I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Kinoshita Mai seemed to want to say something more.

But when she got to the word "moreover," she suddenly stopped talking.

After repeating "and" several times in a muttering tone, Kinoshita Mai raised her hand and pulled her face mask up even higher.

Because it was covered by a face mask, Aoto didn't see that Kinoshita Mai's cheeks were now slightly flushed.

"And what?" Qing Deng asked, puzzled.

"And...and...and you once told me that you don't dislike Nekosō, and that if you had the chance, you'd like to try being a phantom thief with a code of honor like Nekosō!" Kinoshita Mai said urgently. "So I'm even more convinced that you won't betray me."

“Ha… ‘Won’t betray you’?” Qing Deng softly repeated the words Kinoshita Mai had just said, then chuckled and said in a half-joking tone, “I’m inexplicably flattered…”

After saying that, Qingdeng raised his hand and scratched the hair on the back of his head.

“I really can’t bring myself to betray you and hand you over to the magistrate’s office.”

"But regarding what you said about 'helping you deal with that group of people who used the Eta sword as a test subject'... Ms. Kinoshita, please allow me to ask a few more questions."

"Are you planning to take on that killer gang by the two of us alone?"

"What intelligence do you currently have about this killer group? How many people are there? Where do they usually hang out?"

"How do you plan to deal with them?"

Qing Deng fired off a series of questions in quick succession.

Faced with these questions posed by Aoto, Kinoshita Mai calmly and methodically answered them one by one:

"Besides you, I have no one else I can ask for help, so I really... I should say I can only rely on the two of us to handle this matter."

"I don't have much information about that killer group yet. I only know that they have been testing their swords on the Eta people living in the Eta community in the northern suburbs of Edo."

"I plan to lie in ambush in the Eta settlement and wait for this group of slayers to reappear so that I can catch them red-handed! There is no other good way to do this."

After speaking, Kinoshita Mai raised her head and stared straight at Aoto without blinking.

From the moment she started looking at Qingdeng, she kept casting expectant glances her way.

She longed to hear the answer she craved from Qingdeng's mouth.

However... at this moment, a few traces of loneliness uncontrollably flashed across her eyes.

Because Qingdeng remained silent.

Qingdeng's mind... hadn't fully recovered from its "crash."

Before she could fully process the shock of discovering that "Nekozono is Kinoshita Mai," she received another request: "Let's go and solve the 'Tsujiziri incident' together..."

Feeling his head starting to throb slightly, Qingdeng bent his right index finger and rubbed his brow with the second joint of his index finger using a moderate amount of force.

Was this specifically targeting the Tsujizane incident involving Eta...?

"What does this have to do with me?" Qing Deng heard this "voice" rising in his mind.

The "voice" then said to him: "Going with Ms. Kinoshita to handle this case that the magistrate won't get involved in... there's no benefit at all."

Even if the incident is successfully resolved in the end, there will be no merit at all. What merit can there be in extending a helping hand to Eda?

It's a completely thankless and exhausting task.

The pitch of this "voice" rose higher and higher as it was shouted.

Finally, its pitch so high that Qingdeng's heart involuntarily quickened.

What this "voice" said... is not without reason.

Yes, that makes sense.

Why bother getting involved in something that has nothing to do with you, is time-consuming and laborious, and doesn't benefit you at all?

But—at this very moment, a question arose in Qingdeng's mind:

What benefits would it bring to Ms. Kinoshita to handle this "Tsuji Slayer incident"?

……

……

Seeing that Qing Deng remained silent, Kinoshita Mai couldn't help but purse her red lips, and the loneliness in her eyes grew stronger.

However, suddenly, Qingdeng spoke up:

"...Ms. Kinoshita, why are you getting involved in this matter? People avoid Eda like the plague, and even the Magistrate's Office doesn't bother with them, yet you want to help them."

Upon hearing Qing Deng's question, Kinoshita Mai was taken aback.

Then, without hesitation, she replied:

“Eta is a human being too. I want to do everything I can to help those in distress, that’s all!”

After speaking, Kinoshita Mai blinked, her eyes flashing with a resolute light—as if she were stating a self-evident truth.

This was the first time Qing Deng had ever seen Kinoshita Mai look at him like that.

"..." Qing Deng stared at Kinoshita Mai with a blank expression.

After a while, a strange smile appeared on Qingdeng's face.

"Ha... It seems that what you said earlier about 'aspiring to become a hero who can do something practical for the people' wasn't just empty talk."

"I understand."

Qingdeng took a deep breath and then nodded solemnly.

"Then—let me do my part."

"?!" Kinoshita Mai's eyes widened in surprise.

She opened and closed her mouth a few times, as if she wanted to say something, but what she wanted to say never came out in words.

