I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

If Kinoshita Mai were the same age as Sanako, that would be more frightening.

Strangely enough, despite the obvious and prominent changes in the physical appearance of both Kinoshita Mai and Souji, their height did not increase at all.

The commander is still only 1.55 meters tall...

Mai Kinoshita is still only 1.5 meters tall...

Perhaps the nutrients have all been concentrated elsewhere, leaving no room for further growth.

If Sanako and Kinoshita Mai met in private, they would most likely say some sarcastic or sarcastic things to each other.

However, this was a very serious occasion, and the two women would certainly not be so tactless as to argue in public.

Therefore, after exchanging a glance, they tacitly looked away and refused to look at each other again, consciously "ceasefire" and maintaining maximum restraint.

Of everyone present, besides Aoto and the three women, only Boss Kiryu and Chiba Jutaro knew about Aoto's grand ambition to "marry three wives".

They promised the commander that they would not reveal his true gender, so they did not tell anyone else about the complicated relationship between Qing Deng and the three women.

Qing Deng also made a decision—before he truly possessed the power that "even if he married three wives, no one or force would dare to oppose him," he would not make his ambition public.

Otherwise, it could easily bring unnecessary trouble to yourself and Sanako and the others.

Therefore, as of now, only Kiryu, Chiba Jutaro, and Okita Hikaru, who witnessed Seito's "ambitious words" in the ward of Jin-i-kan, know everything.

The rest of the people... including Sanako's biological father, Chiba Sadakichi, are still kept in the dark.

For this reason, the atmosphere surrounding Qing Deng was relatively harmonious at this time.

If we had to pinpoint any disharmonious element... it would probably be that after the three women gathered, Kiryu and Chiba Jutaro kept casting enigmatic and complex glances at Aoto and the girls in their respective households...

Parents are both worried and frustrated by their children's "rebellious" behavior, yet feel helpless...

At that moment, Qing Deng heard Hijikata Toshizo's voice.

"Hey! Tachibana! Souji! Yamanami!"

Not far away, Hijikata Toshizo, hands on his hips, continued shouting with great enthusiasm:

"The succession ceremony is about to begin! Everyone should take their places!"

"okay, I get it!"

Qing Deng responded loudly.

Yamanami Keisuke interjected at the opportune moment:

"Now, distinguished guests, please follow us."

Aoto, Souji, and Yamanami Keisuke led the Chiba family and the Senjiya group into the arena.

Just as everyone was moving towards the stands, Qing Deng deliberately lagged behind by half a step, walking side by side with Kinoshita Mai.

"Ah Wu, who is this?"

As he spoke, he looked at the girl in yellow who had been holding hands with Kinoshita Mai without saying a word since earlier.

Qing Deng was busy greeting Chiba Sadakichi, Kiryu Boss and others, so he didn't have time to ask about the identity of the girl in yellow.

Before Kinoshita Mai could speak, the girl in yellow slightly lifted the low-brimmed straw hat on her head, raised her head, and looked directly at Aoto.

A head of dazzling blonde hair, and a pair of sapphire-like eyes that evoked the image of a clear summer sky, came into Qing Deng's view.

"Master, it's me."

The girl in yellow greeted them with a smile, in a voice that only she, Kinoshita Mai, and Aoto could hear.

With blonde hair, blue eyes, and calling Qing Deng "Master," the woman's identity is already quite obvious.

"Elodie?"

Qingdeng blinked, looking surprised.

"Elodie, what brings you here?"

Elodie chuckled.

"How could I miss such a fun and grand event? I've been staying at home lately and I'm so bored."

After she finished speaking, she added:

"Master, don't worry, my going out today was with my grandfather's permission."

Despite being a busy "Minister of the Grand Council," Qing Deng still insists on being Elodie's tutor, visiting her regularly every month to teach her swordsmanship.

It must be said that this seemingly harmless blonde girl is indeed very talented in swordsmanship.

Even if we can't call them geniuses, we can at least say they are exceptionally intelligent.

She has mastered most of the sword techniques of the Natural Rishin-ryu school.

Even a six-foot-tall strong man, as long as he is an ordinary person who has not learned martial arts, is like a clay chicken in front of her.

Based on Elodie's current strength and learning progress... Qingdeng estimates that if she trains diligently for another 10 years, she will be able to obtain the complete transmission of the Natural Rinshū style.

While it cannot be compared to monsters like Souji, Nagakura Shinpachi, and Saito Hajime who could obtain the Menkyo Kaiden in their teens, it is still a very remarkable achievement.

As Elodie grew older, Anthony loosened his restrictions on her, no longer keeping her confined at home like a canary.

