I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group-Chapter 36: The Comeback of the Blockhead (1)

Kiyayanagi Town, Granny Apple's home——
——Hmmmmmm……
Nishino crouched beside Granny Apple's remains, his expression thoughtful.
——No good... I can't find any more valuable clues at all...
The blockage in his thinking caused Nishino's brow to slowly furrow.
But just as the skin between his eyebrows began to tighten, Nishino's pupils suddenly contracted.
——Ah! No, no!
Nishino quickly raised his right index finger and vigorously rubbed between his eyebrows, smoothing out the freshly wrinkled skin.
——As a samurai, how can I frown like a delicate woman!
——Must maintain proper samurai demeanor, must maintain proper samurai demeanor...
——A samurai must remain serious at all times... serious... serious...
Nishino took a deep breath, his expression returning to a cold, stern (￣︿￣) appearance.
After arriving at the crime scene in Kiyayanagi Town with his four okabiki subordinates and sending the troublesome Aoto away, Nishino immediately began his investigation.
Right at the start of the investigation, Nishino collected three extremely valuable clues at once:
First: The knife wounds on the victim were chaotic, with only one of the seven strikes hitting a vital area, indicating the culprit was unskilled with blades.
Second: The victim was killed approximately last night. Since she was wearing regular clothes rather than sleepwear and died in the living room of her home, it's clear she was attacked before going to bed.
Third: The culprit pressed one hand over the victim's mouth to prevent her from screaming while wielding the knife with the other hand. Based on the pressing and scratching marks remaining around the victim's mouth, it could be determined the culprit had very large hands. Connecting this with the "one hand controlling the victim's mouth while the other wielded the knife" clue, it could be basically confirmed the culprit was male.
Although collecting so many high-value clues right at the investigation's start was quite encouraging, the encouraging results stopped right there.
Since then, Nishino hadn't collected any other more valuable clues...
While the three known clues were all quite valuable, they were far from sufficient to narrow down or identify suspects.
The inability to find more useful clues made Nishino feel increasingly anxious inside.
Nishino lifted his head again, carefully observing the crime scene for what felt like the hundredth time.
After scanning every corner of the scene, his gaze finally settled on the candlestick placed not far from Granny Apple's remains... the one holding a small stub of candle.
For some reason, since entering the crime scene, Nishino had been particularly bothered by that candle on the candlestick.
He couldn't quite explain why.
A candlestick placed in the corner of the living room for illumination... perfectly normal, nothing strange about it.
But... why did he feel such a peculiar sense of dissonance...
Nishino felt like he was trying to catch a willow catkin dancing in the wind—seeming like he could grab it at any moment, but just as his fingers were about to touch it, the catkin would drift away with the breeze to somewhere else...
Just a little more... just a little more and he might realize something...
Nishino raised his hands to rub his temples, pondering intensely.
Just as Nishino was deep in thought—
"Um... Nishino-sama, the crowd gathering outside seems to be growing larger."
One of the four okabiki he brought to investigate the case suddenly approached Nishino and whispered.
"Although they're relatively well-behaved for now, having so many people gathered is still rather problematic. If something like a stampede occurs, it would be troublesome."
"The jishinban personnel probably don't have the ability to disperse them."
"Nishino-sama, perhaps we should personally go out and persuade them to scatter."
"The crowd outside the house..." Nishino paused, then turned to look toward the door. "...You're right... we can't just let the crowd keep gathering like this."
Due to large populations and limited usable land, every city during the Edo Period had extremely high population and building density. Houses were packed tightly together, making most streets and intersections quite narrow.
There had been incidents before—too many people gathered outside crime scenes as spectators, accidentally causing stampedes that resulted in three people being trampled to death and over a dozen injured.
"Tch..." Nishino pursed his lips and clicked his tongue. "Where did that Idiot Aoto go? Isn't he helping maintain order outside and disperse the crowd? Or has he already run off somewhere..."
"Tch... what a useless guy..."
"This is his assigned jurisdiction, yet he pays no attention to such a large crowd gathering outside the crime scene..."
As a member of the "Tojo Group," he naturally viewed members of the "Arima Group"—who often competed with them for cases—with displeasure.
However—it was simply mutual dislike due to belonging to different "factions."
In terms of personal feelings, Nishino didn't dislike Arima, Butagaya, or Ushiyama from the "Arima Group."
But Aoto was the sole exception!
He found this Idiot Aoto utterly displeasing no matter how he looked at him!
A dignified samurai, a member of the "Three Squads," actually so incompetent!
What kind of appearance was that!
Nishino didn't dislike incompetent people—after all, this world had both strong and weak individuals.
But he deeply disliked those who occupied positions without performing their duties, failing to fulfill their responsibilities!
Maintaining the strongest contempt for those who held positions without doing actual work—this had always been Nishino's principle.
Therefore, Nishino had never given Aoto a favorable look.
He couldn't even be bothered to look at him properly, nor did he want to speak more than necessary with him.
Nishino was certain: with Idiot Aoto's current behavior, he would definitely fail the "Elder Council evaluation" coming in a month and a half.
He couldn't wait for the "Elder Council evaluation" to arrive soon so he could weed out all the slackers led by Aoto.
That way, the atmosphere within their "Three Squads" might also improve accordingly.
A proper samurai, a member of the "Three Squads," actually so incompetent!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh...!
Outside the house, sudden intense commotion erupted.
——What's happening?
Nishino froze, then quickly hurried toward the door in rapid steps.
Before even reaching the door, he saw a jishinban official excitedly slide the door open with a "whoosh":
"Nishino-sama! Good news! Good news! The culprit who killed Granny Apple has been caught! The culprit has been caught!"
Silence...
Nishino stood frozen in place.
"The culprit has been caught?" After a moment of stunned silence, a shocked Nishino asked loudly in response.
"Yes! It was Lord Tachibana who caught the culprit!"
"...Lord Tachibana?"
Nishino paused again.
"Which Lord Tachibana?!"
"It was Lord Tachibana Aoto!"
Silence...
The silence inside the house formed a stark contrast with the commotion outside.