311- The Flower Capital

It takes a while but Ethan and the girls finally reach the Flower Capital as they see it from a distance , over large hill.

Everyone was quite enraptured by the beauty of the flower capital, even Ethan.

Colourful houses, large waterfalls, beautiful sakura trees and mesmerizing scenery.

Emily was the most surprised, even more than Toki.

"It's beautiful!!... Daddy, this place is a natural masterpiece." Emily's eyes were practically shining as she saw the capital of Wano. "I really want to immortalize this place in a painting."

Ethan patted his daughter on the head. "Let's have a good look. Someone might have made a painting of this place."

A cute smile appeared on his daughter's face as she nodded her head more than once in quick succession because she was so excited.

Ethan was happy to see his daughter so happy and was about to hold her but he noticed something with his Haki.

Seconds later, a lot of armed people started to appear and surround them.

There were three people leading the group and Ethan recognized two of them.

The first person is Hyogoro.

Hyogoro is a taller heavyset man with longer hair resembling wilder flames. Right now he's very young and doesn't even have a goatee.

Looks like he's not the boss of the yakuza in the flower capital yet because he's standing behind someone else who looks more powerful.

The second is the current shogun, Kozuki Sukiyaki.

Sukiyaki is a large man of slightly above average height. he has black hair which split into three tufts that pointing upwards at the front, while the back is fashioned in a topknot. He has a small beard growing out of his chin which split into three prongs and a long, thin mustache which pointed upward on each side. He has thick eyebrows, prominent eyelashes, and a dark nose. He wears a light-colored kimono and a dark-colored robe which both had various flower patterns on them.

'Our goal was to meet the Shogun, but who would have expected him to show himself in front of us?' Ethan smiled wryly. "Toki, you were worried the shogun wouldn't see us but he came all the way to greet us outside the capital."

"Ethan, this isn't the time to joke around. They're clearly not friendly towards us." Toki felt tense and her forehead was filled with sweat.

At the same time Akame drew her katana and was ready to fight while Emma remained calm and didn't seem to care even if they were cornered.

"Calm down, Akame!" Ethan grabbed her by the shoulder and stopped her from attacking, then looked at Kozuki Sukiyaki.

Before Ethan could say anything the shogun spoke, "What is your purpose in coming to Wano, you intruders!"

Ethan was expecting Sukiyaki to order his men to attack, but he appears to be a wise man who prefers dialogue before starting a senseless fight.

"We didn't come here to cause trouble. We came to Wano at the request of this girl to bring her home." Ethan pointed at Toki.

Toki felt nervous when the shogun looked at her because she had always thought that the shogun was a very great and powerful person.

"Are you from Wano?" The Shogun asked a simple question, but it made Toki feel a little nervous.

Ethan patted her back and gave her a smile, which made her calm down.

Toki spoke up and gave a Japanese greeting while slightly lowering her head, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Shogun-sama. My name is Amatsuki Toki."

"Although this is my first time in Wano, I consider this place my home because my family is part of Wano."

The place became eerily quiet after Toki finished introducing herself and answering Sukiyaki's question.

Sukiyaki remained calm, but many of his followers frowned, and after a period of silence, one of the samurai angrily exclaimed, "How dare you use the Amatsuki family name, you intruder!"

After that many of the samurai started showing their anger by shouting at Toki as well.

Toki didn't know what was going on or why all these people were angry with her even though she only introduced herself. After listening to the angry samurai, she noticed that they were angry because of her family name. Toki then concluded something that made her sad and frightened, 'Did the Amatsuki family do something that made the people of Wano consider them traitors?'

She was sad and afraid because the only place she could call home considered her a traitor, but she didn't know that her conclusion was wrong.

Everyone knows that all members of the Amatsuki family died many years ago, so most of them were furious when an intruder borrowed the name of that famous family.

"Shut up!" With a single shout, Sukiyaki silenced all of his followers.

"Girl, do you have anything to prove that you are really from the Amatsuki family? If you don't have any, you must bear the consequences of using the family name most loyal to the Kouzuki family." Although Sukiyaki's tone was calm, it carried some hostility.

Toki knew that her conclusion was wrong after what Sukiyaki had said so she calmed down a bit and felt happy because her family was famous for their loyalty, "Surely I have proof of that, Shogun-sama."

Toki takes the Amatsuki family token out of her kimono and gives it to Sukiyaki.

At first sight Sukiyaki knew this token was genuine and belonged to the Amatsuki family but he wasn't completely convinced of Toki's identity.

After all, there is a possibility that Toki stole or found this token by accident.

Toki notices this so she asks to speak privately with Sukiyaki.

In order to prove her identity, Toki told Sukiyaki about her past and her ability, and after Sukiyaki asked some questions and Toki answered them, he was finally convinced of Toki's identity.

After the misunderstanding is resolved, Sukiyaki invites them to his mansion because he has a lot of things to tell Toki, the first of which is the fate of her family.

Ethan accepts the Shogun's invitation and follows him to his palace.

As they headed to the mansion Ethan spoke to Emma, ​​"When Toki brought out the family token I expected them to believe her straight away without any explanation."

"It makes sense for him to be skeptical, but it would have been better if you had defeated them all when they showed up and then explained to them. It would have been much easier and faster than waiting for Toki to establish her identity as a member of the Amatsuki family."

Emma pointed to her sleeping daughter in her arms, "Look at that even your daughter fell asleep from boredom while she was waiting."