I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group-Chapter 28: Aoto? What Case Could He Possibly Solve?

"...Upon receiving the , I immediately organized personnel to strictly seal off the scene, prohibiting any unauthorized individuals from approaching."
"At the same time, I promptly sent messengers to the Northern Watchhouse to this case and dispatched people to locate and contact Granny Apple's relatives and friends."
After ing everything he knew to Aoto, Hairo stood respectfully with his hands at his sides.
"...A beloved physician couple, huh..." Aoto murmured with slightly furrowed brows as he turned to observe the dense crowd gathered around Granny Apple's residence.
Now Aoto understood why so many people had gathered and why they looked so grief-stricken, wailing in sorrow.
"This is the most troublesome kind of case..." Aoto muttered to himself.
Crossing his arms, Aoto turned to examine the tightly sealed civilian house beside him.
A thoughtful expression crossed his face.
...
...
Northern Watchhouse, Town Magistrate's office—
—Why did it have to be such a troublesome person who got murdered...
Rubbing his tightly knit brows as he looked at the urgent message from Kiyayanagi Town placed on his desk, Usui let out an exhausted sigh.
Although Usui had never met this Granny Apple personally, he was quite familiar with the reputation of the "Bodhisattva Couple"—Granny Apple and her husband.
Upon learning from the urgent message that such a renowned figure had been brutally murdered in her home, Usui's brows immediately furrowed tightly.
This was Usui's fourth year serving as Town Magistrate of the Northern Watchhouse.
Having worked as "Edo's market supervisor" for so long, Usui could instantly recognize—yet another extremely troublesome case had emerged!
Due to limited technological capabilities, this era naturally lacked convenient modern investigative tools like street surveillance or fingerprint collection.
Basic infrastructure and public security systems were also severely underdeveloped.
Consequently, in this still-ancient society, solving major cases like murders was naturally extremely difficult.
Out of ten major cases, seven or eight might become unsolved mysteries with no leads.
Often after much effort, investigators would find themselves empty-handed.
When facing such major, serious cases, whether they could be solved... largely depended on whether one's luck was good enough.
Because they were so difficult to solve, murder cases had always been one of the most detested cases by the "Three Squads" samurai.
If the victim happened to be a high-ranking official or someone extremely prestigious, the case became even more detestable.
Because these types of cases came with tremendous pressure to solve them...
If the victim was just an ordinary person without background or status, failing to solve the case wouldn't matter much—what could powerless victims' families do against the magistrate's office?
How could commoners contend with officials who had "two mouths"?
But if the victim had unusual background or status... that spelled trouble. If the case couldn't be solved neatly, at minimum one would face criticism and abuse, at worst one's official career could suffer serious consequences.
And this murdered Granny Apple happened to be precisely the kind of highly respected person...
There had been similar cases before.
Usui remembered clearly—three years ago, another kind-hearted person had been murdered.
That person was a wealthy merchant who had been charitable during his lifetime, often providing financial assistance to those in need, earning the gratitude of countless people.
When this merchant was murdered, the magistrate's office was busy handling other important cases, with no extra personnel available in the "Three Squads," so the case had to be temporarily shelved...
Those who had received the merchant's help would have none of that.
Our benefactor was brutally murdered, and you magistrates won't even send a single "Three Squads" member? What nonsense!
They gathered together, numbering in the hundreds, storming the magistrate's office demanding an explanation.
Although they eventually managed to suppress this minor riot through a combination of negotiations and threats, Usui still felt lingering fear when recalling this incident...
Because afterward, his superior had cursed him out relentlessly...
Townspeople gathering to storm the magistrate's office due to public outrage—this was no trivial matter that could be laughed off... so naturally there was no way Usui would be let off lightly.
Usui's superior had berated him mercilessly.
And Usui had employed their nation's time-honored traditional art—prostrating himself in dogeza position while repeatedly shouting "Hontōni sumimasen!" until his voice grew hoarse, before his superior's anger somewhat subsided.
Merely receiving a scolding without suffering other substantive punishment—this was already fortunate amidst misfortune.
Since then, Usui had become especially cautious with similar cases...
History was repeating itself.
Yet another widely respected, beloved person had been brutally murdered...
Having learned from past mistakes, Usui quickly determined this case couldn't be handled casually. After sighing repeatedly and composing himself, he immediately ordered people to summon the yoriki from both the Teimachi and Rinjikai squads.
Soon, the two yoriki from Teimachi—Arima and Tōjō—along with the two yoriki from Rinjikai, all arrived before Usui.
Once everyone was present, Usui wasted no time on pleasantries and said quickly:
"Just now, the jishinban from Kiyayanagi Town sent an urgent message—an elderly woman named Ahei living in Kiyayanagi Town's third district was brutally murdered in her home..."
Usui briefly summarized the case details from the urgent message for Arima and Tōjō.
The yoriki from both Teimachi and Rinjikai squads were all seasoned veterans who had worked in the "Three Squads" for years.
As soon as Usui began describing the case, they immediately recognized how troublesome it was, their expressions all growing slightly solemn.
"As you've probably all realized—this case cannot be handled carelessly," Usui said calmly after outlining the basic facts. "Regardless of whether this case ultimately gets solved, our magistrate's office must at least demonstrate a serious attitude by dispatching capable dōshin to handle it."
"Otherwise, we'll repeat the scenario from three years ago when the magistrate's office was stormed by townspeople dissatisfied with how a case was handled."
At this point, Usui couldn't help shrinking his neck slightly.
Scenes from three years ago—shouting "Hontōni sumimasen!" until his voice gave out—flashed uncontrollably through his mind...
"So I've summoned you all to ask—do you have any dōshin available to handle this case?"
As soon as Usui finished speaking, the two Rinjikai yoriki immediately shook their heads, indicating all their dōshin were busy handling other pressing cases.
That the Rinjikai dōshin were all occupied—this Usui had expected.
As the "versatile bricks" of the "Three Squads," Rinjikai members were basically worked like dogs.
Rinjikai dōshin leisurely idling about with nothing to do? Highly unlikely!
Seeing the Rinjikai dōshin were indeed unavailable as he'd anticipated, Usui turned his gaze to the two Teimachi yoriki standing shoulder to shoulder—Arima and Tōjō.
Whenever Arima and Tōjō stood side by side, a comical atmosphere seemed to emerge between them.
Because the two were practically opposites in both appearance and temperament.
The former kept both his person and clothing immaculately clean and neat, exuding an aura of "precision" from head to toe.
While the latter was extremely unkempt, openly displaying the word "slovenly" on his face without reservation.
These two complete opposites standing together created such strong visual impact and contrast that one couldn't help but find it amusing.
Meeting Usui's gaze, Arima pursed his lips, thought for a moment, then said:
"...Magistrate. This official currently has... Butagaya and Aoto with no assignments."
Hearing Butagaya and Aoto—or more accurately, hearing "Aoto's" name—from Arima's mouth caused Usui's lips to twitch slightly...
"Magistrate." At this point, Arima straightened his expression and tone. "May this official speak freely?"
"...Go ahead."
"As Your Honor just stated, this case cannot be handled casually."
"Therefore, this official suggests—dispatching two dōshin to jointly handle this case."
"This official currently has both Butagaya and Aoto available, with sufficient time and energy to jointly investigate this case..."
Before Arima could finish—
"So—your meaning is to dispatch Butagaya and Aoto, having these two jointly handle this case?"
Usui interrupted Arima, then shrugged his shoulders and adopted an impatient tone:
"Butagaya is one thing, but sending Aoto to handle this case? What case could he possibly solve?"