I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

“So that’s how it is…” Hijikata turned his head, looking at his right arm that had been twisted behind his back, and muttered in a voice only he could hear, “Should we twist it from this direction, from this angle…”

After muttering to himself, Hijikata told Aoto to release him and then had another match with him.

"Do you want me to use that move again?" Qing Deng asked.

"No need." Hijikata grinned. "From now on, just play however you like."

Qingdeng nodded.

The two grappled again, exchanging blows and kicks.

—Is he trying to learn my moves?

During the meal just now, he suddenly asked Qing Deng how he used the move that subdued him this morning, and also asked Qing Deng to have a match with him after the meal so that he could use the move on him again... The only reason Qing Deng could think of for Hijikata to do these things was that Hijikata wanted to learn how to use the move.

Suddenly, just as Qing Deng was pondering, an unexpected event occurred that surprised him but did not change his expression.

His punch aimed at Hijikata was dodged by Hijikata's sidestep.

Just as he was about to retract his punch, Hijikata's arms coiled around his right arm like two nimble snakes, then twisted it behind his back.

Although the technique is still quite crude... there is no doubt that this is the same move that Qing Deng used to subdue Hijikata this morning!

With a slight change in expression due to surprise, Qing Deng quickly used a technique to deflect force, breaking free from Tu Fang's entanglement and neutralizing his still crude grappling moves, before retreating backward.

"Ah..." Hijikata looked down at his hands, which were gripping tightly. "This technique is much harder than I imagined..."

"...Impressive." Qing Deng glanced at his right arm, which had almost been twisted behind his back by Hijikata, and sincerely praised Hijikata. "After I explained the move once and he personally experienced it twice, he was able to replicate it to this extent..."

"Hahaha." Hijikata chuckled. "I'm not bad-witted, and I learn things quickly—that's one of my only strengths."

Looking at Hijikata, who was being modest, Aoto smiled.

In this world, perhaps only Aoto knows why Hijikata has such a terrifying learning ability—because he possesses a god-level talent called "Demon Heart".

Through his sparring session with Hijikata, Aoto discovered that the "Heart of the Demon" talent was far more powerful than he had imagined.

His grappling technique, while not particularly advanced, is not easy to learn either.

And Hijikata was able to replicate his move quite well in such a short time...

While marveling at the power of "Demon Heart," Qing Deng was also secretly excited and looking forward to it—he now possessed the same talent as Hijikata.

Qing Deng couldn't help but wonder: Could the effects of this "Heart of the Demon" and "Sword Mastery" be combined?

If the effects of these two talents can be combined... then Qing Deng's current speed in learning swordsmanship will be further improved!

Thinking of this, Qingdeng couldn't help but feel overjoyed.

"Tachibana, shall we have another round?" At this moment, Hijikata, who had stretched his shoulders and resumed his stance, interrupted Aoto's thoughts. "If I don't figure out the move that defeated me today... I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep tonight."

Seeing that Hijikata still wanted to continue sparring with him, Qingdeng paused for a moment, then laughed heartily.

"Okay, let's do it again!"

Qingdeng is in a good mood right now.

Driven by this positive mood, Qing Deng accepted Tsuchiya's invitation to spar almost without hesitation.

The two grown men resumed their fistfight...

Okita, who was sitting by the dojo watching the fight, wasn't particularly interested in the martial arts sparring. He wouldn't have come to watch if he hadn't been bored.

After Aoto and Hijikata started fighting again, Okita yawned loudly, then sat cross-legged, resting his left elbow on his left knee, supporting his face with his left palm, and reaching his right hand behind his head to pull the ponytail from the back of his head to the front, idly playing with the ends of the ponytail...

……

……

The next day, early morning—

"Young Master, Mr. Saito, please be careful on the road."

As usual, Kyubei stood outside the entrance of the Shieikan, bowing to see Aoto and Saito off. Because Kondo and the others got up a little late today, only Kyubei came to see Aoto and Saito off this morning.

"Did you bring the bento box and blanket?" Kyubei asked.

"Yes." Qing Deng showed Jiu Bingwei the bento box and blanket in his hand. "I brought them all."

Saito, who was standing to the side, silently showed Kyubei the bento box and blanket he was holding.

Compared to every morning before when they went to "work," Qing and Zhai had one more thing in their hands—a thick blanket.

This blanket is what Qingdeng and the others plan to use for the night.

Today, it's Qingdeng's turn to work the night shift at the magistrate's office. He has to stay there until dawn.

The weather is still very cold, and it gets even colder at night. Without a thick enough blanket, tonight's night shift will be quite unbearable.

After confirming that Aoto and Saito had brought everything, Kyubei breathed a sigh of relief.

After reminding Kyubei, "Remember to tell your wife not to cook dinner for him and Saito tonight," Qingdeng and Saito strode away, with Kyubei watching them go.

Qing Deng knew the route from Shiwei Hall to Beifansuo so well that he could walk it with his eyes closed—however, this route, which he had walked countless times, encountered an unexpected problem today.

"What's going on?" After reaching a certain intersection, Qingdeng suddenly found that the road ahead was blocked by a thick crowd.

He craned his neck, using his height advantage to look at the front of the crowd—a huge procession of carriages and horses had appeared ahead.

