My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 130: Chapter 84: Aoto Struck Back

”Saito, come with me!”

With that, Aoto sprinted toward the fleeing arsonists!

Though Saito didn’t know what Aoto was up to, he hurriedly followed without a word.

Chokata stared blankly at Aoto and Saito, who ran to chase the arsonists, then turned around and quickly said to Kondo:

”Brother Kondo! I’m going to help Mr. Tachibana catch those people! You and Mr. Kyūbē go notify the Town Fire Extinguisher to come put out the fire!”

Kondo: ”Huh?”

Without giving Kondo any chance or time to respond, Chokata turned and chased after Aoto and Saito, who were already far ahead...

...

...

”What’s wrong? What’s happened?!”

”Fire! There’s a fire!”

”What?! Hurry, go!”

”Go call the Town Fire Extinguisher to come over!”

”Ahhh! How did it catch fire?!”

...

While pursuing the arsonists, Aoto heard screams of fear and panic continuously echoing around him.

The residents of Hachidori-bori also began to notice the low, increasingly intense flames in the distance.

In Ancient Japan, people had always feared fire.

The reason being the population density and the particular style of houses in Ancient Japan.

Japan is a nation of limited land with a dense population; suitable living space is scarce, and millions of people are crammed into this small area. In large cities like Edo and Kyoto, the population density is even more exaggerated.

This extreme population density meant that houses were built very closely together, and the buildings of Ancient Japan were primarily made of flammable wood, making each house a large flammable object.

Therefore, any house catching fire could easily induce horrifying chain reactions.

A small fire could lead to a great blaze, and once one house caught fire, it could engulf an entire area of houses in a sea of flames, eventually leading to the destruction of most of the city—such events were common throughout Ancient Japan.

The most outstanding example is Edo’s infamous ”Great Fire of Meireki.”

In the Meireki Period of 1657, just one burning kimono sleeve ultimately led to the destruction of two-thirds of Edo. This terrifying fire, sparked by a burning sleeve, is also referred to as the ”Furisode Fire.”

Originally quite peaceful, Hachidori-bori suddenly became extraordinarily noisy and chaotic.

People rushed either to evacuate or to notify the Town Fire Extinguisher to put out the fire, or they hurriedly moved their belongings out of their homes before the flames reached them...

More and more residents rushed out of their houses to escape, obstructing Aoto’s view and hindering his pursuit, making it suddenly much harder to catch up with the arsonists.

Out of necessity, Aoto continually shouted:

”I’m a Dōshin from the Fixed Town Patrol! I’m chasing arsonists! Make way! Clear the path!”

Aoto’s shouts proved quite effective.

Upon hearing that Aoto was catching thieves, many people hurried to the sides of the street, clearing a path.

At this moment, Aoto suddenly felt a gust of wind behind him.

Looking back—Chokata, holding onto the sword at his waist, was right behind him.

”Mr. Chokata, why are you here?”

”I’m here to help you catch those arsonists!” Chokata shouted, ”I’m the best at chasing people!”

With those words, Chokata stopped talking, clamping his mouth shut and focusing solely on running.

Time was of the essence, and Aoto had no time to consider why Chokata disregarded his instructions and volunteered to help chase. He could only refocus his gaze ahead.

Chokata’s claims of being skilled at pursuit didn’t seem unfounded.

His speed was astonishingly fast; although Aoto and Saito both started chasing before Chokata, Chokata gradually caught up to them both and even overtook them...

Not only was he fast, but he was also incredibly energetic.

Even at such a remarkable speed, his breathing remained steady, his expression unchanged, and he hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Noticing that it was hard to shake off Aoto and the others closely trailing them, the arsonists gathered together, briefly whispered to each other, then scattered in different directions.

Seeing these scoundrels trying to escape separately, Aoto quickly shifted his gaze, swiftly scanning the physiques of the group.

”Mr. Chokata, chase the fattest one!” Aoto pointed toward the arsonist who appeared the biggest and slowest.

Already far ahead of Aoto and Saito, Chokata glanced at the fat man in the direction Aoto pointed, then nodded vigorously.

That fat man was quite clever as well.

He turned his head, noticed Aoto and the others sprinting toward him, gritted his teeth, and made a sharp 90-degree turn, darting into a nearby alleyway.

Following the fat man into the narrow alley, Aoto found it extremely cramped and intricate, with numerous branching paths and particularly poor visibility—one wrong move and they might lose him.

Aoto looked up at a low building not far in front of him, adjacent to the alley.

”Saito! You and Mr. Chokata keep chasing that fat man on the ground!”

After loudly delivering this command to Saito beside him, Aoto took a deep breath and rushed toward the low building.

As he reached the eaves of the building with a full sprint, he immediately gathered strength in his back, then leapt forcefully, reaching for the eaves.

The eaves were extremely low, vertically just over 2 meters high. With a height of 1.75 meters, Aoto easily grasped the eaves with a strong jump.