I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group

Chapter 25: Chance Encounter with Okita

As for why Arima specifically kept Butagaya and Ushiyama behind—Aoto could easily guess the reason.

Most likely, it was to discuss with the two of them how to help him survive the Elder Council's evaluation coming in a month and a half.

Ever since Aoto's father Tachibana Takayuki passed away from illness, Arima, Butagaya, and Ushiyama had treated Aoto as if he were their own, offering him endless care. Now that Aoto faced the risk of being dismissed from his position, it was impossible for the three of them to turn a blind eye.

The friendship between Arima, Butagaya, Ushiyama, and the Tachibana family made Aoto sigh with emotion: What the "original Tachibana Aoto" left him wasn't just a pile of burdens...

After following Arima's instructions and leaving his office alone, Aoto rested his hand on the sword at his waist and strode out of the magistrate's office, ready to begin his work for the day.

When there were no cases to handle, the daily duty of the Teimachi Squad constables was to patrol their respective jurisdictions.

Aoto happened to be in such a state with no cases to attend to, so his current task was to inspect the area under his responsibility.

The patrol method of the Teimachi Squad constables wasn't to check every corner or important location within their jurisdiction.

The reason was simple—lack of manpower.

At first glance, one might think the Southern Police Station was in charge of the southern half of Edo while the Northern Police Station managed the northern half.But that wasn't actually the case.

Edo was the ruling center of the Edo Shogunate.

For such an important city, the shogunate naturally wouldn't entrust its complete management to just one person.

Thus, the shogunate divided Edo's magistrate offices into two—the Southern and Northern Stations, implementing a "monthly rotation" system.

The "monthly rotation" system simply meant the two stations took turns managing Edo on a monthly basis.

If the Northern Station was responsible for Edo this month, then the Southern Station would take over next month.

So what did the officials of the Southern Station do when it was the Northern Station's turn to manage Edo?

They took a whole month of paid vacation!

They continued their holiday until it was their turn to manage Edo again.

By next month, when the Southern Station took over Edo's management in February, it would be the Northern Station's turn for a full month of paid leave.

Of course—for warriors like Aoto who belonged to the "Three Squads," due to the special nature of their work, they could only enjoy a full month of paid leave under extremely fortunate circumstances.

Even when it was another station's turn to manage Edo for the month, if they still had unresolved cases, they had no choice but to continue working—this was an all-too-common occurrence among the "Three Squads" of both stations.

And during their vacation, being urgently summoned due to sudden emergencies or manpower shortages to support the currently active station was even more normal.

It was currently January, the month when the Northern Station managed Edo, so Aoto, as part of the Northern Station, had to work. Meanwhile, the officials of the Southern Station—including its "Three Squads"—were almost all on vacation.

In other words—the total number of "Three Squads" across both stations was 36. With such scarce police strength to begin with, unless there was a special summons, the available force each month was effectively halved!

Every month, one station's officials were always on paid leave, so only half the police force was ever on duty at any given time!

Currently, the only ones maintaining order in Edo were the Northern Station's "Three Squads"—4 yoriki and 14 constables.

As high-ranking officers, the yoriki of the Teimachi Squad naturally didn't participate in patrols.

Only the constables of the Teimachi Squad handled patrol duties.

With just 6 constables in the Teimachi Squad, how could they possibly inspect every important location in Edo?

Thus—the Teimachi Squad constables only patrolled the jishinban within their own jurisdictions.

What was a "jishinban"?

This brings us to the two special systems that allowed the Southern and Northern Stations to maintain Edo's order with such limited police strength.

The first system was the "Townsperson Self-Governance System."

Simply put, this was a special "administrative system" that employed commoners to manage commoners.

Under this unique system, the officials hired to assist in managing Edo were roughly divided into three levels: "Town Elders," "Town Heads," and "House Masters."

The "Town Elders" were inherited by members of the Taruya, Naraya, and Kitamura families. Their role was to assist the Southern and Northern Town Magistrates in governing Edo.

Their main duties included conveying the shogunate and magistrate's orders to Edo's citizens, maintaining population registers, assisting with merchant and artisan management, collecting and submitting taxes and fees, among other tasks.

[Note: Population registers were Edo-period household registries.]

Below the Town Elders were the "Town Heads."

Edo had a total of 264 Town Heads, each overseeing anywhere from 2-3 to over a dozen wards. The Town Heads were all commoners from the landlord class, mostly inherited through generations.

[Note: A "ward" was an administrative division in ancient Japanese cities. Edo during the Edo period was said to have "808 wards," though by the Bakumatsu era, it actually had nearly 2,000.]

Below the Town Heads were the "House Masters."

Each Town Head had anywhere from a few to over a dozen House Masters under them.

The House Masters' task was to directly manage the various wards under their Town Head's jurisdiction.

Some House Masters were appointed by the Town Heads, while others were also inherited positions.

Though the Town Elders, Town Heads, and House Masters bore the heavy responsibility of assisting the magistrate in managing Edo, they weren't considered officials.

The reason was simple: They were commoners who didn't wear swords, not samurai.

"Non-samurai cannot hold official positions"—this was an ironclad rule in Edo-period Japan.

Though they performed official functions, they lacked official status.

From the Town Elders down to the House Masters, their official designation was "town officials," not government officers—just a group of errand-runners for the samurai lords, at best considered "clerks."

