"I didn't even notice who the people I was killing were as I was wielding the gun and cutting their bodies into pieces."

"At that time, my eyes could no longer see any living beings. I could only see fame and fortune."

"This is the 'romantic Qilin' that people praise all the time - a beast."

"After that, I felt like I had lost my memory and couldn't remember what happened next."

"I just remember that someone hit me on the right side of my abdomen with a firearm, causing me to be seriously injured and unconscious."

"When I woke up from the bed, the war was over and the Great Salt Army was completely defeated."

"My outstanding performance in the war successfully attracted the attention and appreciation of the superior officer."

"Shangguan promised me: when I recover, he will recommend me to serve in Kyoto."

"I finally got the fame I wanted...but I don't feel half happy."

"Is this the official body I have been looking forward to?"

"I earned my official position by killing my fellow villagers."

"Is this the warrior I respect most?"

"A warrior who begs for mercy from the superior just to get a little food."

"At that moment, I finally woke up."

"The so-called 'samurai' are just 'slaves with better names'."

“It’s so funny that I’m doing everything I can to become a higher-level slave, even if I’m willing to kill all my fellow villagers.”

"After the epiphany, I suddenly felt my body became lighter - letting go of long-term obsessions, I have never been so free."

"But at the same time, the overwhelming regret makes me miserable."

"Why am I so stupid?"

"Why couldn't I have understood these truths earlier?"

"Whenever I think of the tragic death of the villagers, I want to tear all the skin off my body with my bare hands."

"After I recovered from my injuries, I rejected the Shangguan's recommendation and became a wanderer with no fixed abode."

"The 'Langhua Qilin'er' disappeared and became an inconspicuous little wave in the long river of history."

"I was really confused during that time."

"When you're hungry, just eat some wild fruits and chew some tree bark. When you're tired, just fall asleep."

"Sometimes I walk east, sometimes I walk south, just wandering aimlessly."

“‘Let’s just die like this’—that was the only thought I had at that time.”

"Until one day, I met Miss Sumire."

Speaking of this, Tojo Shintaro paused, then changed the subject and asked Qingto:

"Your Highness, you don't know Miss Sumire's past, right?"

Qingden shook his head.

He didn't know her true identity as the intelligence chief of the Salt Party until not long ago, so how could he know her past?

Seeing Qingden shake his head, Tojo Shintaro put on a calm smile:

"In that case, I will tell you briefly."

"The vast majority of members of the Great Salt Party are poor, miserable, and unsustainable lower-class people."

“That’s why I think ‘against his mother’.”

"However, Miss Sumire is not like this."

"She is the daughter of the Eight Thousand Shi family, and she is a true lady of the family."

When Qingdeng heard this, he was not only surprised.

The banner of Yazenshi Jiaroku... In the Edo period, this was truly the best among men!

Hatamoto of this level will basically hold important positions in the shogunate. They need status and income.

The daimyo had an entire samurai group to support, and he seemed to have tens of thousands of koku and hundreds of thousands of territories, but he often couldn't make ends meet and had to borrow money to survive.

In contrast, Hatamoto does not have such a big burden.

Therefore, the quality of life of Hatamoto of the Eight Thousand Shi Family is superior to that of most daimyo.

Since Miss Sumire is from a famous family, Qingden understands where her extraordinary noble temperament, excellent conversation, and the confidence in her behavior come from.

Shintaro Tojo’s words continued:

"She could have lived a happy life in fine clothes and fine food."

"However, she has a compassionate heart."

"Just because she sympathized with the poor and wanted to see no more injustice in the world, she resolutely abandoned her superior life and joined the Salt Party without hesitation."

"Miss Sumire is like my opposite."

"She is the rich lady, and I am the 'Trinity Warrior'."

"She regards fame and fortune as nothing but dirt, and runs around in order to realize the great ideal of 'university under heaven'. She works tirelessly and enjoys it as much as she can."

"But I did all the bad things just for my own selfish desires."

"Compared to her, I'm like a maggot in a cesspit..."

"I will skip the details for now. In short, after meeting Miss Sumire by chance, I explained my past to her."

"I thought she would scold me."

"No matter which way you look at it, I am an inhuman beast."

"No matter how viciously she cursed me, I deserved it."

"Unexpectedly... after listening to my past, she actually said to me: 'Do you want to join the Great Salt Party?'"

"To be honest, I thought I heard it wrong at the time."

"I am an executioner whose hands are stained with blood. I have killed countless patriots of the Salt Party with my own hands."

"I had a share in the failure of the 'Ohio Heihachiro Uprising'."

"After I raised the question, she said to me coldly: 'You have been a coward in the first half of your life, do you want to continue to be a coward in the second half of your life?'"

"Haha...this sentence is really merciless..."

"At that time, Miss Sumire was just a teenage girl - if you think about it, she was really amazing. She was obviously a young girl who had not yet left the government, but she already had such a high level of consciousness."

"I was actually educated by a girl who was less than half my age... It was such a wonderful experience."

"There is nothing to tell in detail about the rest of the story."

"Perhaps I was moved by Miss Sumire's words, so I finally agreed to join the Great Salt Party."

"With Miss Sumire's recommendation, I successfully became a new member of the Great Salt Party."

"Then, the organization got me a new household registration and identity, and helped me break into the Edo Kita Bureau."

"At this point, the 'Kirinji of Nangaka' Kazami Ichima has passed away, and has been replaced by Edo Kitaban Sadacho Kai and Lito Castle Shintaro."

"The official position I once dreamed of was easily obtained this time, and I was one of the 'Three Edo Sons'... It made me feel more and more that I was just a hilarious buffoon."

[Note: Edo Three Sons: The three most popular professions among women in Edo (Yu Riki, Sumo Wrestler, and Hua Xiaotou). Yuli has wealth, sumo wrestlers are powerful, and Hua Xiaotou (fire brigade captain) has courage.

】

"The reason why I chose to join the Great Salt Party was not to atone for my sins."

"As I said before, I don't have that high level of awareness."

"The purpose of doing this is purely to make my heart feel better."

"Every time I make some contribution to the development and growth of the Great Salt Party, it brings me some comfort and makes me feel that I am not so hopeless."

"This is my story."

"There is no soul-stirring plot."

"There was only one clown who jumped up and down on the stage and performed a ridiculous rant."

[Note: Kyogen: Kyogen is a comedy-type drama. It uses characters or events drawn from the real world to use a humorous way to satirize samurai and other aristocrats. 】

"Anyway, I'm already a ridiculous clown, so I don't bother to clean up my appearance. Just do what you love."

"Drink whatever you like."

"Eat whatever food you like."

"I will no longer practice spear skills... to be more precise, unless I have to, I don't want to be exposed to spear skills that I am not interested in at all."

"Unconsciously, it became like this."

As he spoke, he weighed his huge belly like a rubber ball, and the soft fat swayed.
To be continued...