, and everyone's smiles, expressions, and responses are gradually blurred.

That's because my intellect clearly tells me that it's all in the past and will never come back, right?

Liu Quan took a deep breath and followed the young man into Wulengguo.

The real Keisuke Otori in history is not a baby-faced. On the other hand, he had a rather thin face, with a thin short beard growing from the base of his ears to the edge of his chin, and he was wearing a Western-style dress, and he was standing in front of a large sand table in the middle of the hall.

Hearing the footsteps of them hurrying in, Keisuke Otori did not immediately raise his head, but crossed his left hand on his waist and touched the short beard on his chin with his right hand, and looked back and forth with a deep brow on the dense small flags placed on the huge sand table. After a while, he seemed to finally give up on this terrible power contrast, put down his right hand, straightened his waist, and looked at Liu Quan, who had just walked in.

"You said you had just broken through from Bentendaiba to report the news," he asked, casually in a very casual tone.

Liu Quan stood up straight and answered loudly.

"Yes"

Perhaps he didn't expect that he had reached the end of his rope and that this kid could respond so calmly, Keisuke Otori glanced at him again in surprise, and then quickly turned his gaze away and stared at the sand table on the table again.

"Yes. So, what's going on over there?" he scribbled.

Liu Quan's face immediately turned pale, and he made a look that was both serious and sad and indignant.

"No, it's not good that the enemy crossed the sea at night and firmly surrounded the enemy in Bentendaiba, and we have resisted to the last moment, really, really."

Her voice was just right to choke.

Keisuke Otori sighed.

"Yes. ”

There wasn't much real pain or anger in his voice, probably because after so much time from Kyoto to defeat, and now even the last retreat was about to disappear, and his spirit seemed to have been numbed by the cruel reality after a long period of defeat and repeated despair.

Yanagizumi had already understood at that moment that the Ezo Republic and the Shogunate Army were exhausted.

Even one of their commanders, Keisuke Otori, the head of the army, has now despaired of the development of the war.

His nonchalant way of speaking was not really because he didn't care about the situation and fate of the Shinsengumi in Bentendaiba, but because he had already felt hopeless, thinking that they were going to fail, that things would never get better.

Although she knew in her heart that this was also the inevitability of historical development, and she also felt a trace of regret and apology for the man in front of her who was almost at the end of his rope, however, her script must be finished. If we don't, the real future won't come.

Liu Quan sighed silently in his heart, but on the surface he made a look of eagerness that was still full of hope.

"Now our only hope is Mr. Hijikata, as long as he comes to support us, I、I'm sure we'll be able to boost our morale, no problem."

She looked at Keisuke Otori with a look of hope.

"Where is Mr. Hijikata, if he knows everyone in the Shinsengumi, he will definitely not leave us at the moment of life and death, everyone believes in it like this, so he will desperately repel those bastards who came to Sa Chang again and again."

Ah, as she expected. Keisuke Otori seemed to be more focused on studying the sand table, and didn't mean to look up at her at all.

"Ah," he replied in a slight hurry, "Hijikata-kun is too busy to make his way to Bentendaiba. There, I need a lot of hard work from all of you in the Shinsengumi. ”

deceitful

This kind of pompous acting

Liu Quan's heart tumbled through countless complaints in an instant, but on the surface, he still made a simple anxious look, as if he was so anxious that he lost his obedient posture as a subordinate after hearing this bad news, and rushed out and said, "How can you be Mr. Hijikata, it is impossible for him to abandon everyone in the Shinsengumi, I believe"

Keisuke Otori raised his head suddenly, and for a moment, his gaze swept very coldly towards Yanagizumi's face.

He seems to have been pushed to his limit by the pressure. The advance of the new government army, the danger of losing one's life after defeat, the ideals and loyalties of the past had now become his own talisman, and now, coupled with the repeated questioning of the elm-headed subordinates of Hijikata, his lips trembled, his nose twitched, and his face turned red, as if he were on the verge of an explosion.

"Then go and ask him yourself," he exclaimed.

His voice was so loud that it shook Liu Quan's ears for a while.

"Since you've been talking about Hijikata and Hijikata over and over again, I'll be frank with you," he yelled at her in a fierce voice, "Since the new government forces officially launched a general attack on Hakodate this morning, no one has seen your revered Hijikata-kun in Goryokaku."

Willow Springs

Although she had expected such an outcome, it still sent chills down her body when she personally confirmed this speculation from Keisuke Otori's mouth.

The Shinsengumi had been stationed in Bentendaiba for several days, and it was difficult to grasp what was going on on in Goryokaku, but the situation had only gotten worse until this time, and there was no feeling of complete irresistibility before, so it would be unreasonable to say that Hijikata had gone to Bentendaiba alone to support everyone in advance because of concern

What's more, now that he is the head of the Army, he is not the deputy commander of the Shinsengumi, he has more things and responsibilities that he must accomplish, and he is not the kind of selfish, narrow-minded and short-sighted person who can abandon other responsibilities and only have three words in his eyes.

So it's true, something went wrong

While thinking about it, Liu Quan quickly responded according to the current situation.

Her face fell, like a brainless fan who had been following Hijikata for a long time, her face was ugly, and she shouted with an anxious expression, "But Mr. Hijikata is definitely not the kind of person who will give up his duties and run for his life alone, there must be some misunderstanding."

Keisuke Otori stared at her. He did not seem to be angry at her strong rebuttal, but drooped his eyelids, and his face showed a look of dejection, as if he did not intend to argue with her about Hijikata's beliefs or whereabouts.

