I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"Makino, the interesting news you mentioned is that you found a beautiful woman again, right?" A senior sitting next to Makino said in a half-joking tone.

"How is that possible." Makino patted the shoulder of this senior angrily, "The interesting news I want to tell is not such a boring thing."

"Senior Makino!" Sawamura said anxiously, "Then tell me what this interesting news of yours is."

"Hmph, the news I want to share has something to do with the shogunate."

Makino lowered his voice, and he paused when he was talking about evil, to whet Zecun's and others' appetite.

And Makino's little trick was quite successful—Sawamura and the others, who had grown a sense of anticipation, unconsciously pointed their necks in the direction of Makino and stretched forward slightly.

Seeing that he had successfully aroused the interest of Sawamura and the others, Makino stopped playing tricks, cleared his throat, and—

"Recently, the shogunate...seems to be summoning criminals from all over the country."

"Call the felons?" Sawamura muttered, frowning.

The same frowning people, and the rest of the people sitting around Makino.

"I have a friend who works in the prison." Makino continued, "He told me - the shogunate recently issued an order to the feudal lords, asking them to send the felons in their prisons to Kii. "

"Ki...?" Sawamura frowned even deeper, "The more I listened, the more confused I became...Why did the shogunate summon the felons from all over the country for no reason? And why did they send them to Kii?"

"How do I know?" Makino shrugged with a wry smile, "We can't guess what the big shots in the shogunate are thinking."

"Then, are there any serious criminals in our Hirose Clan now?" asked another junior of Makino.

"According to my friend who works in the prison - no." Makino said, "So they are free now, and don't need to be as busy as people in other domains, taking those vicious felons to prison Yi... ah, Ogata-senpai is here!"

Makino's face was facing the gate of the dojo.

So he can clearly see who is going in and out of the dojo.

Makino, who was chatting with Sawamura and the others, caught a glimpse of a familiar figure at the gate of the dojo out of the corner of his eye.

He quickly raised his head and looked towards the gate of the dojo.

The person who appeared at the gate of the dojo was none other than Itsuki Ogata.

Makino only noticed that Ogata was coming.

But he didn't notice the strange expression on Ogata's face at this moment.

Makino hurriedly stood up and led Sawamura and others to meet Ogata.

"Senior Ogata! Good evening!" Makino greeted Ogata first.

"Well. Good evening to you too." Ogata smiled.

After exchanging pleasantries with Makino and the others, the smile disappeared from Ogata's face.

"Sorry, everyone, I suddenly have some urgent matters to deal with, so I will be late for tonight's banquet."

"Huh?" Muye cast a puzzled look at Ogata, "What's urgent? What's urgent?"

"...Sorry, I can't say. Makino, you can tell others for me later."

"Because I may arrive later, you can hold the banquet according to the scheduled time without waiting for my return."

"Makino, please."

After all, Xu Fang didn't make any stop, and quickly left from the gate of the dojo.

Only Makino and the others looked at each other with puzzled faces.

...

...

Waiting for Ogata outside the dojo were the two retainers of Kuranaga Zaemon who had just approached Ogata's family.

"I kept you waiting for a long time." Ogata said to the two of them in a neither salty nor light tone, "Let's go."

"Yes. Ogata Itsushi-kun, please come with us."

...

...

The two young samurai led Ogata to turn left and right in the castle town.

Finally, they stopped in front of a magnificent mansion.

Looking at the generous gate in front of him, Ogata asked the two people in front of him:

"Do I need to hand in my saber?"

"Need not."

"That's it..."

Ogata pulled out the sword from his left waist, and then held the sword with its sheath in his right hand.

After one of the two young warriors whispered a few words to the two servants who guarded the gate, the two servants pushed open the gate of the generous mansion.

"Ogata Yishi-kun, please."

"En." After nodding to the two young warriors, they walked slowly into the old man's mansion under the leadership of the two.

After Ogata and others walked into Kuranaga's mansion, the two gatekeepers closed the door again.

The slowly closed gate of the mansion re-isolated the mansion from the outside world.

...

...

"Ogata Yishi-kun, please sit down."

After the leading young samurai led Ogata into a clean and tidy room, he made another "please" gesture towards the tatami in the center of the room.

After Ogata nodded to the young samurai again, he knelt down at the position the young samurai had pointed to just now, and placed the sword he had been holding in his right hand on the tatami on the right side of his body.

Then straighten your back and place your hands flat on your legs.

In front of Ogata, there are two paper sliding doors that can be opened to the left and right.

These two paper sliding doors together form a huge paper wall, blocking Ogata's sight.

After Ogata knelt on the ground, the two young samurai responsible for bringing Ogata all the way here walked towards the two ends of the two huge paper sliding doors, one left and one right.

One person kneels and sits on the edge of the paper sliding door on the left.

The other person kneels and sits on the edge of the paper sliding door on the right.

As if rehearsed in advance, the two reached out their hands at the same time and opened the paper sliding doors on the left and right sides.

The paper wall blocking Ogata's line of sight was divided into two halves.

Ogata's sight also suddenly brightened.

Behind the paper wall consisting of two paper sliding doors, is an old man who is also sitting upright.

Ogata was too familiar with this old man.

After all, we just met each other in the god worship competition more than a month ago.

This old man is none other than the elder of their Hirose Clan—Kurayagazaemon.

Cang Yong looked at Ogata.

Then, in a calm tone, he said to the two young samurai who were responsible for bringing Ogata here, and then helped to open the paper sliding door that separated Ogata from Kuranaga:

"You two go back first."

"Yes!"*2

The two young warriors agreed in unison, stood up in unison, and left the room.

In this space, only Ogata and Cang Yong are left.

"It's been more than a month. Ogata-kun." Cang Yong smiled at Ogata.

"Good evening, my boss." Ogata squeezed out a polite smile towards Cang Yong as much as possible, "I don't know that my boss invited me into the house late at night. What's the matter?"

Ogata was actually somewhat displeased with Cang Yong inviting him into the mansion at this time.

Because the time Cang Yong chose is too difficult to describe.

According to the original plan, Ogata should have been drinking happily with his brothers at the Sakakibara Sword Gym by now.

As a result, Ogata's original plan was completely disrupted because of Kuranaga's sudden "invitation".