Kondo looked relieved and satisfied, but Hijikata frowned slightly, and the grim look on his face did not lessen at all.

In fact, they can't stay here for too long. Whether it's Ito, Heisuke, or the bodies of the other Imperial Tomb Guards, they are still scattered all over the streets, and if Kondo and Hijikata walk a little slower, if the remnants of the Imperial Tomb Guardians who fled the scene flee somewhere and bring unexpected rescuers, then the situation will be even more difficult to contain.

In other words, the director of the Shinsengumi must not be besieged and killed here today by the remnants of the Imperial Tomb Guards who have gone and returned and brought in to rescue the soldiers, right?

So it was decided that Nagakura and Harada would escort Kondo back to the cantonment first, while Hijikata would stay behind to deal with the aftermath.

No matter how sad he is, Heisuke is now nominally an enemy and betrayer of the Shinsengumi, and after Kondo, Nagakura, and Harada leave the scene, the remaining Hijikata crouches next to Heisuke's body, staring at Heisuke's face with a faint gloom. Then, without looking back, he said to Liu Quan, who was standing silently behind him:

"What happened to make you unable to save him?—— with the skills of you, Nagakura and Harada, if there is no accident, he should be able to be saved. ”

Liu Quan: "......"

She was speechless for a moment.

The deputy didn't seem to mean to question her, but was simply investigating the situation at the time of the incident. And yet this simple question was still difficult for her to answer.

What do you want to say, "Heisuke was so focused on fighting me, so he didn't find out when Miura sneaked up from behind him"? Or "I had the opportunity to warn him first, but I didn't"?

Say "I had a chance to save him, but in order to maintain the truth of history, I chose to stand by and live up to your trust and sacrifice him"?!

After Hijikata asked a question, he didn't get a reply from her for a long time, so he couldn't help but look back at her with a strange expression on his face.

"What's the matter? Is it so hard to say? Are you afraid that I will order you to seppuku when I go back? He added two words lightly, his tone was not distinguishing between joy and anger, and he couldn't tell whether he was joking or not.

Yanagizumi opened his mouth, but finally said in a dry tone, "When Heisuke-kun was focused on fighting me, Miura suddenly appeared from behind him...... I hadn't noticed where he was coming from, but by the time I found him, it was ......"

She wanted to say, "It's too late," to clear herself of the responsibility she might have to bear, but the words stuck in her throat and kept her out of her voice.

However, after receiving her statement, which corresponded to the previous statements of Nagakura and Harada, it was also confirmed, and the deputy chief nodded, not suspicious of her suspicious pause, but sighed in response: "Ah, yes......"

After answering such meaningless words, the deputy chief stopped again, as if something had been stumbling on his mind. He was silent for a long time, and his eyes fell on the long street in front of him, which was pale and bleak by the moonlight, and slowly swept over the bloodstains, the stumps of men, the severed fingers, and the bodies that had fallen to the ground motionless—

"Heisuke, did he say anything at the end. Finally, the deputy asked in a low voice with a sigh.

Liu Quan: "......"

Ah, another difficult question to answer.

Sassy sassy sassy –

Suddenly, a fierce night breeze blew across the roofs on both sides, and Liu Quan didn't need to look up to know that since the change of the oil path had ended as in history, and the result had not changed at all, then it meant that she and Fu Fushen had completed the task this time.

Those mourning gods must be rushing to the oil path right now. Because their inquisitors are still here.

Yes, she is no longer a member of the Shinsengumi team, nor will she be the acting leader of the Shinsengumi Ichibangumi, and it is impossible for her to have a deeper bond with the person in front of her than the relationship between her boss and subordinates.

They, that's the end of it......?

Liu Quan took a deep breath to suppress the sourness that protruded in his heart.

"Heisuke-kun...... Said he wanted to go back in time. She said calmly, "No matter how hard you try, you won't be able to go back to that time......

“…… Because people change. ”

Her final note lowered, and her expression darkened.

Hijikata was silent for a long time.

“…… Is it. He slowly spat out the two syllables, with a hint of emotion.

Then, he exhaled, and instead of turning his head to look at her expression, he slowly raised his head and looked at the moon in the sky that seemed to be obscured by dark clouds.

“…… Is that all there is to it?" he asked simply, instead of commenting on the words she had just relayed.

Liu Quan was silent for a moment.

“…… No. She replied in the same simple and straightforward tone.

"Heisuke...... I guess I want to sing a farewell poem. But by that time he had no strength......"

So, he asked me if I could recite a ...... Mr. Hijikata's haiku. ”

Hijikata: "...... What?!"

On the contrary, it was Heisuke's request that made him look shocked and turned his head sharply to look at Yanagiquan.