This must be a caravan of a wealthy merchant buying goods. The oxcarts and horse-drawn carriages blocked the already narrow road, with only a small opening on the far right side of the street, wide enough for two people to pass side by side.

So many people are lined up in front of Qingdeng and the others, waiting to pass through this narrow opening... If they choose to go through this narrow opening, who knows how long it will take to get through this street.

After thinking for a moment, Qingdeng decided to take a detour.

He led Saito onto a nearby street that he rarely visited.

Just as Qingdeng was concentrating on his journey, suddenly—a pleasant female voice, one he hadn't heard in some time, came from behind him:

"Eh? Tachibana-kun?"

Startled, Qingdeng stopped and turned around.

"Ms. Kinoshita?"

With a faint smile of joy on her face, Kinoshita Mai stomped her red-buttoned flat wooden clogs and carried a wooden bowl of unknown contents. She quickly walked up to Aoto and Saito.

She first bowed to Saito and greeted him, then focused all her attention on Aoto.

"Tachibana-kun, it's been a long time!" Kinoshita Mai's fair cheeks flushed with even more joy as she smiled.

Since that victory celebration banquet for defeating the Chiba Kenkan, Aoto has never seen Kinoshita Mai again.

Looking at the girl in front of him, whom he hadn't seen for over half a month and who was now smiling happily, Qingdeng smiled slightly:

"Ms. Kinoshita, it's been a long time. What a coincidence to run into you here."

As Qing Deng greeted Kinoshita Mai, he thought to himself:

—Ms. Kinoshita seems to be getting more and more familiar with me…

Aoto clearly sensed that Kinoshita Mai's attitude towards him was now significantly more enthusiastic than before.

Back when Qingdeng first met this girl, she didn't even dare to look him in the eye, and when she spoke to him, her voice was so soft it sounded like she was chanting a spell.

Now, Kinoshita Mai can look Aoto in the eye openly and give him a natural, bright smile. When she runs into Aoto on the street, she can call out to him and greet him. Her voice is no longer soft and inaudible.

Qing Deng speculated that this was probably because after he met Kinoshita Mai, he frequently interacted with her in various ways, and over time, they became familiar with each other.

Facing a familiar face like him, Kinoshita Mai naturally became less reserved.

As soon as Qing Deng finished speaking, Kinoshita Mai nodded vigorously.

"Hmm! What a coincidence! Are you on your way to the Magistrate's Office, Tachibana-kun?"

“Yes,” Qingdeng said with a wry smile. “During this special time, the previous ‘two days on, one day off’ holiday rule has been temporarily abolished. Now, when we can take a holiday depends entirely on luck.”

"And you, Ms. Kinoshita, are you... going to buy tofu?"

As Kinoshita Mai approached, Aoto noticed that the wooden bowl she was holding contained two extremely fresh pieces of tofu.

"Mmm." Kinoshita Mai obediently pecked her head twice. "Mr. Kiryu promised me yesterday that he would make my favorite tofu soup for me today."

"So I got up really early today and went to the market to buy two of the freshest pieces of tofu."

Upon hearing Kinoshita Mai say this, Aoto remembered that there was a very popular vegetable market right across from this street that he didn't often visit.

This explains why I ran into Kinoshita Mai on my way to work today.

At this moment, Kinoshita Mai turned her gaze to the blankets in Aoto and Saito's hands, blinking in confusion.

"Hey, why are you all carrying blankets?"

“Oh, this…” Qing Deng waved the blanket in his hand and then explained to Kinoshita Mai that he would be working the night shift at the Magistrate’s Office that day.

"Working the night shift..." A hint of worry flashed in Kinoshita Mai's eyes. "Won't that be very tiring?"

"It's alright, it's not too strenuous. After all, I'm still young," Qingdeng replied in a half-joking tone. "Even if I don't sleep for a night or two, my body won't be seriously harmed."

Qingdeng was quite happy to chat with his friend whom he hadn't seen for some time.

But he's in a rush to get to work right now and doesn't have time to chat with Kinoshita Mai at his leisure.

So after chatting with Kinoshita Mai for a few more minutes, Aoto waved to her, indicating that he had to hurry to the magistrate's office.

"Mmm." Kinoshita Mai freed her right hand and waved goodbye to Aoto vigorously. "Tachibana-kun, you should go to the Magistrate's Office now. I won't bother you anymore. See you later!"

Aoto waved to Kinoshita Mai, and after saying goodbye to her, he led Saito to quicken their pace toward the magistrate's office.

……

……

Today was a relatively peaceful day.

No unexpected situations were encountered while patrolling the streets, and no sudden emergency cases occurred.

Qingdeng thus peacefully welcomed the night.

After Edo entered a state of emergency due to the uprising of "anti-foreign patriots", the South and North Magistrate Offices would leave two "three-time" comrades-in-arms on night duty every night.

After night fell, all the officials in the magistrate's office left. Only Qing Deng and another person, Tong Xin, who was on night duty with him, remained in the magistrate's office.

Coincidentally.

Following yesterday, Aoto and Nishino have once again teamed up as "partners".

The person working the night shift with Qing Deng today is Nishino.