I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Having lived to be over ninety years old and seen many outrageous things that ordinary people wouldn't even dare to imagine, Kiryu was already quite familiar with the phenomenon of "becoming more beautiful because of love" in Kinoshita Mai.

A person with a gloomy temperament becomes increasingly lively after falling in love with someone...

A lazy person suddenly becomes diligent and hardworking after falling in love with someone...

An introverted person may become more proactive in engaging with the world after falling in love with someone...

Kinoshita Mai's feelings for Aoto were far more sincere and passionate than Kiryu had imagined—this was a realization Kiryu had recently come to.

Thinking about this, Kiryu couldn't help but ponder a serious matter—how would the relationship between Aoto and Kinoshita Mai develop? What were the two young people's thoughts and plans regarding this?

According to Kiryu's observation, there is no doubt that Aoto has a very high level of affection for Kinoshita Mai.

Both of them have now passed their coming-of-age ceremony and are of marriageable age.

Will Tachibana-kun marry the young master?

Also, besides the young master... will he marry other women?

In an era lacking advanced medical technology and hygiene concepts, it was extremely common for wealthy and powerful men to marry multiple wives to bring honor to their families and continue their lineage.

However, like ancient China, ancient Japan practiced the system of "one husband, one wife, and multiple concubines".

You can marry many wives, but you can only have one legal wife.

Due to his status, Kiryu had no say in or concern himself with Kinoshita Mai's future marriage.

He didn't know what conditions or requirements his lord had for his future grandson-in-law.

Kiryu only knew one thing: regardless of whether her lord allowed her future grandson-in-law to marry many other wives, her precious granddaughter had to be the legal wife!

There's no need to concern the lord with such matters.

Anyone with a little common sense knows that a concubine's status in a family is far inferior to that of the principal wife.

Given the lord's fierce and strong-willed nature, how could he possibly tolerate Kinoshita Mai's low status in the family being given to another woman?

Let alone our lord.

Kiryu himself couldn't tolerate Kinoshita Mai becoming someone else's concubine... even if that person was a disciple he admired.

Kiryu couldn't help but imagine—what would his reaction be if one day, Aoto told him, "I want to take Kinoshita Mai as a concubine and marry another woman as my wife"...

There should be a fierce battle between master and apprentice at that time!

Kiryu thought to himself with great certainty.

—As an aside… we can also ask Ogata-kun to lend a hand. Ogata-kun would definitely be happy to help teach a lesson to anyone who dares to bully the young master.

……

……

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Test Guard Hall——

"...Jun."

A sound came from afar.

“...Tachibana-kun”.

The sound gradually drew closer.

“...Orange-kun.”

A familiar voice.

"Hey Tachibana-kun, what are you spacing out for?"

A small, white hand waved back and forth in front of my eyes.

"……Um?"

Qingdeng snapped out of his "dazed" state and blinked hard a few times.

Then he lowered his chin and looked at Souji, who was standing in front of him, standing on tiptoe and waving his right hand back and forth in front of him.

"I've finally come to my senses."

The commander relaxed his toes, and his feet returned to the ground.

"Tachibana-kun, I've been calling you the whole time, I practically whispered in your ear, but you didn't react at all. What were you thinking about? You seemed so engrossed in your thoughts."

"Uh...it's nothing..." Qing Deng raised his hand to rub his face, trying to cover his embarrassment while changing the subject, "Has Hijikata arrived?"

"Not yet," Souji replied. "Mr. Hijikata is still fixing his hair. Honestly... it's just combing his hair, why does it take so long..."

At this very moment, Aoto, Souji, Kondo, Inoue, Saito, Nagakura, Harada—these young people from the Shieikan Academy, along with Todo who had been invited, were gathered at the entrance of the Shieikan Academy.

Tonight is the last night of the fireworks display.

It was also the night when these young people from the Test Guard Hall got together to go to the fireworks festival.

Originally, in addition to Todo Heisuke, who often appeared at the Shieikan, they also extended invitations to Shusuke, Abi, Kyubei, Souji's sister and brother-in-law, and others.

