I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Through this period of time, Qingdeng has gradually figured out the personalities and strengths of his subordinates.

Nagakura and Harada... to put it simply, these two are two brutes, especially Harada.

Harada's most frequently uttered phrase is "I don't like to use my brain"—after working with him for so many days, Aoto realized that he wasn't just being modest...

Regarding how unintelligent Harada is... without going into other details, let's just talk about the simple issue of "literacy": Harada basically doesn't understand kanji... he can only read and write kana, and the only kanji he can write is his own name.

Qing Deng once asked him: As a samurai, how could you not even know how to write Chinese characters? Even if your family is very poor, you shouldn't be unable to afford a temple school, right?

Harada Yoshimasa replied emphatically: When I was a child, I went to a private school. For some reason, I would fall asleep as soon as the teacher started talking. Because I never changed my ways, the teacher, who could no longer tolerate me, kicked me out of the school. Since then, I have never gone to school again, and I was too lazy to study anymore. Anyway, didn't Liu Bang, the Liu Xuande who committed suicide by the Pearl River in Tang Dynasty, say that all you need to do to study is to be able to write your own name?

Nagakura and Harada, who acted recklessly and brutally, could only be assigned physically demanding tasks such as patrolling and detaining suspects.

Todo, however, was different.

Although Todo's swordsmanship was far inferior to Nagakura and Harada's due to his age and lack of experience, he was a man of both literary and martial talents.

He was very learned, with extensive knowledge of Chinese studies, Mito studies, and other disciplines. He also had beautiful handwriting, so Seito would occasionally entrust some simple paperwork to Todo for help.

With his honest and quiet personality, Todo is also well-suited to handling these rather tedious paperwork tasks.

After briefly bidding farewell to his subordinates, Aoto led Saito on a long walk back to the Shieikan, bathed in the afterglow of the setting sun.

After turning into a bustling street that one must pass through on the way back to the test site, the flow of people suddenly increased.

It's rush hour now, and the streets are packed with townspeople rushing home.

Although the lives of ordinary people have become extremely unstable due to the riots caused by the "Expel the Barbarians" faction and the constantly turbulent political situation, life must still go on, and their stomachs will not stop rumbling with hunger just because of the current social instability and the difficulty in making money.

With his left hand resting on the scabbard of his sword at his left waist, Qing Deng and Saito walked silently along the bustling street toward its western entrance.

He has no idea yet—right at the intersection of West Street, someone is waiting for him…

……

……

As always, Kinoshita Mai, dressed in a bright red kimono, stood nervously against the wall, carrying a basket full of fresh vegetables in both hands.

Then she noticed a relatively clear pool of water near her feet.

After hesitating for a moment, she leaned over and used the water as a mirror to examine her reflection.

She carefully checked several times to make sure there were no stains on her face, and that her hair, styled in a neat bun, was perfectly tidy and not messy at all.

After carefully checking her appearance and finding nothing wrong, Kinoshita Mai raised her left hand, pressed it against her ample breasts, let out a long breath, and then peeked out from behind the wall she was standing against, peering at the street outside.

Finally—she found her target: Aoto, walking home one after the other with Saito.

After accurately locating Qing Deng in the chaotic crowd, Kinoshita Mai was taken aback, and then quickly pulled her head back behind the wall.

"what……"

Kinoshita Mai raised her hand to her chest, let out a long sigh, held her breath, and then revealed a resolute expression. Her fair, bare feet, clad in red-buttoned wooden clogs, strode out from behind the wall where she was hiding and headed towards Aoto.

"Huh? Tachibana-kun, Saito-kun? What a coincidence, running into you here. Are you heading home now?"

"Ms. Kinoshita?" Seeing Kinoshita Mai walking briskly towards them from the front, Aoto raised an eyebrow, then smiled and said, "What a coincidence, I didn't expect to run into you here."

"Yes, we're just getting ready to go home. Are you here to buy dinner?"

Aoto glanced at the basket full of fresh vegetables that Kinoshita Mai was carrying.

