I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Number 25!"

"The 25th? Then we might have a chance to meet at the conference."

"Master, are you also going to watch the fireworks on the 25th?"

"Yeah. On the 25th, I'm going to the fireworks festival with my friends from the sword club to make a ruckus."

To be more precise, we have a chance to bump into each other at the conference no matter what day it is...

Qing Deng silently added this sentence to his mind.

—I'm going on a date with A-Wu tonight...

For Qingdeng, this was the first time a lone man and woman had gone out together.

Thinking of this, Qingdeng couldn't help but feel a little distracted.

Kinoshita Mai's pretty face kept appearing in Aoto's mind.

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Today is the last day of the month. Readers who still have monthly tickets, please be sure to vote for this book! After today, all your monthly tickets will expire. (Leopard dead.jpg)

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

With the new month just around the corner, the highly anticipated "Fireworks Festival Edition" is finally about to begin! Please look forward to seeing how "Time Management Master" Qing Deng spends these 3 days of the festival.

PS: In Edo, the fixed fire extinguisher is selected from 3 groups of first-move archers and 7 groups of first-move arquebusiers.

"Dinghuoxiao" and "Dinghuoxiao" which appeared many times in the previous episodes are two completely different fire brigades.

The former was the official fire brigade, composed entirely of samurai, whose main responsibility was to surround Edo Castle, where the shogun resided.

The latter is similar to a civilian fire brigade, which is specifically responsible for putting out fires for ordinary people.

Chapter 226 About taking Aoto to meet Kinoshita Mai's parents [7200 words]

Edo, the Thousand Things Shop—

"..."

Kiryu, who was sitting behind the counter, was looking intently at a letter in his hands.

This letter was written in a beautiful handwriting, and was signed with the single character "琳" at the end.

"Oh dear... this is really..."

After reading the last word of the letter, Kiryu, who was usually quite calm, raised an eyebrow, revealing a surprising and intriguing expression.

Suddenly—

Puff, puff...

A sound like something heavy falling to the ground came from the second floor.

Drawn by the strange noise, Kiryu put away the letter in his hand and looked up at the ceiling above him.

"What's that sound...? What is the young master doing..."

After saying this in a low voice, Kiryu got up, turned into the back corridor of the Senjiya, climbed the stairs, and went to the second floor.

Kinoshita Mai's bedroom door was not closed.

Therefore, when Kiryu arrived at Kinoshita Mai's boudoir with its door wide open, he could see the scene inside the room at a glance.

The room, which was always spotless and with everything neatly arranged, was now a complete mess.

Clothes, toys, strange items whose names I don't know... big and small things are scattered everywhere.

The tatami mats were so cluttered with all sorts of random things that there was hardly any room left to step on.

In this space that resembled a "garbage dump," Kiryu found his young master—Kinoshita Mai, who was dressed as always in her favorite red dress, kneeling in front of a small Western-style mirror with her little feet crossed under her buttocks.

She was tense all over, staring intently at the mirror in front of her, while carefully and cautiously moving the small makeup brush held by her right fingers, applying the bright red color from the tip of the brush to her lips.

I was so focused that I almost forgot to breathe and almost forgot to blink.

Beside Kinoshita Mai's knees sat a jar of lip rouge, no bigger than an adult's thumb, with the lid already open.

The term "lip rouge" can be understood as lipstick from the Edo period.

The lip gloss that Kinoshita Mai is applying to her lips is the most popular and sought-after style right now among young girls: "Sasairo Red".

Kiryu looked closely and discovered that, in addition to the lip balm, Kinoshita Mai also had various other cosmetics, such as light powder and eyeshadow, placed beside her knees.

Kiryu recognized all these cosmetics—they were gifts given to Kinoshita Mai by her grandmother on the eve of her departure from Osaka to Edo to train at the Senjiya (a business he ran).

Since it was a farewell gift for his granddaughter, he couldn't possibly be stingy and use cheap goods to make up the difference.

Take that lip gloss as an example—it's a priceless treasure, commissioned by Kinoshita Mai's grandmother and made by a special person.

Kiryu estimated that if he were to take this lip balm, which was no bigger than his thumb, and sell it on the market, he could fetch at least 10 taels of gold.

Ten taels of gold... an exorbitant price that would make anyone who knows the market price of lip balm gasp in shock.

It should be noted that even the most expensive lip rouge used by the courtesans of Yoshiwara only costs around one tael of gold.

Despite Kinoshita Mai's meticulous attention to her makeup, the contrast between her earnestness and the final result was striking...

Her hand holding the pen trembled uncontrollably, as if she were having a cold.

His lips were as uneven and pitted as muddy ground after rain.

Either the color is applied too heavily in one area, or too lightly in another, or you accidentally applied the lip gloss outside your lips...

The lip gloss, which is more than ten times more expensive than the cosmetics used by the courtesans of Yoshiwara, is now being used like cheap paint by a "job agency agent"... Such a bizarre sight would surely shock countless people.

Kinoshita Mai's makeup skills are so terrible that it's almost unbearable... but that's to be expected.

Because she doesn't like wearing makeup, she usually goes out without makeup.

Without relevant experience, it's impossible to create a beautiful makeup look.

The room was in complete disarray, and Kiryu was applying makeup with a lip gloss that his grandmother had given him, which he had never had a chance to use before... After piecing together all the information he had seen, Kiryu finally understood what had happened.

“…Young Master.”

"Ok?"

It wasn't until Kiryu spoke that Kinoshita Mai realized he was standing outside her bedroom.

She instinctively turned her face away... her face was turned around, but the hand holding the makeup brush remained frozen in place.

The face moved, but the pen did not... And so—starting from the corner of her mouth, the makeup pen drew a straight red line on Kinoshita Mai's delicate right cheek.

The face, already comical due to poor makeup, became even more ridiculous.

Kinoshita Mai made a huge blunder, and her face instantly turned the same shade as the "Sasairo Beni" she was wearing on her lips and face.

"Mr. Kiryu, what brings you here?"

Kinoshita Mai quickly grabbed a few sheets of tissue paper from beside her knees and wiped her right cheek and lips clean. She tried to speak to Kiryu in a calm tone, attempting to cover up her embarrassment.

"I heard strange noises coming from upstairs, so I came to check it out."

With a light and graceful movement, as if stepping on rocks protruding from the river's surface, Kiryu quickly walked to Kinoshita Mai's side and then sat down.

"Young Master, you've really gone to great lengths to look your best for tonight's outing with Tachibana-kun."

After saying this, Kiryu let out a teasing laugh.

Tonight, Aoto is going to watch the fireworks festival with Kinoshita Mai—by analyzing this information, it's not hard to guess why Kinoshita Mai's bedroom suddenly became a mess, and why she suddenly started putting on makeup.

Kiryu speculates that Kinoshita Mai plans to meet Aoto tonight with the best and most beautiful face she can currently achieve.

Having made up her mind, she resolved to dress herself up nicely.

However, because she doesn't usually wear makeup, she had no idea where the cosmetics her grandmother had given her were, so she searched everywhere and made a mess of the room.

What happened after that is unnecessary to elaborate on.

After turning the room upside down like a thief had broken in, she finally found the cosmetics her grandmother had given her. She then tried on her makeup in front of the mirror, but before she could finish applying her lipstick, Kiryu arrived.

Although these are Kiryu's personal speculations, he believes that the facts should not differ much from his conjectures.

As it turns out, Kiryu's guess was correct.

As soon as Kiryu's teasing laughter rang out, Kinoshita Mai's pretty face immediately turned bright red, the blush spreading all the way to her ears, and wisps of "steam" seemed to float from her forehead and cheeks.

Her expression silently told Kiryu that his guess was entirely correct.

Kiryu, finding Kinoshita Mai's reaction quite amusing, grinned even wider.

"Young Master, you really like Tachibana-kun."

"I……"

Upon hearing Kiryu's remark, Kinoshita Mai immediately looked up as if she had been scalded by hot water.

However, before she could even utter "I," Kiryu, having anticipated what she was about to say, preemptively interrupted her.

"Young Master, there's no need for explanations."

"Look at my age."

Kiryu raised his finger and pointed to his wrinkled old face and full head of silver hair.

"I have crossed more bridges than you have walked roads."

"Do you think I can't understand or figure out the behavior and thoughts of you young people?"

"There is nothing shameful about having feelings for someone."

“Young Master, you don’t need to hide your feelings for Tachibana-kun… at least not in front of me.”

Kinoshita Mai seemed to be touched by Kiryu's words, and her expression froze.

A moment later, she silently hunched her shoulders, buried her still flushed face, and looked away with a dazed expression.

Mai Kinoshita isn't some kind of dim-witted idiot.

In fact, she had long had a vague feeling that Kiryu must already know about her feelings for Aoto.

However, despite knowing this in her heart, she still felt uncontrollably ashamed after hearing Kiryu say, "You really like Tachibana-kun."