Edo, the Shimada family's mansion, in a certain room——

"Master, I have just informed you of your return. He said that he would like to come and see you before Yamada Asaemon starts to test the sword while he is still far away." Hachibei said respectfully, "Please wait a moment.

Wait a moment, Master, he should be here soon."

"Yes." Shimada nodded, "Thank you for your hard work, Hachibei."

"Shimada." Makimura, who was sitting just behind Shimada, smiled evilly, "Are you nervous now?"

"There's nothing to be nervous about." Shimada glanced at Makimura with a look of helplessness, "I'm just meeting my father, whom I haven't seen for a long time, and I'm not here to meet a blind date."

Wow.

As soon as Shimada finished speaking, the sound of the door being opened suddenly came from the side door of the room - a middle-aged man with an expressionless face entered the room through the side door that was opened.

As soon as the middle-aged man entered, Hachibei, who was kneeling behind Shimada, immediately put his forehead on the tatami and saluted the middle-aged man respectfully.

As soon as the middle-aged man entered the room, Shimada straightened his waist like a conditioned reflex and adjusted his sitting posture to an extremely standard level.

This middle-aged man sat down directly opposite Makimura and others at an neither fast nor slow speed. As soon as his butt touched the tatami, he said in a sorrowless tone:

"...Long time no see, Katsurokuro. It seems like you are doing well outside."

"I have heard everything from Hachibei. Are you Inuko's friend?"

The middle-aged man turned his attention to Makimura.

"I'm Soichiro Shimada." The middle-aged man said, "Welcome to my house. I haven't had such a young guest come to my house for a long time."

——Is this Shimada’s father: Soichiro Shimada?

Makimura said to himself in his heart, while giving Soichiro a salute that was neither humble nor overbearing:

"This is my first time meeting you. I am Shimada-kun's friend - Makimura Yahachi."

Makimura used to be a professional in Kyoto, and he was already familiar with "what kind of people to give what kind of courtesy".

"Since you are Quanzi's friend, there is no need to be polite. Just raise your head."

After Makimura raised his head, he silently looked at the middle-aged man sitting opposite him.

His hair and beard are half black and white. He has no beard on his chin, but he has a short beard on his lips that is not very popular in this era. His eyes are big and energetic. His old posture is very inconsistent with his energetic appearance.

.

If Makimura were to comment on Soichiro's appearance, he would be someone who "looks like a capable official."

Looking at Makimura, whose attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, Soichiro's eyes flashed with appreciation.

"Katsurokuro, it seems you have a good friend."

"...I have gained a group of close friends who are worthy of my trust - this is my biggest gain after leaving home." At this time, Shimada finally said the first words that Soichiro said after entering the room.

Soichiro looked at Shimada up and down several times with a sharp gaze that seemed to see through Shimada's entire body.

"I still have many things to ask you. But I'll leave all the questioning until later."

"I have made an appointment with the Yamada Asaemon family to test the sword at this time. We can't let people wait too long."

"After the knife test is over, let's have a good talk."

"Katsurokuro, Makimura-kun, are you going to wait for me to come back in this room, or are you going to move to the courtyard with me and see how the famous Yamada Asaemon tries his sword?"

Makimura and Shimada raised their eyebrows in unison, then looked at each other for a few times and began to discuss in a low voice...

…

…

Shimada house, garden——

"Shimada." Makimura lowered his voice, whispering to Shimada beside him at a volume that only he and Shimada could hear clearly, "You are a native of Edo, and you have seen Yamada Asaemon audition before.

Knife?”

"I've never seen it." Shimada replied, "My family rarely invites Asaemon Yamada to test the knife. I have never taken the initiative to learn about this 'executioner family'."

Makimura and Shimada have all heard about the name of Yamada Senemon for a long time, but they have never seen them test the sword.

So the two of them just thought together - instead of waiting in that room for Soichiro's return, they might as well try something new and see how the "Shogunate's Royal Sword Tester" whom they have heard about for a long time tests knives.

After being brought to the courtyard, Makimura found that there were quite a few people in the courtyard. These people were probably retainers of the Shimada family, and they accompanied Soichiro to watch the knife test. They sat in various places in the courtyard according to their status.

.

After Makimura looked around the courtyard and found that he could not tell who was Yamada Asaemon at all, he chose to surrender and asked Hachibei behind him for help: "Mr. Hachibei, who is Yamada Asaemon?"

?”

Hachibei was sent by Soichiro to serve Makimura and Shimada, so he is currently kneeling behind Makimura and Shimada.

Hachibei is also a master of telling small stories. He whispered in a voice that could not be heard by a third person except Makimura and Shimada:

"Yamada Asaemon hasn't come yet, he's still being prepared."

"The person who came to test the sword this time is not the current head of the Yamada Asaemon family, but the son of the current head of the family."