Liu Quan also turned his face to look at him.

On the long blood-soaked street, beneath the feet lay the lifeless bodies of fellow comrades, friends, and foes. Only the two of them stood side by side, staring at each other, the moon, unobscured by the dark clouds, still shining tenaciously, and the silver-white moonlight sprinkled on their faces and shoulders.

Liu Quan slowly curled the corners of his lips.

"I said—"

"If you don't live here...... How can you enjoy the flowers near you?"

“…… See you today. ”

Earthwork:!!!

The deputy chief's face showed a look of extreme dismay.

Listening to Yanagizumi recite the haiku he wrote one by one, the expression on his face suddenly showed something other than shock, something deeper and more complicated. But that expression only paused on his face for a moment before disappearing, and the deputy head of the Shinsengumi coughed and straightened his face again, as if those wavering emotions were just someone else's delusion.

"You can't...... Isn't it a little more worry-free, this idiot ......"

The deputy chief said in a tone that was akin to anger, and if he didn't know the cause and effect, he would mistakenly think that he was just scolding his subordinates for doing something wrong.

However, Liu Quan heard a different, similar sense of pain in that reprimand-like sentence. She couldn't help but gasp, and just as she was about to open her mouth to say something, the deputy chief slowly blinked, turned his face away again, and stopped looking at her.

“…… You can't just take him back for burial. He said in a gruff voice, "Although we are very unwilling, we must leave him here and wait for those Imperial Tomb Guards to return......

Liu Quan looked questioning.

As if he noticed it, the deputy chief showed a wry smile, looked at the sky, and said, "...... Since that Heisuke guy chose to stay in the Imperial Tomb Guard until the end, then, so be it. ”

"Who can say for sure what will happen in the future? Maybe a few decades or hundreds of years from now, everyone will say that the Shinsengumi chose to ambush Ito and the Imperial Tomb Guards today was wrong......"

Liu Quan: ?!

The side face of the deputy chief gradually tensed, revealing a resolute line.

"I don't care about those claims. All I know is that this is what I have to do today. If I don't take some action, I'll be ashamed of my conscience, Heisuke, and I must have come here with that feeling. ”

Willow Springs: !!

The deputy chief slowly curled the corners of his lips. Then, without warning, he pressed the hilt of the sword at his waist and turned in the direction of the cantonment.

“…… Then I'll respect his feelings. ”

"It's a stupid kid though...... However, no one can decide for him which is the most important and worthwhile thing for him to do at the risk......

"If I still want to do this after thinking about it seriously, then I will not overturn his decision for him. ”

"Heisuke, after recognizing you, Nagakura, and Harada, he still pulled out his sword and wanted to fight you. ”

"Then it means that at that moment, he wanted to fight to the end as a guardian of the Imperial Tomb - not a member of the Shinsengumi team. ”

"Then as a royal tomb guard, let's leave like this. ”

Willow Springs: !!

Some details that I had never thought of, along with the words of the deputy chief, slowly came to mind at this moment.

Truly...... Although Heisuke said "I want to go back to the past", and when he couldn't think of a sentence to pass away, he wanted to use the deputy chief's haiku instead, but he really never said that he wanted to return to the Shinsengumi and die as a Shinsengumi member.

Heisuke has always been at odds with each other. Perhaps all the way to death. But in the moment of death, he didn't convey his desire to return to the Shinsengumi. Therefore, we can only regard him as a respectable opponent and enemy, and just watch him go away——?

The deputy chief took a step in the direction of the cantonment.

Strangely, he didn't seem to ask her if she wanted to go back with her. It was as if he was sure that she would follow him and return to the Shinsengumi camp as well.

However, the deputy chief had already walked far away, but Liu Quan's feet still seemed to be nailed to the ground, and he did not rush to catch up with him as he had done in countless memories of the moments in his memory.

After several successive footsteps jumping from the roof to the ground behind him, Liu Quan spoke. Without looking back, she said, "Let's go." ”

A golden light flashed, and at last, there was no trace of any living person on the street of the oil path. There are only streets red with blood, and those on the streets who have already lost their lives to this famous battle to the death.

History has been restored to its original state. Only the wind blowing through the corners of the eaves, like a deep sigh that no one knows. Continued for years, for a long time.

The author has something to say: November 5:

Severe colds are still attacking the author's bacteria.

However, this week there continues to be a word count requirement for the list, so I'll update it every day, and the time is a bit bad right now, so it's tentatively set at zero o'clock, if not, it's in the afternoon.

This is today's share, and there should be a shift around 1 pm tomorrow.

Recently, everyone has been paying less attention to the author's bacteria, and the author's bacteria are very sloppy [right fingers.]

In the next chapter, a newcomer (knife?) appears!