I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"No matter how outstanding or suitable Tachibana-kun is to be my son-in-law, Sanako still needs to like him... at the very least, she has to not be against spending the rest of her life with him."

“If Sanako doesn’t like Tachibana, then no matter how outstanding Tachibana is, I will not agree to let Sanako marry Tachibana.”

"The same goes for other men. If Sanako has no intention of starting a family with them, then there's nothing she can do."

“I would rather let Sanako continue to be ‘alone’ than let her marry someone she doesn’t like.”

“Father, I understand what you’re saying…” Chiba Jutaro sighed with a bitter expression. “Of course, I won’t force Sanako to marry anyone without considering her feelings.”

"Sigh..." Chiba Jutaro raised his hand and scratched his hair. "I just hope that Tachibana-kun's character is as excellent as his abilities, and that he'll have a chance to win Sanako's heart..."

"You really think so highly of that Tachibana-kun, and you really want your sister to change her name to 'Tachibana Sanako'?" Chiba Sadakichi raised an eyebrow.

“Tachibana-kun is the most outstanding of the young men I have my eye on right now,” Chiba Jutaro said with a smile. “And we get along quite well, so naturally I value him the most.”

"Jutaro, you just said that starting tomorrow you will focus on investigating Tachibana-kun's character... How do you plan to investigate?"

"Hmph." Chiba Jutaro let out a meaningful laugh. "I have my own way."

……

……

Edo, Koishikawa-Kohinata-Yanagi-cho, on a main road leading back to the Shieikan—

"Drink some more...drink some more...!"

"Look, look at Master, he's already drunk after only a little wine... Hahaha..."

"You have no right to laugh at Master for being drunk," Qing Deng retorted irritably to Okita, who was lying behind him, his face so red it looked like it was about to bleed.

It's currently around 10 PM.

The lively celebration banquet has ended, the guests have dispersed, and everyone has gone home.

Shusuke, Kondo, and Okita all drank quite a lot of alcohol.

The Kondo father and son were so drunk they could barely walk, while Okita was the most intoxicated and couldn't even stand up.

Saito and Abi hadn't been drinking, and Aoto wasn't drunk and was still somewhat sober. Helpless, the three of them could only try to "move" Okita and the other two back to the Shieikan.

Abi helped Shusuke up, Saito helped Kondo up, and Aoto carried the drunken, limp Okita on his back.

Fortunately, the three of them were fairly well-behaved when drunk. Shusuke and Okita occasionally rambled on, while Kondo remained quiet throughout. "Moving" them back to the Shieikan was not too difficult.

"Really..." Abi, who had one of Zhou Zhu's arms around his neck, snorted coldly, "Drinking so much, it's really outrageous!"

As soon as Abi finished speaking, Qingdeng turned his head and smiled as he defended Zhou Zhu and the others:

"Madam, they were just so happy that they had a few extra drinks."

Tonight, Shusuke, Kondo, Okita... to be precise, almost all the old men who had spent a considerable amount of time at the Shieikan were quite happy and made a great fuss at the victory celebration.

Qingdeng could quite understand their joy.

Qing Deng had only been a member of the Shieikan for less than two months, so he had not personally experienced the defeats that the Shieikan had suffered against the Genbukan and the Chibakenkan in the past.

Compared to Aoto, Kondo, Okita, and the other veterans of the Shieikan must have felt even more emotional and overwhelmed by today's great victory.

Therefore, it's not hard to understand why they were so boisterous, so joyful, and drank so much at tonight's victory celebration.

Hearing what Aoto said, Abi lowered his head and glanced at Kondo, who, although now drunk, still had a joyful smile on his face.

"……snort."

After giving a soft "humph" through her nose, Abi stopped talking and focused on helping Zhou Zhu.

call……!

Just then, a cool night breeze blew by.

"Gurgle..." Perhaps feeling cold, Okita, who was lying on Aoto's back with his eyes closed, tightened his arms around Aoto's neck slightly.

After letting out a small burp, Okita rested his chin on Aoto's right shoulder.

"Tachibana-kun..."

"Ok?"

"Thank you so much for today..."

Okita opened his eyes a tiny slit.

A slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, and a glimmer of joy in his eyes, which were glazed over from the alcohol.

"Without you... I'm afraid our Shie-kan team would have lost again today..."

Qing Deng smiled and said, "There's no need for such thanks. After all, I'm also a member of the Shiwei Hall. It's my duty to work hard to bring glory to the Shiwei Hall."

