I Was a Swordsman in Ancient Japan

"My lord."

Xuan An turned his head and said to Cang Yong behind him.

"Ogata-kun's injuries are recovering well."

"It's so good that I wonder if Xu Fangjun took some kind of elixir."

"When treating Ogata-kun's wounds from the god sacrifice competition, Ogata-kun's recovery speed is not that amazing."

"If there are no accidents, Ogata-kun should be back to normal soon."

"Okay." Cang Yong nodded lightly, "Xuan An... Thank you for your hard work."

After finishing speaking, Cang Yong solemnly bowed to Xuan An.

...

...

After sending Xuan'an away, Cang Yong also asked Fei Yuan to leave temporarily.

He and Ogata were left alone in the room.

"Ogata-kun..." Looking at the wounded Ogata, Cang Yongchang sighed, "It's really... thank you for your hard work..."

After saying "You've worked hard" to Ogata——

"Thank you."

Then he thanked Ogata.

"My lord, there is no need to say these words." Ogata smiled, "I didn't risk my life to swing the sword just to get your thanks."

"By the way, by the way—how is Matsudaira Gennai?"

"...After I can't wait for you to come back, and I can't wait for the lord and the others to leave the wild boar forest, I will let the flying ape go into the wild boar forest to find you."

"However... Flying Monkey found you who passed out due to serious injuries, and... the lord who was stabbed with hundreds of knives and died tragically beside you."

"When the flying ape dragged the lord's body to me... To be honest, I didn't even recognize this huge lump of flesh with so many holes in it as the lord..."

"That's it..." Ogata said softly, "If that's the case...then I can rest assured."

"...Ogata-kun.

"

Kuranaga looked at Ogata with complicated eyes.

Then--

"... Please... forgive me."

Suddenly, Ogata apologized.

"I have...no way to protect you anymore."

"When your injury is healed, you can leave Hirose Fan."

"If you continue to stay in the Hirose Domain, it is only a matter of time before the shogunate discovers that you are the murderer who assassinated the lord and arrests you."

"It is impossible for the shogunate to let go of me as the mastermind behind the scenes."

"I also won't let go of you who killed the lord and all his guards with your own sword."

"Because the shogunate still doesn't know that the daimyo of the Hirose clan was assassinated by you, you should leave the Hirose clan as soon as possible, and run away as far as you can."

"My lord..." Ogata said softly, "Matsudaira Gennai and his guards are all dead, and there is no one left alive... Even so, can the shogunate find out that I killed Matsudaira Gennai? "

Hearing Ogata's question, Kuranaga sighed softly.

"Ogata-kun..."

"The capabilities of the shogunate...beyond your and my imagination..."

"The daimyo of a feudal clan was assassinated... and the daimyo of his own clan was assassinated, the shogunate will definitely not sit idly by."

"With the ability of the shogunate, it is easy for them to find out who is behind the scenes..."

"Not to mention other things... The shogunate can easily find out that a businessman has recently sold me several pairs of chain mail and many good knives as long as he moves his fingers..."

"Then move your fingers, and you will be able to find out that the lord destroyed the Sakakibara Sword Gym before being assassinated, and you are the only one left alive."

"And you just happen to be a warrior whose swordsmanship is far superior to ordinary people."

"You automatically become the prime suspect."

"Ogata-kun, think about what would happen if you stayed in the Hirose Domain..."

"You will be regarded as the biggest suspect by the shogunate, arrested, and tortured..."

"So you can no longer stay in the Hirose Domain no matter what..."

"From now on, it will not be too short a period of time until the shogunate sends people to Hirose Fan to investigate."

"Ogata-kun, you should seize this time, heal your injuries as soon as possible, and then leave Hirose Fan, as far as you can."

"The world is big, as long as you escape from the Hirose Clan, Ogata-kun might still have a chance to survive..."

After quietly listening to Cang Yong's words, Ogata did not show any strange expression on his face.

"That is to say... I have to become a vagrant, wandering the world..."

Not only did there not appear any strange look, but a smile appeared on Ogata's face.

"Be a ronin and be a ronin."

"It's good to be a ronin. You don't have to do the boring job of a treasury officer anymore."

"My lord, let me ask again—now that Matsudaira Genuai is dead, what will happen to Hirose Fan in the future?"

"Right now, the General is busy working with the senior middleman on the reform of the shogunate administration." Cang Yong said softly, "I'm in a very busy state. I don't have time to devote too much energy to things other than reform."

"In addition, the 'Great Tianming Famine' has just passed, and the world finally regained some stability. In order to continue to maintain this rare stability, the shogunate has deliberately reduced the number of ronin over the years."

