"Hey! What on earth happened over by the Sakurada Gate?" a citizen asked.
"I don't know!" a servant forming the line of defense shouted impatiently, "I don't know what's going on either! Just disperse! Disperse! There's nothing to see!"
Aoto, seeing this, instantly furrowed his brows.
There's a defense line... drawn so far away? There's still quite a distance from here to the Sakurada Gate...
A bad premonition began to emerge incessantly from the depths of Aoto's heart...
"I'm a Dōshin of the North Station Town Patrol! Make way!" Aoto urged the citizens blocking his path, verifying his identity with the servants forming the line, before entering the cordon with Saito Ichiro.
After running a bit further toward the Sakurada Gate, Aoto's expression began to uncontrollably turn grave.
He slowly smelled... the stench of blood wafting in the air.
The closer he got to the Sakurada Gate, the stronger the nauseating stench of blood became...
