"That's it...what a pity. I still want to hear more stories about the Sword Master..."

After hearing the definite recovery from Ogata that "I don't know the stories of other swordsmen", Nishino Jiro showed a hint of disappointment on his face.

"Wow..." At this moment, Amachi, who was turning his head and looking back, exclaimed in low voice, "The seats are almost full..."

Hearing Omachi's exclamation, Ogata turned his head and looked back.

When I was telling Jiro Nishino the story of Fujusai, only 30% of the seats were occupied.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, 90% of the seats were occupied.

Everyone's chatter made up a series of chirping noises.

"By the way." Ogata looked away from his back and casually asked Nishino Jiro beside him, "Nishino-kun, didn't your father, eldest brother, and other family members follow you to watch the show?"

Only then did Ogata suddenly remember that Nishino Jiro was alone, without any family members accompanying him.

Those friends from Treasure Island House all had to perform on stage.

If Ogata and Atachi were not with him, he would have to watch the show alone tonight.

"Mom, she happens to have something to do tonight."

"Father and eldest brother also happen to be busy tonight."

Speaking of this, Nishino Jiro suddenly showed a wry smile.

"But even if my father and eldest brother have nothing to do tonight, I probably won't invite them to the show."

"Both of them have no interest in kabuki at all."

"Invite them to come to the show, but they are reluctant to say otherwise. Even if they come, they may fall asleep after watching half of it."

"Aren't your father and your eldest brother interested in kabuki?" Ogata looked surprised.

"Yes." Nishino Jiro nodded, "When I told my father that I wanted to become a kabuki playwright, my father, who doesn't like kabuki very much, was very opposed to it."

"But in the end, my father decided to support my ambition."

A complicated smile appeared on Nishino's face.

"Mashima-sama, why do you think my father decided to support my ambition to become a Kabuki playwright?"

"...Is it because you are the second son in the family?" Ogata said softly.

"Correct answer." The complicated smile on Nishino Jiro's face looked a little helpless, "The family's property is destined to be inherited by the eldest brother."

"As the second son, I can only rely on myself."

"My father decided to support me in becoming a Kabuki playwright so that I could be self-reliant in the future."

"So for me, being a kabuki playwright is my ambition, but I also have to work hard in order to make a living in the future."

"If I can't make it in this industry, then I will have to take some boring jobs that my father found for me."

In this era, all classes and walks of life in Japan followed the eldest son inheritance system.

Whether a warrior or a commoner, family property is basically inherited by the eldest son.

Except for the eldest son, the other sons were either raised at home like rice bugs, or were required to be independent and self-reliant.

In ministerial and samurai families, sons other than the eldest son are often used as political tools to marry into other families.

Nishino Jiro is one of those lucky second sons, and his father will help him find a way out and develop the skills to earn a living.

Some families basically ignore the children except the eldest son, which has resulted in many tragedies.

"But my eldest brother told me this morning that he is very interested in this kabuki show based on the executioner Ittousai, and he will make time to watch it later."

"But if it's true or not, I don't know..."

Ding ding...

Before Jiro Nishino finished speaking, a crisp shamisen music, like water droplets dripping into the lake, suddenly sounded.

Hearing the music of the shamisen, Nishino Jiro was stunned at first, and then immediately said excitedly:

"Ah, it's begun!"

After saying that, he turned his eyes away from Ogata and stared at the stage in front of him expectantly.

No one in the world knows the plot of "Ittōsai" better than the author Jiro Nishino.

Jiro Nishino has also watched the rehearsals of Treasure Island House hundreds of times.

But watching a rehearsal and watching a formal performance give people completely different feelings.

Just the atmosphere is different.

When watching rehearsals, one can only watch in isolation.

When watching the official performance, there were countless people accompanying me, all looking at the stage with expectant eyes.

Ogata, who was sitting in the front row, turned his head and looked at the darkness behind him, and the seats were all fully occupied.

It seems that Nishino-kun didn't lie just now... the tickets are really sold out...

After sighing like this, Ogata withdrew his gaze, crossed his arms across his chest, and followed the people around him to look at the stage in front of him attentively.

On the left side facing the stage, there is a path connecting the stage and leading to the auditorium.

This path is at the same height as the stage and is called the "flower path". It is an important passage for the main characters in the play to enter and exit.

The music of the shamisen that is currently echoing in the scene is actually informing the audience in disguise: the performance is about to begin.

After the music started playing, the originally noisy scene gradually became quiet.

After a while, the actors of Takarashimaya, wearing makeup and costumes, walked onto the stage one by one along the flower path.

Looking at the actors walking onto the stage one by one, the corners of Ogata's mouth tilted up slightly involuntarily, revealing a strange smile.

Although he was mentally prepared, Ogata still felt very complicated when he saw a kabuki performance based on his own experience being performed in front of his eyes.

He couldn't help but think about the future.

People in later generations would never have imagined... This kabuki play is based on the personal experience of "The Executioner Ittosai", and Ittosai himself personally participated in the creation of the script.

And he was one of the first people to watch the show.

Thinking of this, Oufang couldn't help laughing.

…

…

Ezoji, Matsumae Domain, Matsumae Castle

"Kinoshita Genichi?"

Matsudaira Sadanobu repeated this slightly unfamiliar name in a low voice.

He felt that the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it before.

"As far as I know." Inamori interjected at this time, "This Kinoshita Genichi seems to be a swordsman who is quite famous among the people."

Hearing Inamori's words, Matsudaira Sadanobu suddenly remembered that he had indeed heard of it before.

I still can’t remember how long ago, Matsudaira Sadanobu heard the name “Kinoshita Genichi”.

Just like what Inamori said just now, he is a swordsman.

According to Matsudaira Sadanobu's knowledge, this man's swordsmanship is extremely superb, and he seems to be revered as the "Sword Master". His name began to spread more than forty years ago, so if this man is still alive now, he must be very old.

It's already very big.

But he doesn't seem to have done any earth-shattering things, so he is only famous among those martial arts people, but few people know about him among the common people.

If a warrior wants to become famous, the easiest way is to do something earth-shattering.

Ogata Issei is a good example.

The lower one defeats the upper one, kills the master with one strike and kills the master, and becomes famous in one fell swoop.

What Ogata Ittosai did after that in Kyoto further expanded his fame.

Although Ogata Ittousai's reputation is not yet a household name now, a large number of ordinary people in Japan already know the name "Executioner Ittousai".

In this era of underdeveloped information transmission, it is a rare thing for a warrior to be able to make many ordinary people aware of his existence.

Two hundred years after the opening of the Edo shogunate, few pure warriors could do this.

This is the only impression I have of Kinoshita Genichi and Matsudaira Sadanobu.

After digesting the new information provided by Inamori just now, Matsudaira Sadanobu said softly:

"It is indeed a very strange piece of information... Did Kinoshita Genichi provoke those Lucians, and then those Lucians came to seek revenge?"

"Forget it, I'm too lazy to think about it."

"Whether Kinoshita Genichi is dead or alive, it has nothing to do with our shogunate."

After simply digesting the information Inamori had just provided, Matsudaira Sadanobu concluded that this information was of no use to them.

He just knew that a group of Lucians were looking for Kinoshita Genichi.
To be continued...