"In the past, if the lord was killed, the domain would often be dismantled, and all the retainers in the domain would certainly not be able to escape the punishment of being demoted as ronin."

"And now the shogunate is focusing on the reform of the shogunate, and in order to maintain the stability of the world, it is no longer possible to directly withdraw our Hirose clan as before."

"So the Hirose clan will definitely be kept by the shogunate, and nothing will happen to the innocent retainers in the clan."

"My lord, he has a cousin. The shogunate should make the lord's cousin the new daimyo of Hirose."

"My lord's cousin is a respectful and polite person. If he becomes the new daimyo of the Hirose clan, the Hirose clan might usher in a brand new atmosphere."

After quietly listening to Cang Yong's words, Ogata said with emotion:

"Won't it hurt the innocent...that's good..."

Speaking of this, Ogata suddenly paused.

After a long pause, Ogata continued:

"My lord... I have a heartless request."

"Please say."

"I have 2 friends in the Hirose domain, and they run an izakaya."

"I worked as a guard at that izakaya for a while."

"After I left the Hirose domain and the shogunate sent people to investigate, I was worried that my two friends would be embarrassed by the shogunate because of my friendship."

"And—I have a lot of grudges with some people in the Ishikawa Sword Gym."

"After I leave the Hirose Domain, I am worried that those guys will take advantage of my absence and pour their hatred and anger on my two friends."

"So - can you help me think of a way to protect my two friends?"

Hearing Ogata's request, Kuranaga was silent for a while, then said:

"No problem. I'll go ask some friends in the Fanfu later."

"These friends of mine are all holding high positions in the domain."

"I asked them to take care of the izakaya you mentioned."

"Although the people in the shogunate are basically arrogant, they don't even give face to some high-ranking officials in the domain."

"In order to save face for my friends, although the shogunate will definitely ask your two friends for questioning, they will not be too rude to your two friends."

"Because of the face of my friends, they may be extremely polite."

"At the same time—with the care of my friends, you don't have to worry about people from the Ishikawa Sword Gym going to trouble your two friends."

"Among those few friends of mine, there happened to be one who was in charge of all affairs and concentricity in the feudal domain."

"I ask him to set up a Tsujiban in front of your friend's izakaya. In this way, the people of Ishikawa Kenkan will not dare to trouble your two friends again."

"Thank you so much." Ogata Asakura Yong showed a grateful smile.

But—the grateful smile on Ogata's face didn't last long, and he withdrew it again.

Ogata, who put away the smile on his face, looked at Cang Yong seriously, and then said seriously:

"My lord, there is one more thing, I hope you can promise me."

"Please say."

Ogata's serious appearance made Cang Yong unable to help becoming serious along with him, sitting upright, waiting for Ogata's next words.

"When my injury is so good that I can move freely... please give me enough clothes, two good knives and clothes."

"I don't want to go wandering in rags."

Hearing Ogata's words in a joking tone, Cang Yong was slightly taken aback.

Then he laughed heartily a few times.

"Okay! No problem! I will try my best to get the best knife and clothes for you!"

...

...

a month later—

Hirose Domain, Ryuya——

"Ah Fu! Go and clean up the dishes and chopsticks of the guests at the table just now!"

"it is good!"

"Ah...it's so busy today, Ah Fu, we both have to work harder today!"

"Um!"

Although it is daytime, the business of Liuwu is surprisingly good today.

On weekdays, the flow house basically only has more guests at night, but today it is very rare that there are quite a lot of guests during the day.

Although the distance was a bit far, Ogata could still barely hear the voices of Azaki and Afu.

At this time, Ogata was hiding under a big tree not far from the flow house, under the cover of the tree trunk, silently watching the flow of people in the distance.

"Ogata-kun."

Kuranaga, who was standing behind Ogata, asked Ogata.

"Are you really not going in to see those two? If you don't take advantage of this opportunity to go in... Maybe you won't have a chance to come back to see them two in the future."

"...No need."

The corners of Ogata's mouth curled up slightly, revealing a faint smile.

"After meeting the two of them, the two of them will definitely pester me, asking me what I have been doing all this time, and then asking me where I am going next."

"I'm not good at dealing with this kind of sentimental atmosphere."

"And...my current status is not suitable for contacting the two of them again."

"I'm going to see them now, maybe I will cause them trouble."

Ogata raised his hand and pressed the bamboo hat on his head.

"...Master, let's go."

After all, Ogata turned around first, and walked away from under the big tree not far from the house without any hesitation or hesitation.

Cang Yong looked at Ogata who had turned away and was unwilling to enter the Ruiya, sighed softly, and then led the flying monkey to follow.