My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 590: Chapter 188: Elodie: “Mr. Tachibana! Please Take Me as Your Disciple!” [Bonus 10,000 Characters] _4

And now, the ”Nanki Faction” is leaderless due to Ii Naosuke’s death, significantly weakening their strength.

Tenshōin, as a woman of rank, can only offer limited support to Tokugawa Iemochi.

Therefore, it’s only natural that the overwhelmed Tokugawa Iemochi finds himself under pressure from the ”Hitotsubashi Faction.”

”Come to think of it, the Duke has indeed been very busy recently,” Inagawa’s words were still lingering, ”While dealing with the pressure from the ’Hitotsubashi Faction,’ he also has to divert his attention to handle the challenges posed by Western powers.”

The majority of the buildings in the settlement were destroyed in an attack by the Anti-foreigner Group. Though thanks to Aoto’s timely rescue, many managed to escape death, some unfortunate souls never opened their eyes again amidst the smoke and flames... After such an incident, the Westerners in the settlement naturally wouldn’t let it go so easily.

They united, demanding an explanation from the Edo Shogunate.

With such a heinous event occurring, the countries behind these Westerners certainly couldn’t just sit idly by; thus, the Western powers also intervened personally, demanding a reasonable explanation from the Edo Shogunate.

To quell the resentment and anger of the Westerners in the settlement and the countries they represent, it was imperative to completely destroy the Anti-foreigner Group, the culprits behind the attack, and arrest all involved, sentencing them to severe punishment.

Consequently, during Aoto’s quiet recovery at Ren Medical Hall, the Edo Magistrate’s Office, Arson and Theft Magistrate, and other government offices were in an uproar.

In order to swiftly fulfill the top directive to ”destroy the Anti-foreigner Group at any cost as quickly as possible,” the Edo Magistrate’s Office, Arson and Theft Magistrate, and other government agencies were operating at full capacity daily, with officials running back and forth, burning the midnight oil.

Inagawa’s earlier words made Aoto recall the recent busyness at the Magistrate’s Office, prompting him to ask in return:

”Lord Arima, how is the operation to eliminate the Anti-foreigner Group progressing?”

”Quite smoothly,” Arima answered with a slight smile, without a second thought, ”Thanks to your defeat of Kamino Tatsugorou, without his leadership, the Anti-foreigner Group has become a mere rabble.”

”Kamino Tatsugorou’s prestige in the Anti-foreigner Group was far higher than we expected.”

”Upon learning of Kamino Tatsugorou’s death and seeing the body we displayed, the morale of many captured group members instantly collapsed.”

”These demoralized individuals provided us with a wealth of information. Thanks to their intelligence, we have already eliminated many Anti-foreigner Group strongholds and arrested numerous remnants.”

”At our current pace and speed, we can thoroughly wipe out the Anti-foreigner Group in as little as half a month, or at most a month.”

Listening quietly to Kamino’s remarks, Aoto exhaled a sigh of relief.

”I see...”

Aoto’s facial muscles slowly relaxed... the relaxed expression gradually turning into a faint smile.

The long-standing nemesis, the Anti-foreigner Group, was finally on the brink of annihilation—this was the best news Aoto had heard in recent days.

”By the way, I just realized,” Aoto said with a hint of a smile, sweeping his gaze over Arima, Inagawa, and Ushiyama, ”Lord Arima, are you all very free today? How come you have time to visit me together?”

”Free? Not a chance!” Inagawa exclaimed, slapping his thigh in frustration, ”Do you think with the Shogunate’s strict order to eradicate the Anti-foreigner Group as quickly as possible, we could afford to be leisurely?”

”We squeezed out a bit of time from our busy schedules to visit you. We can’t stay here long, soon we’ll be heading back to the North Guard Station to continue working.”

Inagawa seemed about to continue complaining about their recent hectic days, but his words were suddenly interrupted by footsteps and knocks from outside the door.

”Mr. Tachibana, may we come in?”

It was Kondo’s voice.

Aoto, eyebrows slightly raised, quickly replied, ”Yes, please come in.”

Another group came to visit Aoto.

This time, the visitors were the Kondo family.

Kondo, Zhouzhu, and Abi entered single file with some gifts in hand, their faces showing surprise upon seeing so many people in Aoto’s ward.

Since Aoto was admitted to Shiwei Hall, Arima and others had visited there before, so they had met the Kondo family.

Seeing the Kondo family, Arima and the others immediately offered polite greetings, which were promptly reciprocated by the Kondo family.

Observing the suddenly bustling ward, Aoto couldn’t help but chuckle, ”There are quite a few visitors today...”

Aoto’s spontaneous comment seemed to remind Arima of something.

Seeing Arima raise his gaze and smile at him, Aoto noted:

”Yes, today there are indeed quite a few coming to see you.”

”Mr. Tachibana, actually, besides visiting you today, we have a small task.”

”A small task?” Aoto cast a curious glance at Arima.

”Three people also wish to visit you,” Arima said with a lighthearted tone, ”but their identities are somewhat special, and as Edo’s public security hasn’t fully stabilized, it’s inconvenient for them to move about freely on Edo’s streets.”

”So they asked us, hoping we, as officials, could facilitate and bring them to meet you.”