Tachibana Aoto, was startled by the sudden mechanical sound that echoed in his mind, causing him to stand frozen in place.
Before he could recall the mechanical sound in detail, he suddenly felt his vision blur, and his eyes lost focus.
Once his eyes regained their ability to focus, Aoto was astonished to find that his vision was unprecedentedly clear.
It was late at night, and the surrounding light sources previously only allowed Aoto to barely see the path beneath his feet.
But now, Aoto felt that everything before his eyes was incredibly clear.
Even in dark corners not illuminated by light, Aoto could see everything clearly.
While Aoto was still shocked by the change in his vision, the capture of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang had quietly concluded.
According to the informant’s intelligence, the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang had a total of only 12 members.
Under the sudden attack by Aoto and Others, they were quickly rounded up; those who surrendered willingly were tightly bound with thick ropes, while those who resisted stubbornly were executed on the spot.
“Oh?
Tachibana-kun, you actually took down the second-in-command of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang?
Well done.”
At this moment, Aoto’s superior, Arima’s voice, sounded from behind him.
The official ranks of the Magistrates Office can be roughly divided into three levels, from highest to lowest: Town Magistrate, Yoriki, and Doshin.
A Magistrate can be understood as a mayor, a Yoriki as a middle-level cadre, and a Doshin as a grassroots officer.
Generally speaking, one Yoriki supervises two to three Doshin.
Aoto was Arima’s direct subordinate, under the direct jurisdiction of Arima, who was a Yoriki.
Aoto turned his head at the sound and saw Arima, whose body was splattered with a few drops of blood and who was holding a long, still-dripping katana, slowly walking towards him.
After walking beside the middle-aged man whom Aoto had just knocked down in one move and who was now unconscious, Arima bent down, briefly checked the middle-aged man’s injuries, then stood up and said to Aoto:
“Tachibana-kun, excellent work!
You’ve made a rare great contribution; you successfully captured the second-in-command of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang alive.”
“This fellow is the second-in-command of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang, known as ‘Cat Eyes.'”
“Cat Eyes?” Aoto asked, puzzled.
“This fellow is said to be a strange person who can see clearly at night, just like a cat.” Arima pointed to his own eyes, “That’s why he’s called ‘Cat Eyes.'”
After speaking, Arima patted Aoto’s shoulder.
“Alright, don’t just stand there idly.
Let’s quickly escort these criminals back together.
The sooner we escort them back, the sooner we can go home and rest.”
“Oh, okay.” Aoto nodded subconsciously.
Under their surprise attack, out of 12 members of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang, 4 died, 2 were severely injured, and the remaining 6 were all captured alive.
The second-in-command, whom Aoto had knocked down, was one of the captured.
The dead were simply wrapped in straw mats and, along with the severely injured, were first sent back to the Magistrates Office by handcart, after which the remaining living criminals would be escorted back.
After completing this troublesome work, it was almost half an hour later.
After successfully escorting all the surviving members of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang back to the Magistrates Office, all those who participated in tonight’s arrest operation were summoned by Arima.
“Everyone!
Well done!” Arima said with a smile, “All the criminals of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang have been caught!”
“The Constable is very satisfied with our performance tonight.”
“Therefore—”
Arima drew out his words.
“The Constable just told me: everyone who participated in tonight’s operation will get a day off tomorrow!”
As soon as Arima finished speaking, cheers erupted one after another.
Aoto did not join the cheering crowd—because his mind was still muddled.
“Alright, everyone go home.” Arima waved his hand, signaling for everyone to be quiet, “I’ll take care of the remaining follow-up work.”
Cheers erupted again.
After Arima announced the dismissal, people left the Magistrates Office in twos and threes, heading home.
Aoto also slowly walked out of the Magistrates Office with a bewildered expression.
He did not know that, since earlier, three samurai wearing straw hats had been lurking in a dark alley not far from the Magistrates Office.
After Aoto left the Magistrates Office, these three samurai, with their hands on the swords at their waists, crouched down and quietly followed behind Aoto…
…
…
After Aoto and the three samurai who were following him had gotten far from the Magistrates Office, the few clerks who had just been responsible for transporting the dead and injured members of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang chatted among themselves, blowing warm air onto their frozen hands.
“Ah, the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang has finally been wiped out.”
“Without the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang, Edo should become somewhat more peaceful.”
“I wonder when those people who constantly talk about ‘expel the barbarians’ and ‘Heaven’s Punishment’ will also be eliminated?
