My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 64: Chapter 46: Tachibana Aoto Has Mastered Zhuge Kongming’s Secret Technique!_2

The increasingly sluggish economy, the turmoil from the ”Radical Anti-foreigner Faction,” and the surge of unemployed due to social unrest...

In a nutshell: The atmosphere permeating through Edo’s air these past few years is unprecedentedly oppressive.

The ”Three Times” at the North Guard Station cracked this highly prominent case in less than an hour — a rare piece of uplifting ”positive news” for the public in these recent years.

The rare ”positive news” provided the public with a much-needed outlet for their long-suppressed emotions.

So — a mysterious event where the case was solved in less than an hour + the high-profile nature of the case + the public’s long-suppressed emotions urgently needing release = a fascinating chemical reaction, with a massive crowd spontaneously joining the discussion of related topics.

For the past two days, centering around Mukiura Town, more and more people have started discussing the murder that ended not long ago.

Lack of basic education in this era means the public generally isn’t sharp and lacks judgment, hence — all sorts of chaotic rumors spread at an eerily rapid speed over these two days...

...

”Hey, did you hear? That Dōshin who caught the beast that killed Granny Ping has supposedly never really shined at the North Guard Station, and they even say he has a nickname ’Blockhead Don.’

”Then how did he suddenly get so skilled?”

”Who knows, maybe he decided to rise to the occasion and diligently refined himself.”

...

”Hey, did you hear? That Tachibana Aoto seems to have only entered Granny Ping’s house, studied the crime scene for a bit, and immediately knew who killed Granny Ping.”

”What? How did he do it?”

”Who knows! The Magistrate’s Office might later announce how Tachibana Aoto managed to catch the culprit.”

...

”Hey, did you hear? That Tachibana Aoto is apparently a person of great tenacity! He was previously a subpar Dōshin of the Fixed Town Patrol and earned the nickname ’Blockhead Don,’ but he relentlessly learned and honed his mind and body, and now has caught up splendidly, enabling him to beautifully solve today’s case.”

”Oh wow! Incredible! Who’d have thought there’d be such determined and spirited Samurai nowadays!”

...

”Hey, did you hear? That Tachibana Aoto seems to have merely glanced at the crime scene inside Granny Ping’s house, figuring out who killed her within half the time it takes a stick of incense to burn.”

”Hmm? I heard that Tachibana Aoto didn’t even enter Granny Ping’s house at all?”

...

”Hey, did you hear? That Tachibana Aoto supposedly never even entered Granny Ping’s house! He deduced the culprit merely by standing outside the crime scene and listening to the Jishinban Clerk’s report on the case.”

”Yes, yes, I heard that too; he cracked the case without stepping foot in Granny Ping’s house!”

...

”Hey, did you hear? That Tachibana Aoto...”

...

”Hey, did you hear? That Tachibana Aoto...”

...

”Hey, did you hear? That Tachibana Aoto...”

...

Edo, outside a certain pastry shop in Castle Town —

Chokata despised the behavior of crowding the crime scene... especially that of a murder scene for the sake of excitement.

People gather around the crime scene like they’re watching a play, tiptoeing, stretching their necks to look...

What’s there to see?!

Have they considered the feelings of the victim’s family and friends...

It’s abhorrent... this behavior that disregards the victims’ loved ones...

Therefore, two days ago, upon hearing that a murder occurred next door in Mukiura Town, Chokata didn’t rush over to join the crowd like the other thrill-seekers.

After seeing Aoto off, Chokata remained at the tea house, continuing to enjoy his favorite red bean buns.

Once he finished his buns, he quietly returned to Shiwei Hall and didn’t bother with Granny Ping’s case afterward.

Chokata is a heavy sweet tooth.

Going a day without gold flat sugar makes him feel all sorts of uncomfortable.

Having seen last night that his home stock of gold flat sugar was running low, he excitedly headed to his frequented pastry shop first thing this morning to purchase his ”daily essentials.”

But his luck wasn’t all that great today.

Upon arriving at his regular pastry shop, he found that all the gold flat sugar had been sold out.

Chokata only enjoys the gold flat sugar baked at this particular pastry shop, so he had no choice but to patiently wait at the shop for a fresh batch to be made.

To pass the boring waiting time, Chokata stood outside the pastry shop and pulled out a small stack of papers from his pocket.

Why not study arithmetic!

The small stack Chokata now drew from his pocket was densely filled with handwriting — all arithmetic problems set for him earlier by Hijikata Toshizo, competent enough in mathematics.

Hijikata Toshizo once told him that to learn arithmetic well, practicing plenty is essential.

Thus, to practice arithmetic in large quantity, Chokata pestered Hijikata Toshizo for quite a while before he finally agreed to draft problems suitable for Chokata to practice with.

When he initially asked Hijikata Toshizo to set problems for him, the latter was extremely reluctant, complaining about how bothersome it was.

But after Chokata’s persistent nagging, he finally agreed to Chokata’s request, then went above and beyond to seriously write down a whole stack of arithmetic problems for him.

Chokata flipped through the small stack of papers, turning to the problems he hadn’t yet solved.

The moment he caught sight of a new problem, Chokata’s delicate eyebrows furrowed, his expression turning into this: (´･ω･｀)

[Toshisuke, you now have 39 pieces of gold flat sugar, I have 27 pieces of gold flat sugar, if I give you all my gold flat sugar, how many pieces will you have now?]

Both the tone of the question and its content were full of Mr. Hijikata’s style.

pieces of gold flat sugar... hmm... ten fingers per pair of hands, 39 is three pairs of hands plus nine fingers!

pieces of gold flat sugar means two pairs of hands plus seven fingers!

Perhaps because he was standing next to the pastry shop, continuously inhaling the wonderfully sweet scent, Chokata felt his brain was exceptionally clear! His thoughts flowed smoothly!

Feeling excellent!

Great! Feeling awesome now! This time I think I can get it right!

A self-satisfied smirk climbed onto his lips, and he continued his brainstorm.

Adding 39 and 27 together... means three pairs of hands and nine fingers plus two pairs of hands and seven fingers...

Feeling that his thoughts today were flowing superbly, Chokata jubilantly shouted in his heart:

(≧∀≦) A total of 103!

Chokata proudly directed his gaze towards the next question...

Yet at this moment —

”Have you heard? The murder in Mukiura Town the day before yesterday was solved by the North Guard Station’s ’Three Times’ in less than an hour.”

”Yes, heard about it. It was solved by a Dōshin of the Fixed Town Patrol with a nickname ’Blockhead Don’ in less than an hour, right? What was the name of that Dōshin again?”

”Tachibana Aoto.”

”Oh, right, Tachibana Aoto.”

A sudden conversation erupted beside Chokata, making it hard for him not to pay attention...

The speakers were two middle-aged men standing not far from the pastry shop, each gnawing on a glutinous rice dumpling, seemingly idle men.

One of them, after stuffing the dumpling entirely into his mouth, lowered his voice, speaking in almost confidential tones, said to his companion:

”Hey, did you hear? It’s said that Tachibana Aoto has mastered the supernatural arithmetic of Zhuge Kongming!”

... Zhuge Kongming?!

Chokata’s expression, hearing these words from the two men, turned into this look: Σ(°Д°;)...

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