I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"He has only been learning swordsmanship for about eight months at most."

"In just eight months, he surpassed almost all the disciples of our Chiba Sword Hall."

"If I were to compete against the current Tachibana-kun, I would most likely lose more often than win."

Chiba Jutaro spoke eloquently... with the air of "I could talk about Tachibana-kun's merits for three days and three nights."

Just as Chiba Jutaro was getting more and more excited and enthusiastic as he spoke, Chiba Tamon Shiro interjected at the right moment, interrupting Chiba Jutaro's seemingly endless praise of Aoto.

“Brother Shige, I agree with all your praise of Tachibana-kun. But—” Chiba Tamon Shiro changed the subject, “The most important quality of Sanako’s husband should be that Sanako loves him, right?”

No sooner had Chiba Tamon Shiro finished speaking than Chiba Jutaro excitedly exclaimed:

"Brother Duomen, you've hit the nail on the head."

"The most important reason why I think Tachibana and Sanako are a good match is that I recently discovered that Sanako doesn't have any ill feelings towards Tachibana, and may even have some affection for him."

"Feelings for someone...? Brother Chong, are you... sure?"

Chiba Tamon Shiro looked stunned and confused.

Although he was only Sanako's cousin, he and Sanako had grown up together since childhood.

He knew his cousin's personality all too well—he had basically never seen her show any obvious affection for any man other than her family.

Chiba Jutaro's words just now had indeed caused him some psychological shock.

“Of course I’m sure.” Chiba Jutaro nodded vigorously. “I’m her older brother, and we live under the same roof. I see most of her every move right under my nose.”

After speaking, Chiba Jutaro let out a long sigh with a look of deep emotion.

"What a twist of fate... Just a few months ago, I really thought that Tachibana-kun and Sanako had no chance."

Back then, when Sanako accidentally discovered his "Preparatory Brother-in-Law Handbook" and Sanako said, "I will not like Tachibana-kun," Chiba Jutaro's heart sank.

He immediately thought: It's over, the excellent sister-in-law candidate he finally found has been rejected by Sanako again...

At that time, he had basically given up on the idea of ​​bringing Aoto and Sanako together.

It wasn't until recently, when Aoto started frequently visiting the Chiba Kendo Hall, that this almost extinguished "hope" was rekindled.

Over the past two months, Chiba Jutaro has witnessed firsthand how amicable the relationship was between Aoto and Sanako.

Every time Qing Deng comes to the Chiba Sword Hall, he always makes sure to meet and chat with Sanako.

Sanako never resisted spending time with Aoto.

Chiba Jutaro had seen his sister, who was usually so serious that she was almost rigid and rarely smiled, smile slightly several times during her conversations with Aoto.

Seeing this scene, Chiba Jutaro's mind started to stir again!

There is a play!

What? I wouldn't like Tachibana-kun? Sanako, you and Tachibana-kun have a pretty good relationship!

Chiba Jutaro had already decided that if he missed Tachibana-kun, he didn't know when he would be able to meet such a suitable "prospective brother-in-law" again.

Therefore, after discovering that Sanako did not seem to be as resistant to Aoto as she had originally claimed, Chiba Jutaro's fighting spirit and determination to "bring Aoto and Sanako together" were reignited.

As the saying goes, "Many hands make light work."

Determined that "I can't let go of Tachibana no matter what," Chiba Jutaro decided to find some allies who could help him!

And the most suitable comrades-in-arms are naturally one's own blood relatives.

This is why Chiba Jutaro suddenly sought out Chiba Tamon Shiro at this time to discuss Sanako's marriage.

At this moment, Chiba Jutaro finally revealed his true colors to Chiba Tamon Shiro.

"In short, I have thoroughly investigated Tachibana-kun. In terms of character, talent, and the closeness of his relationship with Sanako, no one is more suitable to be my brother-in-law than Tachibana-kun."

“Brother Duomen, let me be frank with you: since you also acknowledge that Tachibana-kun is excellent, then come and assist me.”

"What we need to do is very simple: work together with me to try to make Tachibana-kun and Sana-ko's marriage happen."

Upon hearing this, Chiba Tamon Shiro paused for a moment, then opened his mouth, a faint look of anxiety on his face, as if he was in a hurry to say something.

But before he could even utter a word, Chiba Jutaro cut him off:

“Zanako is already 22 years old this year. If she waits a few more years, she may really not be able to find a good family to marry into. Zanako will have to live a lonely life.”

"What's worse is that there might be some idle people gossiping and slandering Sanako for having some kind of physical defect, or fabricating stories about our Chiba family, saying that our family is too strict with Sanako's husband, which is why Sanako, who shouldn't be single, is left all alone."

Chiba Jutaro is truly a master manipulator.

His words hit Chiba Tamon Shiro's two most important concerns—family and the reputation of his clan.

Chiba Tamon Shiro cares deeply for his family and is extremely proud of the achievements his family has made.

Someone is slandering Sanako and defaming the Chiba family... Chiba Tamon Shiro cannot tolerate this!

Chiba Tamon Shiro, who had just looked conflicted, now had a change in expression.

He looked intently into Chiba Jutaro's eyes, and after a moment, nodded solemnly.

“…I understand. Then, Brother Chong, please allow me to do my bit.”

Finally, he'd recruited his first "ally"... Before Chiba Jutaro could even feel happy about it, he heard Chiba Tamon Shiro ask him quickly:

"Brother Chong, now that we are in a relationship of mutual support, may I ask a question: what ideas do you have for bringing Tachibana-kun and Sanako together?"

Chiba Jutaro's expression froze at that moment.

Noticing the change in Chiba Jutaro's expression, Chiba Tamon Shiro slowly lowered his eyelids and half-closed his eyes.

"...Brother Chong, you don't actually have any plans at all, do you?"

"Ah, hahahaha..." Chiba Jutaro glanced sideways, guiltily avoiding eye contact with Chiba Tamon Shiro. "Ta-da, of course I have a plan. Look, I just successfully created an environment where Tachibana-kun and Sanako could be alone by 'taking Tachibana-kun to rest in the inner courtyard'."

"So you had Sanako take Tachibana to the inner courtyard to create an environment for the two of them to be alone... It's amazing that you were able to come up with so many irrefutable reasons. This kind of clever trick that you just came up with on a whim doesn't count. I'm asking if you have any long-term plans."

Chiba Jutaro: "..."

Chiba Tamon Shiro: "..."

After a 10-second silence, both sides...

"...So, Brother Chong, you don't have any long-term plans at all?"

"Hahaha……"

Chiba Jutaro just chuckled and didn't say anything.

He would never tell anyone the truth: the main reason he wanted to find comrades-in-arms was that he didn't know much about matters between men and women, so he wanted to find some people to help him with his advice.

"I admit I don't have any long-term plans at the moment... but that's where the importance of partners comes in, isn't it? As long as we brothers work together, we're sure to come up with a lot of brilliant ideas. So, Chiba Tamon Shiro, do you have any good ideas on how to bring Tachibana-kun and Sanako together?"

Chiba Tamon Shiro: "..."

Chiba Jutaro: "..."

After a 10-second silence—

"...So you don't have any good ideas either?"

“Brother Shige… I’m still unmarried, and the young girl I’ve been most… no, I should say the only one I’ve been frequently in contact with is Sanako.”

Chiba Tamon Shiro used a tactful tone to explain that he was also not good at interacting with girls.

At that moment, Chiba Jutaro suddenly realized: finding comrades-in-arms shouldn't be done haphazardly... The result of finding them haphazardly might be this: two "emotionally useless" people staring at each other blankly.

"Alright then..." Chiba Tamon Shiro gave himself a way out, "We'll think about it later..."

At that moment, several strange noises suddenly came from outside the window:

Whoosh—smack!

Whoosh—smack!

Whoosh—smack!

……

Chiba Tamon Shiro frowned as he looked out the window.

"Tsk, so noisy... Has the Keystore been adjusting the fireworks a bit too often lately...?"

The strange noises that came from outside the window just now were the sounds of fireworks that Keyhouse Test would be setting off at the fireworks festival.

As the date for the fireworks festival draws ever closer, the frequency of fireworks tests at the Keya restaurant increases.

Chiba Tamon Shiro is the kind of person who completely doesn't understand what's so interesting about fireworks.

He was so engrossed in complaining about the fireworks test at the Keya that he didn't notice at all that Chiba Jutaro next to him was staring blankly out the window in the direction from which the sound of the fireworks was coming.

The pupils become unfocused because the brain is in a state of focused thinking.

A moment later, as if he had thought of something fun or interesting, a joyful smile gradually spread across his face.

"Yeah... how come I didn't think of that..."

……

……

Little Chiba Sword Hall, Inner Courtyard—

After trying his best to comfort Sanako, Qing Deng suddenly heard a few strange noises coming from the bushes in front of him.

As soon as he looked up at the sound, he saw a frog, about half the size of his palm, dart out of the grass in front of him and leap toward his face as he was crouching on the ground.

Qingdeng has always maintained the attitude of "don't let this creature appear in front of me" towards frogs whose appearance he cannot appreciate.

Suddenly, a huge creature that he disliked jumped towards his face... Qing Deng was naturally startled.

"Whoa!"

He instinctively stood up and shouted, but in doing so, he knocked over the basin of water.

Qingdeng had just wiped the sweat off his upper body and hadn't even put on his clothes yet, so he was still shirtless.

Startled by Qing Deng's sudden shout, Sanako turned around instinctively, asking urgently, "What's wrong?" and saw a half-naked male body...

Since transmigrating to this era, Qingdeng has been diligently exercising every day to strengthen his physique. Relying on his superb self-discipline, he has never slacked off, except for unavoidable periods such as recuperating from injuries.

Combining "eating" and "training" is the only way to make the body stronger as quickly as possible. So, once his wallet was a little better, Qingdeng started buying meat to eat and encouraged everyone at the testing center to eat with him.

At first, the two elderly people, Shusuke and Abi, couldn't accept eating meat, but fortunately, Kondo and Okita were very open-minded.