Chapter 59: Honest's Attention, Sayo's Imitation
"Then next, we need to find one of those infiltrators."
Sayo picked Adai up from the ground. Though Adai looked rather bulky,
in her arms, Adai was no heavier than an ordinary puppy.
Watching Kurome leave, Sayo looked at the refugees packed tightly together and began to think.
Jingle, jingle!
A carriage came around the distant corner, followed by a squad of armored Imperial soldiers.
"You must be Captain Yorii Tsugikuni."
"I am the disaster relief official assigned this time. Lord Honest took the report you submitted very seriously. At today's council meeting, he even took the lead in donating one of his estates."
A potbellied middle-aged official stepped down from the carriage. He looked kindly at Yorii Tsugikuni and explained why he had come.
"Then I'll leave the disaster relief efforts to you."
Although he did not know why Honest had personally involved himself in this matter,
Yorii Tsugikuni believed that the arrival of a relief official was, overall, a good thing for the refugees.
"You're too polite. Captain Yorii Tsugikuni has earned Lord Honest's admiration at such a young age. Your future is bound to be bright. Disaster relief is simply my duty; it is no hardship."
The relief official showed no arrogance at all. Looking at Yorii Tsugikuni before him, he offered flattering pleasantries.
He did not dare make things difficult for someone who, even within the Imperial Capital, gave no face whatsoever to Honest's ministers.
After all, Honest had long instructed them not to provoke Yorii Tsugikuni lightly.
When necessary, they were to act according to circumstances.
Speaking of which, he had not actually wanted to come for this disaster relief effort.
Under normal circumstances, there was plenty of profit to be made during disaster relief.
But with Yorii Tsugikuni here, disaster relief had become nothing but hard labor.
After all, life and freedom were far more important than that little bit of profit.
"Then let's do something as well."
The Empire's disaster relief department had arrived, easing much of Yorii Tsugikuni's previous concern.
He looked at the people beside him, preparing to lead them in searching the slums from top to bottom.
One purpose was to track suspicious individuals. The other was to separate those who were sick or dead.
Yorii Tsugikuni quickly led everyone into action.
Several hundred Security Force members began entering the slums to carry out their duties.
Yorii Tsugikuni also obtained some rabbit fur from Adai's rabbit ornaments.
He lightly placed it in his palm.
To him, even fur as weightless as this could become something like steel needles in his hand.
With a casual flick, Yorii Tsugikuni tested it by shooting a strand of rabbit fur into Ieyasu's collar.
"Keep this on you."
"It may come in handy someday."
After the test succeeded, Yorii Tsugikuni gave some rabbit fur to Sayo, Tatsumi, and Seryu.
With these things on them, finding the others would at least become much easier.
"Master, I want one too."
Ieyasu had not noticed at all that Yorii Tsugikuni had already tucked a strand of rabbit fur into his clothes.
He asked Yorii Tsugikuni for another one.
Of course, that was only a minor interlude. Then they led the Security Force members and split into four teams.
They began a full day of work.
They remained busy until evening, when this major screening operation finally came to a complete end.
Of the dozens of strands of rabbit fur Yorii Tsugikuni had gotten from Adai, he had hidden half of them on people who had shown hostility toward them during the investigation.
"I didn't expect an unexpected gain this time."
"We actually uncovered someone from the Foreign Tribes here."
Seryu dragged a ragged person wearing a battered hat, their face covered in mud, over to Yorii Tsugikuni.
During the screening, Koro had paid special attention to this Foreign Tribes spy.
Thus, although he had hidden himself well, he was still exposed and captured.
"Send him to prison."
Yorii Tsugikuni glanced at the spy Seryu had captured. Because the Foreign Tribes had been at war with the Empire for many years,
their appearance in the Imperial Capital was entirely unsurprising.
Bang!
With a casual strike from Seryu, the spy from the Foreign Tribes immediately lost consciousness.
"I have an idea."
