I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

"Brother Chong, what exactly happened?"

"actually……"

Chiba Jutaro gave a wry smile, then took out Sanako's letter from his pocket.

"Yong, take a look at this..."

"This is?"

Kondo took the letter and began reading it quickly, focusing on each line.

When he looked up from the letter, he had a rather charming expression that was a mixture of shock and confusion.

"Ha ha……"

This time, it was Kondo Isami's turn to smile wryly.

"Your Sanako has also disappeared..."

"'also'?"

Chiba Jutaro keenly noticed a word in Kondo's statement that particularly concerned him.

Kondo sighed, then took a letter out of his pocket.

"Brother Chong, take a look at this..."

Chiba Jutaro took the letter—

[

Respectfully submitted

Dear Shi Bo, Shen Shen, Brother Jin Teng, Mr. Tu Wan, Uncle Yuan, for reasons I cannot explain in detail, I must temporarily leave home for a while.

Don't worry, I'll be back soon.

Okita Souji

]

Unlike Sanako's letter, Souji's letter shone with a clear-eyed foolishness.

The writing exudes an air of someone who hasn't studied seriously and has a low level of education.

Not only is the handwriting poor, but it is also riddled with spelling mistakes.

Chiba Jutaro stared at it for a long time before recognizing that "Shen Shen" meant "aunt".

However, the kana were written reasonably well, with the characters and usage being quite accurate.

It seems that Souji is the kind of person who can write kana well, but is completely lost when it comes to writing kanji.

"This...this...! Even the Souji has left without saying goodbye?!"

Chiba Jutaro put down the letter, looked up, and saw Kondo's large face filled with sorrow.

"In fact, ever since we discovered Souji's letter, we at Shieikan have been searching for Souji everywhere."

No sooner had Kondo finished speaking than Chiba Jutaro suddenly heard several familiar male voices coming from afar:

Harada: "Okita-kun! Okita-kun! Where are you?! Can you hear me? If you can, answer me!"

Nagakura: "Harada! Are you an idiot?! Don't shout so loudly at night! You'll disturb the neighbors!"

Zhai Tang: "Nagakura-kun, you have a very loud voice too."

Kondo glanced helplessly in the direction from which Saito and the others' voices came, then continued the conversation:

"I was just about to go to the Chiba Sword Hall to ask if you had seen Souji, but you came here on your own initiative."

"What's going on? Sanako and Souji both left home at the same time and disappeared without a trace... Isn't that too much of a coincidence? Ah! Could it be?!"

Chiba Jutaro suddenly exclaimed "Ah!" and his eyes widened.

Seeing this, Kondo assumed that Chiba Jutaro must have thought of something, so he asked urgently:

"Brother Chong, has something come to mind?"

Chiba Jutaro, whose expression suddenly became incredibly strange, slowly raised his gaze, staring directly into Kondo's eyes, and said, word by word:

"Yasu... Sanako and Souji... Could they have eloped?"

quiet……

A tranquility, as if they were in the deep sea, enveloped Kondo and Chiba Jutaro.

"……what?"

After a long while, Kondo finally let out a "Ha!" and gave Chiba Jutaro a surprised look.

Perhaps it was because he was always urging Sanako to get married that Chiba Jutaro's imagination took a significant leap forward in this area.

A man and a woman parted ways without explanation at the same time... Chiba Jutaro immediately thought of them eloping.

"Ahahaha... Well..."

Kondo's lips twitched, unsure how to respond.

At that moment, Zhou Zhu's voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"Yong, who's here?"

"Ah, Father."

Kondo turned around and said to Shusuke, who was slowly walking towards him:

"It's Brother Shige who's here. Miss Sanako from the Chiba Sword Hall, like Souji, left a letter and then left without saying goodbye."

"Even Chiba Sanako...?"

Zhou Zhu's squinty eyes opened slightly.

"This matter seems quite serious... Yu, why don't you go ask Toshizo for advice? Toshizo is always very clever! He might be able to deduce where Souji and Miss Chiba went!"

"Hmm...that's true."

Kondo nodded slightly.

"I wonder if Ah Sui is asleep yet..."

……

……

Let's go back to the present—

Kondo and Hijikata both cast helpless glances, unsure of what to say, at Chiba Jutaro, who had declared he was going to elope.

Both Kondo and Hijikata knew Souji's true gender.

They had no way of knowing about Sanako's sexual fetishes or sexual orientation, so they made no comment.

But they knew that the commander's sexual orientation was perfectly normal.

Therefore, both Kondo and Hijikata knew that the story of "Sanako and Souji eloping" was pure nonsense.

However, because they could not reveal the truth that "Souji is a woman disguised as a man," they could not explain it clearly to Chiba Jutaro.

Therefore, Kondo and Hijikata could only say in an annoyed tone:

"Brother Shige! Your imagination is a bit too vivid! Souji and Sanako don't seem like the kind of couple you could make together at all, do they?"

No sooner had Kondo finished speaking than Dofun added from the side:

"Besides, Miss Sanako has never shown any strong affection for Souji. No one would think that Souji and Miss Sanako could become a couple, right?"

In fact, Chiba Jutaro was simply overly concerned.

After listening to Kondo and Hijikata's complaints, he calmed down a bit.

"Hmm...you're right..."

"Alright, it's about time you two explained yourselves to me, isn't it?"

Hijikata put his hands on his hips and asked seriously.

"What happened to Souji and Miss Sanako?"

Seeing that Hijikata had taken the initiative to ask about serious matters, Kondo didn't mince words:

"Ah Sui, it's like this..."

Kondo and Chiba Jutaro succinctly explained their purpose and the ins and outs of tonight's events.

After listening, Hijikata pondered for a moment and said:

"Could I see the letters left by Souji and the others?"

Upon hearing this, Kondo and Chiba Jutaro immediately took out letters and handed them to Hijikata.

Hijikata stretched out his arms, took a letter in one hand, and began to read it hastily.

After a moment, he put down the letter in his hand and pursed his lips thoughtfully.

About a minute later, a faint smile appeared on Hijikata's lips.

"Hmph, I see..."

Upon hearing Hijikata's muttered remark, Kondo immediately asked impatiently:

"A-Sui, do you know where Souji and Miss Sanako went?"

"How could that be? What nonsense are you talking about?"

Tu Fang shrugged.

"I'm not a god, how could I possibly know where they are right now?"

At this point, Hijikata changed the subject.

"However... I roughly know why they left without saying goodbye."

Kondo/Chiba Jutaro: "?!"

The two older brothers both showed expressions of surprise and eagerly looked at Hijikata. (Although they are not related by blood, Kondo and Hijikata have always treated Souji as their own younger sister.)

Tell us quickly! What exactly caused Souji and Sanako to leave without saying goodbye—this was the meaning that flickered in Kondo and Chiba Jutaro's eyes.