Meiji Gekken: 1874

After the defeat of Aizu and the fall of the shogunate, former samurai Shizuma Origasa survives in the new Tokyo of 1874 by working as a rickshaw puller. He has never abandoned his search for Sumie, his missing fiancée and the woman he promised a dying friend he would protect.

When Shizuma stops an assassination attempt, the police recruit him, giving him a new way to pursue the few clues he has. The investigation quickly places him inside a web of former rebels, government loyalists, foreign interests, courtesans, and yakuza. In an era demanding that samurai leave their swords and old identities behind, Shizuma discovers that the previous war never truly ended; it merely changed form.