Therefore, influenced by this social culture, Kondo did not get angry or dissatisfied even if he was scolded by the young firefighter.

Of course, another important reason why Kondo did not feel any negative emotions due to the young firefighter's rebuke was that he knew he was in the wrong.

People are running around trying to extinguish fires and save lives, and harassing each other for their own selfish purposes is indeed inappropriate.

"I'm sorry." Kondo lowered his head and apologized sincerely, "I miss my friends so much that I made an inadvertent step. Please forgive me!"

When the young man saw Kondo's sincere attitude, most of the dissatisfaction on his face melted away.

"Do you have any friends trapped in the fire?"

"Yes."

Hijikata answered for Kondo. He was about to say something else, but the young firefighter interrupted him first:

"In that case, let's help!"

"Everyone is either demolishing houses to limit the spread of the fire, or evacuating refugees! No one has time to help check whether your friends have successfully escaped from the fire!"

"This kind of thing can only be done after the flames are extinguished!"

"So, come and help! We are in urgent need of manpower right now!"

"It is winter now, the climate is very dry, and tonight is a windy night. If the fire is not controlled quickly, the tragedy of Furisode and Sakurada may happen again!"

Furisode and Sakurada - the former is the "Furisode Fire" that occurred in the third year of Meiji (1657), and the latter is the Sakurada Fire that occurred in the sixth year of Kansei (1794).

Both of these fires brought serious disasters to Edo.

"The sooner the fire is calmed down, the sooner you can find your friends."

the young firefighter added.

Everyone in the Trial Guard Hall looked at each other in shock.

The director general nodded first.

Put out the fire... This is not only for Qingdeng, but also for herself.

She desperately wanted to do something.

Apart from taking no time off and getting busy, Souji really couldn't think of any other way to regain her composure.

Any kind of thing is fine! As long as it keeps her busy!

After Souji nodded, Saito also nodded lightly.

Then came Kondo, Hijikata, Harada...

No one in the test hall objected, and they all cast a firm look at the young firefighter.

"Okay! Then, please come with me!"

The young firefighter gave a grateful look to the DG and others, and then led them to the "front line" in the distance...

…

…

Due to the limited level of technology, even if the firefighters of the town fire department devoted all their manpower and material resources, it was impossible to put out such a huge fire that had begun to spread to the surrounding areas.

Therefore, we can only adopt the classic old method: demolition!

Demolish all the houses adjacent to the disaster area to create a fire break, and then wait for the flames to burn until there is nothing left to burn and then naturally extinguish them.

The "dinging" of hammers and saws; the "rumbling" of houses and walls, creating a chaotic and noisy mess.

"One, two, three! Pull—! One, two, three! Pull—!"

"Spread out! Everyone spread out! This wall is coming down!"

"The boss has given new instructions! He wants us to demolish all the houses near the river embankment! Not a single piece of wood is left!"

"Okay! Children! Did you hear that? Follow me! Don't be afraid! It's just flames, nothing to be afraid of!"

…

"Hey! Souji! Hey! Souji! Can you hear me?"

The general manager, who had just woken up from a dream, raised his head and looked at Isamu Kondo.

"Huh? Brother Kondo, what's wrong?"

"Soji, your face has turned pale! Go down and take a rest!"

Kondo said urgently.

His expression? Souji blinked a few times.

Although she didn't have a mirror at hand and couldn't see her face, she roughly guessed that her current complexion would definitely not look good.

On the one hand, it was out of concern for Qingdeng's safety, and on the other hand, it was because of excessive exhaustion.

Since entering the disaster relief work, the General Secretary has not had a break.

The director-general cannot handle professional fire-fighting projects.

However, she can still help as long as she "demolishes the house" with her physical strength.

Swinging hammers, pushing walls, cleaning house debris... The general manager is like a top with unlimited power, spinning tirelessly.

However... "tireless" is just an adjective after all.

In fact, the clothes on Souji's body were soaked with sweat from hard work, his face was frighteningly weak, and the muscles in his hands and feet were shaking slightly due to fatigue and excessive exertion.

"...Brother Kondo, thank you for the reminder, but I don't want to rest yet."

Souji also knew that her body was extremely tired, but strangely, she felt that her consciousness was still very energetic.

She felt that she didn't need to rest yet...and she didn't want to.

Even if it was just for a second, she wanted the fire that seemed to be burning and scorching in her heart to be extinguished as soon as possible.

Seeing that the general manager was determined to have his own way, Kondo said quickly with an anxious expression:

"General Secretary, you..."

"Okay, Asheng, don't worry about the chief executive, just let her go."

Suddenly, Tufang's voice broke in.

"Ah Sui?"

Kondo turned his head and looked at the earth in surprise as he used a shovel to shovel the pieces of wood scattered on the ground onto the cart.

"Since the director-general has said that she doesn't want to rest, then don't force her. It's better to say: You let her continue to work, which is really good for her."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Kondo looked puzzled.

Hijikata ignored the slow Kondo and continued silently:

"I will watch over Souji. When Souji is really dying and about to fall to the ground, even if it is with force, I will let her go down to rest. Before that, let her do whatever she wants.

Just do what you want to do.”

After saying that, Hijikata raised his head, raised his gaze, and looked to the southeast, looking at the shaky prison floor that had been eroded by the fire.

"Tachibana-kun, please don't die... I haven't had the wedding wine between you and Souji yet..."

Hijikata murmured in a volume that only he could hear clearly.

…

…

The flames climbed along the walls and pillars to the highest point of the prison cell.

Countless pillars of fire erupted from the shattered roof.

The golden tongues of fire entwined and jumped around each other.

The sea of ​​​​fire completely engulfed the prison house. Black smoke rising from below filled the night.

Gradually, the fire in the house continued to grow stronger.

The wood split and the sounds of collapse came and went.

The wooden pillars that were burnt to brittle charcoal collapsed silently. The walls and ceilings that lost their support sank into the sea of ​​flames one by one.

Everything within sight gradually transformed into ruins filled with the aura of death.

The brilliant fire that shot straight into the sky, the raging tongues of fire that easily destroyed countless buildings to the ground...everywhere showed extraordinary power that was far beyond the reach of human beings.

Finally, with a "bang" sound, the last remaining building structure of the prison fell apart.

The house began to collapse from the inside, and everything was like a waterfall being drawn into a whirlpool. In the center of the whirlpool, a bottomless abyss composed of red flames opened its big mouth, wildly devouring everything that fell.

…

…

…
To be continued...