Touching the Untouchables.

There is a phrase in Hashidate that is as well known as any folk proverb.

"Someone has to pay."

Being a mercantile state where everyone knows how to do business, it would not be too strange to hear this from anyone.

May they be a merchant, a buyer or just someone who are just perusing the products, all of them are familiar with that phrase that has become the motto of everyone in this province.

And yet, on one particular group of men who came from diverse backgrounds and different personalities, this wasn't just a motto.

"Someone has to pay."

It has become their creed. An irrefutable dogma that puts all of that difference away to drive their focus into a single goal.

"He must pay."

And who else would have the ability to open the opportunity for them other than the man who decided to make everyone higher than him to become his enemy.

"Make him pay. I've done my part."

This is just the beginning of the war hidden behind numbers and money.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Good evening, esteemed guests…"

"Good evening too."

Tonight, at the Ikehara estate, there is a banquet held for the accountants, statisticians, agents and the officers of the Stock exchange institution of Hashidate. This is the party reserved for the commoners and laborers of the record keeping group, and just a floor above the common hall is another banquet attended by the important people of the province that includes influential businessmen, congressmen, farmstead fiefs and some consuls that are invited by the owner of the estate.

"To a fruitful business venture!"

"""To a fruitful business venture!!!"""

There are only two consuls invited in the party. My friend, Edogawa Gin of the Kashima group and I, Miyazaki Hiro of Miyazaki Conglomerate. The twin managers of Houjun Monetary services, Yutaka Aimi and Eimi, were also here before but went to Machiko's bedroom early, stating that it wouldn't be good for young ladies to stay up late in the evening.

Well, that's what they said, but I believe they are enjoying their selves in their own sleepover. Considering that Machiko is kind of a timid girl, I can already imagine her being bullied by the two.

Anyways, back to the present. Right now, I'm sitting beside my friend who has been guzzling through the red wine that I brought over.

"Kuhahaha!!! I'm so happy that Hiro-kun right here knows where these good stuffs come from!"

"Ahaha… I'm glad that you're enjoying the wine, Gin-kun."

"Edogawa-dono. If you would like…?"

"Oh! Kahaha! Thanks a lot, Minori-chi. Come on, let me pour one for ya too."

I spoke as my visibly drunk friend laughed loudly and raised his glass high. Minori, who was sitting behind me, took a bottle and poured him another one which he readily accepted before offering the same to him.

"By the way, Gin-kun. When would you like me to hand over my stocks to you? I just secured a majority share in the shipping business you see."

"Hrm? Ah… Can we talk about that in another time, Hiro-kun? I get that ya love to talk about business but we're in a party right now."

"Oh. Ehehe… pardon me. I was just wondering if you want to get it as soon as possible."

"Well… I don't blame ya. Since that old fart is here, I know that ya have been thinking about securing our grounds right now."

I said that there are only two invited consuls in this place, but I didn't say that there are only two consuls in here right now.

"Kufufu! I see, I see…"

"And this is what happens next, Houshou-sama…"

At a corner of the hall, a group of shady-looking men are sitting around an old man who is wearing a fox mask on the upper half of his face. They were drinking while whispering by themselves which made them look more suspicious.

"To think that an oldie like him who wasn't even invited still got in…"

"Makes ya blood boil, ain't it?"

Houshou Hajime. Leader of the Houseki Minting group and presently, the third richest man in Hashidate, just below me and Yamada Youji.

"I wouldn't say that it is a personal hatred but…"

I raised my wine glass to look at him and his cronies through the scarlet drink.

"I would definitely say that he will become my enemy soon."

I may have already overpowered the other monopolies in Hashidate, enacted laws that created a fair relationship between employers and employees and even went as far as disbanding slave labor in the province to further lessen the power of those entrepreneurial elites.

But one group that I haven't even scratched yet is him. He and those under his protection.

"Gin-kun. What information do you have about them?"

"Huh? Well, I already told ya everything that I know when we last talked. The Untouchables are called like that simply because they cannot be harmed."

"Heh… Then it would just make the achievement better when I do bring them down."

