Seeing that Aoto and the two Others had arrived, Arima put down his brush, stood up, and clasped his hands behind his back.
Arima’s style of doing things was never to procrastinate; if something could be said in one word, he would never use two.
Therefore, when talking with him, it was often difficult to keep up with his incredibly fast conversational pace.
Just like now—
“Good morning to you too.”
“Follow me now; the Constable has summoned all members of the San Kai today, saying he has important matters to inform us of.”
“Summoned all members of the San Kai… important matters…” Inotani’s mouth twitched, “Arima-dono, it couldn’t be some troublesome case, could it?”
“I don’t know that.
In any case—we’ll know why he called us once we get to the Constable’s office.”
With that, Arima picked up his katana from the nearby sword stand and led Aoto and the Others towards the Constable’s office.
With Arima leading the way, Aoto and his group immediately became the most striking figures in the entire North Precinct!
Arima’s unwavering gaze and his habit of making perfect 90-degree turns made it difficult not to attract attention.
The Town Magistrate’s office was located on the top floor of the North Precinct.
The distance from Arima’s office to the Town Magistrate’s office was not short.
Following Arima into a quiet corridor, Aoto turned his head to look around, confirming that no outsiders were nearby before clearing his throat:
“…Arima-dono, I have something very important to tell you.”
“Hm?
Speak.”
“Arima-dono, I…
have been targeted by the Anti-Foreign Faction.”
“What?!”
Arima suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning to cast a startled glance at Aoto.
Inotani and Ushiyama, who were walking on either side of Aoto, also looked at Aoto with shocked expressions.
“About a month ago, I was attacked by four members of the Anti-Foreign Faction, and then the night before last, when I was returning home after the operation to eradicate the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang, I was ambushed by three more members of the Anti-Foreign Faction…”
Aoto succinctly informed Arima and the Others of the entire process and reasons for his attacks by the Anti-Foreign Faction, one by one.
The original owner of this body—Tachibana Aoto—was a person who could be described as either gentle or dull…
A month ago, after his first attack by the Anti-Foreign Faction, he did not inform anyone except his attendant, Kyubei, that he had been targeted by the Anti-Foreign Faction!
And the reason he gave for doing so was simple—he didn’t want to bring unnecessary burdens to his companions, who were all busy dealing with the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang at the time.
The eradication of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang the night before last, though exhilarating.
However, to have such an exhilarating night, Arima, Inotani, Ushiyama, and Tachibana Aoto had paid a considerable price.
The four of them spent nearly a month and a half collecting enough intelligence and making thorough preparations.
A month ago, when Kitsutachibana Aoto was first attacked by the Anti-Foreign Faction, everyone happened to be frantically busy trying to collect useful intelligence. Follow the newest chapters on novelping dot com.
At that time, to analyze truly valuable information from a pile of unreliable intelligence, Arima, Inotani, and Ushiyama had not even closed their eyes for several consecutive days.
Tachibana Aoto was worried that telling his companions at that time that he had been targeted by the Anti-Foreign Faction would affect everyone’s morale and work progress, thereby impacting the pursuit of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang.
So, he chose to conceal it.
He only informed Kyubei of the matter.
Kyubei was also a somewhat dull person; after being warned by Tachibana Aoto not to tell anyone about the matter, he obediently kept silent.
Aoto did not know whether Kitsutachibana Aoto’s actions were right or wrong.
He only knew that—the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang had been eliminated, and the huge burden that had been weighing on Arima and the Others’ shoulders for over a month was finally lifted; he no longer needed to worry about “affecting morale and tasks” like Kitsutachibana Aoto.
Fighting against terrorists like the Radical anti-foreigners faction and seeking support and help from fellow “police” colleagues was clearly much wiser than foolishly fighting alone.
This morning, Aoto had made up his mind to find an opportune moment today to reveal to Arima and the Others the full story of his attacks by the Anti-Foreign Faction.
As soon as Aoto’s words completely fell, Inotani’s face turned as dark as coal.
