I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Ambitious people would think that Nagakura and his colleagues were incredibly lucky to have such an opportunity to make a difference so soon after joining the company.

Those who just want to slack off will think that Nagakura and his colleagues are really unlucky to encounter such a dangerous job so soon after joining the company.

But whether they thought Yongcang and his friends were very lucky or very unlucky, they are now mostly envious of them – after all, 10 taels of gold is definitely not a small amount, and ordinary people might not be able to save up that much money even after several years of hard work.

……

After wiping the sweat from his face with his sleeve and taking a short rest, Qingdeng put the bamboo sword back into the sword case and then picked up the sword that was placed on the edge of the dojo.

Although Qingdeng's Dingguishen is a top-quality sword, it inevitably suffered some damage after such a fierce battle with Jinye and the others—three small nicks appeared on the blade of Dingguishen.

On the first day of the holiday, Qingdeng immediately sent Dingguishen to the knife shop for sharpening. It will probably take another day or two for Dingguishen to be repaired.

For the past few days, Qing Deng has been using his old sword... which is the family heirloom sword that has been passed down for several generations in the Ju family, to make do with for now.

Qingdeng's family heirloom sword has never had a name... Qingdeng didn't think there was anything wrong with it before, but recently he has gradually realized that this has caused some inconvenience to his life.

For example, when someone asked Kyubei to "bring me my katana," it was impossible for Kyubei to grab the wrong katana, since he only had that one katana before.

But now that he has the "Spirit-Suppressing Sword," when he says to Kyubei, "Bring me my katana," Kyubei doesn't know which sword Aoto wants him to get.

So, for convenience, Qingdeng gave his family heirloom sword a name a few days ago.

This is a sword that has been passed down through generations of the Ju family. The blade has a wavy pattern... Based on these two distinctive characteristics, Qing Deng gave the sword a simple and straightforward, yet somewhat poetic name: "Ju Shui" (Orange Water).

As Aoto drew his orange juice and returned to the center of the dojo, preparing to resume the "virtual battle," Okita's voice suddenly rang out behind him:

"Orange-kun! Stop practicing! Time to eat!"

"Oh, is dinner ready yet? You made it pretty quickly today..."

As Qing Deng put down the orange juice in his hand, he turned to look at Okita, who was standing at the entrance of the corridor connecting the dojo and their residence.

At this moment, Okita was dressed as a cook, with a headscarf wrapped around his head to prevent his hair from getting greasy, and a rice scoop in his hand.

The so-called "cutting and cooking clothes" can be understood as the apron of this era, which was a garment specifically worn while cooking to prevent oil and other filth from getting on clothes or the body.

After sheathing his sword and walking slowly to Okita's side, Aoto smiled slightly at Okita and said, "Okita-kun, thank you for cooking for us these past few days."

"It's nothing, no need to thank me." With his usual cheerful smile, Okita put his left hand on his hip and waved his rice spoon in his right. "Go eat!"

At Shieikan, there is a conventional order of precedence regarding who should cook.

Normally, their teacher's wife, Ah Bi, is in charge of cooking.

If Abi is not here, Inoue Genzaburo, who also lives at Shieikan, has returned to his hometown for some business and Aoto has yet to meet him, will cook.

If neither of these two happens to be present... the "power over food at Shieikan" will be handed over to Okita.

For some reason, Master Zhou Zhu and his wife A Bi have been frequently absent these past few days.

They've been going out a lot lately, often for most of the day. When asked what they're doing, they both act mysteriously and refuse to say anything.

Since Abi has been away from home frequently these past few days, Okita has been taking care of most of the meals at Shieikan recently.

Although Okita is a boy, he has surprisingly high feminine strength and is a master of housework.

It wasn't until a few days ago, when Okita had to cook because Abi wasn't home, that Qing Deng realized Okita could cook, and that his cooking skills were quite good. The dishes he cooked were delicious and appealing, just to Qing Deng's liking.

Besides discovering that Okita is a very good cook, Aoto recently discovered that Okita is also very skilled at needlework.

On the night of the fierce battle with Kanna and the others, Aoto's haori and hakama were torn during the fight.

Afterwards, upon seeing the numerous tears in Qing Deng's clothes, Okita chuckled smugly a few times, then waved his hand and said, "Give me your clothes, I'll mend them for you!"

Qing Deng never expected that Okita could wield heavy swords with such ease, and that even a tiny embroidery needle could be dissected with the skill of a master butcher.

While Okita was sewing his clothes, Aoto sat beside Okita and watched the whole time.

Aoto really couldn't think of any words or phrases to describe Okita's sewing technique.

With a deft flick of his fingers, he finished the 1-inch-long gap in less than a few minutes, stitching it up perfectly with needle and thread.

After watching how Okita sewed his clothes... Aoto felt only relief.

Fortunately, he was quite lucky at the time, and the talent he copied from Okita was "sword genius".

Otherwise, he might very well replicate some strange talents like "extraordinary needlework skills" or "dexterous fingers"...

……

……

The next day, Qingdeng, whose schedule was already set, still got up to exercise before dawn as usual.

After the morning light illuminated the sky and the earth, the apprentices began to enter the school one after another to practice their swordsmanship.

Since their resounding victory over the Chiba Kendo Hall, which propelled them to fame, the number of Shieikan students has increased two to three times! And this number continues to rise!

The surge in the number of apprentices kept Master Shusuke and Registry Master Kondo both tired and happy during this period.

"Good morning, Tachibana-kun."

"Good morning, senior!"

"Senior Tachibana, why are you just watching? Aren't you going to come and practice swordsmanship with us?"