The Untouchables. It is not an understatement to say that this term does justice to their invincibility against any moves done to them.

"He owns nothing but the Mint, the money exchange commission and a few investments to the Houjun Central Bank. But that is already enough for him to secure ludicrous amounts of money and garner enough influence to become a consul. That damn oldie… Tch!"

"Is it really that amazing? Doesn't he own the Mint? He can just cast money and call it his own."

While we were talking, Minori mused in and talked about his opinion.

"That's not how economics work, Minori-kun."

"Do you want to hyperinflate the prices of objects by depreciating Hashidate's money?"

After I asked that, Minori and Gin looked at me as if I said something silly. Only then did I remember that I used a modern term again and had to explain myself.

"Hyperinflation comes from many things. There can be the lack of vital needs like food from famine or bad harvest, but there is also the case of the depreciation of money."

"What does that mean exactly, Hiro-kun?"

"Let's say that one Koku of rice is presently worth 2 Kan. Normally, that is how the price would always go save for times when supplies run low, or the demand is too high. But then, the guy who makes the money makes more and more of them and proceeds to distribute it into society. How would that affect the market?"

"It will… Hmm…"

While Minori was thinking, Gin beat him to it and spoke his answer.

"That would upset the balance of the money supply and end up causing a collapse in the prices of the products."

"That's right! Good answer, Gin-kun."

"But… How?"

As I expected, Minori was still confused. Knowing that, I took a copper Mon coin out of my pocket and tossed it up before catching it.

"It all lies on the fact that our economic system is dependent on the use of fiat money."

"Fiat money?"

"It's these. Copper mon coins, Gold Kan pieces and Gold Koban plates. They are made with metals and can be exchanged for food, shelter, clothes… and if you go to that part of the city, even a night of pleasurable service… not that I have personal experience though."

"…"

"But then, what else are they worth when no one will accept them?"

"That…"

"Ya see it now, Minori-chi? This is the bitter truth when it comes to handling money."

Coins and banknotes are worth nothing. That's a fact. When no one will accept them, they are just pieces of casted metal and flimsy paper with words and ink stamps. They have no other use other than being melted down into trinkets or used as a fire starter.

"Fiat money is just like that. When society collapses or the type of money changes, ya can bet yer bottom that they will be useless."

Just after Gin said that line, I was stunned for a moment and the coin fell to the floor with an audible ping sound.

"Wha? Something wrong, Hiro-kun?"

"Gin. Sometimes, I wonder if you are a haphazard merchant or a talented moron."

"Wha?! Hey, hey… where is this attitude coming from, Hiro-kun?"

I grinned slightly and tapped his shoulder before whispering something to his ear.

"Does the Kashima Merchant alliance have gold, silver and paper at their stock houses?"

"Well… the last time I checked we do have lots of them. Why do you ask?"

"The Houseki Mint is the only accredited Mint in Hashidate, but it is not the only one nearby."

It took him a moment to understand what I meant and when I asked:

"Are you thinking what I am thinking?"

"Kahahaha!!!"

He laughed heartily and we bumped fists as a plan was quickly set up in our minds.

"I do! Let's do it, Hiro-kun!"

Exactly the day after the party, us two went to work. I sent Minori to a certain place in Yukogahara while Gin handled the transportation of the metals and paper to the neighboring province, taking care to not leak any information about the contents of our carts.

Three weeks after the party, something spread throughout the province that took both merchant and consumer by surprise.

"E-Eh? You're not taking in Mon coins anymore?"

"Sorry man, store policy. Go to the Houjun money changer if you want to buy from us."

First, it was in general merchandise stores that sell all kinds of wares that most people frequent by if they want to shop as quickly as possible.

"What the-? You're saying that I can't buy knives with Mon coins here now?"

"Hey man, don't complain to me. You know Hashidate, stuff changes here quickly."

Then at stores with specific products like tailoring shops and metalsmiths.

"Yen? What's that?"

"New money, folks. It just came by and as much as we don't want to change up things here, we have to adapt if we want to keep our stall afloat in all of this chaos."