"Hehe..." After letting out a slightly silly laugh, Okita closed his eyes again and wrapped his arms around Aoto's neck even tighter. "If only... all future swordplay matches could be as exhilarating as today..."

—Was it exhilarating...?

A strange emotion flickered across Qing Deng's smile.

—Today's match...it really can't compare to that battle against Suehiro Moritoyo...

In today's matches against Chiba Kendo Hall, Aoto also fought several extremely intense matches...

However... none of today's battles brought the same exhilarating feeling that Aoto and Suehiro Moritoyo experienced when they fought—a feeling of intense excitement, heightened tension, and the certainty that any carelessness or mistake could lead to death...

After Okita uttered that mutter, he didn't say anything more—he fell asleep on Aoto's back.

The group traveled in silence.

Finally—the shadow of the Shiwei Hall came into Qing Deng and his companions' view.

But at that moment, Qing Deng suddenly noticed a figure that was quite familiar to him standing at the entrance of the Shiwei Hall.

"Lord Arima?"

Arima, who was accompanied by attendants carrying boxes and guns, turned his gaze upon hearing the sound.

"Oh, oh." Arima smiled. "Tachibana-kun, you're back."

……

……

Test Guard Hall, Living Room —

"Please have some tea."

Arima politely bowed to thank Abi for handing him hot tea.

After bowing to Arima in return, Abi left the hall carrying the tea tray.

With Abi's departure, only Arima and Aoto remained in the room.

"Hey, did you guys go out drinking together tonight? Did something good happen?"

"Well..." Qingdeng smiled helplessly, "It's a long story... Anyway—let's talk about business first, and then I'll slowly tell you about the good things that happened to us today."

"Lord Arima, your visit so late at night must mean you have something important to tell me, right?"

Arima nodded slightly.

"Since it's already quite late, I'll try to keep it brief."

"Mr. Ju, I came here suddenly tonight to remind you: there was a little accident during the 'Big Boss Assessment' in a few days."

"A minor accident?" Qing Deng was taken aback.

今日是2月25号，距离大老将于3月1号举办的那场检查江户南、北奉行所“三回”所有官员政绩的“大老考核”仅剩3天的时间。

"What happened?" Qingdeng pressed. "Aren't we canceling the assessment?"

"Quite the opposite." Arima sighed silently, "This 'senior assessment'... has become much more formal."

"This assessment was originally planned to be overseen by several of Elder Ii's trusted confidants."

"However... I have now received definite news."

"Lord Ii... will personally attend and preside over this assessment conference."

"...Huh?" After a moment of silence, Qingdeng leaned his head forward slightly, looking astonished.

"Lord Ii will personally attend and preside over this assessment conference," Arima repeated his earlier words.

"...Which Lord Ii?"

"Is there another Lord Ii besides Lord Ii Naosuke in this world?"

"Lord Arima, are you sure you haven't made a mistake...?" Qing Deng couldn't hide the astonishment on his face. "Why would Lord Ii personally participate in and preside over an event of this caliber?"

What was the identity of the elder statesman, Ii Naosuke?

He is currently the "Premier".

The dignified "Premier of the State" personally attended and presided over the assessment meeting for these police officers in the capital?

This sounds utterly absurd.

“I’m not mistaken,” Arima said. “I’m quite certain that what I just said is the exact truth.”

"It's still unclear why Elder Ii, who is usually so busy, would make time to attend an event that shouldn't be something someone of his caliber should be personally involved in..."

"But personally, I think..."

Arima raised his gaze and stared intently at Aoto.

"Tachibana-kun, it's highly likely that Boss Ii came here because of you."

"That's why I came over to tell you this overnight, just to remind you and let you prepare yourself mentally in advance."

"If there's anything that has happened in our office recently that Ii-sama should pay close attention to... then it's none other than your groundbreaking achievement of defeating a large number of 'radical anti-foreign' thugs, Tachibana-kun."

"The renowned Lord Ii came all this way just for me..." Qing Deng twitched his lips, then said in a half-joking tone, "Ha... I really don't know whether I should feel honored or nervous."

"All of the above are just my guesses. Perhaps Ii-sama is attending this event for other reasons," Arima said calmly. "In short—Tachibana-kun, you should prepare yourself mentally beforehand."

"Besides preparing yourself mentally, you can also look forward to the 'senior assessment' in a few days."

Arima's face then showed a faint smile.

"You have made such a great contribution, and according to custom, you will usually be given a very generous reward."

"Lord Ii might personally bestow a reward upon you at the assessment meeting in a few days."