I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

His lackey, Tsuchida Masaoki, stood behind him with his hands on his hips, looking quite smug.

"It's nothing."

Kimura Kazuma said without any emotion.

"I just wanted to tell you, the newcomer, about some of the rules you must follow when serving in this place."

"rule?"

Qing Deng raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly.

"Thank you for your kindness. However, Lord Kurosawa has already explained to me all the rules that the Fire Thief must follow, so there's no need for you to go to any more trouble."

"Lord Kurosawa did not finish his sentence just now."

Kimura Kazuma answered without hesitation.

"In fact, there is an unspoken rule in the Fire Thieves' Association: juniors must know how to respect their elders."

"Oh?" Qing Deng's eyelids drooped slightly.

"Although the Fire and Thieves Bureau is nominally a special security department that is responsible for handling major cases and important criminals that are difficult for the magistrates and the eight provinces to handle."

"But in reality, it is an army without a doubt!"

"The military is an organization, and organizations need order and discipline."

"If even basic respect for elders and superiors is lacking, how can we talk about order and discipline?"

At this point, Kimura Kazuma seemed to have reached his limit, and a hint of disgust appeared on his face.

"As a newcomer who has only started this job today, you have been speaking to me in a tone of being an equal, without using any honorifics or titles."

"An honorific title...like 'The Heavenly King, the Grand Commander'?" Qing Deng interrupted Kimura Kazuma with a smile.

Qingdeng's "honorific" remark elicited a hearty laugh from my grandson standing nearby.

"I haven't finished speaking! Don't interrupt!"

Aoto interrupted him without reason and continued to make jokes, which clearly angered Kimura Kazuma.

He took a deep breath, suppressing his displeasure, and continued:

“Everyone here is your elder, and has served in this great army for a long time.”

"I hope that you will use appropriate honorifics and respectful language when you speak with us in the future."

"And you must not interrupt your seniors while they are speaking, just like you did before!"

Kazuma Kimura's tone was stiff and cold, full of commands, and didn't sound like he was giving Aoto any "advice".

Just then, a fly flew in through the window and hovered above Aoto and Kimura Kazuma's heads.

Qingdeng rolled his eyes upwards without any expression, staring directly at the fly.

Sensing the discordant atmosphere between Aoto and Kimura Kazuma, Kanazawa coughed lightly and strode over.

"Alright, Kimura-kun. Speak properly when you're speaking, don't get so angry."

My grandson also stopped standing idly by.

"Alright, alright~ Kimura, I've never used honorifics or respectful titles on you before, so why don't you advise me to be more respectful? Oh dear~ Is it because my family's social standing isn't much lower than yours, so you don't dare to mess with me? Sorry, sorry~ I almost forgot you're the type to treat people differently depending on who you're dealing with~~"

However, my grandson didn't seem to be there to mediate at all; he seemed more like he was there to stir up trouble...

Just as Kimura was glaring angrily at his grandson who had suddenly jumped out and mocked him—

“Senior… ah…” Qing Deng sighed softly.

What happened next truly happened in an instant.

The cord of Kimura's haori, which was tightly tied around her neck, suddenly broke.

A bright silver blade of light filled the vision of everyone present in an instant, and then disappeared in the next instant.

Kimura's pupils shrank to the size of pinholes, and his dark eyes narrowed inward, turning into a pair of cross-eyed stares—he was staring with those cross-eyed stares at a sharp object held in front of his nose.

The blade tip gleamed with a blinding, cold light.

"Ahhhh!"

Kimura, who was slow to react, let out a series of screams and instinctively backed away, trying to get away from the blade that had been used to subdue the demon.

However, because he retreated too quickly, he accidentally bumped into Tsuchida Masaoki, who was standing behind him.

The two screamed and fell to the ground.

"Actually, I've been annoyed by this buzzing fly ever since I started looking at it."

Qingdeng smiled. When he mentioned the word "fly," he seemed to emphasize it deliberately, as if making a pointed remark.

At this moment, everyone noticed that the Ding Guishen sword, which was lying flat in Qing Deng's hand, had two "black ink" spots on its blade. Upon closer inspection, they were the corpses of flies.

To be more precise, it was a fly carcass that had been vertically cut into two pieces.

"I wanted to wait for it to fly away quietly, but for some reason it just wouldn't roll to the side."

"There's no other way but to use some rather rough methods to stop it from barking."

With that, Qing Deng flicked his wrist, using a skillful Blood Vibration to send the dead fly off the blade to his feet.

"Ok?"

Aoto looked at Kimura Kazuma, who was still sitting on the tatami mat with his four legs in the air, with a look of "surprise".

