Ogata could not refuse Kuranaga's invitation.

After all, this is an invitation from the second-in-command of the Hirose Domain.

In addition to Gennai Matsudaira, Ogata's top boss.

Plus - Ogata also has a lot of questions to ask Kuranaga.

And Kuranaga's sudden invitation was a great opportunity to question Kuranaga in person.

So—Oo accepted Kuranaga's invitation.

Before coming to Kuranaga's mansion, Ogata did not forget to make a special detour to the Sakakihara Sword Hall and tell his brothers that he would go to the banquet later tonight.

"Ogata-kun, I'm so sorry."

Kuranaga suddenly leaned over and apologized to Ogata.

"I've heard that - you have quite an important feast to attend tonight, right?"

"Because of me, you have to postpone your dinner. I'm really sorry. ”

As early as yesterday, Kuranaga learned from the flying ape that Ogata was going to attend an important banquet tonight.

But for his own selfishness, Kuranaga decided to go ahead with the original plan and summon Ogata into the house tonight, wronging Ogata and forcing Ogata to postpone the banquet.

Ogata sighed softly and silently.

"Boss, you don't need to apologize."

"If you have anything important to say to me, then please say it. I'll listen. ”

Kuranaga straightened up and straightened his clothes.

"Since Ogata-kun still has an important banquet to attend tonight, then I won't waste time and go straight to the point."

Kuranaga raised his eyes.

With an extremely serious gaze, he looked directly into Ogata's eyes.

“…… Ogata-kun, would you like to be an executioner? ”

……

……

The room was immersed in an eerie silence for a few moments before Ogata's "ha" finally broke the silence.

“…… Ha? Ogata looked at Kurinaga with a stunned gaze, still holding a serious face.

Kuranaga's serious expression declared that what he had just said was not a joke, he was quite serious.

Executioner - This word is unfamiliar to Ogata, but he understands what it means.

"Executioner...... Do you want me to kill someone? ”

"That's right." Kuranaga nodded.

"Who do you want me to kill?"

"Gennai Matsudaira."

“…… Ha? ”

This is the second "ha" sound from Ogata that contains complex emotions such as stunned and shocked.

Who is Matsudaira Genuai, of course Ogata knows.

At this point, Ogata wondered if he had misheard.

“…… Boss, who do you want me to kill? In a cautious tone, Ogata repeated his question.

And Kuranaga also repeated his answer just now:

"Gennai Matsudaira."

As if intending to convince Ogata that he had heard correctly, Kuranaga added, after a pause:

"I hope you can help us work together to assassinate the Daimyo of the Hirose Domain, our lord Matsudaira Gennai."

……

……

Hirose Domain, somewhere in the forest within the domain.

"It's really bad luck today......"

A young man with a pale face said in a calm, indifferent tone.

"At the end of the day, not even a single prey was killed."

The young man was sitting on the body of a samurai.

The samurai propped his hands and knees on the muddy ground, turning his back into a "chair".

And the pale-faced young man sat on the back of the warrior with such a big grin.

Even though the samurai under his crotch was already in a cold sweat from exertion, and his hands and legs began to tremble slightly, the pale young man sitting on his back did not mean to understand him in the slightest.

The young man sat on the back of a samurai.

In front of him, on either side of him, kneeling on one knee after another, samurai lay one after another.

These warriors were the young man's bodyguards.

There were 113 of them.

Every time he went out hunting, the young man would bring out his 113 guards and protect him while he was hunting.

This young man is none other than the current daimyo of the Hirose Domain, Matsudaira Gennai, who came to hunt today.

After hearing Matsudaira Gennai's complaint that he couldn't hit his prey, a thin cold sweat began to break out on the faces of many of the guards.

At the same time, they are also afraid that their already hanging heads will be buried even lower.

This posture seems to be eager to shrink itself into the soil.

Because they've seen too many times that Gennai Matsudaira is angry with other people because of bad hunting......

In order not to be targeted by Matsudaira Gennai, they had to bury their heads as low as possible and shrink their bodies......

“…… Lord. ”

A stout samurai, who was also on one knee but closest to Matsudaira Gennai, spoke up.

"Now that it's getting dark, let's stop today's hunt."

This sturdy samurai is none other than Nanahara, the first samurai of their Hirose Domain and the personal guard of Matsudaira Gennai.

At the same time, he is also one of the few people who can give some advice to Matsudaira Gennai.

Hearing Nanahara's words, Matsudaira Genuchi raised his head and looked at the sky that was almost dark.

“…… Let's go back. ”

With that, Matsudaira stood up and walked towards the horse that was tied to him.

Seeing that Matsudaira Gennai was finally planning to go back, most of the guards, especially the one who used Matsudaira Gennai as a "chair", breathed a sigh of relief......

……

……

"Assassination...... ...... Matsudaira Gennai? ”

Ogata struggled to get each word of the sentence out of his mouth.

“…… My lord, let me make sure - are you joking? ”

"I'm not kidding." Kuranaga said, "I'm quite serious. ”

Affected by the huge amount of information, Ogata now feels like his head is a little swollen.

As Ogata raised his hand and rubbed his forehead to soothe his somewhat tense brain from the impact of the massive amount of information, Kuranaga said:

"Ogata-kun, although you don't have much contact with the lord on weekdays, you must have heard of the lord's cruelty, right?"

“…… Slightly heard. I've seen it with my own eyes......"

Ogata remembered the scene in which Gennai Matsudaira accidentally knocked into his arms with a sword when Gennai Matsudaira was inspecting the warehouse......

"Although you have heard of and witnessed the cruelty of the lord, you have not really experienced the cruelty of the lord—I can guarantee that."

"In order to tell you the motive for my decision to assassinate my lord, I have decided to let you ...... first See Individuals. ”

After saying that, Kuraga tilted his head and shouted outside the room:

"Flying Ape!"

As soon as Kuranaga finished speaking, a short, unattractive young man opened the paper sliding door on Ogata's left.

"My lord." The young man, whom Kuranaga called the flying ape, knelt on one knee.

"Help me bring Riggie."

"Yes!"

The flying ape replied loudly, then reopened the paper sliding door and disappeared from Ogata and Kusunaga's field of vision.

It didn't take long for the ape to return.

The flying ape that came back did not come back alone.

Instead, he returned with a skinny teenager.