"Because Yamada Asaemon has been beheading people and testing swords for generations. This is their family business. Therefore, their descendants will be trained as executioners from birth, and everyone will be a good swordsman."

"Because there are so many people who come to ask for a sword test, the Yamada Asaemon family often asks the younger descendants of their family to do it for them."

"The Yamada Asaemon family has now passed down to the seventh generation. The current seventh generation of Yamada Asaemon is named 'Yamada Asaemon Fumaki'."

"Wen Xian had two sons. He often asked his two sons to test knives for others on his behalf."

"But it's a pity that one of Wen Xian's two sons has disappeared a few years ago."

"It is said that Wen Xian's missing son had extremely outstanding personal abilities. Since his disappearance, their family has been completely overwhelmed due to a shortage of manpower."

"Now I have to ask Asaemon Yamada to test the sword, but I often have to wait for a long time because they are too busy."

"We had asked Asaemon Yamada to test the knife many days ago. But it took until today for them to finally be free."

"One of the sons is missing?" Makimura frowned, "How did he disappear? Was he killed by some enemy?"

"Well... I don't know." Hachibei laughed awkwardly. "Wen Xian seems to be very secretive about the reason for his son's disappearance. He rarely tells outsiders how and why his son disappeared.

Oh, Master, Makimura-sama, please look over there, that young man over there is the one who came to test the sword today - Yamada Asaemon Yoshitomo."

Makimura looked in the direction where Hachibei's chin was pointing: he saw an expressionless young man, as petite as Shimada, walking from the corner of the courtyard to the center of the courtyard at an unhurried pace.

.

Behind him were several people dressed as attendants. These attendants were pushing a cart, with large unknown objects wrapped in straw mats placed on top of the cart.

"This young man is Yoshitomo, the son of the current Yamada Asaemon: Fumihiro." Hachibei then introduced to Makimura and the others, "He will be responsible for testing the sword for us today."

"Since one of Wen Xian's sons disappeared, Yi Chao became Wen Xian's only son."

"As long as nothing unexpected happens, Yoshitomo will be the next head of the Yamada Asaemon family, and he will be succeeded by the Eighth Generation Yamada Asaemon."

Shimada listened carefully to Hachibei's introduction and nodded from time to time.

After Hachibei finished speaking, Shimada asked:

"Hachibei, what's in the cart pushed by the waiters behind Yoshimori? It looks very heavy."

"Those things wrapped in straw mats on the cart are corpses." Hachibei said calmly.

He ignored Shimada who looked surprised and continued:

"In addition to being the royal sword testers, the Yamada Asaemon family also serves as executioners."

"Beheading the condemned criminals who were sentenced to 'beheading' on the execution ground, and making excuses for the samurai who were ordered to commit seppuku...these tasks have always been the responsibility of the Yamada Asaemon family."

"The bodies of the people they killed were basically handed over to them for disposal."

"The usable gallbladder from these corpses will be taken out to make the famous 'Human Gallbladder Pills'."

"The corpses after their bladders have been removed will be placed in a safe place. When someone comes to ask them to test the knife, they will take the corpses in their inventory to test the knife for them."

"Of course - 'Yamada Sen'emon comes to your doorstep with test knife materials', only in Edo."

"If someone from outside Edo came to ask Yamada Asaemon to test the sword, they would certainly not be able to take the body to a distant place."

"So when people from outside Edo come to invite Yamada Asaemon to test the sword, they must bring their own corpses and other materials for the sword test - this is also an unwritten rule."

"...I have heard before that the house of the Yamada Asaemon family was filled with corpses." Shimada twitched the corner of his mouth, "So is this true?"

"The Yamada Asaemon family has stored a large number of corpses - this is true, but they probably won't put the corpses at home." Hachibei laughed a few times, "I don't know exactly what they do.

Where to put the corpses, but I guess they have a special place to store corpses, and they don’t put all the corpses at home.”

While they were listening to Hachibei's various introductions in Makimura, Yoshitomo and his waiters were already in the center of the courtyard ready to test the sword.

They first used soil and other utensils to prepare an "earth altar" for placing the corpses. Then they untied the straw mat covering the trolley, revealing the scene under the straw mat - a total of seven corpses.

I didn't look carefully at him just now, but now after taking a closer look at Yoshitomo, Makimura realized that this man was really young.

It seems that he is not even 20 years old. At such a young age, he is very proficient in the process of knife testing. He prepares for the knife test with ease, completes the necessary ritual work, and then takes the knife handed by the attendant next to him -

—This is probably the sword that Soichiro wanted Yamada Asaemon to test its performance with.

After Yoshitomo took the sword, the two attendants laid a corpse on the newly built earth altar with very skillful movements.
To be continued...