Volume 5: Kyoto Summer Campaign Chapter 294: Kyoto’s Red Light District (Part 1)
“Hum~hum~hum~~”
Ah-Machi was humming an unknown tune while grabbing a few candies she had just bought from the candy seller as she walked slowly back to the ramen shop.
After passing through the door of the ramen shop and returning to the ramen shop, Atachi was immediately stunned.
The place where she and Ogata had just sat happened to be facing the door of the ramen restaurant, so as long as she walked through the door of the ramen restaurant, she could see the table where she and Ogata had just sat.
But at this moment, Ogata was not seen at this table.
There were only two half-eaten bowls of ramen still lying alone on the table - they were the ramen she and Ogata had ordered just now.
Not only was Ogata nowhere to be seen, but all the customers who had been eating noodles in the store before were almost gone as well.
A young man with a wanted warrant in his hand and a handgun on his waist was in this ramen shop. He said loudly to an old lady who seemed to have just walked into the ramen shop:
"There's a murderer in Kyoto right now. Old lady, you have to be careful. The murderer's name is Ogata Issei. If you find any clues, please inform the authorities immediately. "
"Hito...giri...?" The old lady seemed to have poor hearing and repeated the word that she had not heard clearly with a puzzled look on her face.
"It's Hitokiri! Human slayer!" The young man repeated the pronunciation of "human slayer" with helplessness on his face.
This time, the old lady heard the pronunciation of "人杀" clearly and asked back with a puzzled look on her face:
"What does it mean to kill a person?"
"To put it simply, it means a murderer. Anyway - if you see someone who looks like the portrait on this wanted poster, immediately inform the nearby police... Hmm?"
The young man then noticed Atachi who was still standing at the door of the ramen shop.
"Girl," the young man said loudly to Ah-ting, "Did any officer tell you to be careful of 'people killing Yi-shi'?"
"No." Ating shook his head. "I just happened to be passing by here and heard you talking about 'Human Killing Yisei', so I came to take a look out of curiosity."
"Since no officer has told you to be careful of the 'human-killing Yi Shi' incident, let me tell you about it."
The young man walked slowly to A-Machi with Ogata's wanted warrant.
"Last night, there was an indiscriminate murderer in Kyoto. Up to now, more than 30 people have been killed by him... No, it is said that the number of victims has risen to more than 40."
"Ah." Ating nodded, "I know about this."
"We have now found out who this man-killer is." The young man waved the wanted poster in his hand, "It is the man on this wanted poster - the executioner Ittosai, Ogata Issei. Also known as 'Man-killer Issei'."
"Hey~~" Ating looked up and down at the wanted poster in front of him, "He looks really handsome."
"In terms of appearance, this man Zhan Yishi is indeed handsome, but it's a pity that he is a scum who kills innocent people indiscriminately."
"I've also heard of the name of the executioner Ittosai, the man who killed the former lord of the Hirose Domain, Matsudaira Gennai. But I heard that he was arrested by the government at the beginning of this year, wasn't he?"
“Who knows what’s going on.” The young man laughed bitterly, “I also heard that Ren Zhan Yi Shi was imprisoned a few months ago.”
"Maybe it's because he escaped from prison."
"It is also possible that the person captured a few months ago was not Ren Zhan Yi Shi at all."
"The world is so big, there are always a few people who look alike."
"Arresting the wrong person because they look alike - that's a very common thing."
"I heard that our Kyoto government made this mistake many years ago."
"An innocent civilian who looked very similar to a vicious murderer was mistakenly arrested."
"It was not until ten years later, when the real murderer was caught, that the innocent civilian was cleared of all charges."
"Unfortunately, it was too late. The civilian was executed not long after being captured."
Having said this, the young man realized that he seemed to have strayed from the topic and quickly turned the conversation back to the main point.
"In short - if you find any clues, please inform the nearby officials in time."
"But remember to pay attention to your own safety."
"No problem." Ating smiled, "I'll pay attention. If there's nothing else, I'll leave first."
Seeing that he had successfully informed another citizen about the "Ren Zhan Yi Shi" incident, a faint smile of satisfaction appeared on the young man's face.
