Chapter 273: Chapter 118: Calm Before the Storm

Aoto smiled, raised his hand, and patted the chain armor hidden inside his kimono: "Everything that needed to be worn and carried is ready."

"Hmm. That’s good." Arima nodded, then looked at Saito and the others standing behind Aoto.

He probably wanted to assess the current state of Aoto’s new subordinates.

Nagakura, Saito, and Harada all seemed to be in quite good spirits, either smiling or appearing calm, so Arima only glanced at them before shifting his gaze away.

Arima’s attention lingered on Fujimura, whose face was still very pale and who looked rather tense.

"...Young man, relax." Arima patted Fujimura’s shoulder, sighed softly, "No need to be so nervous."

"Whether we’ll encounter the Anti-foreigner Group and clash with them tonight is still uncertain."

Fujimura nodded stiffly and forced a rather awkward smile: "Thank you... I’m much better now than before..."

This afternoon, Aoto had already introduced his new subordinates to Arima, Inagawa, and the others.

Seeing that Aoto finally had his own team, both Arima and Inagawa were genuinely pleased and surprised, feeling that Aoto had become more capable and increasingly resembled what a Dōshin should be.

Arima patted Fujimura’s shoulder a few more times, then instructed Aoto to "prepare well, as Lord Governor and the others will arrive soon," before leaving to check on the status of Inagawa and Ushiyama nearby.

Aoto watched Arima leave, then turned to Nagakura and the others with a wry smile and whispered:

"I’m not sure if it’s fair to say you have good luck or bad luck... On your first day as undercover informants, you’ve encountered this kind of large-scale action that might not occur even once a year..."

Saying this, Aoto paused, cleared his throat, and adopted a more solemn tone.

"But no matter, since you’ve chosen to join me and become my undercover informants, there will inevitably be a day when you’ll have to deal with vicious thugs or criminal groups."

"In any case — stay alert tonight."

"If an undercover informant achieves merit, they can also receive substantial rewards. Whether and how much reward you get depends on your abilities."

Harada whistled, then exaggeratedly stretched his limbs and waist: "Haha, Mr. Tachibana, hearing you say that, I’m even more motivated!"

Time passed a little more.

Finally — the door to the room not far away was suddenly pulled open.

Hosoi and Atsukawa, the Town Magistrates of the South Division, appeared in the open doorway surrounded by their attendants.

Seeing that both Magistrates had arrived, everyone in the room quickly stopped their chatter and discussions, lining up with a "rickety-sound."

The South Division stood unified to the west side of the room, while the North Guard Station stood unified to the east.

Hosoi and Atsukawa stood solemnly at the front and, after a brief exchange of greetings, launched into a short "mobilization speech."

The speech contained nothing but the usual clichés, "I entrust tonight to you all," "Wish you triumph," blah blah blah...

Once the "mobilization speech" concluded, Hosoi and Atsukawa, according to customary tradition, began to see everyone off.

They signaled the attendants to bring out dried bonito flakes and other food, along with a few pots of wine, and personally handed these foods to the Yoriki of the South and North Guard Stations.

Watching Arima and the others feasting, Harada swallowed hard.

"Mr. Tachibana," Harada whispered, "can’t we eat that food?"

Aoto nodded: "Those farewell foods are only for the Yoriki."

"...This farewell is so strange." Harada swallowed again, "At least I should have a bowl of wine..."

Aoto himself did not quite understand the Magistrate’s Office’s strange farewell customs, where only Yoriki could enjoy the food and drink. He also felt that at least they should give the Dōshin and undercover informants a cup of farewell wine. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

It must be the rigid social hierarchy that gave rise to such odd cultural practices.

As he quietly waited for Arima and others to finish the farewell meal given by the Magistrate, Aoto couldn’t help but feel emotional.

Thinking back a little over two months ago, the night he crossed over to this era and was preparing to combat the "Righteous Group", Aoto was just a lone commander with no subordinates to command.

But now, he had a team of his own. Although the team was still small in scale, it was definitely something worth celebrating to have shed the title of a lone commander.

The Yoriki quickly consumed the food, devouring the farewell meal in no time.

Hosoi waved his hand and exchanged a glance with Atsukawa, after which they both exclaimed in unison, "Wish you a victorious return!"

"Yes!" The Yoriki echoed enthusiastically in response.

With the farewell concluded, everyone proceeded to leave the North Guard Station according to plan, in batches.

The members of the South Division headed to Ryogoku-dori, while those from the North Guard Station went to their respective defense areas for the night.

As the exact time when the Anti-foreigner Group might act tonight was unknown, to avoid the embarrassment of "not arriving in time," the Magistrate’s Office set the operation time for this evening around dusk, when it was neither dark nor light.

As he led his subordinates away from the North Guard Station, Aoto glanced at the sky — the time was probably around 7 PM.