He would allow Elodie to go out for a short stroll as long as any one of the three—Aoto, Kiryu, or Kinoshita Mai—was present.

The current political situation is that the "respect the emperor and expel the barbarians" faction is in the lead.

The capital region was the absolute center of the movement to revere the emperor and expel foreigners. In comparison, Edo was much more peaceful, at least there were no frequent "heavenly punishment incidents," but we should not be complacent.

However, just to be on the safe side and to avoid trouble from the "Revere the Emperor and Expel the Barbarians" faction, Elodie still had to wear Japanese clothing and a straw hat to cover her face when she went out.

Now that he had obtained Anthony's permission to leave the house, and with Kiryu and Kinoshita Mai accompanying him, Aoto felt relieved.

He smiled and chatted casually with Elodie.

Then... suddenly, his gaze began to move downwards uncontrollably, staring directly at Elodie's upper body.

Qing Deng can swear on his chest that this really isn't because he's a womanizer!

However... as a human being, he simply couldn't defy the physical law that "the greater the mass, the greater the gravitational pull"!

倘若说，在这1年又8个月的时间里，发生在佐那子、木下舞和总司身上的变化，是从1变成2、3、4、5。

So, the change that happened to Elodie was from 0 to 1—in short, a qualitative change!

After all... she's a girl with the talent of "plump bear breasts".

What was originally an perfectly straight line is rapidly changing into an uneven curve at a rate that changes every month.

The rate of growth is astonishing.

Even more amazing is that, despite being a pure-blooded French girl, her height, like Souji and Kinoshita Mai, has remained virtually unchanged...

She has probably grown a little taller, but the change is so small as to be negligible; she is still less than 1.5 meters tall.

Moreover, her facial features did not change significantly; she still had that delicate, baby-faced look.

In short, Elodie went from a standard-sized loli to... a loli whose physique and age didn't match at all...

Just then, a cold, emotionless female voice entered Qing Deng's ears:

"...Qingdeng, where are you looking?"

Qing Deng looked up and saw a pair of beautiful eyes staring straight at him—or rather, beautiful eyes that exuded a chilling aura.

"I didn't look anywhere."

Qing Deng put on a stern face and replied without hesitation with a righteous and indignant statement.

However, his response did not earn Kinoshita Mai's understanding.

"Liar! I saw you staring straight at Elodie's private parts with my own eyes, ugh, lewd! Don't look anymore!"

After saying that, she shielded Elodie behind her like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Elodie tilted her head back, looked at Aoto, then at Kinoshita Mai, and asked with a childlike innocence:

"Miss Wu, why did you call your master vulgar?"

"Hmm...! Kids shouldn't ask so many questions!"

Speechless, Qingdeng wore a helpless, bitter smile.

Elodie blinked her beautiful eyes a few times, her gaze filled with confusion.

……

……

In Edo, Fuchu, the succession ceremony of Rokusho Myojin was held in the plaza in front of this shrine.

Kondo Shusuke delivered the opening remarks, Kondo Isami read the oath... These formalities, though uninteresting, could not be skipped.

After a somewhat tedious half hour, the highlight of today's succession ceremony—the "civil war" of the Natural Reason School—is finally about to begin!

The total number of participants is 100, with 50 on each side (red and white). All participants are skilled swordsmen from the Tennen Rishin-ryu school, and the members of the red and white sides will be assigned by drawing lots.

This competition serves both as a performance to add fun to the succession ceremony and as a political demonstration to the visiting guests of the strength and talent of the Tennen Rishin-ryu school. It would be inappropriate to appoint a junior as the general.

For this reason, the chief generals of both the red and white sides are senior figures of extremely high seniority.

The commander-in-chief of the White Army is Hijikata Toshizo's brother-in-law, Sato Hikogoro, who donated a large sum of money when the Shieikan was first established and made outstanding contributions to the development of the Tennen Rishin-ryu school.

The general commander of the Red Team is Ogiwara Tsukasa, who is more senior than Kondo Shusuke and is said to have been extremely strong in his youth, but is now very old.

Kondo Isami and Kondo Shusuke will not participate in this match; they will serve as referees, sitting on the high platform throughout the entire competition, overseeing the whole event.

……

……

In a vast space nearly the size of two football fields, both the red and white teams were already in position at the east and west ends of the field.

The guests sat on the north and south sides of the venue, eagerly awaiting the start of the match.

In addition, some passersby who happened to be there also came to join in the fun.

Looking across the entire audience, Kinoshita Mai and Elodie, the two best friends, were the most excited.

The former genuinely enjoys watching this type of martial arts competition, while the latter simply enjoys joining in the fun.

They scanned the arena with shining eyes while chattering excitedly.