Astartes of the Bear School

Chapter 1549 1521. Meeting
"It seems that as the acting city lord, you are finally going to be busy?" Tsukahara Bokuden teased without any malice.

He turned his listening head back and asked Lan En.

"Do you need to stop for a while? There's no rush to practice martial arts."

"That's not necessary." Lan En continued to move, and the wooden sword still made sharp sounds of breaking through the air.

And now, he could even speak with a steady breath while performing [Zanshin].

"Everything that needs to be arranged has been arranged. If something still goes wrong, I will look up to the high officials in Lushan City."

After all, being able to make him feel out of control is an extraordinary skill.

Tsukahara Bokuden looked down at his current posture. He saw a burly old man with an eagle on his shoulder, holding the sword with one hand and exuding a sharp breath.

There is also the lonely atmosphere in the dojo, immersed in the cold morning sunlight.

"It seems like you want to use me as a foil to calm the situation? Humph."

The old warrior snorted coldly, but did not move.

Tsukahara Bokuden was not only an expert in swordsmanship, but his experience and background also put him close to the imperial court in Kyoto.

He even went to Kyoto to become the swordsmanship instructor of the current shogun.

To say that he doesn't understand official documents is a joke.

But precisely because he understood, he was even less optimistic about Lan En's current official situation.

The mysterious Onmyoji who called himself Abe Haruaki told him about the general situation of Lushan Castle when he persuaded him to come to Lushan Castle.

Saito Dosan's Mino Viper, who was an underdog, left the city in a hurry, and it seemed that he was going to cause trouble in Mino again. No one had ever heard of the acting lord who was left behind.

No prestige, no foundation, no background.

With nothing, you expect to control the city with just a letter of appointment?

Not to mention that Saito Dosan's position in Mino was not upright and his foundation was unstable, even if he was the most upright and stable emperor in the whole of Japan!

Can he really appoint or dismiss local officials by issuing a letter of appointment?
Although this idea may be a bit disrespectful, if the emperor could really do such a thing, how could there be the Warring States Period?

But the reality is that the emperor and his ministers are still starving in the palace.

Even the Ashikaga family, the shogun of the shogunate, had to frequently borrow money to maintain their dignity.

Tsukahara Bokuden complained in his heart.

If it weren't for the great reputation of "Shogun's Instructor", the Ashikaga family would not have been able to afford him to teach swordsmanship.

With all his skills, if he meets a talented person he likes, he will teach him even if he has to pay for it himself. But if he doesn't like the person, he will just deal with it.

Just as the Sword Master was complaining in his heart, a group of people rushed in from the gate of the dojo.

Their straw sandals rustled on the cobblestones in the courtyard.

Twelve officials in straight robes and standing black hats crossed the small bridge over the pond and crowded under the wooden steps in the front yard of the dojo.

Their expressions were shaken, their eyes were dazed, and they could not control themselves.

Fujiyoshiro, still dressed as a traveling merchant with frayed edges on his bright yellow coat, stood at the front of the group with his head held high.

He had a smile on his face and rubbed his nose with his fingers proudly.

"hey-hey!"

And Mitsua Akechi, who two days ago, turned around and called Fujikichiro a "country bumpkin, a lowly person" after his visit, now had sweat oozing from his palms, soaking the bat fan in his hand.

The sweat on the neck made the family crest of [Water-colored Platycodon] on the collar also damp.

The group of people straightened their backs, knelt down on the cobblestones under the wooden steps with serious expressions.

Logically speaking, even if Saito Dosan was to receive their joint visit, he would have to clean up the most solemn room in the castle tower and provide the most formal reception, which would be considered polite.

But since yesterday.

When this traveling merchant who didn't even have a proper surname said to them in a tone of announcement, "Tomorrow morning, we will go to the temple to pay a visit to His Highness the Acting City Lord."

None of the twelve officials who were in charge of all aspects of the management of Lushan City felt that there was anything wrong.

At that time, no one was still rational and sober enough to think about what the layout of the temple was like and where the spacious space was for them to kneel and pay their respects.

Until now, when they came to the dojo, they only dared to kneel at the bottom of the steps, kneeling on the uneven cobblestones, and did not dare to touch the smooth wooden steps.

The feeling in my knee is very uncomfortable.

But they couldn't feel it at all at this time.

The complex web of interests and personal connections is of course a very useful network under normal circumstances, a very powerful and hidden shelter.

Even Saito Dosan, who had accumulated power in Mino for many years, could only vaguely glimpse a corner of this network of relationships.

It’s hard to even see clearly, let alone put pressure on, dismantle, and target it.

It can even be said that the officials and nobles themselves within these networks cannot see the full picture of the entire network.

Because these are the relationships and connections that have been accumulated by wealthy and powerful families over several generations, or even since the birth of the family.

Intermarriage and exchange of interests from generation to generation.

