"These seven pieces of chain mail, you will all wear them tomorrow." Kuranaga stroked the nearest pair of chain mail, "It's definitely going to come in handy." ”

"What exactly we will do tomorrow will not be known until we get to the scene. So-Ichiro, after the seven of you have launched a assault, you will be the commander-in-chief. ”

"When to start the attack, who will be the main attack, who will be the auxiliary - these things are up to you."

"Yes!" Ichiro echoed loudly.

As for Kuranaga, at this point, he paused.

After a while, he spoke up again:

"It's almost September now, and according to the lord's habit of never going out to hunt in autumn and winter, his hunt tomorrow will be his last hunting trip this year."

"So it's our only chance this year......

"So...... Tomorrow...... It's what determines our ...... and the future days of the Hirose Domain. ”

"I hope you will work together."

"I wish you all the ...... Wu Yun Changlong. ”

……

……

Ogata never expected that he would lose sleep tonight.

Maybe it's because I'm excited, or maybe I'm nervous.

Or is it ...... Simply because Shiro's snoring was too loud.

Ogata usually found out that Shiro was a person with a particularly big nerves.

But Ogata didn't expect Shiro's nerves to be so big, and the night before the decisive battle, he slept more soundly than usual, and snoring was even louder.

Feeling like he couldn't sleep, Ogata lifted the quilt and tiptoed out of the room.

The aspirants all slept in the same room, and in order not to disturb the sleep of the others, Ogata deliberately kept the sound of footsteps and breathing to a minimum.

Ogata wanted to take a casual walk outside the room and take a break.

In order to conceal the existence of Ogata and the others, Kuranaga drew a "circle" with the living room of the aspirants as the center of the circle, and did not allow any attendants in the house to enter this "circle", and at the same time did not let Ogata and the others go out of this "circle".

The only people who can freely enter and exit this "circle" are Kuranaga and Flying Ape.

Due to the limited range of activities, Ogata can't just walk around.

In the end, Ogata decided to go to the place he was most familiar with these days—the dojo.

There was a fairly large window in the dojo, and the window was facing the sky.

Ogata's goal was to go to the dojo to look at the night sky and breathe in the fresh air outside the window.

When he opened the sliding paper door of the dojo, Ogata was surprised to find that there were people in the dojo.

And...... Or an acquaintance of Ogata.

"The old man of the family......" Looking at Kuranaga who was holding a wooden knife in his hand, Ogata raised his eyebrows, "Why are you here?" Are you also running here to watch the night sky because you can't sleep? ”

Ogata said as he pouted at the large window of the dojo.

"I really can't sleep." Kuranaga smiled bitterly, "But—not to see the night sky. ”

"I can't sleep anyway, so I thought I'd just come and practice swordsmanship."

"The old man of the family......" Ogata cast a helpless look at Kuranaga, "You will only get more and more excited the more you practice, and the more you practice, the more you can't sleep." ”

With that, Ogata walked straight to the window, then sat cross-legged by the window with a big grin, looking out at the stars in the night sky.

"The old man...... Actually...... Ever since you summoned me to the house and asked me if I wanted to be an executioner, I've always thought you were weird. ”

Now there are only Ogata and Kuranaga, and there are no other outsiders.

Therefore, Ogata decided to talk to Kurunaga tonight about the words and questions that he had been trying to say to Kuronaga that he had been trying to say these days, but had never had the opportunity to say.

"Strange? What is the place? ”

"My lord, you're planning to assassinate Matsudaira Gennai."

"But for the person you intend to assassinate, you are still called 'lord'."

"It's like saying honorifics to your father-killing enemy who is about to be killed, it's quite weird."

"My lord, why do you still insist on calling Matsudaira Gennai 'lord'? If you call this kind of thing and change it with your heart, you can still correct it, right? ”

After hearing Ogata's question, Kuranaga pursed his lips.

Then, Kuranaga silently put the wooden knife in his hand back on the knife holder, and then walked by Ogata's side and sat side by side with Ogata.

"Yes...... Kuranaga smiled bitterly, "I'm ...... I think I'm conflicted......"

"I obviously want Matsudaira Genuchi to die now......"

"But the mouth always uses honorific titles against him without obedience......"

"I want to support the determination of righteousness, and follow ...... The concept of 'loyalty', which I have always adhered to since I had my own memory, is blended with each other to create ...... I'm so contradictory, weird now......"

"My lord......," Ogata said softly, "you're a great man, too...... In times like these, there are almost no more people like you who do not hesitate to kill the lord you serve for the sake of justice......"

"Heh......" the corners of Kuronaga's mouth twitched, revealing an ugly smile, "Me too...... After an unimaginable struggle, you finally made up your mind to help the righteous ......"

"After becoming the new lord of my domain in Matsudaira Gennai, and his brutal nature was exposed, I told myself in my heart countless times."

"'I am a samurai, I must be loyal to my lord, and no matter what ridiculous things my lord does, I cannot be disloyal to him.'"

"I have to say this in my head countless times every day......"

"Only then will I be able to ignore the atrocities committed in Matsudaira Gen with peace of mind."

"Until...... It was probably around the middle of this year...... I saw the lord hack a poor little girl to death......"

"The poor little girl didn't do anything wrong, except that she accidentally collided with the driver of Matsudaira Gennai's car, and was cut in two by Matsudaira Gennai's subordinates, and then thrown on the side of the road like garbage......"

"I happened to be there at the ......"

"I can't describe how I felt when I saw the horrible death of this little girl......"

"All I remember clearly is that a voice sounded very loudly in my head: I can't take it anymore."

Kuranaga pulled out the knife that was stuck in his waist.

Ka.

Then pull the sheath open and slowly pull the blade out of the scabbard.

The unsheathed blade, the cold glow reflected by it just covered Kurayong's eyes, illuminating the essence light in Kuranaga's pupils.

"That moment...... I finally came to my senses......"

"I'm a samurai and a man."

"When the sky falls apart, a few men have to step up."

"If you succumb to the darkness and don't sacrifice yourself for the righteousness of Kuangfu, you will be a man in vain!"

"Ogata-kun, I'll tell you the truth."

"When it came time to assassinate the lord, I decided—I launched this assassination as a man. In the end, I'm going to make a decision as a samurai. ”

"It doesn't matter if the assassination is a success or a failure. I'll apologize for my sins. ”

"The assassination of the lord is for the good of the world. Apology is for the sake of the samurai's morality. ”

"Use the blood of my belly to cleanse my soul that has been unclean for rebellion against the Lord."

With that, Kuranaga slowly inserted the knife back into its scabbard, causing the cold light that had enveloped his eyes to fade.