Qingdeng greeted Zhugu for a while before saying goodbye to him.

After leaving the practice site, Qingdeng began to sweep his eyes and look for his bodyguard.

Aoden soon found Saito - under the three pigeons...

I saw Saito still standing under the base of the stone brick wall directly opposite the gate of the siege.

He stood upright, his hands crossed and placed them on the sword hanging on his right waist, motionless, like a statue. The only place on his body where he was moving was his eyes that blinked at a very rhythmic frequency.

A big fat pigeon was squatting on his head and his two shoulders at this time.

These three pigeons seemed to have really regarded Saito as statues. They half-squinted their eyes and kept adjusting their fat body so that they could sit on Saito's head and shoulders more comfortable.

Saito did not drive away the three big pigeons sitting on him, but continued to stand motionlessly.

The warrior who was moving like a stone, and the three big fat pigeons squatting on the top of the warrior's head and shoulders... Such a strange scene naturally attracted the attention of many passers-by.

Passersby passing by from Saito frequently looked back, looking at the serious boy with doubts and curiosity...

When Aoden found Saito, Saito also saw Aoden coming out of the pursuing site at the first time.

He shook his body a few times like a dog that had shaken off the water droplets on his body.

"Gugugugugugugu--!"

The three pigeons on Saito were finally shocked to realize that the place where they were squatting just now was not a statue, so they hurriedly flew away.

After watching the three big fat pigeons fly to the sky with a slightly open mouth, Aoden turns his gaze back to Saito, who is walking towards him quickly.

"...After I entered the pursuing site, you have been standing under the wall, never moving?"

Saito nodded.

"Will your feet or waist be sore when you stand like this?"

Saito shook his head: "I like to sit quietly, stand quietly and be dazed."

Are you a sloth?!

Qingdeng took a deep breath and suppressed the urge to complain.

"...Okay, since it's your personal preference, I won't say much."

After saying that, Qingdeng whirled in the direction of his home.

"Let's go, Chulan...Saito, go home with me."

“What to do when you go home?”

"There was a thief in Fujisawa Suk in Tokaido. I was asked to take charge of the case by myself by the adults. I would like to ask you to accompany me to Fujisawa Suk."

...

...

After returning to Hachibori's home as fast as possible, Aoden immediately ordered Kyuubi to help prepare his luggage for business trips.

There is not a lot of luggage to prepare. After all, Su Fujisawa is very close to Edo, and it only takes 6 days to get back and forth. Therefore, you only need to prepare a few pieces of clothes for changing clothes, a few pairs of spare straw sandals, and a little dry food.

"Young Master, Mr. Saito, give it." Kyuhigyu handed two pointed hats for snow protection and two black cloaks that were specially used to block the wind to Aoden and Saito.

Aoden just asked Kyuhidee to prepare a set of hats and cloaks for Saito.

Their family just happened to have an extra set of cold-proof equipment, which could be loaned to Saito for use.

Saito looked at the hat and cloak that Kyuhide was handed to him with a gaze that made it difficult to guess what he thought.

"...Thank you." He said to Qingdeng.

"No need to be polite." Aoden smiled slightly at Saito, "If you suffer from a cold and catch a cold, I will be in a difficult situation."

Qing Deng neatly put his cloak on his hat and straightened his head, then put the cloth bag full of luggage behind him.

"Nine Bingwei, I'll beg you to take care of your home during this time when I'm not at home. If you're lucky enough, I'll be back in about 6 or 7 days."

"Yes!" Kyuubi, who was kneeling on the ground, bent his waist and saluted solemnly at Qingdeng, "Young Master, Mr. Saito, I wish you good luck in martial arts."

The "Five Streets" all start from a place called "Nikkibashi" in Edo.

The Nihon Bridge, as its name suggests, is a huge wooden bridge.

As the starting point of the "five streets" connecting various important places in the country, Nihonbashi naturally became the largest and most lively place with the flow of people in Edo.

With the huge wooden bridge of Nihon Bridge as the center, a large number of shops, vendors, and people from the Five Elements and Eight Works gather here.

Specialty stores specializing in business for travelers who travel to Edo.