This is the way of survival and survival instinct of the entire aristocratic class. Even individuals belonging to this class are so small that they are not worth mentioning.

It is precisely because no one can see this web clearly, not even the weaver, that they cannot deal with it. But since yesterday, these nobles who have formed a network of relationships but cannot even see the full picture of this network have all felt the ripples of this network!

And the source of the ripples was just the ridiculous traveling merchant Fujikichiro who was under the acting city lord and who was just holding a piece of paper on the street and looking for people from house to house like an instruction manual? !

The wealthy and powerful have enjoyed the care brought by this hidden and deep network since birth.

Therefore, when the entire net was pulled out and played with like the catch on the stall, the fear of these people also penetrated deep into their bones!

The nobles who first discovered this were so furious that they wanted to kill Fujiyoshiro, who was shopping like a shopper, and get the horrifying note in his hand.

But then he discovered that the network of relationships that once allowed him to thrive was now exerting pressure from all sides, making him unable to move.

Subordinates, colleagues, superiors in the government, in-laws, friends, and distant relatives in the family. All kinds of relationships that he was not even aware of their existence at ordinary times, all weighed down on him at this time.

So the people who formed the net have now become the people waiting to die in the net.

At this time, Akechi Mitsuasu lowered his noble head.

The Akechi family is a branch of the Toki clan, and their bloodline in Mino is truly noble.

Later, judging the situation, he switched to the Saito family, which was usurped by Saito Dosan. But this was at least submission to the equally noble Saito family.

His adopted son and nephew, Akechi Mitsuhide, was serving as a samurai general under the command of Saito Michizo.

But now, he didn't even dare to look up and look at the peasant peddler!

I could only take a cautious glance with my peripheral vision.

Not to mention the owner of this traveling merchant, the acting city lord who was making methodical sounds of swinging his sword on the wooden floor of the dojo.

Akechi Mitsuasu's hand almost broke the ribs of the bat fan!
But he knelt on the cobblestones with his head held high, not daring to waver in the slightest.

But then
"Bah!"

The sound of breaking through the air, so sharp that even a real sword with a sharp blade could not be swung by many people, rang out again!
Zanshin's breathing frequency was so precise and tight that it was confused and hidden by the sound of the sword swinging.

However, a thin and tragic line of blood was thrown out from the dojo directly along the trajectory of the dancing wooden sword.

"Chirp!"

A sparrow that flew into the dojo only had time to let out a final cry before it was chopped off to the ground.

The tragic blood splashed onto the robes of the twelve officials who were kneeling in a row.

The snow-white, hard fabric of the clothing was like a drawing board, reflecting the blood.

At the same time, it also makes people sincerely wonder, how could a mere sparrow be stabbed to death with so much blood?

What was even more incredible was that the sparrow was still alive and twitching on the wooden floor!
This person is not! How far has His Royal Highness the Acting City Lord's swordsmanship reached? !

The sparrowhawk on Tsukahara Bokuden's shoulder was not attracted by the blood on the ground with its sharp eagle eyes. Instead, it looked warily at the large wooden sword that had almost drained all the blood from a sparrow with just a single stroke of the sword.

It had been raised by Tsukahara Boku for a long time, so even its feathers were stained with sword energy.

Lan En's sword strike just now stimulated it to make a "gurgling" sound in its throat.

"Lord Akechi Mitsuyasu?"

And in the call of the sparrowhawk, Lan En's breath was not disordered in the steady voice.

"I am here! Your Highness, the Acting City Lord!"

Ignoring the bloodstains on his robe and the pebbles on the ground, Akechi Mitsuasu immediately bowed down.

Even though it was an act, he looked calm and composed, worthy of the Mingzhi family's reputation.

"You were cursing Toukichirou in your mind just now, right?"

Lan said this in a nonchalant, matter-of-fact tone.

Akechi Mitsuasu, who was bowing, trembled, and the eleven people beside him clenched their teeth at the same time.

"Ahaha! No, Your Highness." Instead, Fujikichiro, who was standing next to them, laughed and said in a heroic voice, "I was born poor, too. It's normal for someone like Akechi to say that. Right, Akechi-sama?"

Fujikichiro's voice is as friendly as ever.

If you don’t know, you might think that he and Akechi Mitsuasu have been friends for many years.

"Of course, I don't want to make a false accusation based on other people's thoughts."

Lan En continued without waiting for Akechi Mitsunari to refute.

"But you scolded him three times in the house, didn't you?"

"Yes Yes"

"Then I'll fine you one year's salary. Do you have any objection, Master Mingzhi?"

"I am! I am very grateful!"

“Alright.” The steady sound of breaking air in the dojo finally stopped temporarily. A wooden sword was thrown out and rolled to the steps in front of Akechi Mitsunari.

"Please help this sparrow, Master Akechi."

Akechi Mitsuan lowered his head again: "Yes!"

(End of this chapter)