"No, it won't."

As soon as Hasegawa's words fell, he replied without thinking.

"I don't regret it."

"If I had to go back to the past, even if I knew that I would become a prisoner in the future, I would not hesitate to swing my sword and kill that dog thief in Matsudaira Gennai."

Ogata's words were not in high spirits.

But he said it categorically, without any hesitation.

Hasegawa stared straight at Ogata.

I don't know if it's Ogata's illusion, but he always felt that Hasegawa's expressionless face had a little more smile at this time.

“…… Ogata is a sword. I don't really hate you. ”

"About the former feudal lord of the Hirose Domain, Gennai Matsudaira...... Although I have lived in Edo for a long time, I have heard about some of his deeds. ”

"You killed this beast for the people of the Hirose Domain...... To be honest, I admire you. ”

Speaking of this, Hasegawa felt as if he had some bad memories, and his face was a little heavier.

"I ...... If only I could have the courage and courage of you......"

"From the point of view of the shogunate, from the point of view of bushido, you are a traitor who has committed the heinous crime of killing the king."

"But from the perspective of the people and the righteousness of the world, you are a hero worthy of respect."

"I don't really want to arrest you if I could."

"But...... I'm so sorry. Each of us is his own master, each of us has his own government. ”

"I'm also a shogun, a commander of the fire thieves."

"So...... Sorry. ”

"Ghost Ping, don't apologize to me." Ogata shrugged, "I understand you. So you don't have to apologize to me, and you don't have to feel any guilt. ”

"When I decided to kill that dog thief in Matsudaira Gennai, I was mentally prepared for such a day."

With that, Ogata leaned back at will, leaning in a very comfortable position against the cold, somewhat damp brick wall behind him.

"So- Onihei. What is the punishment I am about to endure? Whether to ask for beheading directly on the spot, or to be escorted back to Edo to ask for beheading. ”

"If I had a choice, I'd like to choose the latter."

"Before I die, I want to see what Edo looks like as the most prosperous castle in all of Japan."

"I'll try to get you that."

After saying this in a half-joking tone, Hasegawa straightened up again, leaning against the wall behind him, and then turned to leave.

"Hurry up and eat, Ogata Ichisai. I'll come back to see you when I'm free. ”

"Hey! Wait a minute! I still have some questions for you! ”

Ogata still has a lot of questions to ask Hasegawa, such as: Did you catch Mamiya?

But Hasegawa just waved his hand.

"I'll answer your questions slowly when I see you next time."

……

……

Ogata didn't know or care where he was being held.

I don't know if it was because of Hasegawa's special care, but Ogata had three meals a day, and each meal was quite hearty.

Although the food is good, the life is very boring.

After all, in prison, there is nothing else to do except eat and sleep.

Naturally, Ogata's two swords were not around.

Sakakihara's certificate, cheats, and his money bag - all of his three things were naturally confiscated by the officials who changed them to the thieves.

With nothing to do, the only way to pass the time is to keep practicing the "Breath of the Source......

Although Hasegawa had said that he would come to see him when he had time, Ogata had not seen Hasegawa since that parting.

More than a month passed like this......

……

……

Tatsuno Domain, in the temporary residence of the fire payment thieves -

Hasegawa was now in his room, flipping through a book.

And this book is one of the few pieces of luggage that was found on Ogata's body——。

After hurriedly flipping through it several times, Hasegawa let out a long sigh.

"No...... Still can't read it...... What kind of broken book is this......"

For more than a month, Hasegawa will take a look at this book whenever he has time.

As a person who practices swords, he is naturally extremely interested in this book, which is a secret book of swordsmanship.

But in the past month or so, no matter how many times Hasegawa picked up this book, how many times he would put it down helplessly.

No matter how many times he read it, Hasegawa couldn't understand what was written on it.

This made Hasegawa suspect more than once that this might not be a swordsmanship cheat at all, just a random graffiti drawn by someone who was bored.

Although they had succeeded in capturing the "Streamer Hachiman" and the "Executioner's Sword", Hasegawa's real goal of their trip, the "Buddha Enemy", had not been found.

Therefore, after capturing Mamiya and Ogata, Hasegawa still led his subordinates to stay in the Tatsuno Domain, and continued to pursue the traces of the "Buddha enemy".

And yet - after more than a month of tracking, nothing was found.

The "enemy of the Buddha" may have left the Tatsuno Domain—and although he was unwilling to face it, Hasegawa had to admit that it might be a harsh reality.

The reason why Hasegawa led his subordinates to stay in the Tatsuno Domain was to continue to pursue the "Buddha enemy".

On the other hand, I was waiting for a reply from Edo.

Concerning...... What to do with the replies of Ogata and Mamiya.

In other words, Hasegawa would not have needed to be so troublesome, and he would have sent a message to Edo asking for instructions from the shogunate.

But now, with a special situation on Kii's side, the current Hasegawa has to inform the shogunate first after catching felons like Ogata and Mamiya, and let the shogunate decide on the disposal plan.

Before the shogunate's response arrived, Hasegawa had no choice but to put Ogata and Manomiya in prison.

Hasegawa had just closed the book in his hand and put it back on the table in front of him, when outside the room, Imai suddenly shouted with excitement:

"Hasegawa-sama! The messenger of the shogunate has just arrived with a reply! ”

Hearing Imai's words, Hasegawa hurriedly said:

"Bring me the reply!"

"Yes!"

The paper sliding door was unceremoniously pulled open by Imai.

Imai walked into the room with a scroll on his face, and handed it to Hasegawa.

After taking the scroll from Imai and making sure that it had not been opened, Hasegawa hurriedly loosened the ropes that bound the scroll and hurriedly unfolded it.

Ten lines at a glance, he glanced at every word written on the scroll.

As Hasegawa's gaze moved quickly over the words on the scroll, Hasegawa's face became more complicated a little bit.