Those people are truly terrifying…
I heard that Ginmikata Yamada was ambushed by Anti-Foreign Faction members on his way home the other night and nearly lost his life.”
“Why would the Anti-Foreign Faction target Yamada?”
“It’s said to be because Yamada once publicly declared his support for learning Western medicine.”
“Hmph, those Anti-Foreign Faction members keep talking about ‘expel the barbarians,’ but in the end, the people they injure and kill are almost all our own countrymen.
If they dared to jump into the sea and hack at the United States of America’s steam warships, then I would respect them as heroes.”
“Alright, let’s not talk about such depressing topics.
Let’s go, let’s go for a drink.”
…
…
Aoto walked home, guided by the memories in his mind.
But not long after leaving the Magistrates Office, Aoto stopped and then sat down by the side of the street.
He was currently in no mood to slowly walk back to the home in his memory.
He just wanted to quickly figure out what was going on right now.
Aoto rubbed his temples vigorously, recalling how he had transmigrated to ancient Japan…
He remembered his memories before transmigration clearly—he was a young man who had just graduated from the Police Academy.
In his previous life, he had always deeply admired the profession of a police officer.
Even before he knew the difference between boys and girls, he had set the grand ambition of becoming a police officer and this grand ambition of his, fortunately, came true.
In his previous life, he was a very typical example of a “child from another family.”
During elementary and middle school, his grades were always among the best.
In the college entrance examination, he successfully entered the Police Academy with outstanding and exaggerated scores.
His performance after enrolling in the Police Academy remained impressive, and upon graduation, he successfully concluded his Police Academy career with an excellent overall score, ranking first in his entire class.
And just three days after graduating from the Police Academy, he transmigrated to this unfamiliar era…
He remembered—before he transmigrated, he was leisurely reading in his study at home.
As he read, he suddenly felt a bit tired, so he simply leaned back in his study chair and began to nap.
When he opened his eyes again…
he had become Kitsutachibana Aoto, a police officer in ancient Japan, and then he somehow participated in an arrest operation…
—So I transmigrated while sleeping?!
Aoto’s face was full of dark lines.
Having given up on trying to figure out how he transmigrated, Aoto took a deep breath, then continued to rub his temples.
He was currently searching for the memories of “Kitsutachibana Aoto.”
He wanted to figure out what period of Japan he was currently in.
Aoto had perfectly inherited all of “Kitsutachibana Aoto’s” memories, so with just a brief recollection, he remembered when it was: Ansei 7 (1860)…
What year in the common era?
He didn’t know…
Perhaps the common era calendar hadn’t yet become popular in Japan at this time.
Currently ruling Japan was a behemoth called the “Tokugawa Shogunate,” also known as the “Edo Shogunate.”
—No…
I completely don’t know what year in the common era I am in Japan right now…
More dark lines appeared on Aoto’s face…
In “Kitsutachibana Aoto’s” memories, there was only information about the current era name, with no concept of the common era calendar.
Aoto also couldn’t deduce what year it was based on the era name, as he wasn’t familiar with Japanese history.
He had always been uninterested in history, and Japanese history was something he knew absolutely nothing about.
After also giving up on figuring out what year in the common era he was in, Aoto began to ponder what the mechanical sound that had echoed in his mind earlier was all about.
—Is this…
the so-called system…?
In his previous life, Aoto had read some web novels and was not unfamiliar with the so-called “system.”
Aoto tried to silently recite “system” a few times in his mind, and then he saw a virtual screen appear before his eyes:
…
[Name: Kitsutachibana Aoto] (?)
[Currently possessed talents:
Night Vision]
…
The content on this virtual screen was surprisingly sparse, just these two lines of text.
Aoto noticed a small question mark at the very end of the line indicating his name.
He tried to focus his attention on that small question mark, and then this small question mark expanded into a new virtual screen:
…
[Rules for using the Talent Replication System:]
[1.
After engaging in combat with a person who possesses a special talent, regardless of victory or defeat, you can replicate one talent from them.
(Note: Not everyone will have special talents; most people are ordinary individuals without any talents.)]
[2.
If the opponent has multiple talents, random replication will occur.]
[3.
Regardless of who it is, you can only replicate a talent from them once.
Once a talent has been replicated from someone, even if that person has other talents, a second replication cannot be performed.]
[4.
When a talent is active, its entry on the system interface will glow.]
[5.
There is no upper limit to the number of talents the host can possess, but identical talents cannot be acquired.]
[6.
Talent replication requires time; you need to fight the opponent for at least 10 seconds to replicate a talent.]
[7.
When the host meets certain conditions, new talents can be self-awakened]
***
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