I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"While Mr. Angoulême and Miss Leroy think you're asleep, I'll sneak you to the fireworks festival. After you've had your fun, I'll quietly bring you back."

"Take me to the fireworks festival...?" Elodie murmured blankly. "How are you going to take me there?"

As soon as she said it, Elodie realized she had asked a stupid question.

At this very moment, Qing Deng sneaked into her boudoir by climbing through the window... Isn't it obvious how to get her out of here?

As expected, Qing Deng smiled and gave an answer that perfectly matched Elodie's expectations:

"Of course I'd sneak out the window behind your back."

Qingdeng turned around and glanced at the window, which was bathed in moonlight and shone silver.

"Luckily, your room has a large enough window, and the building isn't particularly tall."

"Master, wait a minute!"

Due to the intense fluctuations in her emotions, Elodie's tone unconsciously rose... Realizing belatedly that she seemed to be speaking too loudly, Elodie covered her mouth and turned to look at the door behind her.

After confirming that the corridor outside the room was quiet and that she had not disturbed Anthony and Leroy downstairs, Elodie breathed a sigh of relief, then raised her eyes again, which were flashing with panic, and looked at Qing Deng.

"Master, is everything you just said true? Can you really... secretly take me to the fireworks festival?"

Elodie's tone was cautious...

Wanting to touch something, but afraid of accidentally breaking it, so using a gentle movement as if not even daring to brush off a speck of dust—this is similar to Elodie's expression and manner of speaking at this moment.

Do you think I'm the kind of person who's so bored that I'd go to the trouble of sneaking into your room late at night just to amuse you?

Qingdeng made a small joke, then switched to a serious tone.

“Elodie, didn’t I tell you? I’m going to the fireworks festival tonight… with my friends.”

“I’ve thought it over carefully—since I’m going to the fireworks festival tonight anyway, I might as well take you with me.”

"My friends and I have agreed that they don't mind having a cute little companion tonight."

"Hmm..." A look of fear slowly crept onto Elodie's face. "So—Is it going out with Master and your friends... Master, my hair... I hope it won't upset some of your friends?"

After speaking, Elodie raised her hand and smoothed her long, light golden hair, which had slightly curled ends.

Hair color so different from that of East Asians...this is a synonym for "foreigner".

Qingdeng quickly said:

“My friends… although some of them look fierce, they are not bad people with bad character.”

"There are no mindless idiots who hate foreigners."

"So Elodie, you don't need to be afraid to contact them."

“If you really can’t get along with my friends… then you can stay with me and Okita-kun.”

"Do you remember Okita Souji? Okita-kun is here tonight too."

“Okita-kun?” Elodie’s eyes lit up slightly.

Two months ago, when Qing Deng was hospitalized at Renyitang Hospital to recover from his injuries, Elodie, who came to visit Qing Deng, had met Souji, who often came to the ward to take care of Qing Deng, several times.

Both of them are outgoing and fun-loving girls, so they have a lot in common.

The two women always had a pleasant conversation whenever they met.

Elodie and Souji get along very well, and Souji also likes this blonde loli with a similar personality to her.

Upon learning that her close friend Souji would also be accompanying them that night, Elodie's face immediately lit up with a lot more energy.

However... in the next instant, that youthful energy turned into a strange expression.

Under the influence of this strange expression, Elodie, whose entire face looked somewhat odd, turned around and looked at the door behind her again.

Seeing this, Qingdeng thought to himself:

—So she's still worried about Mr. Angoulême and Miss Leroy finding out she snuck out...

Elodie's dejected expression lingered in his mind, and he wanted to do something for his only disciple... It was for this simple reason that Qingdeng suddenly came up with the bold plan to "secretly take Elodie out," and went to great lengths to travel to the residence and sneak into Elodie's room.

Overall, Qingdeng's plan is actually quite comprehensive.

First of all, Qingdeng knew that Antony and Leroy, master and servant, did not have the habit of "checking out" at night to see if Elodie was asleep.

This is only natural.

What normal family would have nothing better to do than frequently go to their own child's or young master's room to check on their sleep?

In other words, if Elodie were secretly taken out of the house, they might not have to worry about Anthony and Leroy discovering their audacious act until dawn.

Secondly—after taking Elodie to the fireworks display, there's the issue of Elodie's safety…

Just kidding! Who will be by Elodie's side then?

Aoto, Souji, Kondo, Hijikata, Inoue, Saito, Nagakura, Harada, Todo...

The entire roster of Shieikan is here.