The "Townsperson Self-Governance Organization" responsible for assisting in managing Edo naturally also helped the "Three Squads" handle cases.

If any incidents occurred, they were first dealt with by the Town Head and House Master overseeing that ward.

Only if they truly couldn't resolve it would the case be handed over to the "Three Squads" of the magistrate's office.

Thus—the "Three Squads" basically didn't handle ordinary civil cases.

A lost cat, a housewife getting involved with the plumber, a wife being told "Madam, you wouldn't want your husband to lose his job, would you? So please..."—these trivial civil matters were all left to the "Townsperson Self-Governance Organization" to handle alone.

Only when faced with major criminal cases that the organization couldn't resolve—such as murders or thefts—would the cases be transferred to the "Three Squads."

If a ward had a major criminal case requiring the "Three Squads," the Town Head and House Master overseeing that ward had to fully assist the assigned samurai constable handling the case.

The House Masters' usual workplace was the "jishinban."

A jishinban could be understood as a facility combining the functions of a modern police station and fire department.

Besides tools for capturing criminals like arresting poles and spears, it also contained firefighting equipment such as team flags, fire hooks, and hand-pumped fire engines.

The House Masters responsible for managing a ward typically worked in that ward's jishinban.

Besides the House Masters, other minor clerks like "scribes" hired to assist with miscellaneous tasks also worked there.

Patrolling each jishinban in their jurisdiction, asking if anything significant had happened recently—if something had occurred, they'd handle it; if not, they'd move on to the next ward's jishinban—this was the patrol routine of the Teimachi Squad constables.

......

Edo, Hyuga Ward, Jishinban—

As soon as Aoto stepped through the gate, one of the House Masters working inside hurriedly put on a practiced smile, rubbing his hands together as he approached.

"Ah! Master Tachibana, you've arrived!"

"Good day." After a brief greeting, Aoto quickly asked, "Has anything significant happened in Hyuga Ward recently?"

"Nothing major. Just a fight," the House Master replied. "Yesterday afternoon, the owner of Kikuya got into a scuffle with a passerby over some trivial matter."

"But they were pulled apart in time, so neither was seriously hurt. I led a mediation effort yesterday afternoon, and both parties have since reconciled."

"I see." Aoto nodded slightly. "It's good nothing serious occurred."

"Master Tachibana! It's cold today—would you like to come in for some hot tea?"

"No need." Aoto offered a polite smile. "This morning, the magistrate held an emergency meeting, which already delayed my patrol significantly."

"I still have many places left to inspect and can't afford to waste more time."

"I'll take my leave now. If anything major happens in Hyuga Ward, report it to the magistrate's office immediately."

"Yes!"

Preparing to inspect the next jishinban, Aoto strode away under the House Master's bowing send-off, turning right into a bustling shopping street.

"Silk fabrics! Come take a look! Freshly stocked silk fabrics!"

"Father! I want to buy that!"

"Make way! Delivery cart coming through! Don't get hit if you don't want to!"

......

Shopkeepers busy opening their stores, laborers pushing cargo with simple handcarts, street vendors loudly hawking their goods early in the morning...

Though Aoto had seen countless such scenes in the "original Tachibana Aoto's" memories, he still couldn't suppress the novelty shining in his eyes.

After patrolling his jurisdiction for most of the morning and taking in these lively street scenes filled with ancient charm, Aoto felt his mood—previously weighed down by one troublesome matter after another—lighten somewhat.

How should he handle the Elder Council's evaluation in a month and a half?

The only way to make his currently abysmal performance record shine in such a short time was to solve some high-profile major cases.

The "Elder Council evaluation" was quite different from the other two crises looming over Aoto: the life-threatening danger from the "Expel the Barbarians faction" and the financial threat from the "Shimizu Family."

Against the threats from the "Expel the Barbarians faction" and the "Shimizu Family," Aoto could take proactive measures—studying swordsmanship and using his system to copy powerful talents to protect himself.

But the "Elder Council evaluation" wasn't like that...

Whether high-value major cases would appear, and whether he'd have the opportunity and ability to handle them, all depended on luck.

If no such cases emerged, or if they never fell to Aoto to handle... there was nothing he could do.

Faced with this, Aoto could only let his gaze darken as he sighed: Take it one step at a time. For now, just focus on doing each day's work properly.

After inspecting two more jishinban where nothing major had occurred, noon quietly arrived.

Aoto looked up at the sun nearing its zenith, then silently pulled out the lunchbox Kyūbei had given him that morning—three rice balls wrapped in lotus leaves.

—Time to find a place to eat lunch...

Scanning his surroundings, Aoto soon spotted a teahouse not far away.

Teahouses in the Edo period served a function somewhat similar to modern cafés—important social venues of the time.

Buying a cup of tea meant one could leisurely stay for a long while—making them perfect resting spots.

Thus, upon seeing the teahouse, Aoto almost instinctively quickened his pace toward it.

As soon as he entered, a wave of noise, slightly stuffy warmth, and the enticing aromas of tea and snacks rushed at him like a tide.

Seeing the teahouse packed with people, Aoto began worrying there might be no empty seats.

Just as he looked around for available seating, he suddenly heard—from his side—an extremely familiar, pleasant voice:

"Hm? Tachibana-kun?"

Aoto quickly turned toward the sound, surprise flashing across his face. "Okita-kun?"