I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Another group of people came to visit Qingdeng.

The people who came this time were the Kondo family.

Kondo, Shusuke, and Abiko, carrying some gifts, filed into the room through the open door. They were all surprised to see so many people in Aoto's ward.

After Aoto moved into Shieikan, Arima and the others visited Shieikan, so they all had a brief encounter with the Kondo family.

Upon seeing that it was the Kondo family, Arima and his group immediately offered polite greetings. The Kondo family quickly straightened up and responded.

Looking at the ward that had unknowingly become incredibly lively, Qingdeng couldn't help but chuckle: "We have so many guests today..."

Aoto's subconscious remark... seemed to remind Arima of something.

Arima paused for a moment, then raised his gaze and smiled slightly at Qing Deng:

"Yes, quite a few people came to visit you today."

"Tachibana-kun, actually, the reason we came here today, besides visiting you, is that we also have a small task."

"A small task?" Qing Deng looked at Arima with a questioning gaze.

“Three other people also want to come and visit you,” Arima said calmly with a smile in his voice. “But their identities are rather special, and it’s not convenient for them to move freely on the streets of Edo until the city’s security is completely stable.”

"So they asked us, the officers, to help them bring them to see you."

Arima turned his head and glanced at the sky outside the window next to him.

"Judging by the time, they should be here soon."

Pat, pat, pat, pat...

Several more footsteps approached Qingdeng's ward from the direction of the corridor.

However, the footsteps that came this time were quite different from the footsteps of Arima and the others before.

Among the footsteps heard this time, one footstep was particularly light.

It sounded like a child's footsteps.

—Could it be that…?

Qing Deng's eyes widened slightly... He vaguely guessed who had come this time.

The scene that followed immediately confirmed Qingdeng's conjecture.

Knock, knock, knock—a deep, resonant male voice entered the room along with the knocking: "Lord Inugaya, it's me. I've brought everyone with me."

"Hmm." Inugaya turned to look at the closed door. "Bring them in."

The door opened the moment after Inugami finished speaking.

The person who pushed open the door was a very strong and muscular man. Qing Deng recognized him; he was Okabiki, a subordinate of Inugaya.

Inoya's Okabe didn't enter the room. After pushing open the door, he stepped to the side, revealing the three people standing behind him.

The three people have vastly different body sizes, which makes their appearance when standing together look strangely comical.

One was an extremely obese, round man whose huge belly pushed his clothes forward forcefully.

One was a short, slender girl.

One is a woman whose height and figure can only be described as average.

They were all dressed in kimonos, which are common in the market, and wearing straw hats with low brims that could cover their entire faces.

There was no need to look at their faces... just by looking at the trio's figures, Qing Deng recognized who they were.

Qingdeng's eyes widened in surprise, and before he could even greet her, the little girl pushed aside her straw hat, revealing her beautiful light golden hair and jewel-like sky-blue eyes. Calling Qingdeng's name, she excitedly took small, quick steps to his side.

"Mr. Tachibana!"

It was Elodie.

……

……

"Mr. Ju...you saved our family again..."

Anthony, who was sitting respectfully on the edge of Qingdeng's bed in a kneeling posture that he was not used to, let out a long breath with his heart surging.

Once again, he escaped death and was saved by Qingdeng... Anthony's gratitude towards Qingdeng was beyond words.

"Thank you so much..."

Anthony placed his hands on the ground in a V-shape, bowed respectfully, and gave Qingdeng a deep salute.

“Mr. Orange, thank you…” Elodie’s words of thanks followed immediately after Anthony’s.

Elodie and Leroy, who were sitting on either side of Anthony, also bowed deeply to Qingdeng, expressing their gratitude in a respectful tone.

Just now, after reuniting with Qingdeng in the ward, Anthony first inquired about Qingdeng's health, and then apologized to Qingdeng with a look of shame, saying, "It's really wrong of me to take so long to come and visit the savior who has saved my family twice."

According to Anthony, after learning that Qing Deng was hospitalized at Renyitang, he wanted to visit Qing Deng as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, the residence that was attacked was severely damaged. Although his family was very lucky to escape the fire, there were still a lot of miscellaneous things that he needed to deal with one by one.

Their status as foreigners also made it difficult for them to move freely outside their place of residence. If they wanted to safely go to Renyi Hall, it was best to ask the government officials to help them make the connection.

So, after much back and forth, Elodie and her family finally had the time and opportunity to visit Qingdeng today.

In response to Anthony's apology, Qing Deng simply smiled and said nonchalantly: "It's okay, I understand. There's no need to apologize for these trivial matters."

Qingdeng didn't care at all about the timing or duration of visits.

After apologizing to Deng, Anthony immediately went on to express his gratitude in a lengthy "thank you" manner.

Qingdeng is not good at dealing with people thanking him.

Whenever someone sincerely thanks him, Qingdeng feels at a loss for how to respond, what to say, or what to do.

When faced with this situation, Qingdeng's most common approach is to force a smile and say, "No need for formalities," "I just did what I should do," "There's no need to thank me for such a trivial matter."

At this moment, Qing Deng used his "three tricks" to deal with Elodie's family's thanks.

The Elodie family kept thanking Qingdeng, while Qingdeng kept saying "no need for formalities"... and so the two sides engaged in a fierce "tug-of-war" back and forth.

Finally, this protracted battle came to an end at just the right moment.

Finally, they were able to properly thank their benefactor who had saved them once again... Anthony breathed a sigh of relief, a look of contentment on his face.

Qing Deng also showed a relieved expression because he no longer had to deal with "thank yous from others," something he was not good at handling.

Qingdeng wanted to ask about Elodie and her family's recent situation, so he cleared his throat:

“Mr. Angoulême, you… um? Miss Angoulême, what’s wrong? Why do you look so strange?”

At this moment, Qingdeng suddenly noticed that Elodie looked a little strange.

From the moment she started, Elodie had been keeping her head slightly lowered, her eyes fixed on the tatami mat in front of her rounded knees.

Her lips were pressed tightly together, and her two small hands, which were naturally resting on her legs, were intertwined.

He looked like he was thinking about something or wanted to say something.

When Qing Deng suddenly called her name, Elodie's body trembled slightly.

"I...I'm fine."

Elodie forced a slightly unnatural smile at Qingdeng.

"It's just...it's just that I was a little distracted and spacing out."

A slight unease stirred in Qingdeng's heart... He always felt that Elodie seemed to be hiding something.

However, in this situation, Qingdeng could not press Elodie for more information. He could only look at Elodie with a puzzled expression before looking away.

……

……

Carmelo Anthony is indeed a businessman; his social skills are outstanding.

While chatting with Qingdeng about his family's recent situation, Anthony used his excellent conversational skills to get the rest of the people in the ward to join in the conversation.

Even though he wasn't very familiar with Kondo, Okita, Arima, and others, Anthony was still able to chat with them without any hesitation.

Thanks to Anthony's social skills, the ward, which is currently crowded with patients from all walks of life, is constantly filled with lively conversations.

While chatting with the others, Qingdeng noticed once again that Elodie was acting strangely again.

After joining Anthony in thanking Qing Deng for saving them once again, Elodie became unusually quiet.

He didn't make much noise, just sat there quietly.

Every now and then he would lower his head, revealing an expression that seemed to indicate he was thinking about something or had something to say.

What happened to Miss Angoulême? — This question arose in Qing Deng's mind once again.

Qingdeng wanted to ask Elodie again why she seemed so preoccupied. However, the arrival of an uninvited guest prevented Qingdeng from doing so.

Suddenly, Bei Fangren, Qingdeng's attending physician, opened the door to the ward and appeared before everyone.

The reason why Bei Fangren came suddenly was not for any other reason than to remind everyone that Qing Deng still needs to rest and should not be visited for too long.

After leaving this reminder, Beifang Ren left.

Even a fool could see that Bei Fangren was subtly reminding them: your visits have been going on for too long and are affecting the patient's rest and recovery.

So, feeling embarrassed to stay any longer, everyone got up and took their leave.

“Mr. Ju.” Anthony bowed slightly to Qingdeng. “Then we will take our leave. We will not disturb your rest any longer. We will come to visit you again when we have the opportunity.”

"Yes." Qingdeng smiled politely. "I'll be waiting anytime."

After bidding farewell to Qingdeng one by one, the group began to file out of the room.

But at that moment... a high-pitched shout filled with anxiety stopped everyone in their tracks and drew their attention.

"Grandpa...Grandpa! Can you wait a little longer before you leave? I have something I want to say to Mr. Ju!"

Everyone in the ward, including Qingdeng, turned their gazes in surprise to the owner of the shout—Elodie, who was still kneeling on the spot with her two small hands clenched tightly on her lap.

“Elodie?” Anthony was taken aback. “What do you want to say to Mr. Orange?”

Elodie ignored her grandfather's questioning.

She seemed to be trying to gather strength within her petite body, taking several deep breaths in succession.