After saying goodbye to the young Okabiki, Atachi slowly walked out of the ramen shop with a faint smile still on her face.
After leaving the ramen shop and walking away from it, the smile on Atachi's face disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The original smile was now replaced by a cold look.
Ating's original walking speed gradually increased as a stern look gradually emerged on his face.
Rushing into a dark alley next to him at a pace almost like a trot, Ating casually threw away the round fan in his hand and the candies he had just bought.
After hiding in this dark alley, A-machi took out her Suzakura and Kasumi.
After checking that the gun chambers of Motoya and Kasumagami were full of bullets and ready to fire at any time, Atachi took Motoya and Kasumagami back.
"Ayi...wait for me..."
After mumbling softly, Ating took firm steps and walked out of the dim alley...
…
…
"Let me briefly tell you what has happened in Kyoto recently."
Kamiyama cleared his throat.
"About two months ago, there was a loud noise and a fire in an empty house outside Luowai."
"After investigation by Hasegawa Heizo, the leader of the fire thieves, it has been determined that the fire was caused by a gunpowder explosion."
Shenshan pointed at the middle-aged man in black uniform next to him.
"This is the leader of the Fire Thieves Kai, Hasegawa Heizo."
"And last night, a murderer suddenly appeared in Kyoto."
"As of now, 45 people have been killed."
"After gathering all the witnesses at the crime scene, the artist drew the murderer's appearance based on the witnesses' testimonies."
"After drawing the murderer's appearance, we immediately compared the portrait with all the wanted posters to check whether it was done by a wanted criminal on the run."
Once a new criminal appears, the existing wanted warrants will be immediately retrieved to check whether the crime was committed by a wanted criminal at large - this is also the basic process of handling a case.
"After drawing the murderer's face, the artist in charge of drawing the murderer's face carefully discovered that this face was almost identical to a face he had almost vomited from drawing before."
"And this face is the face of the executioner Ittosai Ogata Issei."
"When Ogata Issei was on the run, the artist was ordered to draw a large number of wanted posters for Ogata Issei. Because he was about to vomit from drawing, the artist was very familiar with Ogata Ittosai's face."
"After the painter reported this, the chief, Abe Riri, ordered the retrieval of the wanted warrant for Ogata Issei, who had been sealed in the warehouse after his arrest."
"After showing the wanted poster of Ogata Issei to the witnesses, almost all of them said that it was the guy on the wanted poster who killed the person."
"After Lord Shoshidai of Kyoto learned of this, he ordered all the hundreds of wanted warrants for Ogata Noriyoshi in the warehouse to be shipped out, and the entire city was hunting for Ogata Noriyoshi."
"… Lord Kamiyama." Makimura said softly, "Let me confirm - is the current Kyoto Soshidai still the same guy Toda Tadahiro?"
“……” Shenshan nodded.
After nodding, Shenshan raised his eyes and observed Mucun's current expression.
Seeing that Mucun's reaction was much calmer than he had expected, Shenshan breathed a sigh of relief.
At this time, Makimura asked back:
"As far as I know, wasn't Ogata Ittosai arrested by the government at the beginning of this year? How could he have committed the crime?"
"Of course I know that." Shenshan smiled bitterly.
Ordinary people may not know whether Ogata Ittosai has been caught by the government, but all the high-ranking officials in Kyoto Prefecture know it very well - Ogata Ittosai was caught by Hasegawa Heizo in Tatsuno Domain at the beginning of this year and was sent to Choujima.
"After receiving the order from Lord Toda to hunt down Ogata Ittosai throughout the city, the chief of the gang, Abe Risato, also raised the same objection as you did to Lord Toda: Ogata Ittosai had already been arrested, so how could the culprit be Ogata Ittosai?"
"Guess what Toda-sama replied to Abe Riri?"
Although Shenshan asked Mucun this question in return, he did not seem to expect Mucun to answer his question.
After raising this question, Shenshan immediately said:
"Toda said: 'It doesn't matter whether the murderer is Ogata Ittosai or not. We just need to know that the murderer looks very similar to Ogata Ittosai and the wanted poster of Ogata Ittosai can help us catch this guy.'"