And even on microbusinesses like Takoyaki stalls and ramen shops.

Suddenly, every business directly held or affiliated with the Miyazaki conglomerate started to only accept Yen money, a new denomination that no one in Hashidate has ever heard before.

"What's up with this flimsy money? It looks like a bank note but I don't have to go to the bank to exchange it for coins?"

"Nah. You can just hand it over here if you wanna buy something. In my opinion, it is a lot better than Mon coins or Kan pieces."

"Eh? How?"

"A long string of Mon coins that can weigh down your purse doesn't even weigh anything when you use Yen money. Look here, this is a 10,000-yen bill. If you convert this to Mon coins, it would probably weigh twice your own weight."

"Wow…"

"That's why we were quite thankful of this change. We can't imagine being weighed down on the road with those pesky metal coins."

This is one of the many reasons stated by the merchants who has begun to adopt it. It certainly was more beneficial for them to carry paper bills than heavy, clanking coins.

"Hiroshi-sama…"

"We bring news."

Behind me who is eating his lunch by my office's windy veranda, the Yutaka twins came by and reported something.

"The Yen exchange stalls has been set up across the city. We expect it to be distributed before autumn comes."

"Presently, one Yen is equivalent to 10 Mon and ten Yen is 1 Kan. We expect this to rise up soon as more people use the currency."

"Excellent. How magnificent…"

I can't help but say that and chuckle as I turned around and saw that the two were also smiling from ear to ear about the news.

"To think that you were able to think about something like this…"

"You're a very naughty boy, aren't you… Hiro-kun?"

"Oh please, stop teasing me already…"

But before I can finally be in a good mode, the two treated me like a child again and ended up ruining it. Regardless, we are in the good course now.

*Tak, tak!*

"Come on in."

Someone knocked at the door of my office and opened it.

"Shachou… A letter."

It was Minori, and at his hand was a scroll with a stamp that specifically belongs to someone.

"I see that he has finally responded to us."

I took the letter and after opening it to read it, my smile came back before I spoke my orders to Minori.

"Minori-kun. I have an errand to run with the others… There is a certain shop at the south of the city named Takamori Teahouse. Our informant will be there with the information we are trying to find. I'll be going there to personally meet the person."

"As you wish. What about me, Iwasawa-sama?"

"You go meet the guy who thought that no one can harm him… Treat this as my reward for riding along my hijinks with this business."

I spoke and tapped his shoulder which seem to make him remember that thing that he told me about last time.

"Minori-kun."

"Yes, my lord?"

"Try… Try not to gather too much attention."

"Hehe… As you wish."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

There are times when I remember the days when I was just a stray, rental blade. A shameless and merciless assassin who sells his filthy hands to claim lives.

At first, it was out of desperation. Escaping from the man whom my mother entrusted to keep my existence a secret, I had no one to turn to. I lived at the streets, begging for alms and only being able to afford a single piece of the cheapest bread from street vendors to fill my belly once a day. If I didn't get enough money for that, I would go to the alleys of stores, rummaging through their waste pits to look for scraps.

It all changed when one rainy night, I woke up from my sleeping spot atop a peach tree to see a man being slaughtered by a man wearing a strange mask. Being a child who hasn't even seen such brutality, I shook and fell down from the branch, hurting my hip which caused me to not be able to stand up to run away from the scene.

However, the killer wasn't interested with finishing me. He opened his purse and threw a string of coins, long enough to keep me fed for days. I was puzzled about his actions until he said.

"This business pays well. If you're interested, go to the market at night, sit by the wayside and wear a straw hat."

I didn't understand, but I sure was interested with the prospect.

Nice pay, nice food and a nice bed. Everything that I wanted back then, I can reach if I followed his advice.

I went with it and stole a straw hat from a sleeping rickshaw driver. I went to the market at night and sat by the sidewalk. It took quite a while and suddenly, someone threw a bag of coins to my lap which awoke me from almost falling asleep. I looked at the small holes atop my hat and saw a man wearing a black, oni mask, looking at me while I opened the purse.

