I became the Lord of the Eternal World in Tokyo.

While exchanging pleasantries, Ririko turned and led the two into the courtyard, then towards the half-open villa gate.

Tamamo, who was following behind her, let out a surprised and uncertain "Eh?"

She could definitely tell that the girl named Tokugawa Ririko was Uesugi Tetsuya's friend, but judging from the situation, she seemed to know her way around very well.

Could it be that Tokugawa Ririko usually lived with her older brother Uesugi?

In this case, wouldn't it be...

Yagyu Akira instinctively placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, leaning slightly against Tamamo, following behind Ririko as if facing a formidable enemy.

But he soon realized something was wrong, so he had to turn his hands behind his back and use his left hand to hold his right hand to prevent it from moving around.

crunch.

The door opened, and Ririko stepped aside: "You two don't need to change your shoes, just come in."

"Ah... Miss Tokugawa, is this really alright?" Tamamo hesitated.

After all, in Japan, a country that values ​​etiquette and details, you have to change your shoes before entering someone's home, arrange them neatly, and then greet them.

This smooth little combo is already common knowledge.

“Of course it’s alright.” Ririko waved her hand. “And there’s no need to be so formal. Since you’re Uesugi-kun’s friend, just call me Ririko.”

"Then I'm very sorry to have bothered you, Miss Ririko!"

Tamamo stepped onto the wooden floor of the dojo in her sneakers, which were covered in mud and dust. She was a little embarrassed when she saw the footprints she had made.

But she suddenly realized what she had just done after taking one step.

Wait, what's the full name of Uesugi's female roommate again... "Tokugawa Ririko"?

Tokugawa, Ririko!

Tamamo, still staring at the floor, covered her mouth in shock to keep quiet.

She's from the Tokugawa family?!

Yagyu Chi, who stepped in a step too late, stared at the character "武" (martial arts) and murmured a soft exclamation of admiration.

"A fine place."

"Thank you for the compliment." Ririko walked towards the stairs. "Please come up, both of you."

After going upstairs, Uesugi Tetsuya, who was already sitting at the dining table and had his eyes closed while practicing Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound, opened his eyes.

"Tamamo, Yagyu-kun."

He let out a long sigh and gestured with his chin: "Since we're here, let's eat quickly, before the noodles absorb more water and get bigger."

"Oh, here I come!"

Tamamo ran to the dining table, and after quickly scanning the remaining three bowls of ramen, she found a spot that she knew she couldn't miss.

— Diagonally opposite Uesugi Tetsu.

This spot allows you to enjoy your meal immediately, and it's absolutely impossible for it to take up the seat that Ririko wants to sit in.

She silently praised herself as a genius, then took a deep breath of the steaming aroma of the ramen, a satisfied look on her face: "Hehehe, so fragrant, hehe..."

After Ririko sat down next to Uesugi Tetsuya and picked up her chopsticks, Yagyu Akira sat down opposite him.

But as soon as he sat down and was about to scoop up the noodles, Yagyu Chi's expression changed again.

—Within this fragrant ramen bowl, filled with fried eggs and tempura, there was an unmistakable flow of sword intent!

Sword intent can actually be infused into food!?

After silently taking a bite, Yagyu Akira confirmed the fact, which made him even more shocked.

This level of skill is probably what Shi Fandai called the "transcendent realm"... at least something only a sword master could achieve.

In other words.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Ririko, who was slurping noodles with gusto, showing no signs of being a powerful figure.

Is this girl a swordswoman?

No wonder he's Uesugi-kun's friend.

After finishing every last noodle with a grateful heart and expressing his thanks, Yagyu Akira finally heard Uesugi Tetsu ask from across the table,

"By the way, Yagyu-kun, are you guys going to have some regional ranking matches in a few days? How about we arrange the order of play?"

"That's right, it seems the competition venue is Sky Dome One..."

At this point, Yagyu Chi paused, then pointed upwards with his finger: "I heard it's the one that flies in the sky?"

"Yeah, I've been up there before, it's incredibly stable, no need to worry about a crash,"

Uesugi Tetsu thought for a moment, then stood up and suggested, "In that case, it's perfect. Yagyu-kun, me, and Ririko, let's exchange some questions and insights about cultivation."

Lili stretched and used her fingertips to flick away the four bowls with her inner energy: "Then consider it a digestive exercise."

Seeing that the host had made such a suggestion, Yagyu Chi, who had originally had similar thoughts, naturally had no objections.

So the three of them, like Minamoto no Shizumi, Saito Ryuichi, and Takizawa Kai before them, prepared to stand and discuss their doctrines.

"what about me?"

In the silence, Tamamo, who was lying happily in the chair, squinting her eyes and patting her round belly, turned her head.

Uesugi Tetsuya, who had just drawn Kaga Kiyomitsu and let it float behind him, raised an eyebrow: "Why are you meddling in this mess when you haven't even trained?"

Under Tamamo's resentful gaze, Uesugi Tetsu waved his hands repeatedly.

"Go away, kid, go watch TV."

"Tch, fine, I'll watch it!" Tamamo glanced at the nearly 100-inch TV in the center of the living room and snorted.

Ignoring Tamamo who was pressing the remote control hard, the three of them went downstairs and began to ask and solve problems for each other as they walked.

During this process, Uesugi Tetsu and Ririko were even able to maintain a low intensity of training, leaving Yagyu Akira, who was so preoccupied with thinking about problems, speechless.

Hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the silver moon seemed to change from translucent to shining brightly in the blink of an eye.

Time flew by during the "discussion," and it was only Kaga Kiyomitsu's abrupt change that pulled Uesugi Tetsu out of his state of mind, where thinking, answering, and practicing were one.

"Xiao Jia, what's wrong?"

He looked at Kaga Kiyomitsu, who was floating beside him listening to the lecture, and was astonished to find that the entire sword had been enveloped in a pale blue light.

A message suddenly appeared above its head:

[Your knowledge, accumulation, and understanding of Kaga Kiyomitsu: The Blade of Parting have reached their limit, and you are undergoing autonomous spiritual evolution!]

……

at the same time.

In the depths of the unknown core factory of the eternal world.

That crimson eye, capable of spreading its will for hundreds of miles with a single thought, and causing the earth to tremble with every move, was bowing low to the ground, showing no trace of the majesty of a ghost or god.

Directly in front of it, a man dressed in a tuxedo was rapidly flipping through half a quarter's worth of reports.

Snapped.

Two minutes later, the report was closed.

The man didn't look at the trembling eyes, but simply asked softly, "I heard that the core of the factory in the logistics factory in Arakawa Village 'mysteriously' disappeared?"

"Yes, Lord Z." Despite the extreme fear in his scarlet eyes, the answer was still crisp and decisive.

"I arrived above the factory in a second, but I couldn't find any trace of the thieves within a radius of thousands of miles, nor did I leave any trace of ghosts, gods, or absurd spirits at the scene..."

Finally, apart from the disappearance of the factory core, all the sequences were intact, and the production line remained undamaged.

After reporting the situation, Scarlet Eyes remained silent and did not add any further speculation.

After listening, the man, Z, the factory owner, lowered his eyes and fell into a very brief moment of contemplation.

—Specializing in stealing the core of factories?

—And they even went to such a remote and almost unknown place as Arakawa Village to steal it?

Logically speaking, such a remote and impoverished place would not attract the attention of powerful figures.

Even if there is only a one in a million chance of it happening, there is absolutely no need to risk offending the factory owner to steal a "battery" that is even circulating in the market.

Stealing the factory's core components is an activity where the risks and rewards are completely disproportionate.

Could it be... that the master craftsman has returned?

Factory owner Z adjusted his monocle and asked, "What about the townhouse I specifically kept? Has anything changed?"

The scarlet eyes immediately replied, "Nothing has changed; there isn't even a footprint on the dust."

It would be strange if it hadn't changed.

Moreover, with the clues gone, the factory's core components are definitely lost... but that's a minor issue.

The key question is, what exactly was the purpose of the person who stole the factory's core equipment?

Factory owner Z frowned unusually, his fingers unconsciously tapping on the steel handrail, producing a soft sound that sent shivers down his spine.

Perhaps the lost core is just a facade.

In fact, the thief had already achieved his real goal.

"call……"

Factory owner Z exhaled slowly, feeling an inexplicable mental exhaustion.

He had cleared the area for miles around, and placed other treasures disguised as valuables in various places to satisfy any powerful individuals who passed by. His own flag was also planted above the factory...

Even in this state, there are still powerful individuals coveting this seemingly ordinary logistics factory.

Amid the long, monotonous pounding, the intensity of his crimson eyes grew ever stronger, until eventually his entire body trembled slightly.

Factory owner Z suddenly broke the thick, sticky atmosphere: "Is there a problem with the mold?"

His scarlet eyes twitched suddenly, then he replied in a completely flat tone, "Never seen the light, and perfectly intact."

"What about photocopies with an accuracy of 99.999% or higher?"

"Such high-precision photocopies have never been produced in that logistics factory before."

After hearing the two simple replies from Scarlet Eyes, Factory Owner Z felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders—if these two things hadn't been exposed, then there wouldn't be any major problems.

—Because many factory owners have the idea of ​​restarting the Karuta project, but if they can't produce highly precise parts, it's just a joke in the end.

"That's alright then." Factory owner Z waved his hand casually. "It's just the core of a factory, nothing special."

"However, that logistics factory was no longer of much use, and the assembly lines inside were replaced with normal ones."

Halfway through his sentence, factory owner Z seemed to realize it was inappropriate and changed his words,

"No, let's just abandon this factory."

—It's already halfway done, and it's good that the plan to reshape Karudo hasn't been exposed.

That makes sense. Only the factory owners were qualified to know about the "Galuto Project," and even among the factory owners themselves, not everyone knew it very well.

In the logistics factory of Arakawa Village, the only important thing is that mold.

But if it were other factory owners sending their men to investigate, how could they ignore the molds and instead steal the factory's core components, causing such a commotion?

That's impossible.

So, it was just a simple coincidence that the core of the factory was coveted and, most likely, stolen by a powerful figure from an ancient era.

Thinking of this, factory owner Z felt relieved.

If only we could recreate Karuta before the second wave.

Even incomplete songs can help you choose the optimal solution from countless paths and choices.

And this is just the most insignificant role of Karudo.

He raised the glass beside his left hand, took a sip of the pale golden liquid, and looked past the huge floor-to-ceiling window that stretched for over a hundred meters, his gaze falling upon the sun, which was imprisoned in the abyss by a magnificent black machine.

Factory owner Z sang silently.

"Karyuta, Karyuta, the god who governs possibilities and branches..."

When will I be able to sign that contract with the reconstructed Kadoya that cannot be changed by external things or thoughts?