"To strike such an unseemly pose in front of a junior... isn't that a bit too impolite and disrespectful? What do you think, senior?"

With incredibly clear pronunciation, Qingdeng pronounced the last word, "predecessor," with utmost clarity and loudness.

*******

*******

I think "flies don't land on eggs without cracks" and "it takes two to tango" are the two dumbest sayings in the world. Who agrees and who disagrees?

My leopard has grown up again!

Considering this chapter has a lot of words, please vote for this book with a monthly ticket! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Regarding the plot change involving the Fire Thief, I, Leopard, started planning and subtly laying the groundwork a long time ago.

But I'm sure most readers don't remember who Jin Zeqin is or in which chapter she appeared... (Leopard dead.jpg)

Chapter 276 Tachibana Aoto? He knows nothing about leading troops! [5400]

The height difference has been completely reversed.

Kimura Kazuma is less than 1.6 meters tall, so he can only look down at Aoto when Aoto is sitting and he is standing.

Now, the roles of the observer and the observed have been reversed.

Aoto, who was much taller than Kimura, looked down at the young man who had been so arrogant just moments before, but was now pale-faced.

The room was deathly silent, with only the sound of everyone breathing.

Masao Tsuchida, who was knocked to the ground by Kimura's hasty retreat, looked completely terrified.

Nobuyoshi Kazama, another lackey of Kimura, blinked blankly.

The most comical reaction came from "Red-Eyed Monster" Hisaka. Even though it was Kimura, not him, who had a knife held to his nose, he still screamed, vividly demonstrating a magnificent transformation from "kneeling" to "slumped."

Just as Kanazawa was about to walk between Aoto and Kimura to dispel the gunpowder smell lingering between the two, he was a step too late. His eyes widened.

Mizushima, known for his military prowess, looked astonished.

My grandson raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Those present, judging from their apparent identities, are all elite individuals who have reached the rank of "officer" and are capable of leading troops independently.

Although there were many charlatans among them, there were also a small number of people with real skills, such as Abiko, Kanazawa, and Mizushima, who were collectively known as the "Dragon, Tiger, and Dog".

My grandson is known for his wisdom and exceptional reasoning ability. No one has ever heard of him being skilled with a sword, so we will leave him aside for now.

Kanazawa is the recipient of the Hokushin Itto-ryu Menkyo Kaiden (a certificate of mastery over all students), while Mizushima, who studied under the Katori Shinto-ryu, also possesses the Menkyo Kaiden certificate.

In addition to their outstanding swordsmanship, the two of them had also fought against countless vicious criminals during numerous missions and assignments, accumulating a wealth of practical experience.

It can be said that, in terms of individual strength alone, many martial artists who also hold the same mastery of the Mandate of Heaven are no match for Kanazawa and Mizushima.

However, even those who symbolized the "force" of the Fire Thieves hadn't seen how Qing Deng had just drawn his sword.

Just a moment ago, Qingdeng was still kneeling peacefully.

In the next instant, Qing Deng already had a knife in his hand, and he placed the tip of the sword, which was meant to ward off evil spirits, in front of Kimura Kazuma's nose.

The speed of the strike was so fast that it seemed to not only sever the thin rope of Kimura Kazuma's haori, but also to divide time, causing a loss of several seconds!

In those few seconds of being cut open, Aoto could have easily taken Kimura Kazuma's life! And in any way he preferred—piercing his throat, tearing open his chest or abdomen, decapitating him…

While pulling out the Dingguishen from his waist and drawing a curve that led directly to Kimura's nose, Aoto also casually and precisely cleaved a fly flying in the air in two.

How big are flies?

How fast does it fly?

An ordinary person might not be able to swat a fly even with a large fly swatter, let alone a blade as thin as a thread.

In a near instant, Aoto perfectly executed all of the above actions: drawing his sword, splitting the fly above his head in two and placing its corpse steadily on the blade, then bringing the tip of the sword to Kimura's face.

What kind of swordsmanship is this?

"What...what are you trying to do?! You actually drew your knife in the council chamber!"

While making a flustered sound, Tsuchida hurriedly reached out to help Kimura, who was leaning half of his body on him.

Kimura, who was being helped by Tsuchida, belatedly came to his senses.

I was so frightened by this "former member of the royal family" that I collapsed to the ground—in an instant, Kimura's expression was dominated by intense resentment and shame.

He stood up again and resumed looking down at Qingdeng.

Strangely, even though Kimura restored the superior perspective of Aoto, it still gave outsiders the illusion that "Aoto is still sitting on the mountain looking down at him".

"Um... let's all talk this out." Jinze made a final, awkward attempt to ease the tense atmosphere that was almost overflowing outside the hall.

But clearly, his efforts failed.