"Hmm." Kinoshita Mai held the shopping basket in front of her face. "I wanted to eat roasted vegetables tonight, so I specially went to buy a bunch of fresh bok choy!"

Aoto, who was heading back to Shieikan, and Kinoshita Mai, who was heading back to Senjiya, happened to be traveling the same route for a part of the way.

And so—after exchanging a few simple pleasantries with Aoto, Kinoshita Mai, whose cheeks flushed slightly from nervousness and other emotions, casually suggested to Aoto in a slightly stuttering tone, "Then, let's go back together."

Qingdeng, who took it as just a normal invitation between friends, readily agreed without giving it much thought.

The man and woman walking side by side chatted and talked casually along the way.

"Tachibana-kun, I heard that you are preparing to participate in the swordsmanship competition held by the Aizu-gun in three days. Is that true?" Kinoshita Mai suddenly asked Aoto.

"Hmm? Yeah." Qingdeng nodded, then said jokingly, "Haha, even though there are still 3 days until the competition starts, I'm already starting to feel a little nervous."

"Haha." Kinoshita Mai chuckled a few times before pressing, "Have you been receiving any special swordsmanship training lately in preparation for this upcoming competition?"

"No. Kondo and the others have been teaching me more strictly lately, but it's not really special training. I'm still mainly training step by step, steadily and surely. I'm still training my sword the same way I used to."

Upon hearing Qing Deng's reply, Kinoshita Mai's eyes darted around.

"So... does that mean you're still getting up at 2 a.m. every day to practice swordsmanship at the dojo, just like before?" Kinoshita Mai tilted her head back and winked at Aoto.

Qing Deng had previously mentioned to Kinoshita Mai during a chat that he only sleeps for two hours a day and gets up at 2 a.m. every day to exercise.

"Yes," Qingdeng replied quickly without hesitation.

"Aren't you going to burn yourself out like this?" Kinoshita Mai pressed. "Aren't you always busy apprehending these rampant 'anti-foreign' thugs? Is this little bit of sleep really enough?"

"Don't worry." Qingdeng smiled and gently tapped his forehead. "I'm the kind of person who can recover my energy with very little sleep. I get enough sleep, so there's nothing to worry about."

"I see..." Kinoshita Mai muttered, then smiled sweetly, "As long as you get enough sleep!"

"In that case, I'm relieved!"

……

……

On his way home, he ran into Kinoshita Mai—in Qing Deng's eyes, this was just a small episode of the day.

After chatting and walking together for a while, I waved goodbye to Kinoshita Mai.

Back at the testing center, everything was as usual—after dinner, I started working out my muscles.

After training until all the muscles in your body are sore and numb, go to Chihiro's place and take a relaxing hot bath to soothe your muscles.

When it was 22 p.m., he would crawl into bed and go to sleep. Then, under the influence of his "sleep god" talent, he would wake up at 2 a.m. sharp, quickly change out of his pajamas, pick up his sword, and prepare to go down to the dojo to practice his swordsmanship.

Saito and Kyubei, who live with Aoto in the "Diner's Room," have now completely gotten used to Aoto's routine of getting up at 2 a.m.

When Saito first moved into Shieikan, he would follow Aoto to the dojo when Aoto got up to practice swordsmanship, ostensibly to "so that he could wake up in time and appear to protect Aoto in case of any emergencies," and then sleep on the edge of the dojo.

Aoto felt that this was too detrimental to Saito's daily rest, and in addition, he felt that there was no need to be so vigilant in the Shieikan. Therefore, he strongly requested that Saito not go through so much trouble and that he no longer needed to be by his side when he was doing "morning exercise" and could stay in the "diners' room" to sleep well.

Having been asked to do this by Aoto, Saito, who had the obligation to "obey his employer's orders," could only obediently comply. Therefore, he no longer accompanied Aoto, who was doing morning exercises, to the dojo in the early morning as before.

