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District 48 West, Suburbs.
Ishikawa Katori arrived at the meeting point, a farm in the suburbs, according to the instructions on the commission slip.
When Ishikawa Katori arrived, the goods had already been loaded onto the carts. Besides the caravan leader, there were over a dozen strong men who, like Ishikawa Katori, seemed to have been hired for this transport mission.
"Who are you?"
As soon as Ishikawa Katori reached the outskirts of the farm, before he could even walk further in, several burly men blocked his way.
"I am…" Ishikawa Katori reached into his embrace, just about to pull out the commission slip, when he heard a steady male voice from behind the burly men: "Let him come over. He is Boss Ishikawa Katori from the Everything Store in District 38."
Boss of the Everything Store in District 38?
Upon hearing this, everyone inside the farm turned their gaze towards the outside. Among them were not a few who recognized Ishikawa Katori. After all, after five years of effort, Ishikawa Katori's footsteps had basically covered the entire Rukongai West. Even those who hadn't seen him had heard his name.
"Chairman Shinno."
Ishikawa Katori smiled at the middle-aged man who spoke for him: "I'll be relying on your care again this time."
The middle-aged man looked about 40 or 50 years old, dressed in a white kimono with gold trim, and exuded a very kind aura.
Kawabata Shinno.
He is the Chairman of the Merchant Guild in District 43 of West Rukongai, and also an elder of District 43. If residents in the district want to sell goods to Seireitei, he usually acts as the middleman. He is a very shrewd businessman.
As far as Ishikawa Katori knew, he had been the Chairman of the Merchant Guild for almost five hundred years. Although other areas also had merchant guilds, their chairmen were often replaced, mostly due to corruption and being ousted by the residents of their districts.
The fact that Shinno could hold this position for so long and be highly respected was enough to show his character.
Ishikawa Katori had dealt with him a few times before, but mostly for building farms and harvesting crops. This was his first time doing guard work.
"Not at all. This time, we'll have to rely on you, Ishikawa Katori."
Chairman Shinno said, glancing behind Ishikawa Katori, and finally asked with some hesitation: "Are you the only one coming?" After saying that, he quickly added: "I'm not doubting your work ability, Boss Ishikawa Katori, but this commission is different from before. It's not just about being capable."
"I understand."
Ishikawa Katori nodded, smiling: "However, my small shop has always only had me working outside. If you feel I'm not suitable, you can cancel the commission without paying a penalty. Uzuki said that you seem to have issued this commission due to a misunderstanding."
Upon hearing this, a flicker of hesitation crossed Chairman Shinno's face, but he finally shook his head: "Since you're already here, just come along. I'll pay the commission fee as agreed."
Although he wasn't sure of Ishikawa Katori's strength, he knew that Ishikawa Katori's Everything Store also accepted commissions to teach thugs a lesson, and each time the clients were very satisfied. So, he probably had some strength.
Most importantly…
The young man had pushed aside other work and rushed here early in the morning. He couldn't just send him back, could he? After all, he really liked this quick-handed and diligent young man.
"Later, you can stay in the middle of the team and help push the carts."
Most of the area between District 43 and District 40 is mountainous. Even with horse-drawn carts, human power is needed to help push them uphill. Since he paid to hire Ishikawa Katori, he wouldn't just let Ishikawa Katori follow along. Although it would be some manual labor, it was clearly much safer than the original guard work.
He truly is a very respectable person.
Ishikawa Katori praised him in his heart and followed Chairman Shinno to the center of the convoy.
"Ishikawa Katori, you really dare to take on any commission."
"Quick, come over here. We'll push the cart together later."
"Go away, go away. Don't listen to that old guy. He just wants to be lazy. You come with me later."
"…"
Most of the people responsible for pushing the carts were from the farm. They were very familiar with Ishikawa Katori, who often worked with them on the farm, and came forward to chat when they saw him approaching.
Ishikawa Katori also smiled and responded to each of them. After some pleasantries, the convoy officially set off.
"Chairman Shinno, what's with these bandits?"
Ishikawa Katori asked Chairman Shinno, who was beside him, while pushing the cart. As far as Ishikawa Katori knew, in the past, when transporting goods to Seireitei, no guards were ever hired apart from the laborers pushing the carts. He had also taken on cart-pushing commissions before.
"This is your first time transporting goods with a convoy outside of the Seireitei procurement season, isn't it?"
Ishikawa Katori nodded.
"No wonder then." Chairman Shinno said, then explained: "Because our District 43 is mountainous, when the areas were originally divided, a small part of the mountainous area bordered District 55, which is also mountainous, in South Rukongai."
Bordering District 55?
Ishikawa Katori was stunned to hear this. This was truly the first time he had heard it, because the division of areas was centered around Seireitei, divided from the inside out.
It was like a series of circles. Areas within a circle, regardless of whether they were in the east, south, west, or north, basically had the same number. An area like District 43 should be an exception.
Thankfully, it was only District 55.
Although he had never been to South Rukongai, in their West Rukongai, although District 55 belonged to a higher-numbered area, the people who hung out there were basically idle fellows. To put it bluntly, they were just annoying thugs, not even qualified to be proper villains.
"Those thugs are very well-behaved during the procurement season and don't dare to provoke convoys delivering goods to Seireitei; but outside of the procurement season, they often come over to our side to plunder goods being sent to the first few numbered districts." Chairman Shinno paused, then continued:
"If they knew these goods were going to Seireitei, they naturally wouldn't plunder them, but those guys wouldn't investigate beforehand. They just wander around the central areas all year round outside of the procurement season."
Ishikawa Katori nodded, understanding.
"If it were just thugs, that would be one thing." Chairman Shinno sighed: "About a month ago, a lot of powerful individuals suddenly appeared among those thugs. Although those newly appeared individuals are different from the thugs, they only injure people and don't kill."
"But they are very strong. Any convoy they encountered had their goods plundered."
Chairman Shinno said this, then looked at Ishikawa Katori: "The reason I invited you this time is because I heard that your Everything Store recently acquired some new employees who are very strong and look fierce, which made me consider commissioning you for escort duty."
A month ago…
Upon hearing this timeframe, Ishikawa Katori's eyelids twitched immediately. He quickly lowered his head to hide it, and said:
"Chairman Shinno, you've really misunderstood. Actually, Uzuki felt a bit bored just taking commissions during the day, so she converted the first floor into a tavern, and the Everything Store's business moved to the second floor."
It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?
…
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