I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

However, since today is a rare day of celebration and great joy, Qing Deng decided to turn a blind eye and let the Souji indulge himself for once.

Qingdeng: "..."

Kinoshita Mai: "..."

Sanako: "..."

Souji: "Hmm? Tachibana-kun, you smell nice?"

Qing Deng: "Because you're smelling konpeito (Japanese sugar candy)."

Aoto, Kinoshita Mai, and Sanako remained silent for a long time... Aoto didn't know what to talk about, and he didn't know if the two women were like that.

The atmosphere between them was incredibly awkward for a moment.

Fortunately, the already drunk Souji would occasionally spout nonsensical nonsense that helped to liven up the atmosphere, preventing the atmosphere around them from becoming completely stiff.

In this silence, the first person to break the silence was the aloof and taciturn Sanako.

"Orange-kun, Radish has been acting a bit strange lately."

"radish?"

"Hmm. It used to seem to have inexhaustible energy every day, and would wander around the yard and sword hall after eating. But recently it has been very listless. Apart from still being very enthusiastic about eating, it spends most of its time lying in the corner of the yard, either spacing out or sleeping."

Is it sick?

Qingdeng still really likes his pet cow, which is both adorable and very intelligent.

Therefore, upon hearing that Luo Bo was unwell recently, he couldn't help but sound anxious.

Sanako shook her head.

"I had the vet examine Radish. The vet said Radish is perfectly healthy... The vet's diagnosis is that you haven't visited Radish in a long time, and Radish misses you, so he's been a bit depressed."

"Does Radish miss me?"

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng paused for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"That's true... I haven't visited him in a long time..."

One important matter after another has been coming up recently, one after another, keeping me busy.

After the "Red and White Battle" with Genbu Hall, there was a fireworks display featuring four women.

After the lively fireworks display ended, they busied themselves preparing to ascend the castle to pay homage to Tokugawa Iemochi and Tenshōin.

After meeting with these two big shots, he was then sent to the Moon Shrine by a secret order from Tokugawa Iemochi, and was conscripted into the New Oniwaban, which was "ostensibly a brand-new secret force, but secretly Tokugawa Iemochi's private army."

After finishing all that messy stuff, I started preparing for Kondo Isami's wedding...

Looking back and thinking about it carefully, it's true that Qing Deng hadn't visited Luo Bo at the Chiba Sword Hall for quite a while.

“I happen to be free tomorrow,” Qingdeng said. “I’ll go take a look at it tomorrow morning.”

Sanako nodded.

"Radish seems to be relying on you a bit too much... I personally feel that this is not a good thing."

"You're on vacation now, so you can still visit it and play with it frequently."

"When you officially switch to the Fire Thief class in two months and need to devote more time and energy to public service, leaving no time for other trivial matters... I really don't know how depressed Radish will be."

Faced with Sanako's lukewarm remarks, Aoto smiled noncommittally.

Qingdeng was transferred to Huofu Thief Office, and his official start date was November 1st... This was no secret.

The shogunate has really given Aoto a lot of benefits this time.

To reward Aoto and to allow him ample time to recuperate, the shogunate granted him a rest and recuperation leave that lasted until November.

In other words, Qingdeng can leisurely spend another two months on vacation.

Fire-related thieves reorganized, and the magistrate's office was relocated to a town—in terms of sheer busyness, the latter was actually busier.

After all, the latter's manpower was overwhelmingly insufficient. The combined strength and unity of the "three returns" of the Southern and Northern Expeditionary Offices did not exceed 40 people.

The Fire Thieves have a total of 8 squads, each with dozens of members.

When manpower is lacking, they can ask the first-strike archer group or the first-strike arquebus group for help.

Moreover, they only deal with major cases and important criminals that they are unable to handle.

Therefore, in general, the Fire Thief class is less stressful than the "Three Rounds" class... however, the danger and the death rate are much higher than the "Three Rounds" class.

However, no matter what, once Qingdeng officially joins the Fire Thief class in two months, he will definitely not be able to have as much time as he does now to do what he wants every day.

Just as Aoto and Sanako were having a casual chat about radishes—

"..." Kinoshita Mai, her lips drooping, raised her gaze and glanced furtively at Sanako. Then, her gaze fell on Aoto, and she gently bit her lower lip, her eyes filled with a complex and indescribable expression...

"It was just helping Qingdeng raise a cow..."

After muttering this in a voice only she could hear, feeling thirsty, she picked up the teacup beside her knees with both hands and drank it all in one gulp.

Kinoshita Mai drank the tea from the bottom of her cup in one gulp, but because she drank it too fast, she accidentally choked on the tea and it went down her trachea.

"Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Kinoshita Mai's rapid coughing interrupted Aoto and Sanako's conversation.

Aoto, whose attention had been drawn to Kinoshita Mai's rapid coughing, quickly turned his gaze over.

"A-Wu, what's wrong?"

