My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 473: Chapter 167: Oh! Miss Elodie, You’re Blushing? [Mass Update: 10,000 Words]_2

Seeing Fujimura at a loss for how to respond, Aoto was pondering whether to help him out when Fujimura suddenly spoke:

"I... don’t really like these barbarians disturbing our country."

"However, I am different from those madmen in the Anti-foreigner Group who want to kill all the barbarians that enter our country and all the compatriots who have dealings with them."

"Although I dislike barbarians, I still hope to coexist peacefully with them, maintain good relations with them, learn their advanced technologies, and strengthen our nation’s power, so that they won’t dare to recklessly insult our country again."

"I think this is the true ’expel the barbarians’."

"Oh?" Harada raised his eyebrows with surprise.

Aoto, Saito, and Nagakura couldn’t help but turn their heads toward Fujimura after hearing his words.

Everyone’s gaze focused on him, making Fujimura feel a bit nervous.

"S-sorry." Fujimura awkwardly chuckled while scratching his head, "I seem to have said something uninteresting... it was just my humble opinion, just take it lightly."

"Not at all." Harada grinned, chuckling a few times, "I found what you said quite interesting."

"When it comes to ’expel the barbarians,’ most of what I’ve heard around me are statements like... either ’Diligently practice swordsmanship, so when we go to war with the Western World, I will lead the charge and chop off the barbarians’ heads with one strike.’"

"Or ’The warships and cannons of the barbarians aren’t worth fearing; the most important weapon on the battlefield is one’s belief and will. With a determined spirit and fearlessness in battle, defeating the barbarians isn’t hard at all.’"

"There are indeed few like you, Fujimura, who advocate ’learning from the barbarians.’"

Fujimura smiled sheepishly: "Mr. Harada, there aren’t many like you who find my ideas interesting."

As he spoke, a faint sense of helplessness gradually appeared on Fujimura’s cheeks.

"I have shared my ’learn from the barbarians’ philosophy with many people."

"But they mostly show little interest or just sneer."

"A lot of people, even if they aren’t as extreme as the madmen of the Anti-foreigner Group, who want to kill all the barbarians in the country, still hate the barbarians immensely."

"Some feel we shouldn’t lower ourselves to have any dealings with the barbarians."

"Others see the barbarians as enemies, and feel learning from them is shameful."

"Only my master and some senior brothers from the same school agree with my views."

The master Fujimura mentioned... referred to none other than the well-known head of the Edo-based Ito Dojo, famous for both literary and martial skills, who taught the Beichen One-Sword Style: Ito Daisaku.

Aoto had indeed heard that this Ito Daisaku was a man with quite progressive thoughts, as there were rumors of him self-studying English and Dutch.

Considering this, it’s not surprising that Fujimura, who trained in Beichen One-Sword Style at the dojo, would develop such an advanced idea of "learning from the Western World" under the influence of his master.

After quietly listening to Fujimura’s somewhat complaining words, Harada chuckled a few times and shrugged his shoulders forcefully.

"As far as I’m concerned, as long as it doesn’t affect my meals, I couldn’t care less whether we expel all the barbarians or learn from their technology."

After this short and simple chat, Aoto and the others fell silent.

Silently, they turned two corners before finally reaching their destination — the reported site: a Wagashi confectionery shop.

This confectionery shop was one of the few traditional-style buildings within this settlement.

According to the intelligence provided by the informant, a rough-looking man with a beard would sneakily come and go from this confectionery shop almost every day, carrying a large bag.

Upon seeing this confectionery shop, Aoto and the others’ expressions uniformly turned serious.

Led by Aoto, they did not rush toward the shop but instead circled it from afar to observe the architectural style and the surrounding layout.

This confectionery shop had only two main doors, a front and a back, which didn’t offer many escape routes for anyone inside... this was quite advantageous for Aoto and his group.

"Mr. Tachibana." Nagakura leaned in toward Aoto, "How should we proceed now?"

Aoto contemplated for a few moments: "...Let’s find a place to lie in wait and watch the shop. Let’s see if we can catch the bearded man the informant described, who sneaks in and out of there."

With that, Aoto looked around, searching for a good vantage point to observe the shop.

Soon, Aoto frowned slightly — the area surrounding the shop was lined with orderly buildings.

There were no inns they could enter openheartedly, nor were there alleyways that provided easy concealment.

Saito and the others also realized there wasn’t a suitable place for them to hide, and they all looked troubled.

While Aoto was pondering their next move—

"Huh? Mr. Tachibana?"

A youthful, yet pleasant-sounding female voice...

This voice from behind made Aoto show a surprised expression as he turned around.