Shinagawa Inn and Edo are just a short distance apart. Last night, Aoto sent his letter via Flying Foot to the Edo North Guard Station, and this morning, he received a reply from the North Guard Station.
After opening the letter, which bore the official seal of the North Guard Station and the handwritten signature of Town Magistrate Hosoi, Aoto read through it quickly, ten lines at a glance.
This lengthy reply essentially conveyed two points:
1: Expressed condolences to Aoto for being attacked again by the "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction."
2: Instructed Aoto to continue heading to Fujisawa Inn to investigate the case, while they would take over the matter concerning the "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction."
The contents of the letter were entirely within Aoto’s expectations.
The Magistrate’s Office is not Aoto’s home, and those high-ranking officials like Hosoi are not his parents.
It’s impossible for them to halt the handling of official matters and investigation of cases due to his personal reasons.
You were targeted by the "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction"... so what? Do you want us to stop assigning you any work and protect you like a treasure from now on?
It’s impossible that just because of this, they would recall Aoto like a giant panda and provide comprehensive protection — to put it bluntly, in the eyes of high-ranking officials like Hosoi, Aoto isn’t yet important enough to warrant such measures...
Having already anticipated that the North Guard Station would require him to continue to Fujisawa Inn to investigate the case, Aoto silently put away the letter and proceeded to lead Saito to Fujisawa Inn.
Given the previous attack as a lesson, before setting off again for Fujisawa Inn, Aoto and Saito heightened their alertness to a maximum level.
They were highly vigilant, taking note of places along the roadside where people could easily hide.
In the cold weather, one’s hands easily become numb, and if the hands are numb, it will undoubtedly affect the drawing and wielding of the sword.
Therefore, to ensure their hands stayed warm, both Aoto and Saito adopted the "farmer’s method" of crossing their hands inside their large feathered robe sleeves while traveling.
Aoto and Saito were fully prepared.
However, the "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction" did not reappear in front or behind them.
Not only did they not face further attacks from the "Radical Anti-foreigner Faction," but the weather was also favorable, with no adverse conditions obstructing their journey.
The two of them reached their destination, Fujisawa Inn, without incident.
The time it took to reach Fujisawa Inn was not much different from what Aoto expected — arriving on the afternoon of the third day after leaving Edo, at this one of the most bustling post stations along the entire Tokaido.
As for what sets Fujisawa Inn apart from other post stations... it must be its "tourism resources."
Fujisawa Inn lies beside a river, and following the river downstream, one can arrive at the famous shrine: Ejima Shrine on Enoshima Island, dedicated to the worship of the Benzaiten Goddess.
Many travelers and merchants passing through Fujisawa Inn are typically drawn to visit this Ejima Shrine out of admiration.
If time and circumstances allowed, Aoto would indeed like to visit this Ejima Shrine, but unfortunately, he’s there on official duty, not on a sightseeing trip.
Having just arrived at Fujisawa Inn, Aoto immediately headed to the Inquiry House of the town.
Upon learning that the Dōshin dispatched from the Edo North Guard Station had arrived, the head of the Inquiry House at Fujisawa Inn — the Guild Master, an elder with white hair and beard — personally came out to welcome him.
After receiving Aoto, exchanging pleasantries briefly, the Guild Master informed him of a fact that left Aoto dumbfounded...
"The thieves causing chaos at Fujisawa Inn have been caught?!" Aoto, eyes wide with disbelief, cast a stunned look at the Guild Master in front of him.
Saito, who had accompanied Aoto to investigate the case and endured the exhausting three-day journey with him, also could not help but be slightly astonished.
Upon arriving at Fujisawa Inn, Aoto had immediately proceeded to the Inquiry House to start investigating and devise a plan to catch the gang of thieves ravaging the area recently.
However, just moments ago, the Guild Master had awkwardly told him: Dōshin sir... this gang of thieves has already been apprehended...
"Yes, indeed." The Guild Master, with an awkward smile, chuckled several more times towards Aoto, "It’s quite coincidental... it was just yesterday that the entire gang of perpetually troublesome thieves was captured."
The perpetrators of the theft had already been caught?!
Aoto spent a few moments organizing his somewhat chaotic thoughts following the Guild Master’s earlier comment.
"...Was it your Inquiry House that apprehended the offenders?" Aoto quickly asked.
"Uh... no..." The awkward smile on the Guild Master’s face grew a bit more. "Dōshin sir, you might find it hard to believe..."
"The one who helped us catch the thieves... was that mysterious Cat Monk..."
"Cat Monk?!" Aoto, subconsciously thinking he misheard, leaned slightly forward towards the Guild Master, bringing his ear closer.
The Guild Master nodded vigorously: "We’ve already interrogated those criminals, and their stories all match; they all claim the person who caught them was that infamous Cat Monk, currently quite renowned in Edo!"
"...What exactly happened?" Aoto straightened his posture, slightly frowning, "Quick, explain it to me."
"Yes, yes!" Facing a samurai, and one serving the Edo Magistrate’s Office, the Guild Master dared not be negligent and explained to Aoto as clearly as possible, albeit somewhat disjointedly.
Yesterday morning, when the Inquiry House opened its doors, they were shocked to find — four young men, tightly bound and unconscious, dumped at their doorstep.
Each of the four had a large paper bag over their heads, with a line of big characters written on the bags: These four are suspected of being the thieves plaguing this area.
The Inquiry House initially thought it might be a hoax by someone.
It wasn’t until a sharp-eyed person recognized — one of these four was a notorious thief who had been wanted for several months and previously hadn’t been caught — that everyone started taking the four individuals, delivered to their doorway by an unknown person, seriously.
Since the Inquiry House is just an institution managing the post station, it did not have the authority to interrogate these four individuals.
However, there were loopholes to exploit.
Even though they couldn’t impose harsh interrogation, they still had the right to "talk" to them.
The Inquiry House personnel placed the four young men separately in different rooms for questioning, using all sorts of severe warnings to intimidate them.
If you refuse to disclose everything you know, we’ll send you to the Edo Magistrate’s Office, and let the officials there handle you however they please...
Three of them seemed unmoved by the threats.
But one young man, only around fourteen years old, was intimidated.
This youth, scared by the harsh words from the Inquiry House personnel, with a sincerity that suggested he’d pour out his whole heart and soul for everyone to see, divulged everything he knew.
He confessed that the four of them were indeed the gang of bandits who had been stealing money around Fujisawa Inn recently.
Last night, they planned, as they had previously, to sneak into the post station and steal money from travelers.
But just as they had climbed onto the roof of one inn at the post station, preparing to sneak in and steal, a shadow suddenly appeared from nowhere and leapt before them.
This sudden shadow startled the four of them, and they instinctively questioned the shadow: Who are you?
"Then the shadow stated: ’I am Cat Monk!’"
Having said that, the Guild Master stretched both hands out flatly into palms, palms facing upwards, and then raised both arms high.
While raising his arms, the Guild Master suddenly stood up and curled his right leg up, assuming the Golden Chicken Stance.
Silence...
Aoto and Saito, sitting properly on the tatami mats, tilted their heads up, observing the Guild Master striking a bizarre pose.
For a moment, the atmosphere was extremely quiet...
"...Well... may I ask: what is the meaning of that action?" Aoto, full of questions, calmly inquired in response.
"Uh..." The Guild Master, with an awkward expression, retracted his raised arms and returned to kneeling on the tatami mat, "That was the gesture described by the young person during the confession: At that time, the Cat Monk did this action while announcing his name..."
A new book begins its journey!
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