It was filled with Kan pieces. Enough to let me stay at a good inn for a few days. But the letter inside made me think twice about taking the offer.

[Kill the merchant in the red room of Pashimino Inn.]

I heard about him. A rich guy who visited Kiko from Kise. He once passed by the street where I was begging for alms and he threw out coins from his palanquin window and laughed at us as we pushed each other just to get as much as we can from the scattered pile.

He was a big shot, that's for sure. He would definitely have some mercenaries guarding him… But I don't want to sleep outside and eat rotten food again.

"I'll take it."

I spoke and the oni-masked man gave me the weapon that he wanted me to use.

As if the heavens are allowing me to do the deed, something unexpected happened. There were no guards at the inn where he was staying.

At first, I didn't believe it. But as soon as I approached the red room, I finally knew why he didn't have his men guarding his door.

"A-AAAAHHHH! No more! NO MORE, SIR!!!"

"Get your hips ready! This is what you've been waiting for!"

Apparently, it was Friday that night. A day after most merchants would conclude their business schedules and blow some steam using alcohol, good food and rental women.

"Hah…hah…hah…"

Knowing that this bastard was getting the things that I don't have, the then 12-year-old me opened the sliding door of his room as he was tiredly sprawled on the floor with his fat belly heaving up and down after the deed and the woman that he just used was unconscious while her bottom was leaking.

"Didn't I say to leave the door alone? Why are you filthy mercenaries so-"

He noticed the door and tried to sit up to scold me but was suddenly cut-off after I pointed a flintlock pistol to his forehead.

"I let you finish. Call it a professional courtesy."

That was the last thing he heard before I pulled the trigger and the lead musket ball firmly planted itself to his head.

Later that week, the oni-masked man returned to my spot and threw another purse on my lap. This one was heavier than the first and contained a harder mission.

[Kill the warehouse manager at East Naka wharf.]

It went on and on. The cycle never changed. He gives me a job, gives me a weapon, I do the job and I enjoy the pay.

One day, when it was supposedly my birthday, my services were rented again to kill a certain spy from Shinka. Apparently, the lord of the neighboring province has sent her spies to the village of one of the three noble clans and the masked man wanted me to take out one of them. As for the reason, I didn't bother to ask.

The job went quickly. I trailed the man and when he was about to go back to his inn, I jumped from a rooftop to swiftly plunge a knife through his heart and drag him to a nearby dark alley.

"Hey! What are you doing to him?!?!?!"

However, one of the other spies saw me looting his ally's corpse and chased after me. I ran and ran, trying to get him off my trail until I got to a major road and bumped with someone.

"Owww… Hey, look at where you're running to, man… Cut the local doctor some slack and be careful."

"Damn it!"

However, I didn't have the time to apologize, I stood up immediately and ran through the crowd where a scroll, one of the things I got my target, fell from my pocket. It didn't have much value to me, so I just let it go.

Fearing that I got myself dragged to something unnecessary, I ran away from Kiko and settled here in Hashidate for a while. I worked as one of the men of the Yutaka-gumi mafia until I discovered a secret group dedicated to something that made me remember my first target.

And today, I reconnected with that group for one last time to do my part as one of their members.

"The Houseki Mint…"

By afternoon, I arrived by horse to the Houseki Mint. It was located in the western part of the city. It had smokestacks that was connected to the giant forging furnaces and casting foundries in the site and even had an artificial river where an entire row of gigantic, heavy hammers is attached to waterwheels that drive them up and down to automate the forging of metals and air bellows that pump air into the furnaces that makes the fires burn hotter.

"Akizuki-dono… is it?"

"That would be me. I came to represent my master, Miyazaki Hiro-sama."

I spoke after dismounting from my horse and handing it to the servant who presented to take it.

"Houshou-sama is waiting at his quarters. Let me lead you to him."

"I appreciate it."

We walked through the workshop that has now become desolate. The building where Hashidate formerly sourced all of their money only has its accounting office populated by some workers who are desperately trying to find a way to not write absolute losses on their reports.