Hearing this, Mucun raised the corners of his mouth and chuckled a few times.
"Oh, that's true... There's really no need to worry about whether the murderer was Ogata Ittosai or not. It's enough to know that the murderer looks a lot like Ogata Ittosai and that the wanted poster of Ogata Ittosai can be reused."
"That's right." Kamiyama nodded. "After seeing the wanted poster for Ogata Ittosai, all the witnesses said that this man committed the crime. So even if the murderer is not Ogata Ittosai, it must be someone who looks very similar to Ogata Ittosai."
"Since he looks very similar to Ogata Ittosai, then the hundreds of wanted posters for Ogata Ittosai piled up in the warehouse can be put to good use. 'Holding Ogata Ittosai's wanted poster, use it to catch someone who looks very similar to Ogata Ittosai' - this is Lord Toda's idea."
After saying this, Shenshan paused.
Then he changed his tone to a slightly playful one:
"Lord Toda probably didn't expect that the real Ogata Ittosai is actually in Kyoto right now."
"Ogata Ittosai, who is currently somewhere in Kyoto, must be very confused... He didn't do anything, but for no apparent reason he was wanted by the whole city..."
Hearing Shenshan's words, Mucun's eyes flickered slightly in astonishment.
"Is Ogata Ittosai in Kyoto?" Makimura pretended to be confused.
Kamiyama turned his head and made a "please" gesture to Hasegawa beside him.
Hasegawa, who had been silent since a while ago, spoke in a deep voice.
"I stayed in a village outside of Kyoto last night, and I ran into the real Ogata Ittosai in a certain inn."
"Are you sure you didn't recognize the wrong person?"
"Impossible."
Hasegawa said in a firm tone.
"Last night, I stayed in the same hotel with Ogata Itosai. Ogata Itosai was not in Kyoto last night , so how could he have killed someone?"
"There is no doubt about it - Ogata Ittosai is innocent."
"The murderer should be someone who looks very similar to Ogata Ittosai, or who disguised himself as Ogata Ittosai."
"Lord Hasegawa, since you know that Ogata Ittosai is innocent, why don't you tell Toda Tadahiro and the others about this and ask them to stop the arrest warrant for Ogata Ittosai..."
Before the question was fully asked, Mucun paused and stopped asking further questions.
Because he realized he had asked a stupid question.
"Makimura, just as I said just now." Kamiyama said with a wry smile, "Lord Toda doesn't care whether the murderer is Ogata Ittosai or not."
"He will issue a city-wide warrant for the arrest of Ogata Ittosai, because the murderer must be someone who looks very similar to Ogata Ittosai or can disguise himself as Ogata Ittosai."
"The wanted order for Ogata Ittosai is currently the best way to investigate the case and track down the murderer."
"Even if Lord Toda knew that the murderer was definitely not Ogata Ittosai, he would definitely have his men continue to hold up the wanted order for Ogata Ittosai and search the city for anyone who looks like Ogata Ittosai."
"Until the real mastermind is found, this city-wide wanted notice for Ogata Ittosai will not be lifted."
"Okay, that's all I have to say about what's happened in Kyoto recently."
Shenshan cleared his throat again, and a serious look appeared on his face again.
"There is a big suspicious point in this murder case, that is: the murderer never wore a mask, and when he killed anyone, there happened to be witnesses at the scene."
"He fled immediately after killing the person, and did not kill the witnesses."
"Such an action is like... intentionally letting many people see his face and see what kind of person he is who is killing people everywhere..."
"Mucun, my intuition tells me that the Luowai explosion two months ago and the current murder case might have been committed by the same group of people. They might be planning something extraordinary..."
"Master Shenshan." Makura shrugged. "The explosion two months ago and the murder case now - these two cases are completely unrelated. Why do you think they were committed by the same group of people?"
"…Makimura, you should also know that my intuition in this regard has always been very accurate. When you were still our Kyoto's Yoriki, relying on my intuition, we successfully wiped out countless thieves who intended to cause damage in Kyoto, right?"
