My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 582: Chapter 187: Has Aoto Been Promoted to Arson and Theft Magistrate? [Bonus Update 10,000 Words]_2

Upon hearing these sounds, Mukiwa’s face changed.

”Are you kidding me! Just when we needed their help, they were nowhere to be found. Now that we don’t need them, they show up right on time!”

Normally well-mannered, Mukiwa uncharacteristically used a slightly vulgar tone.

It’s not surprising that Mukiwa was so agitated... If it weren’t for the fact that she was already too exhausted to even speak loudly, Aoto would surely have said something more extreme.

Originally, with only himself and Mukiwa managing to catch up to the unmissable Shinno, while everyone else was nowhere to be seen, Aoto already felt some resentment towards the Arson and Theft Magistrate’s seemingly inefficient officials.

And now, after fighting for their lives and almost dying, neither he nor Mukiwa saw these Arson and Theft Magistrate officials show up. The battle had already ended, and the enemy had been handed over, only then did they finally arrive late...

Aoto had to take several deep breaths to calm his excitement.

”Young Master, Mr. Tachibana. I’m heading out first.”

Kiryu’s voice came through again.

He walked back to the Scythe Weasel’s corpse, hoisting it over his shoulder, along with Scythe Weasel’s severed arm and his sword.

”I have to take the Scythe Weasel’s body with me.”

”Young Master, Mr. Tachibana, can I ask you to keep the Scythe Weasel... this fellow’s existence a secret?”

Kiryu shook the Scythe Weasel’s body, which he carried on his shoulder.

”Simply put, I’m asking you and everyone to hide the fact that you fought with this guy.”

”I’ll find a chance to explain to you slowly later.”

Kiryu’s tone was calm... yet mixed with an undeniable seriousness.

Tonight, they had indeed encountered many things that were beyond his brain’s capacity to think or imagine... there were too many things unclear.

In the current situation, where he understood nothing, it was better not to act rashly or make decisions arbitrarily.

Therefore, after a brief moment of contemplation, Aoto nodded his head. Mukiwa also nodded almost simultaneously.

Seeing the two nod, Kiryu smiled slightly.

”We’ll see each other later, Mr. Tachibana.”

With that, Kiryu carried Scythe Weasel’s body and quickly headed towards a nearby dark alley.

Within just a few breaths, Kiryu’s figure and presence disappeared from Aoto’s perception.

Before Kiryu completely vanished from his line of sight, Aoto vaguely heard Kiryu, in a melancholy tone, muttering to himself:

”What a pity... that Kamino Tatsugorou is definitely dead... Otherwise, I’d really want to take him back and interrogate him about the relationship between the Anti-foreigner Group and the Law Punishment Faction...”

Aoto blinked a few times, casting a dazed gaze at the place where Kiryu and Scythe Weasel had just stood.

The Scythe Weasel, which had just cornered him and Mukiwa into a dead end, was slain in an instant by the familiar Kiryu, and its body was taken away.

Kiryu suddenly appeared, then left quickly after exchanging only a few words.

All these events occurred in under five minutes...

The so-called ”rapid changes”... that’s what this refers to, right?

The pace of the changes was indeed too fast; the switch between a desperate and a living situation was swift. If not for the intense and real pain permeating his body, Aoto might have doubted, ”Am I dreaming right now?”

”Did we survive...”

Mukiwa suddenly muttered.

Her petite figure seemed to lose support abruptly, wobbling slightly and almost collapsing to the ground.

But fortunately, before her body hit the ground, she managed to stabilize her center of gravity.

”We survived...!”

She repeated her earlier murmur with more emphasis, then lifted her head, looking up at Aoto, who was much taller than her.

Feeling the gaze Mukiwa cast, Aoto lowered his chin and met her eyes.

In the next instant their gazes met, a charming dimple appeared on Mukiwa’s cheek.

A radiant smile tinged with a bit of shyness revealed genuine, unadorned emotion.

A thousand words were wrapped in that smile.

The long night, moving from place to place across Edo, had finally ended... Thinking of this, seeing the smile of Mukiwa who accompanied him tonight without a word of complaint, Aoto couldn’t help but smile too.

”Ah... nearly forgot...”

At that moment, Aoto suddenly remembered—there was still one guy unresolved...

Aoto put away the smile on his face, turned his head to look behind him to the left, towards where Shinno had fallen.

The moment he turned his gaze, Aoto’s expression froze.

Where the living person Shinno was supposed to lie... now there was only a pool of blood and a trail of dense bloodstains extending towards the far-off alleyway entrance.

”He still had the strength to escape...”

Looking at the blood trail obviously left by Shinno while escaping, Aoto’s face revealed surprise.

After the deadly battle with the Scythe Weasel began, neither Aoto nor Mukiwa had the energy to pay attention to Shinno.

Aoto hadn’t expected Shinno to still have enough strength to make a sneaky escape when no one was free to watch over him.

Shinno escaped... yet Aoto didn’t feel any frustration or anxiety.

With a chest cut open, massive blood loss, and a lung injury... with such wounds, he couldn’t possibly get far.

Nor could he survive.

...

...

”Huff... Huff... Huff... Huff... Huff...!”

Leaning against the nearby filthy alley wall, Shinno breathed hard.