I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

And it was also at this time—

Snap, snap, snap, snap...

Footsteps approached again from the direction of the corridor.

Qingdeng didn't bother to look up—his gait was graceful and elegant. Now Qingdeng couldn't have misheard; he already knew who it was…

as predicted--

"Huh? Why are there so many people today?"

Chiba Jutaro pushed open the door with one hand and strode into the room carrying a palm-sized cloth bag in the other.

Sanako stepped across the threshold half a beat slower than him—then froze on the spot.

Kinoshita Mai, Souji, Kiryu the boss, Souji's sister... Looking at the lineup in the room, especially after discovering that the old and young duo from the Senjiya were also present, Sanako involuntarily clenched her hands clasped in front of her.

"Hey, Tachibana-kun, here you go!"

The thick-skinned Chiba Jutaro placed the cloth bag in his hand next to Aoto's pillow.

"This is Korean ginseng that I bought especially to help you recover!"

Qing Deng was startled.

"Korean ginseng? How could I possibly accept such a valuable gift?"

"Hahahaha! Mr. Tachibana, you don't need to be so polite with me!"

Chiba Jutaro laughed heartily, revealing a smug expression.

"I'm your brother-in-law! Since we're family, why be so formal?"

Kiryu the Boss: "..."

Hikaru Okita: "..."

Souji: "..."

Kinoshita Mai: "..."

Sanako: "..."

Qingdeng: "..."

In an instant, the ward was enveloped in unparalleled silence...

"Huh? Did I say something wrong?"

The oblivious Chiba Jutaro was still unaware of the problem.

"...Mr. Kiryu, Ms. Hikaru, Jutaro, please listen to me!"

Qing Deng gritted his teeth, looking as if he was about to attack Shimizu Residence again.

"I like Sanako Chiba, Mai Kinoshita, and Souji Okita!"

"So—I want to marry them right now! Please allow me to marry them!"

*******

*******

The long-awaited love triangle plot is finally here! To all you readers who've been clamoring for a love triangle, if you don't vote today, you'll really be doing me a disservice!

Please vote with monthly tickets! Please vote with recommendation tickets! (Leopard crying.jpg)

Although from a third-party perspective, Qing Deng's bold approach to courtship might seem awkward, that's part of his charm: carefree, decisive, and unpretentious.

In another two or three chapters, this volume will be able to come to a smooth and satisfying end!

Chapter 484 Calling for reinforcements! Heading to Edo! Beating up that scumbag Tachibana Aoto! [6000]

quiet……

The room suddenly became completely silent.

For a moment, silence reigned over the entire ward.

In that instant, the atmosphere changed, and a tense, tingling feeling filled the air.

The person who created this terrifying atmosphere was none other than Qing Deng, known for his outrageous remarks.

Chiba Jutaro, who had been wearing a smug smile until just now, suddenly widened his eyes—and the smile on his face disappeared without a trace.

Hikaru Okita subconsciously raised his hands and lightly covered his mouth, which was agape in an "O" shape.

Although Kiryu's expression did not change significantly, the glasses on his nose reflected an elusive light.

As for Sanako, Kinoshita Mai, and Souji... the reactions and expressions of these three women are much more interesting.

Sanako tried to appear nonchalant, but she couldn't hide her flushed face.

Kinoshita Mai's entire face turned bright red, and she kept fidgeting with her fingers.

Souji cupped her cheeks in her hands, her rippling eyes like the surface of a lake rippled by a gentle breeze.

Amidst this tension, the first person to utter the words was Chiba Jutaro.

"……What?"

"I love Chiba Sanako, Kinoshita Mai, and Okita Souji! I want to marry them right now! Please allow me to marry them!"

"I didn't ask you to repeat what you just said! I heard all that nonsense you were spouting! That's why I asked you what you were talking about!"

"It means exactly what it says!"

Qingdeng gritted his teeth again.

There's no turning back now!

To marry Sanako, Kinoshita Mai, and Souji and live a blissful life of sleeping together under the same bed—this was the ideal that Aoto absolutely refused to give up.

If that's the case, he'll have to confront the parents of the three girls one day.

Since this day was bound to come eventually, we might as well take advantage of the fact that the parents of the three girls are all here and have a frank discussion, and start the "final battle" directly!

With this thought in mind, Qingdeng stopped looking back and forth.

As his thoughts and will hardened, his heart, which had been frantically expanding and contracting, gradually calmed down, and his speech became much smoother.

