Not long after, the official army had the absolute upper hand in the battle against Renji. Saigo Takamori had to move to Miyazaki ahead of schedule.

The bad weather is still raging, and the Sa army that remains in Renji can only fight to the death.

Behind a fortress on the mountain road, Kojiro, who was noisy and talkative, was talking to the young man next to him.

Now they can only wait for the officers and troops to press the border in a big way. It is not okay to abandon Renji and retreat without permission. But before the officers and troops arrived at Renji and launched a general attack, they had a short time to spare—and they could only wait.

In order to dispel the tense atmosphere that was almost suffocating, Kojiro talked more than usual.

The people who were squatting with him behind the sandbag forts, he recognized. It is one of Kirino-sama's henchmen - Kujo Saburo.

Being able to garrison and fight with such a person made Kojiro feel a burst of excitement inexplicably. In order to get closer to the other party, he worked hard to find a topic.

"Kirino-sama actually asked you to stay and assist the defender Yoshi...... That way we'll have a better chance of winning!"

Saburo didn't answer him, just smiled ambiguously.

"Oh and! Before I came out today, Kirino-sama gave me an amazing task to wait—" Kojiro saw that the other party didn't seem to appreciate the flattery just now, and his eyes rolled to a new topic.

This sentence really caught the attention of a little Saburo. He asked with a smirk, "Oh, what mission?"

Kojiro: "Let's pay attention to one person! It's an enemy army! Kirino-sama said that if he finds out, he will try to kill the other party as much as possible! Because he wants to be angry for Kujo-kun!"

San Lang frowned slightly.

“...... Give me a breath?" he repeated the suspicious command in confusion.

"Who offended me? Therefore, Kirino-sama still has to tell you to be angry for me? I don't know?"

Kojiro's eyes widened, as if he was surprised.

"You're really...... We've all heard about it! The last time I sent you on a secret mission, weren't you almost caught and killed by the officers and soldiers? Kirino said that maybe it was those people who came this time, and we couldn't just let them go!"

Saburo seemed to smile.

"Mobilization before the war...... Really, don't talk to me!" he muttered as if grumbling.

Kojiro: "Yes! So we're all going to take it to heart! Be sure to kill these enemies and give you your breath! Everyone will be desperate!"

Saburo smiled and shook his head.

"You'd better live well...... And when the time comes, I will save you. He replied unceremoniously. But because his tone is smiling, it doesn't sound very offensive, but it has an approachable sense of intimacy.

Kojiro: "Yes, yes, I have had several brothers say thank you for saving your life...... If it weren't for you, their lives would have been lost to Taharasaka!"

Saburo seemed to be stunned for a moment, and then smiled faintly.

"What are you doing so seriously? What will it look like if you don't save you? It's not something to make a fuss about. He said lightly, turning his head again to stick warily behind the fortress, and glanced out quickly.

"If only you could live...... There must be people in your hometown who are waiting for you to come home. Desperately have to be measured......"

To Kojiro's surprise, Saburo, who has been brave and showy in recent battles, did not say any heroic words, but said such simple and straightforward words.

He didn't need their gratitude, he didn't show off his exploits in battle, and when he spoke, he sang against everyone, not to encourage everyone to fight bravely and sacrifice themselves for the ideals of Saigo-sama, but to remind them that there were still families in their hometown waiting for them to go back, so they had to spare their lives...... This is not the same as the image and style of the "young hero" who said that a good "young hero" should have?!

Kojiro, who thought that he would receive the baptism of the hero's aura of the other party's "young fearless", was dumbfounded.

Maybe it was because his inner OS was almost written on his face, Saburo suddenly glanced at him, and then, lightly curled the corners of his lips.

A wistful smile appeared on his face.

“...... Because, I can't go back. But you can still ......," he said slowly.

Kojiro felt that his mind was not enough.

"What...... What?" he stammered, subconsciously feeling that what Saburo was saying to him seemed to be something deeper and heavier than the words themselves, but his limited mind could not grasp Saburo's true meaning.

He thought to himself that maybe this was why Saburo had been entrusted with such a task at such a young age, and he could only sit here with his gun in his hand, waiting to participate in a battle with little chance of winning.

But Saburo didn't laugh at him.

"I used to ...... I used to have a good friend like a younger brother, and then, he was attacked from behind in an inexplicable deathfight......"

Saburo suddenly talked about his past in a low tone.

Kojiro felt that this was a sign that Saburo was beginning to trust him, so he immediately shook his spirits, pricked up his ears, and listened carefully.

“...... Unfortunately, he didn't survive. It hurt too badly...... We would have wanted to save his ......," Saburo said.

Kojiro: "Oh, oh...... That's ......."

He couldn't even say something nice. But Saburo doesn't seem to mind that too much.

"Before he died, he told me that he wanted to go back in time. No matter how hard you try, you can't go back to that time...... Because people change. ”

Saburo's tone was filled with a sigh that resembled a deep sigh.

Kojiro: "...... Go back, go back?!"

He didn't quite understand Saburo's friend's feelings, so he asked.

Saburo smiled and bowed slightly.

"If you can't go back in time......" he whispered.

The next moment, his words were almost drowned out by the sudden explosion of cannons.

