"For some reason, those Shinsengumi dogs had suddenly gone quiet lately. In their place, those aristocratic samurai of the Mimawarigumi had taken over." Takechi looked somewhat puzzled, though his expression remained relaxed. "But that's good for us. The Mimawarigumi are nowhere near as capable in a fight as the Shinsengumi."
"Dealing with the Mimawarigumi is no difficult matter." Shinbei waved a hand. "I'm more curious about that demon fox—could she really be as miraculous as Brother Okada claimed?"
"Izō may not be educated, but he's always honest. He's never lied!"
"Ah, no, no. You misunderstand. I wasn't saying Brother Okada was lying." Shinbei reached up to stroke his chin. "What I mean is, since we've confirmed that the demon fox stands against us, we must destroy her at any cost..."
"Though the Shinsengumi have stopped acting, they're still responsible for Gion and Sanjō. Summer is almost here. Kyoto should be holding its annual fireworks festival soon, shouldn't it?"
"Kyoto hasn't had a fire caused by the fireworks festival in nearly forty years. Once a fire breaks out, the Shinsengumi will have to maintain order... With such a flood of people, how could that possibly be easy?"
"The demon fox will probably be there too, won't she? Hmm, a surging crowd is bound to cause a stampede, and then there's gunpowder that could explode at any moment... Heh heh, whether it's the demon fox or the Shinsengumi, they'll all go boom and turn into fireworks, won't they?"
The manslayer sounded as though he were talking to himself, or perhaps discussing what to eat for dinner with Takechi Hanpeita. His tone barely rose or fell.
Yet Takechi felt a chill run down his spine.
He had thought himself ruthless enough, but Tanaka Shinbei was even more callous and indifferent than he was.