In a dilapidated city with a sad and heavy atmosphere walked two men, one with white hair and the other with black hair, followed by a very handsome redhead young man wearing a bleu yukata with four katanas.
"Tatsugoro, are you sure we're in the right town?" Asked Jirocho seeing heads chopped off and hung all over town.
"Yes, we're in the right place, the town of Amamura is one of the towns most affected by the purging of the Kansei." Said Tatsugorou
"The weapons supplier wants us to meet him here to be sure of our sincerity."
"They're just scavenger, what right do they have to talk about sincerity." Says Jirocho with little angry
"Wow what a handsome boy!"
"Do you think he has a girlfriend?"
"He's so handsome!"
Hearing this, Tatsugorou and Jirocho couldn't help but look at Haruto with envy.
"If only at his age we were as successful with girls."×2
Haruto also looked at them before saying
"If you don't stop staring at me like that, after the war, I'll tell your wives you're cheating on them with young girls."
Then their eyes quickly turned to the sky.
"It's nice today, isn't it Jirocho?"
"The clouds are beautiful, aren't they, Tatsugorou?"
"Hahaha"×2
Haruto's gaze then turned to the beheaded heads hanging in the street.
"The shape of that skull... that person must have been just a kid." He murmured.
The Kansei Purge is a series of purges conducted by Tokugawa Sada Sada and the Bakufu, currently it is unknown how many were arrested and killed, some speak of a thousand or more than ten thousand, but according to rumours in the bakufu, there are already 20,000 victims civilians.
The members of the Joui are the most affected by this massacre, the former members were dying, no one wanted to help them anymore and almost no young people wanted to join them, gradually transforming the image of the Joui from national liberators to terrorists.
The worst part was that even the slightest suspicion, even if not checked, could get you executed, old, man, woman or child, no one was spared.
Tatsugoro, Jiroch and Haruto walked together through the shady streets of the city and soon arrived in front of a large abandoned warehouse.
Two muscular men opened the door and they was greeted by a chubby woman, adorned with jewelry, wearing a gold embroidered kimono and a conspicuous fan in her hand.
Behind her were several dozen closed big boxes as well as several bodyguards armed with katana and firearms.
"Oh..oh..oh..oh my beautiful Jirocho I missed you and you Tatsugorou always have that serious look on your face...wait who's this."Says she with a pretty smile
Her bodyguards then raised their weapons and pointed them towards them.
"calm down Katsu, his name is Haruto." Said Jirocho calmly
"Wait...yes I understand, you're the famous bloodthirsty demon of Joui who single-handedly destroyed several Amanto vessels and only with his katana In the last few months, you've been extremely famous, I'm honored to meet you, but I wasn't told you were so handsome."She said, hiding the bottom of her face with her fan.
"What about our weapons?" Asked Tatsugorou
"Your weapons? You mean my weapons!"
"Whatever, when can we make the transaction?" Asked Jirocho.
"First thing tomorrow morning, I'll be waiting for you at the spaceport at 4:00." Says Katsu, then one of her henchmen opens the warehouse.
The three then went out walking through the streets of the city before stopping at a noodle snack bar.
"Here's your ramen enjoy your meal." Says an old woman as she puts down three bowls in front Haruto, Jirocho and Tatsugorou.
"Enjoy your meal!"*3
Then the three ate slowly before ordering sake after finishing their bowls.
Haruto first took a sip before saying
"Do you trust this woman?"
"Absolutely not!" They replied at the same time.
Then after finishing drinking a few bottles, the three returned to their hiding places in a warehouse on the way to the spaceport.
Inside there were about fifty men mose apart from a few who were lying one the ground sleeping like alcoholic babies.
"Boss, how'd it go?" One of the men asked.
"Well enough, get some rest, tomorrow we'll have a hard day." Said Tatsugorou as he took a crumpled cigarette from his pocket, lit it before sitting on the floor, Jirocho and Haruto also each found an empty space before sitting down.
The night passed thus calmly until dawn, they woke up accompanied by their men to the nearby spaceport.
Everyone was sleepy and tired enough except Haruto (no need to explain why!) standing in the empty spaceport.
Gradually a ship with a purple hull landed in front of them.
But instead of lowering the gangplank and opening the doors, the ship's guns aimed at the group while the figure of the plump woman stood with her bodyguards on the main deck.
"What does this mean, Katsu?!" asked Jirocho
"My dear Jirocho, sorry, but the Bakufu is really annoyed by the losses you've made them suffer these past few months, I made a deal with them, I help them kill you and he gives me the market for shells and guns from the South, their ship is already coming Hahaha ..." she said laughing.
Then more than 13 ships slowly floated out of the warehouses as their cannons pointed in their direction.