"…"

"…"

At the open area outside where the furnaces and casting foundries are located, some workers who are breaking open a smelting oven looked at me over their shoulders where dust mingled with their sweat. Their gaze was as strong as the chains and fetters attached to their necks.

"What are you looking at? Get back to work!"

"Che!"

The guide noticed it and scolded the workers who spat our way before looking away from us.

"I apologize, Akizuki-dono. Those ruffians sure don't know how to be grateful to those who are feeding them."

"I guess you can't blame them considering the fact that they are under forced labor to atone for their crimes."

"I wish for your pardon, Akizuki-dono. But criminal scum like them deserves no mercy. If they want to be free, they must work for it."

"…Now I know why the city prison cells are always empty."

As we walked away, I had a sliver of idea about this person and how he operates his business.

"Behind this door is Houshou-sama's quarters. I'll leave you to talk in private then."

"Sure. Thank you."

After he walked back, I opened the door and found him tending to his bonsai plants at the terrace of his office room.

"My master received your letter. Here am I."

"What rudeness is this? I asked for him and he sent his servant to me?"

He complained and threw his garden shears to the floor while whispering insults to Iwasawa-sama.

"Hah! Since you're here already, I'll be gracious enough to give you audience."

"…"

"Kneel down and show respect."

He sat on his chair and pointed to the floor, telling me to grovel down and praise his stupidly high-chinned welcome.

"Why should I?"

"-?!"

"Do I have something to thank you about, Houshou-dono?"

Under my pressuring words, the old man's face became piping red as I continued to stand straight in front of him.

"That brat Edogawa is one thing, but you… you and your master are more of a headache than that stupid brat."

"Oh. Are we? Iwasawa-sama would like to hear that before he orders me to break the rest of your face."

"That's enough outta you! Guards! Take this-"

Following my reply, I drew my gun from my hidden hip holster and pointed it at the backdrop screen behind him.

"Come out… now."

"…"

*BYAK!*

I fired at the wall and two men wearing shinobi clothes came out. One was clutching his arm that was wounded by the splinters from my gunshot.

"You're a hundred years too young to challenge me, you brat."

"You're a hundred years too old to even scare me, you old bastard."

I replied fiercely as I kept the gun pointed at the three of them while walking to the window.

"You…"

It was the right call. Even the door had someone who was waiting for me to get close to stab me from the back. The assassin came in holding a knife doused in poison.

"I knew it… You really are one of them. You pests! When will you accept that you can never drag me down?!"

"You'll soon learn that you are not an invincible man, you filthy turd!"

"Hah! I'll play with your lives just as how I played with the lives of everyone in this city using the money I make!"

"You want to play a game? Sure. I'll go with it."

I spoke as I opened the window behind me.

"Just make sure that you'll win, or else, you'll lose everything."

"Hehe!"

The old man snickered before taking a bell at his table and shaking it to signal the other ninjas and mercenaries to come out from where they are staying.

They were everywhere. At the doors, at the ceiling, at the floorboards and even at the open area where I passed by earlier.

"Your gun is not enough for you to protect yourself."

After he stated that, instead of being scared, I only had one statement in my mind.

"It's enough to plant a bullet through your head."

I accepted the challenge and stepped at the windowsill.

"It's hundreds against one man. Don't bore my men as you squirm to death, you bug."

"Don't die before I kill you."

And after that statement, it has started as I hopped off the window.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Get him!"

"Stay right there!"

I ran to the forging area where the autonomous hammers are continuously hitting the empty anvils in the workshop.

"Hyuk!"

*Byak-!*

"Argh!"

"He's right there!"

"Tch! Found already?!"

I reloaded my pistol and fired again, making sure that every shot counted.

"Gyaaa-! My arm!"

"Get outta my way!"

I also tried to improvise. Taking their knives and swords when someone does get near to me and throwing them when I get the chance to do so.

"Gotcha!"

"What the-"

Unfortunately, some of them still gets to take me by surprise. This one jumped from a waterwheel at my blind spot and wrapped his arm around my neck to strangle me.

"HAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"Urk! You-"

*Byuksh!*

But I managed to step back to a wall where his arm went loose and I pushed him to an anvil where the heavy, metal hammer broke his head into paste.