“...... Then, go back to your hometown and meet your important ones. ”

Kojiro didn't have time to think carefully about what Saburo's words meant, so he was forced to immediately go into battle.

The weather was a little better than the previous day during the Battle of Taharasaka, so the guns and bullets on both sides poured on each other's positions as if they didn't need money.

From morning to dusk, everyone looked unkempt and embarrassed.

Kojiro's rifle had long since run out of bullets, and he ran out of bullets in the gun he had picked up from the battlefield by desperately knocking out two enemies. Now, if the official army comes back to attack, the only thing he can rely on is the knife in his hand.

Saburo didn't fight alongside him all the time. Because Saburo was the squad leader of about 100 people deployed on their side, he had to brave the rain of bullets and bullets to run back and forth between the forts in this area, and support the forts that were about to be breached in time.

Kojiro didn't actually expect Saburo to stay in their fortress all the time and fight alongside him. He knew very well in his heart that Saburo was different from them.

Although they also followed Saigo-sama to raise troops and planned to go to Tokyo, Kojiro actually didn't quite understand what they were fighting and why they were going against the government.

Although Kojiro's family was a so-called "castle corporal"—a higher level than ordinary "village soldiers"—he had many brothers and sisters in his family, and he also took in several children from his uncle's family, and his father's income alone could not support the whole family, so since he could remember, the family was always in a state of stretch, and he had to go out with his brothers and sisters to work to quietly support the family's life.

In addition, he had not been very nimble, and could not understand why the government suddenly had to cancel the allowances of the nobles, and he only knew that if there was no income, the whole family would starve to death. So, he joined the team led by Lord Saigo in a daze, and wanted to follow Lord Xixiang to Beijing to ask those officials and gentlemen, why all this is-

However, when the gunfire changed from dense to sporadic, the shouts of the officers and soldiers were heard all over the mountains, and their footsteps became closer and closer, Kojiro held the knife in his hand tightly, closed his eyes tightly, and sobbed and cried.

He was only seventeen years old, and he couldn't understand why he couldn't survive even though he had worked so hard, why all the directions given by life pointed to a dead end: to live well, but his family was in trouble, to join Saigo-sama's army, but he was accused of being a traitor, and now that even Saigo-sama had abandoned them, he was going to die here.

He could almost feel the momentum of the officer who rushed up first, and before the other party's people had fully reached the fortress, they had already drowned Kojiro who was hiding behind the fortress, and the cold blade of the other party was wrapped in a chill, and with a loud shout, the attacker jumped up, jumped to the top of the low wall of sandbags stacked up on the fortress, and seemed to be about to slash at him in the head—

Kojiro sobbed and cried, but when it came to the end, he was so frightened that he didn't even dare to open his eyes.

He didn't learn any swordsmanship seriously, only his father taught him a little casually when he was a child, and most of it was learned after he joined Saigo-sama's team; Then, just when he felt that he had not learned anything, the march towards the capital began. Now, he survived several battles, but finally reached the level where he couldn't escape.

Although he is not skilled in swordsmanship, he can also feel the chill of the blade of the person who came. He knew that he might not even be able to resist a move under this man's hands. He could only close his eyes tightly, praying that he would not see his final moment, so that death would not hurt too much—

Saburo said: If you can't go back to the past...... Then, go back to your hometown and meet your important ones.

However, the smart and brave Saburo did not say what if he couldn't return to his hometown.

At the moment when the blade of the comer fell, Kojiro squirmed his lips and said in a low voice:

【...... Mom-]

Before his voice was over, he heard a bang very close above his head!

It was the crisp sound of gold and iron colliding!

Kojiro opened his eyes suddenly!

It was actually San Lang who didn't know when he went and returned! He was also holding a knife with a flickering cold light in his hand, and at this moment, the blade was upward, holding the blade that fell from the hand of the officer and military officer who rushed up!

Kojiro stared blankly at the two swords that were staggered against each other.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment, and he slowly looked away from the blade again, to the face of the man who had nearly taken his life.

Unexpectedly, the man had a very handsome face. Although it looks like some of the vicissitudes of life after getting older, there is no doubt that he is definitely a beautiful man in terms of facial features alone, even if he is now raising his eyebrows and looking imposing, it only adds a terrifying aura and heart-wrenching bearing to him.

Kojiro's eyes couldn't help but widen.

But the next moment, his mind was shaken back by a loud shout coming from above his head.

"What are you doing here?!"

...... It was the man who had just saved him.

It's Saburo.

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September 1:

I swear this chapter does have an appearance!

Also, the friend that the sister mentioned in the chat was Heisuke.

If you still have a little impression, when the girl was doing the task of the change of the oil path in the world of the knife man, Heisuke told the sister before he died that he wanted to go back to the past.

Next update: Expected tomorrow.

Thank you to the little angel who voted for me or irrigated the nutrient solution~

Thanks to the little angel who threw [grenade]: 1 Gui Heshen;

Thanks to the little angel who threw [Mine]: Meow Meow, Immortal Limit 1;

Thanks to the little angel who irrigated [the nutrient solution]:

unknown 8 bottles, Dazai Lo Malfoy 7 bottles;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!