"..." Sasaki stared at the void in front of him, wondering what he was thinking.

After a moment, he turned around without saying a word.

No more patrolling the streets.

Instead, we are heading towards an unknown place.

After twisting and turning through several streets and alleys, Sasaki and the two subordinates who had been following him on his left and right plunged into a dark alley.

In the alleyway, the air was filled with the pungent smell of alcohol, causing Sasaki to frown slightly unconsciously.

"Hmm...? The wine is all gone... Phew! Who went to buy the wine? This little wine is not enough for me to drink!"

A violent roar came from the deepest part of the alley - five young men, all very young, were standing or sitting, "scattered" everywhere.

Without exception, these five people all exuded the extremely strong and extremely unpleasant smell of alcohol.

One of them was leaning on the wall, slumped on the ground like a puddle of mud, playing with a shiny and gorgeous wakizashi in his left hand, and holding an empty wine bottle in his right hand.

This person had the strongest smell of alcohol. His face was as red as if it had been painted with red paint due to too much alcohol intake. His eyes were blurred, and the corners of his mouth were curled up because he had drunk all the wine——

The irritable roar just now came from this person.

At this time, the young man raised his head when he heard the footsteps of Sasaki and others, and met Sasaki's eyes.

"...I am your lord, please welcome me."

Sasaki bent down and took the lead in bowing to the young man with a very respectful attitude.

That's his name.

Qing Shui I made it.

The surname is "Qingshui"... just by hearing this surname, you can know how extraordinary this young man's identity is.

This person is the leader of their "Shimizu Clan": the nephew of Eiichi Shimizu!

"Huh? Isn't this Sasaki..."

Qingshui grinned.

"Sasaki, why are you here?"

"My subordinates reported to me that you were drinking nearby, so I came to take a look."

"Oh...that's it...hehehe, I really bother you."

Shimizu Gosaku raised a gentle smile towards Sasaki, then subconsciously raised the wine bottle in his right hand and put the bottle mouth to his lips.

Only half a drop of wine dripped out of the wine bottle that had been drained long ago.

"..." Qing Shuiwu stared blankly at the empty bottle in his hand.

Then...a rather horrifying scene happened.

Just now, he had a gentle expression on his face and said "Thank you for your hard work" to Sasaki thoughtfully, but his expression suddenly changed!

His eyebrows were raised, his eyes were swollen with anger, and his face, which was already extremely red due to drunkenness, suddenly became even redder.

"Oh shit!"

Qingshui Gozuo cursed loudly, raised his hand, and threw out the empty wine bottle in his palm.

The wine bottle flying in a parabola passed by Sasaki's cheek, and with a clang, it landed behind Sasaki and broke into thousands of pieces.

One second he was placid, but the next second he was furious... Shimizu Gosaku's mood changed so quickly that it made people shudder.

But Sasaki looked like he had long been accustomed to this situation.

"I'm out of wine...it's really unlucky..."

Shimizu Gosaku held on to the wall behind him and slowly got up from the ground.

"There's really nothing I can do... Hey! Let's go! It's time to buy wine!"

With a bossy attitude, he issued rude orders to the men around him.

Just when he was about to lead his men and pass by Sasaki with shaky steps——

"...My lord, you are already drunk, why don't you go home and take a rest for now?"

Sasaki stopped Shimizu Gosaku in as humble a tone as possible.

"……Aha?"

Qingshuigo paused, slowly turned his face, and cast a very oppressive look at Sasaki.

"Sasaki...I'm drunk...don't bother me."

After saying that, Shimizu Gosaku ignored Sasaki.

He withdrew his gaze and continued to lead his men out of the alley.

But at this moment, something happened.

"Hmm...!"

Shimizu Gosaku, who had been fine just now, suddenly clutched his head and groaned in pain.

"Am I an adult?"

"I am the master!"

"Did you get sick again?"

…

Shimizu Gosaku's men all let out shouts of fear and worry.

Sasaki couldn't help but give Shimizu Gosaku a look of surprise and worry.

"Medicine...medicine...medicine..."

Shimizu Gosaku put his trembling hands into his arms and took a small porcelain bottle about the size of his thumb into his hands.

"?!" Looking at the porcelain bottle in Shimizu Gosaku's hand, Sasaki's expression instantly became extremely strange.

"Drink uh...! Drink uh...! Drink uh...!" Shimizu Gosaku hurriedly poured out a purple and red pill from the porcelain bottle, and stuffed it into his mouth with an "Ah woo" without even chewing.

He swallowed it directly into his stomach.

After swallowing this strange-colored pill, Shimizu Gosaku's expression returned to normal at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"I feel comfortable..."

Shimizu Gosaku pressed his forehead and leaned against the wall beside him. After a long while, he let out a long sigh as if he was relieved.

"gone……"

Qingshui "separated" from the alley wall he was leaning on and walked out of the alley again.

Sasaki did not call Gosaku Shimizu back this time...but just stood there, watching Gosaku Shimizu leave.

It wasn't until Gosaku Shimizu's figure completely disappeared from sight that Sasaki took a deep breath and let out a silent sigh.

Sasaki has always felt very sorry for their leader's nephew.

Shimizu Gosaku has been suffering from a strange disease since he was a child, and his head always hurts.

When I first got sick, the symptoms were not serious. When I got sick, I just felt like my head was being pricked lightly by a needle.

But as I grew older, my symptoms worsened. My head pain became more and more frequent, and the pain became more and more intense.

Today, "needling" has become "hammering".

When the disease was at its most severe, I would often roll on the floor in pain and scream in agony that was too shrill for a human being to make. I couldn't even touch my hair. When I touched my hair, I felt like my whole scalp was being pricked by needles.

Their leader, Eiichi Shimizu, has always been very protective of his family.

He couldn't bear to see his nephew suffering from illness, so he took Shimizu Gosaku to see various famous doctors.

Kampo medicine, orchid medicine... in short, as long as they are doctors who can treat people, I have seen them all.

But it's a pity...most doctors can't even diagnose what disease Shimizu Gosaku has.

The few doctors who could barely identify the cause of Shimizugo's illness all had a surprisingly unanimous view: Although Shimizugo's disease is not fatal, there is no cure or cure, and it can only rely on willpower.

To endure the pain.

Gosaku Shimizu, who had lost hope of treatment, spent every day in pain, and even committed suicide several times because of the severe pain in his head.

Shimizu Gosaku's painful life continued until one day... Shimizu Eiichi suddenly gave Shimizu Gosaku a strange medicine.

It's the red and purple pills Shimizu Gosaku took just now.

This is not a medicine for treating illnesses. As far as Sasaki knows, this medicine seems to be an analgesic that can greatly offset the pain of physical illness.

This medicine does have miraculous effects. Whenever Shimizu Gosaku gets sick again, he can immediately feel the pain disappear after swallowing one pill.

But... I wonder if it was Sasaki's personal illusion, but he always felt that this "painkiller"... seemed a bit weird.

Ever since Shimizu Gosaku took this medicine, his whole temperament has become weird.

It feels like he... seems to be increasingly unable to control his emotions and desires.
To be continued...