*Byak! Byak! Byak!*

"Kuh-!"

"Give me that."

I shot another mercenary and took his spear which I dipped in the piping hot metal and flung to the way of an incoming group of assailants who are running near a pile of flammable oil. It broke the pot, leaking the oil that flowed to the door and made it burst into flames.

"He's here!"

"Get over the wall!"

"Damn!"

I ran away again and again into rooms, hallways and roofs. Yet all of it was filled with enemies who are after my life.

"He's up there!"

"Shoot him down!"

When I was at the rooves, I keep on being pestered with arrows, javelins and throwing knives.

"He's in here!"

"Make him come out!"

When I get into a room to try and reload the magazines that are empty, I immediately get caught and made to go on the run again.

"These bodies are still breathing… He just passed by here!"

"Everyone! Get over here!"

There were no safe places. Even when I thought about regretting to challenge him, I can't turn back the time.

"He's at the smelting room!"

I just have to fight it out!

"UYAAAAA!!! MY FACE!!! Urk-!"

A painful shout came from the man whose face I pushed into a pit of live coals before I plunged his sword to his neck.

"He's nearby! Find him!"

"Damn… Three more until the next stick."

I cursed under my breath and ran away to the room next door while checking the remaining bullets in my gun.

"…Oh, you've gotta me shitting me…"

"Hey."

It was the accounting office. But instead of accountants busy with their paperwork, the ones who greeted me were accountants wielding swords, knives, axes and spears.

"Sorry kid, we need the reward money."

"We have to stay alive."

Well… I guess that's that.

"Don't worry…"

I spoke after taking out one of the knives that I got earlier.

"…the need for survival is mutual."

"RAAAAHHHH!!!"

The fight in the room was chaotic. Blood mingled with steel as swords were plunged to the people who immediately wielded them.

"Take this!!!"

"Arck! You… idiot!"

My forceful bending of my body allowed me to dodge the spear stabs meant for me which in the confusion of the fight, ended up hitting the wrong people.

"AAAAAAHHHH!!!"

"Just… die already!"

"Uck!"

And when I was holding the last of them by the head, the sharp point of a nearby pencil took his life after I forced his face into it, plunging it to his eye before letting him roll motionlessly on the floor along with everyone else.

"There was… one other guy…"

I mumbled as I took an ax from one of the deceased near me…

"Hah… hah… HYAAA!"

"Urk!"

…And threw it to hit the head of that one guy who was stabbed by the spear of his own ally.

"Alright… that's enough bloodshed in one fight. I can't believe even a pencil can kill."

(T/N: 'sup, John Wick.)

I exited the room and finally got to where all of this started.

"…"

"You damn brat… You actually did it."

I took out my gun and pulled the slide open to see one last bullet in the chamber.

"Do I really have to do everything by myself?!"

He spoke and drew a flintlock pistol, but I was a quicker shooter and hit his gun's muzzle, igniting the gunpowder inside which made it explode while he is holding it.

"AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!"

"There goes my last bullet."

I sighed and took the bell from his table to ring it by myself.

"I've done my part."

"W-what is that…?"

After I spoke those words, a series of footsteps followed suit. It sounded like the heavy footsteps of a group climbing up a flight of stairs.

"It's now their turn…"

And as the door opened, this decrepit old man knew what I meant earlier.

"Someone has to pay."

Just after saying that, I loosened my yukata and showed my right arm where a tattoo that he is far too familiar is imprinted to my body.

"Y-Y-Y-You-!!! That blood crescent moon tattoo! You're one of them?!?!?!"

I tidied up my clothes and handed the gun to someone at the crowd of people waring plain white masks who was more deserving of that right.

"Thank you, Member Kuro."

"It is nothing, Grandmaster. I and my master did nothing but just bring you this opportunity."

He took the gun and awkwardly pressed the magazine release that made the stick magazine come out which he caught by his other hand.

"Well then, to finally do what I should've done when I broke a bottle on your ugly mug back when I could've still stopped you…"

Grandmaster spoke as he placed back the magazine that contained the single bullet where I etched the name of every member that we lost just to drag them down.