"No...cough cough! It's nothing...I just drank the tea too fast...cough cough! I choked on it...cough cough cough!"

After saying that, Kinoshita Mai took out a pocket paper she always carried from inside the collar of her kimono.

Just as she was about to press the tissue to her lips to wipe away the tea and saliva remaining on them, she suddenly seemed to remember something, and glanced at Qingdeng sideways.

Immediately afterwards, she straightened her back slightly and performed a series of actions, such as bringing the tissue to her lips, wiping her lips, and folding the used tissue away, in an extremely light, slow, and elegant manner.

Whether it was Kinoshita Mai accidentally choking on her tea or taking out a tissue to wipe her mouth, they were just trivial matters that were not worth paying much attention to.

After confirming that Kinoshita Mai was simply drinking her tea too quickly, Aoto quietly withdrew his gaze and attention.

However, there was one person who paid extremely high attention to Kinoshita Mai...

"..." Sanako squinted, staring at Kinoshita Mai with a thoughtful and meaningful gaze.

After her conversation with Aoto was interrupted by Kinoshita Mai's cough, Sanako began to look at Kinoshita Mai with this strange expression.

Because Sanako is the only one closely following Kinoshita Mai, she is the only one who noticed that Kinoshita Mai deliberately made the gesture of wiping her mouth extremely elegant.

“…” Sanako, who is usually very conscious of her image, frowned her eyebrows in a rare manner.

At this moment, the commander, whose face had turned even redder, said something foolish again.

"Mmm~~ Orange, why do you smell so good again?"

“I already told you, you’re smelling konpeito.” Aoto said, as he skillfully snatched the wine glass from Souji’s hand. “Okita-kun, you can’t drink anymore.”

I had initially thought today was a special, celebratory day, so I turned a blind eye to Souji's excessive drinking. But now it seems I have no choice but to step in and control his drinking.

If Souji keeps drinking like this, she'll end up saying to the toilet filth, "Huh? Tachibana-kun, why do you smell so bad?"

The completely delirious Souji glanced at his empty hands, now bare after his wine glass had been taken from him, and pouted:

"Tch... stingy... hah~~"

Souji yawned loudly, then slumped to the side, falling towards Aoto. His little head landed perfectly on Aoto's left shoulder.

"Huh?" Startled by Souji's sudden leaning, Aoto looked at Souji with surprise and gently shook his left shoulder. "Hey, Okita-kun, wake up, wake up."

No matter how much Qingdeng shook his shoulders, the Souji remained unmoved... Instead, he twisted his body and neck, letting his little head climb up Qingdeng's left shoulder, his forehead getting closer to Qingdeng's neck.

The slender, light ponytail of the chieftain tickled Qing Deng.

"Mmm~~ Konpeito is so delicious... Hmm...? Why doesn't it taste like anything...?"

"Of course, because you're chewing on my haori."

Aoto looked at Souji, who was gnawing on the haori fabric on his left shoulder like a sheep, with a helpless expression.

Having confirmed that Souji had completely lost the consciousness of a normal person, Qing Deng gripped Souji's head with one hand and supported her shoulder with the other.

While making Souji release his grip, gently lay him flat on the tatami mat beside you.

When Souji's lips and teeth left Aoto's clothes, a large puddle of saliva and two rows of small, neat teeth marks appeared on Aoto's left shoulder haori.

To make Souji more comfortable, Aoto took off her haori and folded it into a pillow for her to lean on.

"..." Kinoshita Mai quietly took in the whole series of interactions between Aoto and Souji.

A moment later, she glanced sideways at the wine glass filled with liquor beside her knee.

In the cup, the calm, mirror-like surface of the water clearly reflected Kinoshita Mai's flattened face.

Kinoshita Mai, who was staring at her reflection in the water, took a deep breath.

A resolute look, as if he had made up his mind, appeared on his cheeks.

……

Five days ago... on the last night of the fireworks festival, when Kinoshita Mai learned that she wasn't the only girl who accompanied Aoto to watch the fireworks, she felt quite wronged, annoyed, and angry...

I wanted to punch Qingdeng right then and there.

She didn't tell Kiryu that Aoto was a "time management master".

At the tender age of 18, Kinoshita Mai has a strong sense of privacy.

How could she possibly bring herself to discuss such matters of youthful romance with an elder like Kiryu?

Therefore, Kiryu was unaware that Aoto had attended a fireworks festival with an extremely packed schedule and a "spectacular" event.

Although Kinoshita Mai even had the urge to punch Aoto hard at the time... it's amazing that, whether she felt annoyed or angry, most of these negative emotions disappeared the next day.

In another day, all these negative emotions will disappear.

All that remains is... the longing to know what Qingdeng is doing now.

Upon closer reflection, Qingdeng and I are neither engaged nor married.

Strictly speaking, to Qingdeng, I might just be a rather special friend.

If that's the case, then Qingdeng can go play with me, so naturally he can go play with other friends too!