For travelers who come along the "Five Streets", merchants provide tea houses, izakayas and hotels with their stay.

I knew there were many people here, so I came here to haw vendors selling all kinds of goods.

Travelers, travelers, travelers, travelers, anxious officials, wandering girls standing on the street to attract customers, beggars lying on the street... All kinds of things in the world seem to be condensed on this Japanese bridge.

After saying goodbye to Kyuhide, he and Saito came to the shoulder-to-shoulder Nihonbashi. Looking at the scene in front of him that was comparable to the previous Spring Festival travel period, Aodo turned his head and shouted loudly to Saito behind him:

"Saito! Follow closely! Don't lose it!"

Saito nodded vigorously.

At Aoden led Saito to "slash the waves" and worked hard to open a path to Tokaido in the dense crowd.

But, at this moment.

Just after Qingdeng passed by the door of a tea house, several figures walked out of the tea house and quietly "merged" into the dense crowd.

Using the sea of ​​people as a cover, he followed Qingdeng and the others from afar...

...

...

Leaving Nihon Bridge, shaking off the crowds that were pushing each other, and turning to the spacious Tokaido, Aoden instantly felt like the whole world had become wider.

As a society with extremely strict class hierarchy in the Edo period, people of all levels could do clearly and clearly.

For example, officials like Qingdeng who are in a concentric level are not qualified to ride a horse. Even if they encounter any official business that requires a long trip, they cannot ride a horse.

Therefore, Aoden, who is now ordered to go on a business trip to Fujisawa Suki, can only walk over with his legs little by little.

If you have a horse, Dongcheng, a person with a power level, is qualified to ride a horse.

Therefore, people in this era often use "riding" as a quantifier of force, such as: 1 riding and force, 2 riding and force.

After entering Tokaido, looking around, the scenery in my eyes is only left with flat avenues that have been trampled by people thousands of times, the milky white sky full of winter atmosphere, the lonely trees occasionally seen on the roadside, the travelers or caravans passing by...

Saito made Aoden feel what it means to "It's better to travel alone with you than to travel alone."

In order to pass the boring time and to learn more about this bodyguard who should be with him for a long time after he has been working hard to find topics to chat with Saito.

But Saito is completely the embodiment of the "topic terminator". Faced with various problems thrown by Aoden, he either responds with "um", "oh", "good", or directly ends the topic, and is unable to form a benign chat atmosphere with him for a long time...

"Saito, where is your hometown?"

"Akishi Fan."

"Akishi's vassal... I remember that this vassal state is located west of Kyoto. I don't know much about this vassal state. Do you have any interesting specialties or scenic spots in your hometown of Akishi's vassal?"

"I don't know. I haven't learned about it."

"... Yesterday, Lord Aima said that you are his old acquaintance. How did you know Lord Aima?"

"I can't remember it very clearly, I already knew him when I came to my senses."

"... Then do you have anything you like to eat? After going to the cabin, you can eat and drink for free, and you can just ask the cabin people to help prepare their favorite meals."

“Nothing likes to eat.”

“…Then do you hate food?”

"I don't hate eating either."

“…”

No! I can't continue chatting at all!

Chatting with Saito is more torturous than being silent with both of them.

He couldn't chat with Saito at all, so Aoden simply stopped chatting with him and rushed to the road silently.

After walking a while, the passers-by around became even thinner.

The sky, which was originally clear and cool, slowly darkened just now, and then it began to drop small snowflakes.

The snowflakes were flying, like little elves falling from the sky.

In just a moment, the world in front of me was sealed by snow, and everything around disappeared into a chaotic white mist.

Fortunately, since they both Saito wore snow-proof hats and wind-proof cloaks, Aoden didn't feel too cold.

If you want to go to Fujisawa, you will have to go through 5 accommodations: Shinagawa Sui, Kawasaki Sui, Kanagawa Sui, Hototani Sui, and Totsuka Sui.

Qingdeng raised the edge of the hat a little, and looked at the sky above his eyes.

"Saito, we have to speed up the journey a little. We have to arrive at the first venue before dark: Shinagawa Suzuki."
To be continued...