My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 131 - 84: Aoto’s Retaliation

Aoto did a pull-up, hauling his whole body onto the rooftop’s edge.

Once on the rooftop, his view suddenly broadened.

Looking around—the fat man was huffing and puffing, fleeing towards the northwest along the intricate alleyways.

"Saito! Mr. Chokata!" Aoto, while moving on the rooftop in the direction of the fat man, gave instructions to Saito and Chokata below, "That fat man ran in that direction!"

The houses around this alley were all tightly packed, and the rooftops weren’t high and had gentle slopes, so Aoto, tracking the fat man from the rooftops, had no worry of losing footing.

The fat man glanced back at Aoto, who was chasing along the rooftops.

Aoto faintly saw his lips moving.

Judging from the lip movement... it seemed he had cursed Aoto.

With Aoto positioning himself on the rooftop, there was no way the fat man could shake off Aoto and the others in this complex alley.

Thus, the fat man made a sharp turn, rushing out of the alley into a wide avenue wide enough for two carriages to travel side by side.

The fat man’s speed had gradually slowed by now—after running so frantically, he must also be exhausted.

Aoto also felt very tired now; his current stamina was far from sufficient, his breathing was chaotic, and swallowing hard, he tasted a faint hint of blood in his throat.

But fatigue or not, Aoto’s remaining stamina was still slightly more sufficient than that of the fat man.

Aoto poured all his remaining energy into his legs, jumped onto the row of houses on the eastern side of the avenue, and sprinted along the rooftops, quickly surpassing the fat man escaping on the avenue. Then, like a swift Swooping swallow, he leapt down from the rooftop, landing directly in front of the fat man, blocking his path.

Seeing Aoto "descend from the sky" and block his path, the fat man hurriedly skidded to a stop, shot a vicious glare at Aoto, then turned around, ready to flee back.

However—just as he turned around, he saw Chokata, having successfully emerged from the complex alley, chasing up from behind.

Aoto in front, Chokata behind... The fat man hesitated only for an instant before suddenly drawing the tachi from his waist, charging at Chokata!

He intended to forcibly break through Aoto and Chokata’s encirclement.

Chokata was much shorter than Aoto; visually, Chokata appeared much weaker than Aoto—this was probably why the fat man chose to break through in Chokata’s direction.

As the fat man charged at Chokata, Aoto immediately pursued.

Seeing the chosen direction of breakthrough, Aoto couldn’t help but chuckle—the fat man truly picked a completely wrong direction...

Seeing the fat man charging towards him, Chokata also skidded to a stop.

Despite running so long, Chokata’s breathing remained steady, with only a slight sheen of sweat on his forehead.

Chokata, expressionless, glanced at the fat man’s footsteps and the sword in his hand, then calmly spread his legs, standing firm.

His left hand pressed against the tachi’s sheath at his waist, his right hand placed on the hilt, his left thumb flicking up, firmly pushing against the blade guard.

Swoosh...

A clear blade light snapped out an inch from the sheath, reflecting brightly in Chokata’s eyes.

Though he knew Chokata wouldn’t be foolish enough to kill the fat man, Aoto still loudly reminded:

"Mr. Chokata! Don’t kill him!"

Aoto’s words had just fallen—

Swoosh—!

Chokata drew his blade.

The silvery blade light descended upon the fat man. With just one strike, he sent the fat man’s sword flying.

Then, following the momentum, Chokata smoothly retracted the blade and turned it, using the blade’s back to deliver a horizontal slash to the fat man’s belly.

"Cough...! Cough cough...! Ugh ugh—! Cough cough...!" The soft belly was harshly struck by the hard blade back, causing the fat man to both vomit and cough violently, staggering a few steps forward before heavily falling to the ground.

So fast...!

Seeing Chokata now with his sword returned to his front, assuming a residual heart stance towards the fallen fat man, Aoto couldn’t help but exclaim in his heart.

Chokata’s strike that sent the fat man’s sword flying... was incredibly fast.

So fast that even Aoto, now owning "Eagle Eye," could hardly keep up with Chokata’s drawing speed...

The fat man had been struck down—the outcome was decided.

As the fat man charged at Chokata, Aoto had been tailing closely behind him, and once the fat man fell, he quickly pounced.

Since he didn’t have a capture rope, Aoto could only make do with a sleeve binder he always carried.

"Let go of me! Let go of me!"

The fat man squirmed like a maggot, constantly twisting, attempting to shake off Aoto, who was riding on him.

However, because his belly had just suffered a heavy blow, the fat man was completely powerless now, helplessly watching as Aoto tied up his hands.

Saito, much slower than Chokata, finally rushed out of the alley, catching up.

"Finally caught him, huh..." Saito, panting heavily, glanced down at the fat man struggling under Aoto.

"Yeah..." Aoto exhaled a long breath, glaring coldly at the fat man under him, "These bastards retaliated really quick..."

...

...

Town Fire Extinguisher: The fire brigade of the Edo Era.

Edo’s Town Fire Extinguishers were composed of 8 large groups, with 48 smaller groups under them. Each of these 48 groups was responsible for the firefighting duties in different areas.

Though Town Fire Extinguishers had some quite advanced fire fighting equipment, such as small water pumps called "Dragon’s Water Spray" that could shoot water columns with a press, these fire fighting tools weren’t much use and were only effective against small fires. Once a larger fire occurred, these tools were completely inadequate, as their speed could not match the spread of the flames.