Taking the spy somewhere deserted, Seryu hid the rabbit fur Yorii Tsugikuni had just given her on his body.
To make sure it would not fall off, she checked it several times.
"Since we marked some people today who might be from the Revolutionary Army,"
"we can try using this Foreign Tribes fellow to track down their base as well."
After finishing, Seryu explained her idea to everyone.
Though she usually liked to fight head-on, Yorii Tsugikuni's method of tracking hidden Revolutionary Army members had just inspired her.
Naturally, Seryu came up with this way of pursuing Foreign Tribes spies as well.
"Are we going to release him directly?"
Ieyasu regretted saying that the moment the words left his mouth.
Sayo and Tatsumi looked at him as though he were an idiot.
Of course, neither of them meant any harm.
"Two Security Force guards got drunk and let a spy escape."
Sayo voiced her idea. During her time in the Security Force, she had changed greatly as well.
The little girl who once knew nothing of the world had now become a qualified Security Force member.
Because she often studied with Yorii Tsugikuni, she had drawn inspiration for this idea from a book.
"Mm."
Seryu and Yorii Tsugikuni nodded together.
Yorii Tsugikuni realized that, without anyone noticing, the group that had once only worked hard patrolling the streets
had slowly begun using strategies.
Their team was also gradually becoming more mature.
In order to track down more Revolutionary Army members and people from the Foreign Tribes, after some discussion, Yorii Tsugikuni finally decided to return to the slums for another investigation in a few days.
That way, they could gain more.
"Now, let's go help distribute some food."
At noon, the relief official had already brought people to the entrance of the slums and set up a porridge station there.
Seeing the area ahead packed to the brim,
Yorii Tsugikuni led everyone in maintaining order.
The food distributed by the relief official was extremely simple, merely a bowl of thin porridge.
Still, in Yorii Tsugikuni's eyes, that was better than having nothing at all as before.
"Take it slowly!"
"Step back! Don't push!"
At that moment, Ieyasu's booming voice proved useful.
He shouted at the pressing refugees, helping Yorii Tsugikuni maintain order.
Chapter 60: The Busy Security Force, a Shared Goal
Because there were simply too many people,
the first porridge distribution was extremely difficult. It was not completely finished until late at night.
"I'm exhausted."
"My whole body feels like it's about to fall apart."
The relief official and the soldiers protecting him had already left.
After finishing their work, Yorii Tsugikuni and Ieyasu ate rice balls together.
Ieyasu squatted on the steps. The man who loved to yell and shout now had a somewhat hoarse voice.
"Want some?"
Yorii Tsugikuni slowly chewed on the rice ball in his hand.
He sensed someone secretly watching him. Turning around, he found a pair of eyes looking at him from behind a broken wall in the distance.
When he walked behind the wall, he discovered it was a little girl.
"Thank you, big brother."
Hearing Yorii Tsugikuni's words, the little girl accepted the rice ball he offered her.
She hid it inside her clothes.
"Eat it here."
Seeing what the little girl did, Yorii Tsugikuni stopped her.
If someone discovered that she had hidden the rice ball, she would probably never have the chance to eat it.
The little girl hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed Yorii Tsugikuni's instruction and finished the rice ball.
"Let's go back."
"Little one, if anyone dares bully you, remember to tell me."
Seryu approached from afar, deliberately raising her voice.
Yorii Tsugikuni could sense the pairs of green eyes watching from the darkness. After Seryu spoke, they quickly withdrew their gazes.
A woman came over from afar. After thanking the two of them, she took the little girl away.
The group did not linger.
There were still many matters in the Imperial Capital that required the Security Force's attention.
With the relief official taking over here, they could free up their hands to handle more matters.
However, after some thought, Yorii Tsugikuni left Tatsumi behind with a team to remain stationed there.
They would assist the relief official in maintaining order among the refugees.
After all, if these refugees were allowed into the Imperial Capital, no one knew how much trouble it would cause.
The next day arrived quickly.
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