Todo readily nodded and accepted the invitation.

Zhou Zhu and his companions declined, citing reasons such as "we are too old to handle such lively activities" and "we are not interested in places with a lot of people."

In the end, the only people who participated in tonight's event were these hot-blooded young men.

Right now, everyone, dressed neatly, has gathered at the entrance of the Shieikan Hall... except for Hijikata.

"Wait a moment, I want to comb my hair. It'll be right away"—these were Hijikata's exact words to everyone five minutes earlier.

Since Hijikata has said so, we can only wait for him.

In various postures, such as sitting or standing, people sprawled out in the entryway, creating a diverse array of expressions.

Saito, who seems to be a sloth reincarnated and likes to sit still and daydream, stands in an inconspicuous corner, lost in thought.

Nagakura, Harada, and Todo sat on the wooden veranda next to the entrance, chatting idly.

Kondo and Inoue discussed the recent business situation of Shieikan with serious expressions.

The commander woke up Aoto, who had been lost in thought.

Everyone changed into summery yukatas tonight, except for Aoto and Souji, who were still dressed formally.

Underwear, trousers, cloth socks, straw sandals... nothing was missing.

Qing Deng wore this outfit so that he could easily fight if he encountered remnants of the Taoyi Group who might come seeking revenge outdoors.

The reason Souji dressed like this was to prevent others from recognizing her as a girl.

On another note—Souji wore a new purple hakama tonight.

Five neat pleats are folded into the front, perfectly outlining the slender waist of the character.

The souji's new purple hakama, along with her white blouse, the purple ribbon that tied her hair, and the purple-buttoned wooden clogs, created a harmonious color scheme.

The vibrant purple adds a lot of liveliness and youthful energy to the headquarters.

Although his mind was temporarily brought back to reality by Souji's call... at the moment, Aoto's consciousness began to "detach" from his body again without his awareness.

The scenes I witnessed this morning flashed before Qingdeng's eyes again, like snowflakes falling in a flurry.

……

(Anyway, there's a fireworks display every year; if you can't go this year, you can wait until next year.)

……

(Haha... It's okay... Master, you don't need to look like that. If you can't go, you can't go...!)

……

The words Elodie said to him this morning still ring in Qing Deng's ears.

Elodie's forced smile hadn't left Qingdeng's mind all day.

Saying things like "It's okay, it's okay" or "We can go next year"... it's all just empty talk.

If she really wasn't disappointed about missing this year's fireworks display, she wouldn't be here this morning with her eyes red and swollen from crying.

She's still just a 12-year-old child.

Although she pretended to be mature and indifferent, her words and expression today revealed her sadness and longing to Qingdeng.

Thinking of this, Qingdeng felt increasingly distressed and depressed.

—Is there really nothing... that I, as the master, can do...?

Qingdeng raised his hand impatiently and rubbed his temples vigorously.

Sudden--

"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Hijikata's voice finally came through, and he quickly approached the group along with his footsteps.

"It's so slow!"

Souji, who was squatting next to Aoto to rest, stood up and continued irritably.

"It's just getting your hair done, why does it take so long... hmm?"

The rest of her words caught in Souji's throat, unable to be uttered—and in that instant, as she looked toward Hijikata from the direction of the sound, she was speechless.

Not only the chief commander is like this.

Aoto, Kondo... in short, everyone present now focused their astonished gazes on Hijikata, who was striding towards them.

"Sorry, it's been a long time since I've had such a formal hairstyle."

Hijikata grinned as he reached up and touched the topknot of his hair.

"So I accidentally spent a little more time."

Hijikata usually didn't care much about his hairstyle. He would often just tie his hair up casually at the back of his head with a thin ribbon.

And now, he has actually braided a rather neat and beautiful bun.

The hair on her temples and forehead was all neatly combed and shiny.

This serious hairstyle completely changed Hijikata's demeanor, making him less of a hoodlum and more of a gentleman.

With that kind of temperament and his dashing, handsome face... it's hard to imagine that this handsome man is actually a farmer and a hoodlum who has absolutely nothing to do with being a "refined gentleman".