The short man’s ashen lips… trembled even more violently after Jinno finished speaking.

Once again he cast pleading glances at his companions seated along both sides of the cave.

But the exact same scene as before unfolded again.

Faced with the short man’s pleading eyes, these people either looked away or remained unmoved.

The short man seemed to have fallen into despair.

He straightened his upper body with the force of someone trying to bite his teeth to pieces, strained his arms, and—bit by agonizing bit—drew the short knife from his left flank toward his right flank.

At first, he could barely keep himself composed and suppress any cries.

But when the blade reached the area around his navel, he could no longer hold back. He let loose an inhuman, unearthly howl and his upper body collapsed forward again.

The rocky ground beneath him had already been stained an eerie dark red by the blood flowing from his belly.

As his body pitched forward once more, his entire face plunged into the pool of blood that had gathered from his wounds.

Some of the short man’s comrades seated along the cave walls could not bear to watch the grisly sight; they bowed their heads and shut their eyes.

Some wore expressionless indifference.

And some… watched the short man’s extreme agony with eager interest, murmuring approvingly, “Hm… a clean cut… it would be perfect if he didn’t make a sound.”

Feeling powerless to pull the knife any further, the short man had to turn his head once more to send a pleading look to Jinno, who stood slightly behind him.

He could no longer speak.

Blinding pain and a hazy mind left him able only to emit meaningless cries and moans like “ho” and “ah” whenever he opened his mouth.

The short man’s pleading gaze was like a moth flying into a blazing fire.

Staring at Jinno’s unshakable, indifferent eyes, the short man could only, as if bereft of his soul, slowly withdraw the gaze that had already lost almost all expression.

“Ho… ho…! Hoho…!”

The knife in the short man’s belly moved again.

Thus, in excruciating torment, he finally managed to pull the short knife all the way to his right flank…

Looking at the complete horizontal incision across the short man’s abdomen, Jinno gave a slight nod, then drew the katana at his waist.

A flash of white steel.

Jinno severed the short man’s head with a single stroke.

What Jinno performed was the standard kaishaku: the head-holding cut.

There are rules for performing kaishaku; you must not chop off the victim’s head cleanly. The blade enters at the back of the neck and stops when only a small strip of skin near the throat remains connecting the head to the body.

This method causes the nearly severed head to fall into the kaishakunin’s arms—hence the name “head-holding.”

To pull that stroke off without severing the head cleanly requires tremendous skill; only those with exceptionally refined swordsmanship can execute a perfect “head-holding.”

Therefore not just anyone can serve as kaishakunin.

Silence fell over the cave as Jinno’s blade rose and fell.

Jinno produced a sheet of white paper, wiped the blood off the katana’s edge, then raised his head and declared loudly to those gathered:

“I hope everyone will take Oomae-kun as a warning!”

“Did we throw ourselves into the Anti-Foreigner movement for fun?”

“Did we found this anti-foreign group to slaughter every foreigner who sets foot on this land and every collaborator who aided them, to restore the samurai way? Isn’t that why we did it?!”

“I want there to be no more people who disgrace the samurai code.”

Having said that, Jinno sheathed the katana back in its scabbard.

“…Mr. Jinno.” At that, an ugly-looking middle-aged man sitting beside Jinno asked in a low voice, “Our third assassination attempt on Tachibana Aoto failed… What shall we do next?”

Jinno paused to think for a moment.

“…For now, don’t worry about that Aoto.”

“Let this treacherous traitor who shamelessly worked for the Americans enjoy himself a little longer.”

“We will continue with the original plan.”

Cold light burst from Jinno’s pupils.

“The main force will advance to Fujisawa-shuku to intercept and kill Anthony de Angoulême and his granddaughter Elodie de Angoulême!”

Jinno tilted his head and looked toward a burly man seated not far from him, only about 1.5 meters tall but extremely muscular.

“Suehiro-kun, I entrust this operation to you.”

“This rare chance—finding foreigners isolated like this—must be seized. Take the heads of those two foreigners!”

“Yes!” Suehiro’s voice boomed so loudly it rattled dust loose from the cave ceiling. “Mr. Jinno, entrust this mission to me!”

At that moment, a weak voice sounded from behind Jinno:

“Um… Mr. Jinno, are we really… going to kill Anthony de Angoulême and Elodie de Angoulême?”

Jinno froze briefly when the question was asked, then frowned and turned his gaze toward the voice behind him.

The speaker was a young man who didn’t look yet twenty years old.

Jinno’s gaze fell over the young man like a boulder, forcing his head to bow involuntarily.

But the youth still mustered the courage to continue.

“Mr. Jinno… that Anthony… he hasn’t committed any heinous crimes in our country…”

“He buys our local specialties and resells them back to Europe; he’s simply doing business with us…”

“As for Elodie… she’s only a twelve-year-old child…”

“Do we really… have to kill this grandfather and granddaughter?”

“…Hirota-kun, when did you start thinking such absurd thoughts?”

A breath of wind slipped into the cave, making the lamp on the rock wall flicker.

Jinno’s shadow swayed with the wavering flame.

That shifting, wavering shadow pressed down on Hirota like a mountain.

Cold sweat began to bead on Hirota’s forehead, cheeks, and spine; he shrank his body even smaller.

“They set foot on this country, they stepped on this land—that alone is enough to tear them limb from limb.”

“Hirota-kun, I do not want to hear words like that again.”

“Y-yes…”

After shooting Hirota a few more cutting looks, Jinno withdrew his eyes.

“Suehiro-kun, how are the firearms coming along?”

“Mr. Jinno, they have already been transported ahead to Fujisawa-shuku!”

“Good.” A faint curve of satisfaction lifted the corner of Jinno’s mouth. “Treat those firearms carefully. I expended great effort to purchase those fine weapons from that Rakshasa.”

“Yes!”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep