I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Suddenly, Harada moved closer to Aoto.

Come and dance with us!

"Uh... I don't need to."

Qingdeng chuckled awkwardly a few times and politely declined.

Harada and his group's dance is too early for Aoto and for this era.

Qingdeng really has no interest in dancing like this.

Seeing that Aoto was unwilling to dance with them, Harada did not force him—he instead rushed to Saito's side.

"Saito! It's a rare banquet, why are you so quiet? Come on over and join the fun! Let's dance!"

"I don't need to..."

It's easy to imagine that even Aoto wouldn't want to dance this "timeless" dance with Harada and Nagakura, let alone the eccentric Saito.

As Harada warmly invited Saito to dance with them, Aoto suddenly noticed that Harada's steps seemed a little unsteady.

Qing Deng then raised his gaze to look at Harada's face.

Harada, who has a very high alcohol tolerance, has already finished several bottles of sake.

Although he was still in good spirits, his face was flushed.

Even so, the weakness and pallor hidden beneath the "rosy complexion" are still faintly visible.

Seeing this, Qingdeng couldn't help but think to himself:

—Hijikata's "collection" is really impressive...

A while ago, on the night Aoto discovered Souji's "true form," in order to cover Aoto's escape with the dazed Souji, Hijikata took Nagakura, Saito, and Harada away from the bathhouse under the pretext that "I want to give you some of my unwanted 'collections'."

To make the performance more convincing... Hijikata really did have a collection of something very special, and he actually gave some of his "collections" to Nagakura and the others.

The items collected by Hijikata... are personal information about the courtesans of Edo.

"Younu" refers to prostitutes.

During the Edo period, women who specialized in that kind of business were called "yūjo" (游女), and brothels were called "yūjo-ya" (游女屋).

Because of Japan's unique cultural customs, and the real need in such a highly class-stratified society for energetic young men to release their excess energy, courtesans and their shops were always recognized as legal professions and businesses by the Edo Shogunate.

To facilitate control, the Edo Shogunate only established one legal red-light district in Edo: Yoshiwara, located on the Nihon Embankment behind Senso-ji Temple.

An ancient temple with a history of over a thousand years is next to the country's largest red-light district... I don't know what the Japanese were thinking.

From another perspective... this seems to achieve a special kind of "one-stop service"—after venting in Yoshiwara, you can walk a few steps and turn a corner to Senso-ji Temple to repent for the sins of not controlling your lower body.

The Edo Shogunate had a strict rule: brothels could only be opened in Yoshiwara. Opening brothels anywhere other than Yoshiwara was illegal.

It's only natural that someone as womanizing as Hijikata, with so many girlfriends and ex-girlfriends that they could form several football teams to play in the group stage, would be a regular at Yoshiwara.

Out of personal interest and for his own amusement, Hijikata collected information on all the courtesans he had come into contact with and compiled it into "Hijikata Version: Yoshiwara Hosomi".

To make it easier for tourists to enjoy Yoshiwara, a popular, semi-annual publication called "Yoshiwara Hosomi" has been widely circulated and enjoyed for a long time.

Simply put, "Yoshiwara Hosomi" is a guidebook specially made for tourists visiting Yoshiwara.

At the beginning, the book titles were all sorts of different.

There were titles such as "Yoshiwara Sodekan", "Yoshiwara Suzaku", and "Yoshiwara Gaibutō", but later the title was gradually standardized as "Yoshiwara Hosomi".

The book contains detailed information such as maps of Yoshiwara, a list of teahouses, names of courtesans, their social classes, and fees.

Hijikata's personal creation, "Hijikata Version of Yoshiwara Hosomi," not only includes basic information such as the courtesan's name, class, and fee, but also advanced information that will make lecherous men feel their blood boil, such as her personality, skills, and any noteworthy advantages in her appearance or figure.

In addition to information on Yoshiwara courtesans, the "Hijikata Edition: Yoshiwara Hosomi" also includes information on courtesans from Okaba.

The so-called "oka-ji" (or "oka-ji") refers to underground brothels that were not permitted by the Edo Shogunate.

Although Yoshiwara was said to have 3000 courtesans, Edo had a population of over a million. There were far more men than women.

Severe supply and demand imbalance, huge costs of opening a shop in Yoshiwara, insufficient number of courtesans to warrant a large shop, and reluctance to pay taxes to the Edo Shogunate... These and many other reasons led to many people taking the risk of secretly opening brothels, even though the Edo Shogunate strictly cracked down on illegal brothels.

The main locations of Okaba in Edo were densely populated areas such as Shinagawa, Senju, Itabashi, and Naito Shinjuku.

Yoshiwara alone could not possibly satisfy the appetite of the incredibly energetic Hijikata.

While frequently visiting Yoshiwara, Hijikata also regularly went to various brothels to try different things.

The "collectibles" that Hijikata gave to Nagakura and the others were several copies of "Hijikata Edition of Yoshiwara Hosomi" that had been sitting in a closet for a long time and had not been touched because the information contained in them was outdated.

As far as Aoto knows, upon seeing that Hijikata's "collection" was actually this kind of thing, Harada's eyes lit up immediately, and he held it carefully in his arms without hesitation, as if it were some fragile treasure.

Despite his reluctance, Yongcang, while saying "How could I possibly accept this?", also reluctantly tucked it into his clothes.

Saito was the only one who politely declined Hijikata's offer, entering Hijikata's house empty-handed and leaving empty-handed as well.

During this period, Nagakura and Harada frequently left early and returned late, occasionally acting alongside Hijikata, sometimes not returning to Shieikan until dawn.

What did they go to do? It goes without saying…

This shared experience of meeting up with someone together has made Hijikata, Nagakura, and Harada's relationship particularly good lately.

Due to his personality and the influence of his upbringing, Aoto has always avoided places like Yoshiwara.

Qingdeng thought: He probably would never have any connection with people in the red-light district in his entire life!

Regardless of the circumstances, Harada's behavior of playing until his face turned pale and his steps became unsteady was truly inappropriate.

Just as Qing Deng was pondering whether he should find an opportunity to remind Harada to be more restrained, he suddenly noticed something dark moving in the lower right corner of his field of vision.

Turning my head, I saw that the wriggling black shadow was actually the commander's small hand.

After snatching the wine glass from the chief, Aoto casually placed it next to his right knee.

At that moment, Souji quietly reached her small hand to Aoto's right knee—she wanted to take back Aoto's wine glass while Aoto and Okita Hikaru weren't paying attention.

"Hey, Okita-kun."

Qing Deng, having just discovered Souji's intentions, quickly moved Souji's wine glass to a more distant place.

"I've already told you, you can't drink anymore."

Qing Deng tried hard to put on a stern face and deliberately used a harsh tone, hoping to make the commander back down.

However, faced with Qing Deng's serious admonition, Souji chuckled dismissively, and then...

"Hmm~ Just let me have one more drink...~~"

She used a soft, sweet voice that Qingdeng had never heard before to say to Qingdeng... no, it would be more accurate to say that she was "acting coquettishly towards Qingdeng".

After this display of affection, Souji blinked her big, watery eyes a few times, giving Aoto a pitiful look like an abandoned puppy.

Aoto, who was staring straight into Souji's eyes, couldn't help but twitch his lips.

—It seems Ms. Okita is quite drunk…

He found it hard to imagine that the commander-in-chief in his normal state would speak to him with such a tone and such an eye.

Being stared at by the commander with that kind of gaze... Qing Deng felt extremely uncomfortable.

Considering the hard work and contributions that Souji made in today's match... Aoto sighed with a soft heart.

He looked up and glanced at Okita Hikaru and Okita Rintaro not far away—they were focused on watching Harada and the others dance and were not paying attention to him and Souji.

After confirming that the Okita couple were not looking in their direction, Aoto carefully pushed the wine glass towards Souji.

"...You can only have one more drink."

"Hehehehe~"

Souji happily picked up her wine glass with both hands, turned his back to Okita Hikaru, and quickly filled the glass with wine before gulping it down.

Seeing the happy smile on Souji's face as he drank so much, Aoto's expression softened.

“…Okita-kun, that’s wonderful. You’ve finally reached the point where you can freely control your ‘momentum’.”

If we were to describe this morning's match against Xuanwu Hall using the words of a novelist... there would be no more fitting description than "full of twists and turns, with unexpected turns and setbacks."

If we were to pinpoint the biggest highlight of today's match... it would undoubtedly be Souji suddenly unleashing his "momentum," resulting in a fierce clash of "momentum" with Chiba Michizaburo!

After the competition, under Shusuke's guidance, Souji conducted several trials—although she was still somewhat unskilled, Souji had indeed reached the point where she could freely control her "momentum"!

Qingdeng is currently in a stage where its "momentum" only appears occasionally and is completely uncontrollable.

Therefore, compared to Qing Deng, the Souji is already a level above him.

Of course, one cannot simply use the ability to freely control one's "power" as an assessment of an individual's strength.

If Aoto and Souji were to have a one-on-one fight right now, Aoto would still have a very good chance of winning.

Hehe...~~

Hearing Qing Deng's praise, Souji raised his hand and smoothed the light ponytail at the back of her head.

"Tachibana-kun... this is all... thanks to you..."

The commander gave Aoto a long, sweeping look in his eyes.

The emotions hidden in one's eyes are elusive.

"Thanks to me?" Qing Deng was taken aback. "Why?"

Qing Deng couldn't recall ever doing anything to Souji that could help her break through her cultivation level.

"Ugh... ugh... so sleepy..."

The commander let out mumbled and groaned in a drunken state.

It's clear that she didn't hear Qing Deng's question at all.

Seeing that Souji had temporarily lost the ability to communicate normally with people, Qing Deng thought to himself:

—Never mind...I'll find another opportunity to ask her properly later.

……

……

—How strange…Is it just my imagination…?

Kinoshita Mai, who was sitting diagonally opposite Aoto, had been staring intently at Aoto and Souji with a scrutinizing gaze ever since.

For Kinoshita Mai, the seat she most wanted to sit next to Aoto was naturally next to him.