“To avoid affecting the pursuit of the Benevolence and Righteousness Gang, you chose to hide it from us?
Tachibana-kun…
what should I say about you…?”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
Inotani, who usually always greeted people with a smile, had a rather frightening expression at this moment.
“If anything happened to you, how would we face your father in the afterlife!”
Arima, Inotani, Ushiyama—the relationship between these three and Aoto was not just that of ordinary colleagues.
The three of them were Aoto’s colleagues…
and also formerly the colleagues of Aoto’s deceased father, Tachibana Takayuki.
Six months ago, when Aoto’s father, Tachibana Takayuki, was still alive and serving as a Doshin of the Kita-banshō sadame machi-ka, Tachibana Takayuki had served under Arima for many years alongside Inotani and Ushiyama.
Aoto remembered that his father had an excellent relationship with Arima, Inotani, and Ushiyama; after Tachibana Takayuki’s death from illness, all three of them—Arima, Inotani, and Ushiyama—attended Tachibana Takayuki’s funeral, and Inotani even cried so bitterly in front of Tachibana Takayuki’s memorial tablet that he almost fainted.
The secret assistance of Arima, Inotani, and Ushiyama, who were already serving in the Regular Town Patrol, was indispensable for Aoto to successfully take over his father’s position and become the new Doshin of the Regular Town Patrol.
Therefore, Arima, Inotani, and Ushiyama were not only colleagues who worked with Aoto but also elders with a deep connection to his family.
This was also why Aoto always referred to Inotani and Ushiyama as “Inotani-senpai” and always used respectful language with them.
Facing the questioning of his colleagues and elders who had a deep friendship with his father, Aoto lowered his head:
“I’m sorry…”
Aoto now felt a sense of “taking the blame”…
This blame clearly belonged to Kitsutachibana Aoto and had nothing to do with him, but because he and Kitsutachibana Aoto were now one, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and carry these heavy, dark burdens…
But at this moment, Ushiyama raised his hand and patted Inotani’s shoulder.
“Alright, Inotani.” Ushiyama said in a deep voice, “Tachibana also did that for our sake.”
Inotani turned his head to look at Ushiyama, who was trying to dissuade him.
After a moment of silence, Inotani slowly closed his mouth, which had been about to reprimand Aoto again.
“…Tachibana-kun.”
At this moment, Arima, who had remained silent, stared directly at Aoto with his owl-like gaze and asked:
“So far, you’ve been attacked a total of two times: once a month ago and once the night before last, correct?”
Aoto nodded.
“The Anti-Foreign Faction dares to kill even members of the San Kai now…” Arima frowned slightly, “…Tachibana-kun, give me a detailed written report by tomorrow afternoon.
I will personally handle this matter.”
Aoto: “Yes.”
“…Let’s go.” Arima glanced at Inotani, then turned his body, turning his back to Aoto and the Others again, “We still need to attend the meeting in the Constable’s office.
The meeting should be starting soon.”
“Whatever it is…
let’s talk about it after the meeting.”
Inotani looked at Arima’s rapidly departing back, then at Aoto beside him, pursed his lips, and then strode to catch up with Arima first.
“…Inotani was just worried and confused earlier; don’t take his scolding to heart too much.” Ushiyama raised his hand and patted Aoto’s shoulder, “You are, after all, Takashi’s son, and Inotani was just concerned about you as a junior, which is why he scolded you like that.”
“It’s alright, Inotani-sensei.” Aoto smiled slightly at Ushiyama, “I know that Inotani-sensei said those things to me just now because he was worried about me.
Ushiyama-Sensei, don’t worry, I won’t give Inotani-sensei the cold shoulder over something like this.”
“That’s good.” Ushiyama, who usually had a stern face, rarely showed a hint of a smile on his cheeks.
“Tachibana, let’s go.”
Ushiyama patted Aoto’s shoulder again.
“It’s time for the meeting.”
[Currently available information!]
Aoto’s father, Tachibana Takayuki, married at 15, had Aoto at 16, and died at 33.
He was of the same generation as Inotani and Ushiyama.
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