After changing his clothes, Qingdeng, who had "cat's eyes" that allowed him to see in the dark without having to fumble in the dark, strode down to the first floor and arrived at the quiet dojo.

Qingdeng did not rush to pick up the bamboo sword immediately.

When exercising, it is essential to warm up – this is a habit that Qingdeng has always adhered to.

He stood in a corner of the dojo, placing the scepter and wakizashi that had been sent for repairs a while ago at his feet, lowering his center of gravity, stretching his leg muscles, and meticulously warming up.

The night was deep and quiet, and he was doing this monotonous and tedious warm-up exercise. Qingdeng's mind unconsciously began to stir:

—The swordsmanship competition for the Marquis of Aizu... will begin the day after tomorrow.

—I wonder if any formidable opponents will emerge…

This was the first time Qing Deng had encountered such a traditional one-on-one swordsmanship competition since he had transmigrated to this era.

While feeling a little expectant, I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.

Qing Deng didn't know what level his current strength was compared to the newcomers from other sword clubs.

If he performs poorly in a match, such as being defeated in the first round... even if others don't look at him differently, Qing Deng himself will feel quite ashamed.

Moreover, if he were to be eliminated in the first round, which would be extremely embarrassing, it would also be detrimental to his ability to extract talent from the other contestants.

Therefore, in order to avoid such a thing from happening, Qingdeng has been training much harder these days and has tried to squeeze out more time for training, striving to further improve his swordsmanship before the start of the competition.

After completing the entire set of warm-up exercises properly and thoroughly, Qingdeng, with a layer of fine sweat on his skin, let out a long breath. He then prepared to go to the sword barrel next to him to get a bamboo sword and officially begin his morning training.

But at this moment—

Click, click...

Suddenly, Qingdeng heard a faint, eerie sound coming from the ceiling above him.

"Hmm?" Qing Deng paused, frowned, and looked up at the ceiling.

—Is it a mouse?

Qingdeng subconsciously wondered if a mouse was running on the ceiling.

But as soon as the idea popped into his head, he rejected it himself.

Kondo and his colleagues always paid great attention to the hygiene of the Shieikan.

The dojo and their residence were always kept very clean.

Having lived in the Shieikan for so long, Qing Deng had never seen a rat in the building...

Click!

Suddenly! A grid on the ceiling behind Qing Deng was moved aside, creating a gap large enough for an adult to pass through.

Then, a petite black figure leaped down through the gap and landed steadily behind Qingdeng.

The moment his feet touched the floor, the shadowy figure spread his hands out, palms facing up... as if he were trying to strike some strange pose.

But Qingdeng didn't give this man any chance to get into his pose.

During this period, Qingdeng's nerves... were actually constantly on edge and on alert.

Having further offended the Extermination Group, given their reckless nature... it's not impossible that they might resort to some rather radical means to retaliate against Qingdeng.

So, upon hearing a strange noise behind him and turning around to see a dark figure leap from the ceiling behind him... Qing Deng hesitated almost without the slightest hesitation—

"Who goes there?!"

Qingdeng roared and then pounced on the dark figure like an arrow released from a bow!

"Ju..." The shadowy figure opened its mouth, seemingly wanting to say something to Qing Deng.

But before he could utter a single meaningful word, Qing Deng, who hadn't noticed the shadowy figure about to speak, tackled him to the ground...

Qing Deng originally intended to draw his sword directly, but since Ding Guishen and Wakizashi were both at his feet, bending down to pick up the sword would be too busy. So he simply pounced on them and used his equally proficient unarmed fighting skills to take down this uninvited guest, which would be more time-saving and effortless.

"Ugh—!" The dark figure let out a scream, then twisted its body like an eel, trying to break free from Qing Deng's "embrace".

Qingdeng discovered that this shadowy figure was quite skilled, possessing techniques for deflecting force and breaking free from others' control. For a time, he was unable to completely subdue him.

With no other option, Qingdeng increased his strength and tried his best to grab the shadowy figure's arms, preparing to use the grappling techniques he had learned in his previous life to completely subdue the man.