"Mr. Kiryu, Ms. Hikaru, Jutaro, I'm proposing to you with all my heart! Every word I just said was spoken with absolute sincerity! I want to marry Sanako, Mai, and Souji!"

"Don't repeat yourself like that so many times!"

"Sanako called out irritably. A blush spread across her cheeks."

Kinoshita Mai, who is thin-skinned and easily embarrassed, had already lowered her eyes and shyly covered her pretty face, which was red to the roots of her ears.

Chiba Jutaro involuntarily turned his gaze to look at Sanako beside him, a look of surprise on his face.

As Sanako's biological older brother who grew up with her, this was the first time he had ever seen Sanako show such a... girlish side.

Chiba Jutaro found his sister's appearance quite amusing... but he simply didn't have time to observe her closely.

After glancing at Sanako, he refocused his deep gaze on Aoto.

"...Tachibana-kun, before I ask some sharp questions that might make you cry, I need you to clear up some doubts for me first. You said that besides your younger sister and Ms. Kinoshita, you also want to marry Souji, but... Souji is a man, right? How can you marry a man? And... were you originally that kind of person? The kind of person who is open to both men and women..."

After he finished speaking, a profound and thought-provoking expression appeared on his face.

At the same time, as if recalling something, Sanako's face turned pale, and her hands, clasped in front of her, twisted together tightly.

“Tachibana-kun… I knew I wasn’t wrong… You really are the kind of person who favors the common path… I started to suspect you back in Kikyo Mountain, and I was right after all…”

Upon hearing Sanako's words, Aoto was taken aback.

"That's not right. It's one thing for the others, but shouldn't you have known about this already, Miss Sanako?"

Now it was Sanako's turn to be stunned.

"You already knew what?"

Qing Deng subconsciously spoke up:

"It was when we went to the hot spring together before..."

"Take a hot spring bath?!"

Chiba Jutaro's loud shout nearly shook the dust off the roof beams above everyone's heads.

He appeared in front of Qingdeng with lightning speed and grabbed Qingdeng's collar.

"Hot springs?! When did you two go to hot springs together?! You, you, you, and my sister have already done 'that'?"

In this day and age, men and women going to hot springs together... this is not something that can be covered up with lines like "We're just going to have fun together" or "Going to hot springs is going to hot springs, and doing *that* is doing *that*, don't mix them up."

Instantly, a sense of "unending flavor" appeared on the faces of Kiryu and Okita.

"A hot spring...? With Miss Chiba...?"

Kinoshita Mai murmured softly as she opened her eyes wide—her eyes now seemed to be covered by a thin film, losing their usual clarity and brightness, devoid of light and emotion, as if hidden in a bottomless darkness.

Although she was facing Qingdeng, her eyes were out of focus, making it difficult to tell whether she was looking at Qingdeng or at a more distant world.

"Hey... I see... Aoto, your relationship with Chiba Sanako isn't just so good that you can be all lovey-dovey in public, but you even went to a hot spring together without my knowledge... Chiba Sanako is beautiful and has a great figure... Her body must feel so comfortable to hold, right? What... So it turns out... you still prefer Chiba Sanako after all... You say nice things, like 'I like you both,' 'My love for you is the same'... But in the end, we are definitely ranked differently in your heart... That makes sense... After all, Chiba Sanako is prettier than me, has a better figure, and a better temperament than me, so it's understandable that you prefer her... I see... I see... I see... I see... I see..."

"Ahhh, Ah Wu, calm down! Calm down! You've misunderstood, you've all misunderstood!"

Even when he stormed into the Shimizu residence alone and faced formidable enemies such as Shimizu Eiichi and Rasetsu, Tachibana Aoto, who had never shown the slightest fear, was now trembling as he spoke.

Kinoshita Mai's gaze and tone were terrifying! An ominous black aura seemed to emanate from her!

Qingdeng felt a strong sense of oppression.

There is absolutely no room for jokes.

The oppressive feeling he was experiencing at this moment was even more unbearable than the murderous aura emanating from the Rakshasa when it assumed a sword-drawing stance!

At the same time, he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination... but he felt that Kiryu-sensei had been looking at him with a very unsettling gaze ever since...

On the other side, Sanako's face turned bright red again—even though it had just cooled down with great difficulty.

"Brother! What are you talking about?! It's not what you think! I'll explain the details to you later! In short, Tachibana and I just soaked our feet together! We didn't take off our clothes! And we didn't do anything like that!"

"So... I'm going to be an uncle... Tsk! My feelings are so complicated! I'm finally going to be an uncle...!"