Beneath the black face mask, a joyful smile quickly blossomed—a smile that spoke volumes.

"Ms. Kinoshita, when do you plan to set off to investigate the 'Tsujiziri incident'? Tonight? Or do you want to wait until later?"

"I think we should set off tonight," Kinoshita Mai replied quickly, regaining her composure. "That 'Man-Slaying Group' might reappear tonight."

Qingdeng nodded: "Alright, let's go then."

"Ah, wait a minute."

Kinoshita Mai took off a small cloth bag that she always carried on her back.

"Here, take this."

The cloth bag was untied—inside were a set of black clothes, a black face mask, and a fox mask.

"What is this?" Qing Deng asked in surprise.

"These are the clothes I prepared for you in advance," Kinoshita Mai said with a smile. "I can't let you go without any disguise and let people find out that Tachibana Aoto of the Magistrate's Office is a friend of Neko-sō, can I?"

……

……

"How is it? Does it fit?"

"Hmm? Just right." Qingdeng tightened his belt, then stretched his arms to check the tightness of the clothes.

The outfit that Kinoshita Mai handed him was the same style as the phantom thief outfit she was wearing—the same design, and both were black from head to toe.

"Tachibana-kun, which do you want to wear, the face towel or the mask?" Kinoshita Mai, holding a face towel in one hand and a mask in the other, showed these two items to Aoto. "Because I didn't know which one you would like to wear, I specially prepared both of these."

Aoto raised his gaze and glanced at the face mask and face towel in Kinoshita Mai's hand.

The mask that Kinoshita Mai prepared for him was a black fox mask that was entirely black and of fairly good quality, with only a pair of eyes visible.

"Is this the only mask you're wearing?" Qing Deng asked casually.

“To conceal our presence as much as possible, it’s best to wear black masks and face coverings. Of all the masks I could find, only this black fox mask is entirely black,” Kinoshita Mai added. “So I only brought this mask with me.”

Aoto nodded, responding to Kinoshita Mai's explanation with a gesture.

Then, almost without hesitation, he picked up the Black Fox Mask.

"You chose to wear a mask?" Kinoshita Mai blinked. "I thought you would choose a lighter face towel."

"Well, I guess this is just my personal hobby." Qing Deng said as he deftly put the black fox mask on his face.

Ever since playing the game "Goddess X Chronicles 5", Qing Deng has developed an unusual fondness for masks.

After putting on the mask, Qingdeng noticed a puddle of water at his feet out of the corner of his eye, so he stuck his head over it to use the water as a mirror.

Hmm, not bad. The black fox mask, which fits perfectly, covers his entire face, with only his eyes showing.

Before changing his clothes, Qing Deng secretly returned to the Shiwei Hall and changed his sword from Ding Guishen to Ju Shui.

The red and black color scheme of the sword "Ding Gui Shen" is quite eye-catching and unique. If you wear "Ding Gui Shen" on your body, it will be easy for people to recognize it as the sword of Tachibana Aoto from the Northern Frontier.

If you wear orange juice, you won't have this problem.

Because the handle and scabbard of the Orange Water knife are both black, the style is quite common. Nine out of ten knives on the market are of this style, so outsiders can't tell the person by the knife.

After a final check of their clothes and equipment, Qing Deng, led by Kinoshita Mai, ran out of the alley where they were hiding.

Tonight is a clear night, and also a full moon night.

A clear, full moon hung high in the sky, its pale blue light casting long shadows of Aoto and Kinoshita Mai.

Bathed in the soft moonlight, Aoto, who was moving and speeding through the Edo city town in the shadows of the houses along with Kinoshita Mai, felt as if he were in a tranquil underwater world.

Kinoshita Mai's footwork is very fast, but Aoto, whose leg strength has been modified by "Taking the Lead" and "Strong Muscles", can easily keep up.

After glancing at Kinoshita Mai, who was leading the way, Aoto quietly broke the silence between the two.

"Ms. Kinoshita, I almost forgot to ask you something."

"On the night the barbarian scribe's office was attacked... how did you know that the office was under attack? And why did you tell me this news?"

"Ah, this..." Kinoshita Mai turned her head and glanced at Aoto behind her. "I can only say that it's all a coincidence."

"After Elodie and his group were almost killed by the anti-foreign group at the end of January, I noticed that those 'radical anti-foreign faction' had become a vicious force that could not be underestimated or ignored."

“I think if we let them continue to grow wildly... they will do something even crazier sooner or later.”

"So since February, I have focused my energy on dealing with the 'radical anti-foreign faction'."

“Every night I patrolled the towns and cities of Edo to see if I could find any trace of the ‘radical anti-foreign faction’ or gather any useful information.”