I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Qin put her hands behind her back, her fingers tightly intertwined, turned her head to the side to avoid eye contact with her brother, and her bare, white right foot traced a half-arc before coming behind her left foot, her small toes lightly touching the tatami mat. She continued the conversation hesitantly:

"But remember to balance work and rest... If you overwork yourself, don't expect me to take care of you."

Looking at his sister, who clearly cared about him but dared not look at him because of a strange sense of pride and shame, a gentle smile gradually spread across Chungsuke's cheeks.

"Good good."

Zhongfu raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I understand. I'll be more careful in the future. I take better care of my body than you think."

"Hmph!" Qin crossed her arms and snorted coldly, "When haven't you said that? Honestly!"

Zhongfu smiled helplessly.

At that moment, he caught a glimpse of the scenery outside the window beside him out of the corner of his right eye.

It snowed lightly this evening.

The gentle snowflakes blanketed the land of Edo with a delicate silver coat.

Chung-fu looked out the window, then at his younger sister who was still sulking.

"...Xiaoqin, let's go for a walk."

As he spoke, he took the thick haori off the hanger.

"Huh?" Qin asked in surprise, "Why are you inviting me out so suddenly?"

"Didn't you just say that we need to balance work and rest? I've really been too busy with work lately and haven't had a proper rest in a long time. The weather is great tonight, it's a sunny day and not too cold, perfect for a walk. Besides... it's been a long time since my brother and I have had a chat together."

"Hmm..." A hint of hesitation appeared on Qin's delicate face.

"What?" Zhongfu's expression turned playful. "Don't you want to accompany your brother for a walk? Or are you too busy right now?"

"...Brother, wait for me a moment, I'm going to change my clothes."

……

……

Jinze and his sister strolled leisurely side by side on a embankment with fairly nice scenery.

"What a comfortable breeze..." Chungsuke took a deep breath. "I wish there could be such good weather every day."

“Brother, you are clearly quite old, yet you still say things that sound like a child.”

Qin covered her mouth and teased.

"What do you mean by 'old age'?" Zhongfu said irritably. "I'm only in my early twenties, okay? Right in the prime of a man's life."

The two siblings chatted casually about topics that seemed to have some content, yet also seemed to have no content at all.

We talked about everything from today's weather to recent everyday matters, then about the popular Kabuki actors, and then about the beautiful swords we stumbled upon at the blacksmith's shop the other day...

Although they talked about mostly trivial things, none of them found the time boring.

Just then, Qin, who was quietly listening to her brother's eloquent speech, suddenly stopped and froze.

Her eyes were fixed on a tall figure not far ahead.

The person in the figure is about 1.75 meters tall. Although his back is not very broad, it inexplicably gives people a very reliable feeling.

A back view exuding masculine charm...

A very familiar back view...

In the next instant, Qin's body seemed to break free from the control of her consciousness and began to act automatically—

She hurried forward... no, she strode towards the direction of that figure, calling out, "Ju..."

Only a few syllables had been uttered when the person in the figure turned the corner and revealed their profile.

Narrow eyes, a wide and flat nose, and a slightly dark complexion from prolonged exposure to the sun.

A face with distinctive Samoan features...

It wasn't that man's face...

"..." Qin withdrew her outstretched hand with a disappointed look.

"Xiaoqin, what's wrong?" Zhongfu asked, following his sister's gaze.

Then he saw the Samoan man whose back view resembled someone else's.

Zhongfu's expression froze for a moment.

He instantly understood what had caused his sister's unusual reaction earlier...

For a moment, no one spoke.

The harmonious atmosphere that had once filled the brother and sister vanished.

Just as Chung-fu was racking his brains trying to figure out what to say and do to lighten the heavy atmosphere... Qin spoke up first:

"Brother, is it still... that you haven't found Mr. Tachibana?"

"Uh... this... this..."

Hesitantly, Chungsuke pondered how to give his sister a polite yet concise answer.

But a moment later, he slumped his shoulders in despair and let out a long sigh.

"I, my grandson, and Mizushima have all used all our abilities... but we still haven't found Tachibana-kun..."

"I see..." Qin lowered her head and eyelids, her steps no longer as cheerful and light as before.

Seeing this, Zhongfu was at a loss and looked around nervously.

To salvage his sister's mood, he took a deep breath and added:

"But! Xiaoqin, you don't need to look like this!"