……

Almost every apprentice in the sword-fighting academy, whether a newcomer or a veteran, would greet Qingdeng upon seeing him.

Having repeatedly performed extraordinary feats, Aoto is now an undisputed celebrity in Edo. With his rising fame, coupled with his achievement of "leading the Shieikan to victory over the Chiba Kenkan," Aoto's prestige within the Shieikan continues to soar.

Some people in the Shiwei Hall even regarded Qingdeng as their idol, and their eyes would light up with fervor when they saw him.

Qing Deng has always been easygoing and has not become arrogant because he is now a celebrity or has made contributions to the Imperial Examination Hall.

No matter who greets him, he will respond positively and enthusiastically.

Not long after the sword hall opened, unsurprisingly, Hijikata Toshizo arrived.

"Good morning, everyone." Hijikata yawned as he walked through the gate of the dojo and entered the dojo.

It has to be said that "good-looking people look good no matter what they do" is truly an unchanging truth.

Even a simple yawn possessed a graceful beauty in Hijikata's performance.

Upon seeing Hijikata, this troublesome troublemaker, arrive, some of the elders in the dojo immediately displayed strange expressions.

"Good morning, Hijikata-kun." Aoto was the first to greet Hijikata.

"Oh, good morning, Tachibana-kun." After responding to Aoto's greeting, Hijikata smiled slightly. "Tachibana-kun, I came up with a new fist technique yesterday. Would you like to spar with me later?"

After saying that, Hijikata brandished his right fist.

"Alright." Qingdeng grinned and readily agreed without hesitation. "I'd like to see what new tricks you've learned this time."

After spending some time together, Qing Deng gained a much better understanding of Hijikata Toshizo, this troublesome devil who had countless lovers.

When Aoto first met Hijikata, Hijikata gave him a "cynical" feeling, but after getting to know him better, Aoto gradually discovered that Hijikata also had a very serious side.

He was extremely dedicated to practicing swordsmanship, coming to the Sword Testing Hall to practice almost every day from early morning until dark before returning home.

The focused look on Hijikata's face when he was practicing swordsmanship... was completely different from his frivolous demeanor when he was chatting with his friends.

Hijikata is one of the few people in the Shieikan who has a strong interest in unarmed combat and actively hones his martial arts skills.

Therefore, he often sought out Qing Deng, who was proficient in grappling, free fighting, and other skills, to be his sparring partner.

Qing Deng was always very interested in unarmed combat techniques; otherwise, he wouldn't have been proficient in so many different unarmed combat techniques in his previous life. Therefore, Qing Deng never refused Hijikata's "sparring invitations."

Because of their frequent sparring sessions, Aoto and Hijikata quickly became acquainted.

There weren't many apprentices practicing swordsmanship at the academy today.

We trained enthusiastically with our fellow students at the sword club, and before we knew it, the sun was almost at its highest point in the sky.

This morning, Zhou Zhu and A Bi went out again and their whereabouts are unknown. They have not returned yet.

Just as Okita was about to set up the "kappo-sha" (a type of Japanese cooking) again to prepare lunch, an unexpected guest suddenly arrived at the Shieikan (a type of restaurant)—

"Yong! Yong! Are you there?"

Inside the dojo, Kondo, who was instructing a student, paused in surprise upon hearing the loud shout coming from the dojo's entrance: "Jutaro?"

……

……

Inside the hall of the Shieikan, Chiba Jutaro sat cross-legged casually in front of Aoto, Kondo, Hijikata, and Okita.

"Hijikata-kun, it's been a long time! I heard you were injured before, has your injury fully healed?"

"Thank you for your concern." Hijikata smiled faintly. "That little injury has long since healed."

After a brief greeting to Hijikata, Chiba Jutaro turned his gaze to Aoto.

"Congratulations, Tachibana-kun!" Chiba Jutaro greeted Aoto with an even more enthusiastic smile. "I've heard all about it! You've done another great service recently, earning an extra 400 koku of rice!"

"Thank you." Qing Deng smiled modestly at Chiba Jutaro, whom he hadn't seen since the 'Red and White Battle' of the Plum Blossom Festival. "I was just lucky."

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Kondo, sitting directly opposite Chiba Jutaro, suddenly cleared his throat and asked in a curious tone:

"Alright, Jutaro, come and tell us what this 'important matter' has happened again."

Upon hearing Jutaro's voice, Kondo immediately rushed to the sword hall.

As soon as I arrived at the gate, I saw Chiba Jutaro standing alone under the bright sun.

Kondo was quite surprised and puzzled by Chiba Jutaro's sudden visit.

Chiba Jutaro is also a decisive and efficient person.

Upon seeing Kondo who came out to greet him, after exchanging greetings, he said directly: "Yo! I've come to tell you something important!"

Although he really wanted to ask Chiba Jutaro what "important matter" it was, the outside of the door was not a good place to talk, and it would be impolite to keep the guest outside. So Kondo suppressed his curiosity and first welcomed Chiba Jutaro into the building and led him to the hall.

"Yu, Tachibana-kun is here too? That's great! What I'm about to say is related to Tachibana-kun. Why don't you call him over to listen in too?"—After being led into the Shieikan and learning that Aoto happened to be practicing swordsmanship in the kendo hall that day, Chiba Jutaro immediately suggested this to Kondo with great interest.

And so—Qingdeng was summoned to the hall in a daze.

Okita and Hijikata also came to listen in.

After hearing about Chiba Jutaro's purpose for coming, the two men were quite curious and expressed their desire to eavesdrop and hear what Chiba Jutaro wanted to say.

Kondo had already gone straight to the point, and Chiba Jutaro was no longer ambiguous either.

After a few hearty laughs, Chiba Jutaro quickly said: