I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

As Aoto's mind was still drifting towards tomorrow's match, he suddenly heard Shusuke, sitting opposite him, say to Kondo:

"Oh, right, Yu. Souji asked me to go to that dessert shop that stays open late, Hana-Tang-ya, on my way home after taking a bath and buy him two packs of konpeito."

"I'm leaving this task of buying candy for Souji to you. Remember to buy candy for Souji after you finish your bath."

"The candy shop... Okay, I understand."

Okita… Upon hearing Kondo and the others mention Okita in their conversation, Aoto couldn’t help but open his eyes as he recalled something related to Okita, and then he spoke up in Kondo and Shusuke’s conversation.

"Kondo-kun, speaking of Okita-kun... I have a question about Okita-kun, may I ask it?"

"A question related to Okita?" Kondo blinked, then gestured to Aoto with his chin, indicating that he should ask.

Seeing this, Qingdeng no longer hesitated.

“Kondo-kun, I’ve noticed that since I started staying at Shieikan, I’ve never seen any of Okita-kun’s family members come to visit him.”

“Okita-kun has always lived in the Shieikan, and I have never seen him leave the Shieikan to live with any other relatives.”

"So I wanted to ask: Don't any of Okita's relatives live in Edo?"

"Oh, you're asking about that..." Upon hearing Aoto's question, Kondo raised an eyebrow, then pursed his lips, seemingly considering his words.

After a moment, he slowly said:

"Yes. Souji really doesn't have any relatives living in Edo. Apart from Shieikan, he has nowhere else to go in Edo, so he has been staying at Shieikan all along."

Having said that, Kondo shifted his body to a more comfortable sitting position and continued:

"Sōji lost his parents at a young age."

"His only remaining close relatives are his two older sisters, both of whom are already married."

"The eldest sister, Okita Hikaru, married a samurai who changed his name to Okita Rintaro after marrying into the Okita family. They now live in Hino-juku, in northern Edo."

"My second sister, Okita Kinya, also married someone from a very far place."

"Souji has a very good relationship with his sisters, but since Okita Hikaru and Okita Kin don't live in Edo now, Okita doesn't see his two sisters very often."

“So Okita-kun has an older sister…” Aoto murmured.

This was the first time Aoto had learned that Okita had two older sisters.

“Souji’s two older sisters are both great beauties,” Kondo continued.

"Sōji's second sister, Okita Kin, rarely had the opportunity to return to Edo because she married far away."

"But the eldest sister, Hikaru Okita, currently lives in Hino-juku, which is not far from Edo, so she occasionally goes back to Edo to visit Souji during holidays."

“Every time Okita Hikaru returns to Edo to visit Souji, he always attracts a large group of students from our Shieikan to come and peek at Souji’s sister.”

"Hehehe..." Suddenly, Shusuke, who was standing to the side, interrupted while laughing, "When I first met Hikaru, I even thought about bringing Yu and Hikaru together, so that our Kondo family and Okita family could become even closer through marriage."

"It's a pity that Ah-Guang was already married at that time. Thinking about it carefully, it's really a shame."

"They're both beauties..." Qing Deng pondered the words for a moment before smiling and saying, "That's true. After all, Okita-kun is so cute... ah, no, so handsome. It's not surprising that he has two beautiful older sisters."

Aoto originally intended to describe Okita's appearance as "cute".

But thinking that using "cute" to describe a man might be offensive, I temporarily changed it to "handsome".

However, although Aoto had changed his mind at the last minute, Kondo still heard Aoto blurt out "cute".

“Tachibana-kun, you absolutely mustn’t say ‘You’re so cute’ in front of Souji.” Kondo smiled helplessly. “Souji doesn’t like it when people say he’s cute, because he feels that as a man, being praised for being ‘cute’ is a very humiliating thing.”

“I can understand…” Qing Deng gave a wry smile, “but… to be honest, Okita-kun really does have a very cute face. I don’t think there is any other adjective that can better describe Okita-kun’s appearance except ‘cute’.”

Although it may be a bit rude to say this, Aoto has always felt that Okita was born the wrong gender.

He is clearly male, but he has a face that is cuter than 99% of women.

When he first met Okita, if it weren't for the fact that Okita was dressed as a man, Aoto would have really mistaken her for some cute girl.

When going out with Okita on weekdays, Okita's extremely cute face often attracts some strange people.

In ancient Japan, homosexual acts were called "shudo," and shudo was quite popular during the Warring States period three hundred years ago and into the present Edo period.

So when walking on the street with Okita, they often run into some lewd "fans of various arts" who come up to chat with and harass Okita.

Qingdeng was also harassed by "Daoists" once.

In terms of appearance, Qingdeng has delicate and refined features—which happens to be the face most loved by "Daoist enthusiasts"...

About two months ago, when Qing Deng was having tea at a teahouse, a well-dressed samurai suddenly approached his table and began to speak to him with tender words...

He kept saying things like, "I am the second son of the Hatamoto Yuki family," and so on... In short, he was subtly hinting to Aoto, "I have my eye on you."

After figuring out the guy's intentions, Qing Deng, who was completely heterosexual, unceremoniously raised her left hand and pressed it against the hilt of the katana at her waist, scaring the perverted man away.

Even Qing Deng was harassed by such a perverted man, let alone Okita.

There are at least 7 or 8 cases of "perverted men harassing Okita" that Qing Deng has witnessed.

"Just remember not to compliment Okita on being 'cute' in front of him," Kondo shrugged. "You can compliment him on being good-looking or having delicate features, etc., that's fine too."

Soaking in a hot bath for a long time can cause blood to rush to the head, which is why it's easy to feel dizzy after soaking in a bath for too long.

Zhou Zhu was clearly in a dazed state.

His cheeks turned red, and his eyes were half-closed.

After Kondo's reminder to Aoto, a dazed Shusuke let out his signature "hohoho" laugh, then shook his head and said in a muffled, drunken tone:

"Well, Souji is just saying he doesn't like people calling him cute."

"If you tell him to his face that he's cute, he'll actually be very happy... um!"

Before Shusuke could finish speaking, a sharp pain in his buttocks stopped him from saying anything more—Kondo, sitting next to him, had secretly kicked him from beneath the water.

"Father, you seem a bit out of your mind. Should I help you out to sit down?"

"Master, did you say something just now?" Qingdeng had been a little distracted, and Zhou Zhu's words were rather vague, so Qingdeng hadn't heard what Zhou Zhu had said.

"Uh... I mean, my head's a little spinning from soaking." Shusuke, who'd just gotten a kick in the butt from Kondo, cleared his head considerably. "I'm going out now, you guys keep soaking."

After saying that, Zhou Zhu stood up quickly from the bath with a "whoosh," and then, under Qing Deng's bewildered gaze, left the bath room in two quick steps.

*******

*******

These past few days I've had more personal matters to attend to, so whether I can have a big update with the "W" character is up to fate for now...

Although today's chapter didn't reach 1 words, it's still quite a lot! So I'm still asking for some monthly votes! (Like a leopard crying.jpg)

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets!

Chapter 147 Another Instant Kill! The Final Opponent: Hiroshi Niizuma [8100]

Edo, somewhere, at the residence of Hiroshi Niizuma—

The new wife, Hiroshi, had already laid out the bedding in the bedroom and was lying in bed when she tossed and turned.

As soon as he closes his eyes, every scene he witnessed at the sword competition today will flash before his eyes.

Originally thought to be at most on par with him, Qing Deng actually displayed a swordsmanship far superior to his own. Adachi, Morishita and Osaki, who were on par with him and Niizuma Hiroshi, were all no match for Qing Deng and were all killed instantly by Qing Deng with a single sword strike...

Qingdeng, who delivered the most outstanding performance of the day, always elicited excited murmurs from the stands every time he stepped into a match…

Chiba Jutaro, who was usually extremely cold to him, and Chiba Eijiro, whom he had never had the chance to meet before, showed Aoto an attitude of enthusiasm that he had never shown to him before...

Every time he recalls the scenes he witnessed today, Hiroshi Niizuma's jaw clenches involuntarily, and the heavy stone pressing on his chest feels even heavier.

Although he was very reluctant to admit it... he was certain that he felt extremely jealous of Qing Deng.

From the moment he began learning swordsmanship, those around him consistently described him as a "genius" and "exceptionally talented"...

Despite his exceptional talent, he never slacked off in practicing swordsmanship.

He practiced swordsmanship diligently every day, and he was confident that he put in just as much effort as anyone else in the art.

With both talent and hard work, Hiroshi Niizuma's skills were always the most outstanding among the swordsmen who trained in the Edo period. Even Morishita and Osaki, who were known as the "Three Heroes" alongside him, were slightly inferior to him.

Throughout his time, he has never encountered anyone stronger than him—until this day…

The three sword strikes that Qing Deng used today to instantly kill Adachi, Morishita, and Osaki... every time Niizuma Hiroshi recalls them, a chill runs down his spine.

He couldn't help but wonder—what would he do if he were the one to receive Qing Deng's three sword strikes?

No matter how much he tried to deceive himself, Niizuma Hiroshi could only painfully admit that the gap in strength between him and Aotoji was simply too great. Even if he managed to withstand the first sword strike, he probably wouldn't be able to withstand Aotoji's second or third sword strike...

—Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!

Niizuma Hiroshi angrily rolled over in bed again, then kicked off the blanket covering him, mentally spewing out every swear word in Japanese to vent his frustration.

No matter what... he didn't want to lose in this swordsmanship competition!

A tournament of such grand scale, attended by the Chiba family and so many daimyo from various domains... is a rare treat in the current national situation!

Since the country's doors were forced open under the threat of gunboat diplomacy from the great powers, the political situation in Japan has been constantly changing.

In order to concentrate their energy and resources on preparing for a series of possible challenges and political changes, many large vassal states stopped funding large-scale martial arts competitions.

In other words, if you miss this swordsmanship tournament hosted by the Marquis of Aizu, you really don't know when you'll be able to encounter a competition of this scale again.

Hiroshi Niizuma participated in this tournament with the goal of "showing his strength to the Chiba family and to the world."

Before the competition officially began today, seeing so many powerful lords from various vassal states sitting on the "VIP table" only strengthened his resolve to achieve his goal.

He didn't want to miss this rare opportunity to showcase his abilities to the Chiba family and to everyone.

However... because of Tachibana Aoto's appearance, his goal has now become extremely distant.

Apart from Qing Deng, Shinjiro is not afraid of any of the other contestants, so as long as nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely have a battle with Qing Deng tomorrow.

Hiroshi Niizuma could already imagine what tomorrow's match would be like.

There must be many spectators in the stands discussing with great interest how many swords Qingdeng will need to kill him. There must be many people watching the match between him and Qingdeng purely for entertainment, wanting to see how Qingdeng will kill his new wife, Kuan.

Even disregarding the extremely realistic and pragmatic reasons such as "wanting to demonstrate his strength to the Chiba family," the strong sense of self-esteem that Shinjiro had cultivated from never having met his match among his peers made it extremely difficult for him to accept his crushing defeat to Aoto in front of everyone.

Uncontrollably, he imagined himself being killed by Aoto with a single sword strike, just like Morishita and Osaki... Hiroshi Niizuma felt the pent-up frustration in his chest intensify.

As his frustration intensified, another emotion arose in Shinzawa Hiroshi's heart—hatred.

Hatred for Qingdeng.