"Although we haven't found Tachibana-kun yet, we can confirm one thing for now—Tachibana-kun is not dead! At least he didn't die in the fire at the prison house in Kodenma Town!"

"The magistrates, the fire brigade officers, and the jailers have searched every inch of the ruins in Kodenma Town, but they haven't found Tachibana-kun's body. This means that Tachibana-kun did not die in the fire that night!"

"The reason why Tachibana-kun has disappeared and hasn't shown up yet... according to my grandson's deduction, the most likely reason is that Tachibana-kun is hiding somewhere to recuperate from his injuries!"

"Recover from injuries?" Qin tilted her head.

"Yes, that's right! This is what my grandson deduces: On the night the prison house in Kodenma Town caught fire, Tachibana tried his best to escape, but collapsed due to exhaustion."

"Fortunately, at this critical moment, someone or some force that was on good terms with Tachibana arrived, rescued Tachibana, and took him to a secluded place to treat his injuries."

"Due to the severity of his injuries, Tachibana is still in a coma or has difficulty moving, so he has not appeared in public until now."

"And the person or organization that rescued Tachibana-kun did not disclose Tachibana-kun's current location for some reason."

Qin listened attentively to the whole thing.

"Brother, what is the basis for my grandson's assertion?"

“Uh…” Chungsuke laughed awkwardly, “Hahaha… To be honest—there is no solid basis for this, it’s entirely my grandson’s personal conjecture and intuition.”

Upon hearing this, Qin immediately pursed her red lips in a deflated manner.

"What... Without any solid evidence, isn't that just making things up?"

"That's true... but don't underestimate me, Sun Zijun! I'm very intelligent and have a lot of experience in handling cases, so what I say is still worth considering!"

Although what she had just heard was merely a hypothesis by her grandson, Tadaro, and not a definitive conclusion supported by actual evidence, Koto's expression improved considerably after hearing it.

"Tachibana-kun is still alive"—this sentence is the best comfort to Koto right now.

"To be honest... although I've met Mr. Sun several times, I'm not very familiar with him... I only know that he's a master detective and a very intelligent person..."

Qin seemed to be trying to hypnotize herself, saying, "My grandson, Chutaro, is a famous detective, so you can believe what he says," as she kept babbling about all the amazing things her grandson had done.

"Haha... My grandson, Jun..." Tadashi shrugged with a strange expression. "Actually, I don't really know him that well."

Qin's eyes widened in surprise.

"Brother, aren't you and Mr. Sun very good friends?"

Zhongfu raised an eyebrow:

"Do we have to know each other inside and out to be friends? It's not like we're looking for a wife."

"Although my grandson is always smiling and very easy to get along with, I have never seen him confide in anyone, and he rarely reveals his private life to outsiders. So, not to mention me, even Tachibana-kun and Mizushima-kun, who are also very close to him, know very little about him."

Qin nodded as if she understood, then sighed softly:

"I originally thought... that someone as clever as my grandson would surely be able to deduce and find out Mr. Tachibana's whereabouts based on the clues left at the fire scene..."

"Hahaha! My grandson, Sun Zijun, is indeed very smart, but no matter how smart he is, he is still a human being, not a god!"

After laughing heartily, Zhongfu raised his thick, large hand and patted Qin on the shoulder.

"Koto, don't worry, Tachibana-kun is definitely still alive. Maybe he'll be jumping around in front of us tomorrow."

“Brother…” Looking at Chung-fu, who was wearing a confident smile and doing his best to comfort her, a gentle smile gradually appeared on Qin’s face.

"so what--"

At this moment, Zhongfu put on a wicked smile.

"When Ju returns to us safe and sound, stop hesitating and hold back. Go ahead and boldly pursue Ju!"

"Varied……?!"

In an instant, Qin's cheeks flushed red.

"Brother, brother, brother, brother! What nonsense are you spouting! I... I said to Mr. Ju... I said to Mr. Ju..."

"Don't lie, don't make excuses."

Zhongfu put on a stern face.

"Who do you think I am? I'm the older brother you grew up with! Do you think I don't know what you're thinking? You don't need to beat around the bush or hide anything from me! Tell me, you really like Tachibana-kun, don't you?"

"I...I...I..."

Qin stammered, her head hanging down to its limit, her chin almost touching her full breasts.

From Chungsuke's perspective, Qin's face is no longer visible; all that can be seen are her delicate, bright red ears.

"to be frank!"