My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 314: Chapter 129: Cat Monk... So Soft! Cat Monk’s True Identity Revealed! [6600]

The confessions of these two individuals were identical... After performing this extremely bizarre action, the Cat Monk closed in and used his skilled martial arts to knock them to the ground.

Upon learning the details of how these two were captured by the Cat Monk, Aoto felt a sense of déjà vu. It only took a moment of recollection to realize—three months ago, he and Saito had traveled to Fujisawa Inn to capture a notorious gang of bandits. However, as soon as they arrived, they discovered that the bandits they were after had already been apprehended by the Cat Monk.

The experience of that gang of bandits was exactly the same as what these two wanted criminals encountered.

The Cat Monk would suddenly appear, strike an odd pose, shout ”The Cat Monk is here,” and then use his expert hand-to-hand combat skills to knock them all down.

The Cat Monk caught the criminals for them... This left Hosoi and the other Magistrate’s Office officials feeling a mix of emotions.

It was certainly a good thing that the fugitives who had been on the run were caught.

But the person who helped them capture the fugitives was that notorious Phantom Thief, Cat Monk... It was impossible for Hosoi and others not to feel uneasy.

While feeling this unease, Hosoi and the other officials at the Magistrate’s Office were also quite puzzled—what exactly did the Cat Monk want to do?

Why was he helping them, the Magistrate’s Office, to catch thieves?

Was it purely on a whim, or did he have some ulterior motive?

Recalling how the Cat Monk had previously tipped off Aoto, aiding him in the successful rescue of the Foreign Language Research Institute, the Cat Monk’s image became even more enigmatic in the minds of the officials.

The fugitives that the Magistrate’s Office had never managed to catch were apprehended by this thief, Cat Monk...

If this news got out, it wouldn’t sound too good and would damage the Magistrate’s Office’s reputation.

Therefore, to salvage their reputation, the Magistrate’s Office made every effort to prevent the spread of the news that the Cat Monk had caught the thieves for them.

Not long ago, the Magistrate’s Office had done something similar—if people knew that Aoto was able to rescue the Foreign Language Research Institute in time, all thanks to the Cat Monk’s tip-off, it would damage the Magistrate’s Office’s reputation and cast doubt on their capabilities. So when publicizing the incident to the outside world, the Magistrate’s Office had always tried to minimize the Cat Monk’s presence, focusing instead on the contributions of Aoto and the others.

But such things couldn’t be completely hidden.

When the Cat Monk tipped off Aoto, there were numerous witnesses present, including the Town Fire Extinguisher officials.

When the Cat Monk caught these two fugitives who had been on the run for so long, several people, such as the nightingale, who were almost attacked by the fugitives, witnessed the entire process of the Cat Monk catching them.

In an ancient society like Edo, where the Edo Magistrate’s Office had to rely heavily on the assistance of the Town Autonomous Organization to barely maintain control over the city’s extremely weak municipal management and control capabilities, they had no ability to control public opinion.

No matter how hard the Magistrate’s Office tried to control the spread of information, the deeds of the Cat Monk during this period still spread rapidly through the streets.

The Cat Monk’s reputation, unsurprisingly, soared once again.

More and more people praised this Phantom Thief: The Cat Monk is truly a righteous and benevolent thief, a great person! He even surpasses the famed Mouse Monk of years past!

The Mouse Monk—a legendary phantom thief who was active in Edo 40 years ago.

According to legend, the Mouse Monk’s true name was Jirōkichi, and he was originally a construction worker specializing in high-altitude tasks.

In his youth, he became addicted to gambling and indulgence, leading to his expulsion from the house by his father.

While wandering outside, he awakened to the harsh realities of life and became enlightened.

Seeing through the corruption of the powerful, Jirōkichi resolved to do something for the impoverished and oppressed masses. He quit gambling and embarked on his ”phantom thief” career.

By day, he was an ordinary construction worker; by night, he was a phantom thief who toyed with the Edo Magistrate’s Office.

Using the skills he honed on the job, such as wall-climbing and roof-running, Jirōkichi infiltrated the residences of notorious samurais and merchants to steal their wealth, which he then distributed to the poor.

This act of robbing the rich to help the poor, and thieving with a code of ethics, made Jirōkichi quickly become a heroic figure among the common folk, widely adored by them.

Because Jirōkichi moved as silently as a mouse, he gradually earned the nickname ”Mouse Monk.”

It’s said that until his death, the Mouse Monk committed over a hundred thefts, involving amounts totaling 12,000 ryō.

Unfortunately, even the best-laid plans sometimes fail, and during one theft, Mouse Monk was accidentally caught by the officials of the Magistrate’s Office.

Having committed over a hundred thefts and having thoroughly enraged certain meat-eating rich individuals in Edo, Mouse Monk was undoubtedly sentenced to death.

After the Mouse Monk was executed, a large number of impoverished people who had benefitted from his acts cried bitterly.

Even though more than 40 years have passed, many still remember the Mouse Monk.

After the Mouse Monk’s death, many in the arts world commemorated this righteous warrior by adapting his story into storytelling or Kabuki plays.

Thanks to the efforts of these individuals, the name Mouse Monk did not fade with time. On the contrary, it became even more illustrious.

The reason the Edo Magistrate’s Office gave the Cat Monk the code name ”Cat Monk” was because his wall-climbing and roof-running skills and his tendency to target only notorious offenders were quite reminiscent of the Mouse Monk. So, they chose a code name very similar to Mouse Monk.