"W-W-Wait! I-I don't understand! Why are you so keen to pull me down?! What have I done to all of you?!!!"

Hearing that, the men who are wearing plain white masks took them off and showed their faces which the old man surely knew about.

"You… and you too! You are-"

"The child of the man who was arrested from a false crime of theft and died at your Mint."

"The son of the woman who just wanted to show us the sea but ended up being the plaything of your lackeys until she died from shock."

"The man whose wife you stole and threw away when she is no longer pleasing you."

All of the people who came to this room was a victim of his' and his lackeys' actions.

"You thought you are invincible? That you cannot be harmed by anyone because you got the cash and influence to change reality to how you wish it to be?"

"What? You actually believed that you are Untouchable?"

While the other members of our group were talking to the shaking old man, I was given the mask that I left after I decided to lay low from our creed to serve Iwasawa-sama.

"Do you remember me, you bastard?"

"You… You-!!!"

I cannot remember your face since you hid it well back then with a strange oni-mask… But I can never forget the rancid smell of the rotting flesh behind that mask.

"You thought you are making the best lap dog. The most effective errand boy that you can ever have."

"This is madness! I saved you from the streets! I welcomed you to the world of assassins! I made you who you are today!"

Hearing his pitiful screams, I took off my mask and gave him one last word before I ended all of this the same way it has started.

"Then let me pay you back for everything. For making me bear all that bloodshed for your own sake."

I took the gun from Grandmaster's hand and without any other actions or farewell words, pulled the trigger to fire the lead bullet that planted itself to his head.

"Now… you will pay for the rest of eternity for your sins in hell."

The group gathered at the open area of the mint where the corpses I killed earlier are still sprawled around.

"Now that our common enemy is gone, what would happen to our group?"

"It will be disbanded, of course. Our common hatred against Houshou Hajime has finally been resolved. There is no more point for us to stay together as a group."

"If so, I accept that suggestion."

The Blood Moon Fraternity. A group dedicated to killing the members of the Untouchables, has also met its end. With their revenge finally done, their members had no more reason to stay with each other.

"I will visit my wife's grave. I wish to finally put her to peace."

"I should do the same to my mother. It would be a good reason to meet my siblings too."

"I want to be a public lawyer. I'll try to look for a master to take me in and teach me."

With no more hatred pulling them back, the members finally moved on with life and went their own separate ways.

"How about you, Grandmaster? You made the Fraternity, what is your plan now that it has disbanded?"

"Hehe… I heard your boss is a collector of helpful people, I'm already too old for any crazy things that you youngsters do, but care to recommend me to him?"

"It would be my pleasure."

Later that night, I brought one more person to our team of 12. Fortunately, Iwasawa-sama became fond with his philosophies about law and justice and accepted him to our flock as our group's adviser.

"My name is Namikaze Souichirou! I look forward to working with you, Your Highness!"

With that, the dark page of my life has, after so many years of being postponed, finally concluded.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"So, Iwasawa-sama… what have you learned from the informant?"

Minori asked after pouring fresh green tea to my cup as I was gazing outside my office window.

"It's confirmed… there is a traitor inside Naka castle."

"…I see."

"The informant's words were quite vague, but she said that the information about the allied army's present strength, command structure and even the number of fieldable men are already being drawn up for our enemies."

"Who could it be?"

"We will only know once Nobisuke sieves the entire structure of our bureaucracy and military. Until then, we can only be cautious and play it safe. Send these instructions to Yukogahara embassy through Alpha script Morse code, address it to Nobisuke so they know where to redirect it."

"As you wish."

He took the piece of paper from my table and walked carefully to the room where our radioman is staying.

"This will be a rough ride for us."

Now that I only have to wait until the 30-day grieving period is over to hold the Houseki Mint with a majority stockholder position, it is time to move to the biggest thorn in my path.

"The Yamada clan… how should I ruin your dreams of grandeur?"

I sneered and thought up another brilliant scheme.

(Author note: Happy 100K reads, everyone!!!)