For this reason, Nishino, who was born in the "Sankai" of the Buddhist temple, did not often set foot in the temple grounds of Edo.

Fortunately, he happens to be very familiar with this area.

Because Sakai Kingo, one of the current priests of the temple, lives nearby.

Previously, for socializing, Nishino went to Kingo Sakai's house for several rounds of drinks under the leadership of his boss...that is, Chujiro Usui, the leader of the North Banner.

The temple administration, the designated administration and the town administration in Edo are collectively called the "three administrations". Their daily work often requires each other to provide a convenient place, so there are often favors and benefits between them.

Hakui and Sakai Kingo had a very good relationship. Whenever they had free time, they would often get together to talk, drink, listen to Japanese songs, and do elegant things.

"My grandson, if you persist a little longer, you will be able to..."

Nishino originally wanted to cheer up my grandson.

But before he could finish speaking...

"Cough, cough! Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Suddenly, my grandson coughed violently.

The sound was so loud and the frequency was so urgent that it startled Nishino.

He subconsciously stretched out his right hand and held on to the earth wall next to him.

But the moment his palm touched the wall, his right arm bones seemed to have been shattered, sliding down softly, and the whole person continued to fall forward.

"Hello!"

At the critical moment, Nishino helped my grandson.

The moment his palm touched my grandson's body, Nishino felt that his palm was sticky... His palm was covered with fresh blood and dried viscous plasma.

When Nishino saw this, the lines on his face gradually became stiff.

My grandson, who was lively and cheerful half an hour ago and could talk and laugh with him happily, turned into this dying figure just because of two arrows... This strong contrast made Nishino doubt that he was dreaming for a moment.

Sense of reality.

After coughing for ten more times and vomiting out a large amount of blood and some internal organ fragments, my grandson slowly raised his head and smiled at Nishino - his usual calm smile.

"Nishino-kun... I'm sorry... can you help me a little...?"

"……I see."

Nishino stretched out his left hand and supported my grandson's torso.

The two continued to move forward, leaving long shadows and deep blood marks on the ground under the moonlight.

A heavy atmosphere continued to build up between the two of them.

However, as if Nishino couldn't stand the atmosphere, he said expressionlessly:

"My grandson, the matter has come to this, you..."

Nishino's voice was interrupted against his will.

Somehow, his words were stuck in his throat, and elusive colors kept emerging from deep in his heart.

Nishino took a deep breath, suppressed all kinds of emotions in his chest, spoke again, and continued.

"Is there anything else you want to say?"

My grandson only lowered his eyebrows for a moment as if embarrassed, and then he smiled softly, as if he acknowledged everything Nishino said.

From this moment on, Nishino felt inexplicably that the sounds around him were so far away, as if only the space centered on him and my grandson was cut off from the world.

In this extremely peaceful world, the first sentence Nishino produced was a laugh full of self-deprecation.

"Aha...haha...hahahaha..."

He was obviously laughing, but it sounded like he was asking for help from someone.

"Looking back... has it been... 8 years... time flies so fast..."

Nishino remained silent and listened quietly.

My grandson raised his head and raised his gaze, as if he was looking at the sky and the world further away.

"Eight years ago... when I was not a 'fire dragon'... I investigated a case..."

"A little girl who was not as good as a sword...died tragically on the street..."

"From the left shoulder to the right side of the abdomen... such a delicate body... was cut into two neat halves..."

"This little girl who died tragically... was not a lady... just an ordinary town girl..."

"Obviously, someone is using civilians to test the knife..."

"I quickly locked the prisoner..."

"But... after finally catching the prisoner... the superior officer asked me to release him..."

"Although those guys gave high-sounding reasons,... Nishino-kun, you should be able to guess what the truth is, right?"

Nishino pursed his lips, and after a moment of silence, he said in a deep voice:

"...The murderer is covered, right?"

My grandson smiled sadly.

"I'm obviously an official who was reformed by a thieves...but I can't even redress a little girl's injustice..."

"The reason why I joined the Great Salt Party and devoted myself to the cause of a near-death collapse...maybe it was to heal the powerless grief I felt at that time... Cough cough cough cough! Cough cough! Cough cough cough!"

My grandson started coughing again.

"Okay, stop talking!"

Nishino held my grandson steady, fearing that he would slip from his arms.

Although Nishino sternly asked my grandson to shut up, he still suppressed his cough and asked Nishino a question intermittently:

"Nishino-kun... you say... when I arrive... in that world... what expression should I use... to face that poor little girl? Will she... forgive me for my weakness and incompetence...

"

Nishino: "..."

A long silence fell between Nishino and my grandson.

The sound of wind coming from afar sounded inexplicably far away.

About five seconds later, the various emotions hidden deep in the chest finally turned into sounds.

"Who knows."

"Hahaha... what you said... is really merciless..."

"but--"

Seeing that Nishino had not finished speaking, my grandson quickly stopped talking and listened.

"If I were you... I would really hope that little girl could give me a good beating. It would be better to beat me half to death for being so incompetent."

For an instant, my grandson showed a surprised expression, which soon turned into a complex expression of laughter and laughter, and finally changed to the calm smile he usually showed most.

At this time, my grandson cast a surprised look forward.

"Oh my... Arikadatsu..."

Nishino followed my grandson's gaze and saw two still green Kadomatsu outside the door of a home not far away.

The so-called Kadomatsu is a New Year decoration that the Japanese place outside the door during the New Year. It is generally composed of moso bamboo, pine branches, bamboo poles and wintersweet.

Japanese Shintoism is a typical "animistic belief", believing that all things have animism.

There is a saying in Shinto that gods live on tree branches, so there is a possibility of gods attached to kadomatsu.

Hanging the door pine in front of the door is to invite the God of Nian into the home and to herald good luck in the new year.

The God of Nian is the god who brings harvest and happiness to every household during the first month of every year.

Although it is almost February, there are still many families who have not put away the loose doors outside their doors due to laziness or other reasons.

"Nishino-kun..."

"what?"

"Do you know..."Man'yoshu"...?"

"What kind of stupid question are you asking? As long as you are Kazuto, it's impossible that you don't know the "Man'yoshu", right?"

"Man'yoshu" - the oldest extant poetry collection in Japan, contains more than 4,500 ancient poems of various lengths and styles spanning 450 years from the fourth century AD to the end of the 8th century in the 1960s. It is similar to the Chinese "Book of Songs".

"Then do you know...the anti-person song in "Man'yoshu"?"

"What are you doing? Are you bleeding so much that your brain is damaged? Why do you keep asking me such stupid questions?"

"Man'yoshu" contains a total of one hundred "anti-people songs", which are divided into volumes 13, 14 and 20.

"Defense" means that after Japan was defeated in the "Battle of Baijiangkou", in order to defend against the attacks of the Tang Dynasty and Silla, it recruited strong men from all over the country, replaced every three years, and stationed them on the coast of Chikushi (Kyushu Island) and Iki

, the defense troops on Tsushima and other islands.
To be continued...