My Gang of Swordsmen-Chapter 76 - 58: Anti-foreigner Group (Part 2)

After moving into the room arranged by the Inquiry House for him, Tachibana Aoto borrowed paper and pen from the Inquiry House, intending to send a letter to report his encounter today to the Magistrate’s Office in Edo.

Being surrounded by 8 members of the "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction" today—this is the kind of thing Aoto had no reason, nor could he possibly not report to the Magistrate’s Office immediately.

After all, it would be beneficial for Aoto to provide the Magistrate’s Office, which is currently cracking down on the "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction," with as early and detailed information as possible about these madmen.

After writing down in detail in the letter about the specific time, place, and number of attackers he faced today, and how he counterattacked them, and requesting further instructions from the Magistrate’s Office, Aoto handed the letter to the Flying Foot employed by the government at the Inquiry House, to be immediately sent to the North Guard Station in Edo.

[Note: Flying Foot - Couriers of the Edo Era, mainly tasked with delivering letters, money, bills of exchange, and goods. Their service range spanned across major cities in Japan.]

As Aoto was busy reporting to the North Guard Station—

...

... 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Not far from Shinagawa Inn, in a certain mountain forest, there was a solitary cave that could accommodate three adults walking side by side.

The cave appeared to be ordinary, but it was actually full of secrets.

Dozens of samurai with swords at their waists were scattered around the cave, hidden in the shadows, vigilantly guarding the surroundings to prevent anyone irrelevant from approaching the cave.

At this moment, if someone walked all the way through the short tunnel, they would see pinpoints of light.

Several oil lamps for illumination were hung on the rock wall at the deepest part of the cave.

Under the oil lamps were faces with various expressions.

At the deepest part of the cave, more than a dozen samurai were gathered.

The dozen or so people were sitting on both sides of the cave.

A particularly burly young man sat boldly on the main seat overlooking the samurai seated on both sides of the cave.

This young man had a height far beyond the average of this era, rivaling Saito. Standing a bit over 180 cm, he had an impressive presence compared to the other samurai who were mostly around 150 cm.

Of course—the large scar on his face added more to his intimidating presence.

A large scar, resembling a centipede, stretched with the momentum of wanting to split open the young man’s entire face, extending from his left mouth corner to his right eye corner.

Sitting on a large rock, the young man placed his hands on his knees, rhythmically tapping his right kneecap with his right index finger.

With an emotionless and indifferent gaze, he looked at a short samurai kneeling before him, whose body was trembling slightly.

If Saito were present, he would surely find the short samurai familiar—this was the dwarf who escaped from his blade.

"...So... Mr. Daqian, are you saying you ran away in the heat of the moment?"

As soon as the young man finished speaking, the dwarf, trembling even more, hurriedly said:

"Mr. Kamino! I... I... I..."

The dwarf seemed to want to defend himself, but after stammering for a long time, he couldn’t form a complete sentence, and his face gradually turned an unnatural dark red.

The young man, addressed as "Mr. Kamino," took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

"So you’re saying that national traitor Tachibana Aoto has found himself a skilled bodyguard..."

"You say you surrounded Tachibana Aoto and his bodyguard from front and back, did you see what happened to the other four blocking their way before you fled?"

"I... I... I didn’t notice..."

"I thought as much, you were only focused on fleeing."

The dwarf lowered his head even more.

"Since Tachibana Aoto found himself a capable bodyguard... I suppose the other four have likely perished."

Saying this, Shinno sneered.

"That Tachibana Aoto is really cunning... actually getting himself a bodyguard."

"Tsk... This makes three attempted assassinations on Tachibana Aoto, all of which have failed... That national traitor is truly tenacious."

Shinno lowered his gaze back down onto the still trembling dwarf.

"Mr. Daqian, I am truly disappointed in you."

"As a samurai, how could you flee in the face of battle?"

"Mr. Kamino!" the dwarf stammered, "The bodyguard hired by Tachibana Aoto was too formidable! We couldn’t compete! So..."

"Couldn’t compete? So does that mean you couldn’t die heroically?"

Shinno slowly stood up.

"I have nothing more to say to you."

With that, Shinno drew something from his belt and threw it in front of the dwarf.

As soon as the dwarf’s eyes touched upon what Shinno had tossed before him, his already pale face turned even whiter than snow.

It was a short blade without a hilt.

