Okita Soki met the love of his life during his trip to Kiyomizu-dera, a more than pleasant surprise for him. As for the competition, Zhang Heng was in no hurry since an agreement had been made with the other party.
Although Okita Soki was suffering from a cough, he shouldn’t have trouble getting through the day. Okita Soki, the samurai with the highest combat power, for now, was like a perfect main dish. Once Zhang Heng tasted it, he would probably not go for other appetizers.
Consequently. Zhang Heng did not mind the competition between the two getting pushed back. Besides, there was something for him to do now—the two katana he’d borrowed from the Suzaku Dojo and another dojo before seemed quite decent. Unfortunately, they were just like that wakizashi—their quality still falling far short of the legendary katana. Especially the Suzaku Dojo’s katana that was supposedly crafted by Miike Tenta Mitsuyo. Later, Zhang Heng asked a particular collector to appraise it, unsure if this katana was Miike Tenta Mitsuyo’s work.
This was also the most troublesome part of this quest. According to the information Scarlet gave him, the system wouldn’t notify him when he got his hands on those katana. When Scarlet and her friend entered this quest, they had a clear goal-completing the mission within the time frame. However, when the quest called Bakumatsu Kyoto was assigned to Zhang Heng, the scenario was completely different. It could mean that he would need to make some tough choices by the end of this quest.
For now, it wasn’t a problem to be too concerned about. All Zhang Heng needed to do right now was to challenge Kyoto’s masters and collect famous katana.
Another week passed since the trip to Kiyomizu-dera Temple. The samurai from Choshu Domain did not come to look for him. Initially, Zhang Heng thought that it was a little weird. Judging from their character, it did not make sense that they did not make a move for so long. Not unless there was something more critical that required their immediate attention. And now Zhang Heng finally got to know the reason behind it. He was told that Shinsaku Takasugi, who had been recuperating at Sakurayama, had passed away due to an illness.
It was indeed a significant event.
Shinsaku Takasugi was the leader of the Choshu Domain. A hot-blooded leader in his youth, he assassinated Westerners, burned the British embassy, and forced Emperor Komei to pardon the barbarians. After that, he singlehandedly recruited and formed the kiheitai. During the Kinmon Incident, the Sonnõ jõi was defeated. On behalf of the Choshu Domain, he was coerced into signing the Shimonoseki Treaty with Britain, the United States, France, and the Netherlands, forcing him to abandon the barbarians. When the Shinsaku Takasugi succumbed to the shogunate, he lived in exile for a period of time. Still, it did not take long for him to join forces with Ito Hirobumi to recapture the Choshu Domain’s reins. Subsequently, he mulled a series of drastic westernized reforms, allowing the Choshu Domain to embark on the road of prosperity and strength. Then, not too long after that, he managed to defeat the shogunate fleet at Oshima and Ogura. It was a glorious moment for him. Unfortunately, the life of such a tremendous hero would ultimately be extinguished by a puny cough. He died on his sickbed on the eve of the new era’s arrival. Understandably, Choshu Domain was now in great distress and grief, and it was no surprise that they weren’t bothered to deal with the Koyama Dojo affair for the time being.
Shinsaku Takasugi’s death didn’t cause Zhang Heng to feel anything. After all, he picked no sides from the beginning, considered himself merely an observer. He was more concerned, though, about another issue-Juzumaru was coming to Kyoto.
The Juzumaru, one among five world-famous katana, was nearly as revered as the Mikazuki Munechika. It was Honkoji’s precious treasure, and its current owner, Kirino Toshiaki, was also known as the Four Hitokiri of the Bakumatsu.
This man was Satsuma domain’s leader, Saigo Takamori-one that was willing to abandon the honor of a samurai to become a killer specializing in assassinating shogunate minions. As of now, countless shogunate officials had died in his hands, and after Shinsaku Takasugi’s passing, Saigo Takamori happened to want to come to Kyoto. It made the imaginations of many run wild.
Was the Satsuma Domain planning to take advantage of his ally’s death, Shinsaku Takasugi, to make a big move?
Something huge might befall Kyoto. The Shinsengumi and Kyoto Mimawarigumi patrolled the streets with their katana every day. Nonetheless, they failed to locate Kirino Toshiaki. This caused great distress to the residents that lived in that area. The emperor and the kuge watched the whole thing unfold before them in the imperial city, while the shogunate sect was in danger.
Zhang Heng paid attention to the situation’s development as well. It was rare that he got the exact whereabouts of the five great katana in this world. Of course, he wanted to take this opportunity to get his hand on Juzumaru. This meant he needed to locate Kirino Toshiaki before the Shinsengumi—this would prove more than challenging as Tobaku had many supporters in Kyoto. Despite all that, they still failed to figure out where Kirino Toshiaki was hiding now. And Gabriel, on the other side, was still putting up a great act, successfully driving away from his pursuers, which had been following him for days. Since Kirino Toshiaki was in town now, no one had the time to keep following him around.
So Gabriel found Zhang Heng that afternoon and asked secretly, “Are you available tomorrow night?”
“Huh?” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows.
“I’m attending a significant banquet tomorrow night, and I need you to be there to help me with translation. Don’t worry, if it is done well, I will pay you ten koban, all at once,” Gabriel added.
The translation work asked of him was easy and comfortable so far, and it did not match the generous pay Gabriel showered on him. Zhang Heng knew that good things such as this had the nick of not lasting forever. Now, Gabriel was about to ask Zhang Heng to do what he was supposed to do after taking all those koban from him. He believed as long as he said yes to Gabriel, he would know what was hiding inside his sleeve tomorrow night.
It seemed like it was not easy money, after all.
No matter what Gabriel intended to do, it was obviously not something that could be revealed. Zhang Heng was not naive enough to think that Gabriel believed he’d keep the secret from him. Hence, it was not hard to predict what Gabriel would do to him after the whole thing was over.
Zhang Heng needed to make a quick decision if he should risk it or not. If it were purely for the reward of the ten koban, then he would turn around and leave-he had made a lot of money during this period anyway, and Akane Koyama had mentioned she wanted to exempt his rent. However, Zhang Heng rejected her offer. No matter what, he could continue being a translator for Gabriel, except he might not receive as much money as he did.
But what interested Zhang Heng was the people Gabriel worked with.
Now, he knew that it was the shogunate who’d been following Gabriel all this while. It could only mean that Gabriel was most likely siding with Tobaku. And it happened that Zhang Heng was looking for Juzumaru, and Kirino Toshiaki might fall in the hand of Tobaku supporters.
Zhang Heng found it hard to say no to Gabriel. This was the only useful clue he had at the moment. Since he was confident in his swordsmanship, Zhang Heng said yes to Gabriel after a short while considering. The latter seemed relieved.
“Excellent, let’s meet at our old spot tomorrow night.”
