My Gang of Swordsmen-Chapter 89 - 71: Unrivaled Iaido

Anthony’s granddaughter almost had an accident at the Fujisawa Inn; he no longer had the mood to stay in such an ominous place.

At the crack of dawn the next day, Anthony hurriedly commanded his convoy to leave Fujisawa Inn and resume the journey to relocate to Edo.

Anthony’s convoy was not particularly large in scale.

The total number of carriages, both for passengers and luggage transport, was merely eight.

The carriages lined up in a long column, advancing along the flat roads of the Tokaido.

Led by Oomura, thirty-six guards spread out, encircling the convoy from all directions.

Except for Oomura, the other guards were not qualified to ride horses, so they had no choice but to escort the carriages on foot, and the convoy had to match the guards’ pace, moving along almost as slowly as if they were walking.

At this moment, inside one of the carriages—

"It’s worthy of a wealthy family’s carriage," Aoto quipped to himself, "there’s not a hint of bumpiness when you sit in it."

The carriage beneath Aoto and Saito was probably constructed with some special craftsmanship, boasting strong shock absorption, making the ride extraordinarily smooth with nearly no sense of bumpiness.

Aoto’s right leg had a cut, not severe but requiring at least two days of rest before he could think of walking again.

Aoto’s right leg was injured saving Anthony’s granddaughter; understanding Aoto’s situation, Anthony, feeling rather self-conscious about the injury, offered a generous gesture—since they were headed to Edo, he invited Aoto to ride his "free ride" back to Edo.

Upon Anthony’s invitation, Aoto quickly accepted after a brief moment of thought.

The reason being simple—taking Anthony’s "free ride" to Edo only presented a series of benefits, with no drawbacks in sight.

If Aoto were to refuse Anthony’s invitation, he would have to stay in Fujisawa Inn for a few days before he could find a way to return to Edo.

Meanwhile, the group of "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction" targeting Aoto’s head, knowing Aoto was injured, might sneak into the post station to attack him during his recovery at Fujisawa Inn—such a possibility was not non-existent.

Based on the currently known intelligence about that group of lunatics, it could be determined that they possessed a certain capability for information gathering or tracking.

Every "Celestial Punishment" they executed on Aoto coincidentally happened when he was in a less crowded area—this was the best proof of their information gathering or tracking abilities.

Given the current injuries, it was wiser to return quickly to Edo, where Arima and others could support him, rather than staying in the unfamiliar Fujisawa Inn.

Besides this main reason, there were other benefits to taking the "free ride": the carriage was more comfortable, and traveling with Anthony’s group was safer.

Sitting comfortably in the carriage and exhausting oneself by traveling on foot—which was more relaxing was obvious.

So far, those so-called "Anti-foreigner Patriots" had been loudly shouting their "anti-foreigner" slogans, but the number of Westerners actually killed by them was very few.

Quite the opposite, the number of Japanese killed by them was plenty—at least ten times the number of Westerners.

And those few Westerners they killed were basically all caught alone when they were not careful.

There’s never been a precedent for the "Anti-foreigner Patriots" to attack Westerners protected by a large contingent of Samurai.

Returning to Edo with a large convoy like Anthony’s alleviated concerns of being attacked by "Anti-foreigner Patriots" on the way back.

Aoto truly couldn’t think of any reason to refuse Anthony’s invitation for the "free ride."

After Aoto agreed promptly, Anthony freed up a carriage previously used for luggage for Aoto and Saito to ride in—which was the very one they were now riding.

Today’s weather was rather nice.

The temperature wasn’t cold, the sunshine was warm, and the breeze was gentle.

Aoto slightly opened the carriage window, letting the refreshing air from outside flood into the carriage, then leaned his head against the window to closely observe the scenery outside.

"... You seem to be in a good mood," Saito, sitting opposite Aoto, unusually initiated a conversation with Aoto.

"Hmm? Yeah, I’m in a pretty good mood right now," Aoto said, slightly curling his lips without averting his gaze from the scenery outside.

A case originally assigned to him was disrupted by the "Cat Monk"... Aoto initially thought this trip to Fujisawa Inn was a thoroughly unprofitable business trip.

Unexpectedly—life is indeed unpredictable.

Although he got some injury on his leg, the gains made Aoto’s return trip totally worthy of being described as "full load."

In gratitude for saving his granddaughter, Anthony generously rewarded both Aoto and Saito with an 80 gold ryo gratuity each.

gold ryo... even for an official like Aoto working at the Magistrate’s Office with a handsome salary, it was a considerable fortune.

The hefty reward of 80 gold ryo from Anthony was now quietly lying in Aoto’s embrace.

This considerable sum was undoubtedly a timely help for the somewhat cash-strapped Aoto, instantly easing his financial situation considerably.

The two "big mountains" pressing on Aoto’s shoulders: the personal safety threat from the "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction" and the financial security threats posed by the yakuza—the burden from the latter had suddenly lightened considerably for Aoto.