A blade... that any samurai would recognize as specifically used for a certain purpose...

Shinno spoke to the dwarf in a quiet voice, as though stating something self-evident:

"Mr. Daqian, perform seppuku."

"Mr. Kamino!" The dwarf looked up, his voice cracking as he pleaded sharply, "Please, give me one more chance! I won’t do it again next time..."

"There won’t be a next time for you," Shinno said. "Wasn’t it clearly established when we formed the ’Anti-foreigner Group’? Anyone who abandons their comrades and flees in battle—Seppuku!"

"Perform seppuku with dignity like a Samurai, or be disgracefully hacked to death by us—choose."

Shinno’s cold words were like invisible sharp blades.

The dwarf’s lips began to turn ashen as he looked around, seeking out his other comrades sitting on both sides of the cave.

The comrades met by the dwarf’s pleading gaze either quickly lowered their heads, pretending not to see his eyes, focusing on their own noses and hearts.

Or, they met his gaze with the same indifferent look as Shinno.

"Mr. Daqian." Shinno’s tone now bore a distinct impatience, "Decide quickly."

Shinno slowly placed his left hand on the hilt of the sword at his left waist.

"If you still consider yourself a Samurai, then quickly and beautifully cut open your own belly."

Shinno’s words... or rather, the first part, "If you still consider yourself a Samurai," seemed to hold some magical power, causing the dwarf to shudder violently.

He gradually shifted his gaze, filled with conflict, pain, and despair, toward the short sword Shinno had just thrown in front of him.

In an instant, determination and fierceness slowly began to rise on the dwarf’s cheeks.

He tore open his clothes, exposing his upper body, then grabbed the short sword without a hilt.

"Hmph... you still have some backbone." A hint of approving smile rose at the corner of Shinno’s mouth. "Considering you finally stopped making foolish choices... I’ll be your executioner."

With that, Shinno stepped sideways, positioning himself slightly behind the dwarf.

The method of seppuku is one of extreme pain.

After slicing open the belly, it often takes half an hour to an hour before dying from excessive blood loss.

Struggling for half an hour to an hour in the intense pain of having one’s stomach and intestines cut open... very few can endure it.

Thus, the role of the executioner emerged.

What is known as the "executioner" is that once the one performing seppuku cuts open their belly, another person immediately delivers a strike to behead the individual, ending their suffering.

This act is referred to as "execution," and the person who performs it is the "executioner."

The dwarf held the sword with both hands, pointing the tip at the left side of his abdomen.

He straightened his back, lifted his head, trying his utmost to appear gallant and fearless in the face of death, yet his small frame trembled uncontrollably.

The dwarf gritted his teeth, let out a cry, and plunged the short sword into his abdomen in one go.

The noble appearance of having no fear in the face of danger vanished in an instant.

His eyes bulged, the whites turned red, nostrils flared, cheeks flushed, and because of the clenching teeth, two small mounds appeared on his cheek.

A low growl of "huh... huh..." escaped from the gaps of his tightly clenched teeth.

His originally straightened body leaned forward, pressing his forehead firmly against the gravelly rock ground, as if doing so could alleviate his pain.

"Shin... Mr. Kamino..." The dwarf’s voice, as if aged by fifty years in a breath, "I... can’t... please... give me... the execution..."

Shinno, holding the sword, looked down with indifferent eyes at the dwarf, who was looking up at him with a pleading gaze.

"...Mr. Daqian, you’re also a member of our Anti-foreigner Group, and you should be very aware of our group’s rules, right?"

"Why are so many barbarians able to openly set foot on this country’s soil? Why has this country fallen to such a state?"

"It’s because those who should be protecting the country, the Samurai, have fallen."

"Samurai without the bearing they ought to have, Samurai without the spirit they ought to have."

"We, the patriots, gathered together to expel all the barbarians and restore the Samurai spirit so that no barbarian would dare to offend again, thus establishing this Anti-foreigner Group."

"To set an example for all under heaven, we vowed upon the founding of the Anti-foreigner Group: We would never do anything that goes against the Samurai spirit."

"Even for seppuku, we must exalt the Samurai spirit."

"Therefore, we have explicitly stipulated: At least complete the ’horizontal cut’ in seppuku before requesting an executioner to proceed."

"Mr. Daqian, put away your pleading gaze."

"I will not draw my sword until you complete the ’horizontal cut.’"

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