Chapter 267: Chapter 116: Anti-foreigner Group Attacks! A New Mission!

Shinno drank the remaining tea in his teacup in one gulp, then placed the teacup heavily on the table.

"Let’s settle the bill and head back."

"It’s about time... Let’s check how everyone is preparing for tonight’s operation at the base."

Cold glints flickered in Shinno’s eyes.

...

...

In the Edo Era, sushi wasn’t a widely accessible food.

Ordinary hand-rolled sushi averaged at 8 mon Coins each, while a bowl of steaming soba noodles generally only cost 16 mon.

But now, Aoto had plenty of funds.

After receiving the quarterly salary, Aoto’s deposits had successfully surpassed 300 ryo of gold.

If it’s just a sushi meal, Aoto can certainly afford it.

Upon arriving at the sushi restaurant recommended by Harada, Aoto let them order freely, without holding back.

Though drinking during the day seemed somewhat improper, Aoto still ordered two bottles of warmed sake to liven the mood.

Gathering for a meal is one of the easiest ways to enhance camaraderie.

After savoring the flavors and cycling through rounds of drinks, Aoto gained more insight into his three new subordinates through observing their words and actions.

Nagakura Shinpachi has a forthright personality.

Harada Sazō has a candid nature.

Fujimura Heisuke is very proper.

Nagakura’s every word and action carried a straightforward and bold energy.

Harada’s face always bore a simple smile; though it’s a bit impolite to say... his perpetually simple smile gives off an impression of "this person doesn’t seem very smart..."

Fujimura’s speech is extraordinary, showing he received a rather fine education.

Perhaps influenced by his own education, Fujimura’s manners are unusually polite, polite to the point where it feels a bit overly rigid.

Aoto or Saito, Nagakura or Harada, whoever he speaks to, Fujimura uses honorifics.

While eating sushi, the casual Nagakura mentioned to Fujimura: there’s no need to use honorifics with him, but Fujimura rejected the suggestion.

"Out of everyone here, I am the youngest. Mr. Saito, who is around my age, has already been following Mr. Tachibana for a long time. So, you’re all considered my seniors, how could I speak to my seniors in a peer-like manner?"—Fujimura responded to Nagakura like this.

Seeing Fujimura insist on using honorifics, Nagakura did not force him to change his habit, allowing Fujimura to continue using polite language with them.

Nagakura and Harada could both hold their liquor well, downing several cups of sake without even blushing.

Fujimura, however, didn’t have such a high tolerance.

He only drank a small cup before his face turned red like a monkey’s butt.

Perhaps due to the influence of alcohol, Fujimura, who had been somewhat reserved, loosened up a bit.

His speech and actions became slightly unrestrained.

"Mr. Tachibana, I am so glad to be under your command."

Sitting to Aoto’s right, Fujimura burped before speaking to Aoto with excitement.

"After hearing about your triumph over many with few, defeating those lunatics who don’t understand what true ’anti-foreigner’ means, I’ve always wanted to meet you."

"I admire you so much! Being able to win a battle with such a disparity in numbers!"

"There are so many things I want to learn from you! I hope you’ll generously teach me in the future!"

The gaze Fujimura cast towards Aoto was full of admiration and awe.

This type of gaze reminded Aoto of Chokata—Chokata often looked at him with a similar gaze.

Whenever Chokata looked at him like that, for some reason, Aoto couldn’t help but imagine Chokata with a tail wagging gleefully.

Perhaps because Chokata’s look of admiration was too reminiscent of a puppy with front paws up, tongue out, begging its owner to play—and it looked like a somewhat endearingly silly Shiba Inu.

Aoto recalled that Kiryu mentioned: this Fujimura idolized him, and upon learning that the person hiring undercover informants was Tachibana Aoto, he immediately expressed his wish to join Aoto’s command.

Recalling the words Kiryu mentioned, and facing Fujimura’s gaze, Aoto took a sip of his drink and offered a gentle smile to Fujimura:

"Mr. Fujimura, you don’t need to see me as some extraordinary hero. Maintaining a normal perspective, just treat me as you would anyone else."

"That won’t do." Fujimura’s head shook like a rattle. "Doing so would be too disrespectful to you."

Seeing Fujimura’s determined stance, Aoto could only smile with resignation.

Nagakura and Harada both had great appetites, they could eat over twenty pieces of such big sushi.

Everyone had just about finished their sushi, now the group entered the stage of drinking and chatting.

After having more drinks, the topic somehow shifted to discussing reasons why each wanted to be under Aoto’s command.

"I didn’t have any special reason, just thought the pay was high, so I wanted to give it a try."

Harada let out a big burp, then raised a hand and patted his belly.

"I come from the Iyo Matsuyama Domain on Shikoku Island. A few years back, I failed to die during Seppuku, so I had to leave the domain and become a ronin, roaming to Edo, making a living with my Treasure House Gun Technique."

"Joining Mr. Tachibana’s command, the monthly salary of 2 ryo is higher than any job I’ve had before, plus I heard undercover informants don’t need to do any brainwork, so I decided to become Mr. Tachibana’s informant."