"Well, even if it's what you say. "But he's not here right now." From the beginning of the morning until now, no one has seen where he went, and this is the status quo. If you have the strength to argue with me, you might as well go back and continue to fight with those new government forces. ”

There was a deep exhaustion and a deeper calm in his voice, as if he had somehow resigned himself to his fate, and he no longer seemed to care whether the young team member in front of him, who was a little unfamiliar to him, was really a member of the Shinsengumi, and turned his gaze back to the huge sand table on the table.

On the sand table, small flags representing the new government army have been spread almost everywhere.

Then, unusually calmly, he said, "You go." ”

Willow Springs "Eh"

Keisuke Otori didn't look at her again.

"There's no one here who can help you. He said without looking up, then reached out and picked up a small flag and pushed it forward.

Liu Quan recognized that the small flag represented the new government army. And the place where Keisuke Otori lowered the small flag was the outermost edge of Bentendaiba.

Although he knew that there was nothing wrong with him placing it like this, and that she had more important things to do, Liu Quan couldn't help but take a step forward.

"We're not going to let that flag sit on the Bentendai Field. She lowered her voice and said word by word. Because of the strong emotion surging in the throat, the voice became slightly hoarse.

Keisuke Otori's hand paused slightly, still not raising his eyes to look at her.

Perhaps this is just the last bit of arrogance from the Shinsengumi who once roamed the streets of Kyoto and acted recklessly.

However, it is also true.

Until he was ordered to lay down his arms and surrender to the new government forces, the Shinsengumi, who were guarding Bentendaiba, never stopped fighting.

A strong feeling suddenly surged into her chest and stalked in her throat, making her breathless for a moment and almost crying.

"Even if you lose your leader," she said slowly.

"Even if you lose your companions"

"Even if you lose your life, even if there is darkness of defeat ahead"

She paused word by word and said with all her might.

"The Shinsengumi, which Mr. Kondo and Mr. Hijikata founded, never lost faith for a moment. ”

She paused at this point, took a deep breath, and slowly tightened the five fingers of her left hand, gripping the handle of the knife at her waist.

"I'll prove it to you. ”

Keisuke Otori finally looked up. He stared in surprise at the kid in front of him who was still spitting wild words on the verge of death, and there was a look of shock in the depths of his eyes.

It was the shogunate who lost, and it was the shogun who fled

Instead of a new selection.

In the end, whether it was Mr. Kondo, Mr. Hijikata, or the companions she knew and didn't know

No one threw in the towel. Even if you want to die neatly, you won't admit defeat.

She'll prove it to these people.

Liu Quan turned around resolutely and strode towards the door. The footsteps were sonorous and powerful, thumping and thumping on the floor, with a clear and determined sound with each step. Her ponytail was tied high, swaying gently behind her head as she walked.

Outside the Wulengguo Gate, Liu Quan snatched a horse.

In fact, when she strode out of the military chamber with heavy steps in a menacing manner, and shouted "Feed me a horse and I'll go back to the fight" outside the door, the stunned soldiers and guards didn't have time to react, but watched her leap onto a horse that the herald had just left outside the door, and ran out as soon as she took the reins.

Willow Springs galloped along the winding gallop road simply built in the field.

The gallop was hastily carved out of the field, and the road surface was simply leveled, which increased the speed of the horses. Sometimes, however, small groups of troops that had retreated from nowhere would occasionally appear on the gallop road, and the routers who were dragging their feet and walking weakly almost blocked the road. Liu Quan finally chose to turn off the gallop at a fork, and galloped straight into the field with the reins of his horse.

Behind a large tree, Liu Quan slammed the reins.

It's not far from a wooden gate. There was no one else around, and it was a great place to refuse.

This time, there was no threat left to her by Shannan, and she had to use the "one period and one vibration" to cut off her long hair, because the blade was too long and it was inconvenient to exert force, so it did take a little time for Liu Quan.

Then, she looked down and looked at her coat.

It is also a long black coat with a slight modification of her size according to her size, and it looks almost exactly the same as Hijikata's coat at first glance.

On her feet, too, is a pair of boots.

She slowly sheathed the knife back into her sheath, inserted it back into her waist, and finally tightened her belt.

When all this was ready, she even had the leisure to play with a handful of system bacteria in her brain.

[How about a guillotine song, man]

Systemic bacteria roar.

What, some don't have it, you have to listen to the song before you go to the battlefield, complete the task, and go back to let you listen to enough, hurry up now

Liu Quan smiled.

[Just the last time I left Bentendaiba, the song you played me was good.] How to replace the Stormtrooper, let me hear]

Phylogenetic bacteria

It was silent for more than ten seconds, until Willow Springs, turning the horse's head and rushing down the small slope toward a wooden gate, that it complied with Willow Spring's request without warning, and began to play the familiar melody in her head.

Countless sorrows have settled here

There is no substitute for resting here

Witness the white clouds of war

Send these souls to the heavens full of light

Liu Quan lowered his gaze slightly and smiled.

[That's it.] ］

Then she rode forward, and even whistled softly to the melody in her head.

The journey that should be embarked

There is no other way but to move forward

Not far away awaits the future

Even if it is unknown

Also move forward

Mr. Hijikata, where are you looking at me at this moment?

You just, take a good look.

Watch what a great acting I can do and bring to life the last spark of your life.

Let's see if I'm just like a real Shinsengumi team member, and move forward with faith.

The future you didn't get to

I'll take care of it.