My Gang of Swordsmen-Chapter 86 - 68: Niō

"Hmm... Maybe, Mogami Shofu can still compete for the world with Duke Nobunaga, Duke Shingen, and Duke Hideyoshi!"

With that, Mogami proudly held his spear named Wind Cut across his chest, half-closed his eyes, imagining the scene where he armed himself, charged against enemies, and achieved great fame.

"Ah... Born at the wrong time, born at the wrong time."

After another deep sigh, Mogami turned to Yamada with a stern face.

"Alright, enough idle talk for now."

"You came to see me, not just to watch me practice spear techniques, right?"

Yamada straightened his expression at this point, "Mr. Mogami, all personnel are assembled! A total of 203 people, not missing a single one!"

"Have all the personnel gathered..." Mogami grinned, "Very good..."

Mogami put away the spear in his hand.

"Let everyone have a good rest tonight!"

"Set off at dawn tomorrow!"

"Yes!" Yamada responded loudly with a "Yes", then sighed deeply, "Ha... It’s a bit nerve-wracking... Our Anti-foreigner Group, since its establishment, is finally launching an attack against the barbarians for the first time..."

"Hahahaha!" Mogami laughed heartily, "No need to be nervous, Yamada."

"This operation will succeed easily, it won’t fail."

"For this operation, we’ve assembled 203 patriots and brought 12 firearms."

"As for the guards protecting Anton and Elodie, these two barbarians, they only total 36 people."

"The strength is 203 to 36, the advantage is with us!"

"Not to mention, we are prepared against the unprepared!"

Having said that, Mogami swaggered down the slope, carrying his Two-section Spear named "Wind Cut".

"Mr. Mogami, where are you going?" Yamada asked.

"The spear techniques have been practiced enough, I am going to pay homage to my Statue of Niō."

"Mr. Mogami, you are truly devout to your Statue of Niō." Yamada smiled helplessly, "Every day, rain or shine, you offer prayers to that statue both in the morning and evening."

"My Statue of Niō is very effective! Since I started praying to my Statue of Niō, I’ve escaped danger multiple times under its protection! Very effective! Yamada, do you want to join me in offering prayers?"

"Haha, no need."

...

...

In a room at the Fujisawa Inn ——

"... I think I understand the specifics of the matter."

"So... Leroy, it’s Elodie who implored you to take her to the Ejima Shrine, and you couldn’t reject her, thus together with that Mukiwa, you secretly took Elodie out of the inn. Right?"

"... Yes. Mr. Angoulême, all the accidents today, the responsibility lies with me."

"Had I been firm in my conviction and refused to cooperate with Miss Kinoshita in taking the young lady out for a play, today’s series of accidents wouldn’t have occurred."

"I am willing to accept any punishment..."

At this moment, Elodie and her maid, Leroy, stood one after another in front of an elderly person.

This elderly person was around 70 years old.

Above his chin and lips, he had meticulously trimmed facial hair.

His hair, although not very long, was combed diagonally back; both the hair and his beard were so white that no other color was visible.

His physique was somewhat fat; even the extremely loose clothing couldn’t hide his belly that seemed capable of holding two basketballs.

His facial features were deep-set, especially the two eye sockets, which seemed deep enough to hold two eggs.

His nose was high and proud, slightly fat at the tip, and had a pair of fine-framed glasses perched on the bridge, behind which were blue eyes, presently glaring at Leroy with anger.

Anthony de Angoulême — the name of this old man.

"Grandfather!" All of a sudden, Elodie raised her head, having kept her hands folded in front and head lowered, "Please do not punish Miss Leroy! Today’s accidents don’t concern Miss Leroy! Nor Miss Mukiwa!"

"It was my playful nature, I wanted to visit the Ejima Shrine, whose big name I have long admired, so I implored Miss Mukiwa and Miss Leroy to take me to visit that Ejima Shrine!"

"Miss Leroy was coerced by me, forced to secretly take me out of the inn!"

"Today’s matter is mainly my responsibility!"

"Grandfather, if you want to punish Miss Leroy, start by punishing me!"

"Young lady..." Leroy, standing behind Elodie, raised her head, casting a grateful and guilty look at Elodie.

"Elodie..." With a helpless expression, Anthony looked at his granddaughter, "Be quiet. No matter how much you defend Leroy, the fact that she failed in her duty as a maid is ironclad."

"Before leaving Osaka, I should have repeatedly ordered, right?"

Anthony shifted his angry gaze back to Leroy.

"This country still doesn’t welcome foreign people like us."

"Without my permission, you absolutely cannot leave the inn!"

"Leroy, being Elodie’s maid, no matter how Elodie begs you, you shouldn’t have taken Elodie out without permission!"

"By doing so, you personally pushed Elodie and yourself into danger!"

"You have committed the grave crime of dereliction of duty - I didn’t wrong or falsely accuse you, right?"

"Grandfather..." Listening to Anthony’s harsh reprimand, Elodie bit her lip.

Just as Elodie was about to say something more to Anthony, Leroy lowered her head again:

"... Yes. I admit guilt."

"It’s my negligence at work that led to the young lady’s near accident today."

"Young lady." Leroy raised her head, showing a thankful smile at Elodie in front, "Thank you for your protection."

"But Mr. Angoulême is not wrong, in today’s series of accidents, I indeed hold unavoidable responsibility."

"I am willing to accept any punishment."

"Hmm." Anthony’s expression improved a bit upon seeing Leroy sincerely admit her guilt, "It’s good that you admit. I’ll deal with your punishment later." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Saying this, Anthony seemed to recall something, and asked Leroy:

"How is Tachibana Aoto doing now?"

"He is currently receiving Mr. Kiryu’s treatment in the next room." Leroy answered.

"Kiryu..." For some reason, upon hearing the name "Kiryu", Anthony’s mouth twitched.

After a while, Anthony sighed lightly, "Fortunately amidst misfortune today... Luckily, two Samurai appeared timely when Elodie was attacked, repelling the assailants."

"Otherwise..."

Anthony stopped as if he couldn’t bear to continue, shutting his mouth tightly.

"... Come with me, all of you." Anthony straightened his waist a bit more, "Let’s go meet the Samurai who have helped us greatly."

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