With this combination alone, let alone two or three disorganized and undisciplined anti-foreign patriots, even if a powerful anti-foreign group suddenly appeared at its peak, Qing Deng was confident that he could put them to the test.

However, no matter how perfect the plan is, it still needs the consent of the parties involved.

Elodie's gesture of turning back to look at the door made Qing Deng subconsciously think that the child must be instinctively resisting disobeying Anthony's orders.

After all, Anthony was her grandfather, the only person she depended on for survival.

Qing Deng witnessed firsthand how close the grandfather and grandson were during his time as Elodie's swordsmanship instructor.

Elodie is still just an innocent child, so it's normal for her to feel anxious and guilty about deceiving Anthony.

Just as Qingdeng was thinking this and was about to say something—

"...Hey, hehehehehe..."

A light laugh, brimming with excitement, reached Qing Deng's ears.

"Sneaking out in the middle of the night... sounds like a lot of fun...!"

Elodie turned around abruptly.

His sapphire-like eyes now shone with an intense, azure light.

Her lips curled upwards in a cute arc. Despite trying to suppress her laughter, it still escaped her lips.

He showed absolutely no signs of anxiety or remorse...

Elodie's appearance was completely different from what he had just expected, leaving Qingdeng dumbfounded.

"Master, if we set off for the fireworks display now, how long will it take us to get back?"

"Uh……"

Recovering from his daze at Elodie's question, Qingdeng mechanically and stiffly pulled out his pocket watch and glanced at the time.

"If you leave right after watching the fireworks... then you can be back in two hours at most."

"Two hours... okay...!"

Elodie gave Qingdeng a hard peck on the little head, then raised her expectant smile—her eyes, meeting Qingdeng's, shone with intense emotion.

This "emotion" is called "eager to try".

"Master, let's hurry up and get to the event sooner so we can experience more things...!"

"I want to do and see everything I want to do as soon as possible, and come back early to prevent Grandpa and Miss Leroy from finding out that I have sneaked out of the house."

"Ah, wait a minute, I need to change my clothes."

"You can't go out wearing a nightgown with an exotic flair..."

As Elodie talked to herself, she stomped her slippers and ran to the wardrobe opposite the foot of the bed. With a click, she opened the wardrobe door, revealing a variety of clothes that completely covered the inner walls of the wardrobe.

"..." Qing Deng stared blankly at Elodie, who was rummaging through the wardrobe with great interest... After a moment, he chuckled to himself.

—Oh yeah…how could I have forgotten…!

Qing Deng suddenly recalled how he had met Elodie—when he was visiting Eshima Shrine, he accidentally stumbled upon her, who had run away from the inn with the help of Kinoshita Mai and Leroy…

This mischievous child has a criminal record! How could he possibly feel any strong guilt about "secretly going out to play without Anthony's knowledge"?

I seem to have misjudged the child's true nature...

She is indeed a well-behaved child who is so sensible that she seems a bit precocious... but she can also occasionally show a very bold, mischievous, and adventurous side.

—No wonder you're a fan of Robin Hood, the "Robin Hood" thief...

Just as Qingdeng was silently lamenting this in his heart with a helpless tone—

"Ah, found it."

Qing Deng looked up and saw that Elodie had taken out a bright yellow yukata embroidered with extremely cute patterns, a headscarf, a white cat mask that only revealed a pair of eyes, and a pair of small yellow-buttoned wooden clogs from the wardrobe.

"This outfit was specially prepared for tonight... Great, I don't need to keep it hidden until next year."

After saying this with a smug look on her face, Elodie set up the partition next to the wardrobe to prevent outsiders from seeing her changing clothes.

"Master." Elodie tucked most of her body behind the partition, only peeking out with her small head facing Qingdeng. "Don't peek, okay?"

"I won't peek."

As Qingdeng said this in an annoyed tone, he turned around and faced away from Elodie.

Elodie chuckled, then pulled her head back, completely disappearing behind the thick barrier.

After a series of rustling sounds of someone changing clothes subsided—

"Master, do you think it looks good?"

Qing Deng turned around—a dazzling aura of youth instantly rushed towards him.

After changing into the bright yellow yukata, Elodie pinned her beautiful golden hair up on top of her head and covered it completely with a headscarf. She then carefully put on a mask to conceal her face.

To allow Qingdeng to see her new outfit more clearly, Elodie slightly parted her smooth little feet, which were wearing yellow clogs, and raised her hands to shoulder height.

"Yes, it looks great."

"The reaction is so lukewarm...!" Elodie lowered her outstretched arms in displeasure and pouted.

"...Haha." Looking at Elodie's current appearance, Qingdeng couldn't help but smile.

I'm back...