Female Swordsman Training Dojo

The thought of ruining such an honor made their noses sting and their eyes swell. Especially since they were clearly of average skill in the gym, yet they were defeated earlier than the others.

They were eliminated in the first round of the main tournament.

Teachers' College must be so disappointed! Ah, my life is over. After saying goodbye, just die. Don't bring any more shame to Teachers' College.

Moreover, seeing his two wives looking dejected and on the verge of tears, Qingxin felt his heart melt. So he bent down and picked them both up, kissing each of them: "Alright, alright, it's not your fault, the opponent was too strong."

This defeat really can't be blamed on the two of them; their opponents, to put it mildly, were also Bao.

Chapter 325

They each become a Gym Leader of a different level. While their Flying Sword Style has reached the level of the Grand Master, their Thunder Breathing hasn't even reached the Intermediate Master level, so they can't achieve a numerical advantage. Losing to a monster with mechanics is normal.

But it's actually quite cute!

Qingxin slammed the door shut, carried his two wives back to their seats, and gently comforted them. Of course, there was some physical contact in between, and soon the two dejected, unlucky girls were flushed and limp in Qingxin's arms, skillfully rubbing against his chest and thighs.

"Teacher's class~" Kinoshita Ren, nestled on Harunobu's left shoulder, gently nibbled on Harunobu's earlobe, breathing warm air into his ear. "Since it was just luck, let's not count the result this time~"

“Yeah~” Chiba Hiroya, with his head resting on Harunobu’s right shoulder, gently licked the back of Harunobu’s ear with his soft tongue and said softly, “Why don’t we just have a competition?”

Harunobu rubbed the two girls' pert buttocks, about to speak, when Hirako, who had been leaning against Harunobu's back, calmly said: "You two are not allowed to sneak away. It was agreed beforehand that the time you spend with the teacher training class will be rearranged according to the ranking of this trial."

The others had been eyeing Harunobu's arms since those two despicable women took their place. Sanada Maya, in particular, who had been "squeezed out" of Harunobu's embrace, was the first to respond: "Exactly! Didn't you agree back then? Now you want to go back on your word?"

Whether the disciples were weaker than Kinoshita Ren and Chiba Hiroshi, or stronger than them, they were all completely united at this moment. The two of them immediately pouted, but did not continue to "bewitch" Harunobu. Instead, while the time for comforting her was still up, they greedily began to steal Harunobu's lips.

Harunobu didn't even have a chance to speak before his mouth was gagged, like a pitiful puppet manipulated by Hirako.

Alas, the inferior defies the superior.

In the corner, Fujiwara Kaguya took a sip of tea and nudged Tsuchimikado Haru with her elbow, her face expressionless: "Do you think he did it on purpose, or did he just forget we were here too?"

Haru Tsuchimikado lowered his head, his earlobes slightly red: "Big brother, you probably forgot."

The people sitting nearby smiled and adjusted their positions to block the two children from view.

In short, after comforting his two wives who had suffered defeats in their first matches, the day's games were nearing their end. Harunobu didn't plan to watch any longer and prepared to go home to rest. However, as soon as he opened the door, he saw Shiranui Ran looking displeased.

Although she was still wearing a mask, Harunobu had a gut feeling that she seemed angry. But that was understandable, since causing such a commotion on the opening day was undoubtedly a dereliction of duty for a ninja specializing in intelligence work.

However, this was good news for Harunobu, as he was on his way to seek revenge on the scum who had almost hurt his wife.

He then lifted his right hand off Hirako's ample buttocks and greeted Ran Shiranui: "Ran, is there anything I can help you with? This time it's free."

Shiranui Ran took a deep breath, and then her overly sensitive nose accurately detected the same scent on four or five people—and that was only considered strong enough.

She ground her neat silver teeth and said calmly, "Hmph, after all, it has affected your dear wives, hasn't it?"

"Yes." Qingxin could now openly admit to this topic. "Anyway, you have soul-searching techniques, so it shouldn't be a problem for me to kill them all, right?"

“Soul-searching techniques are very expensive, and living people are always better than dead people…” Shiranui Ran sighed, “Fine, I can let you kill some of them as payment.”

"So where are they now? Perfect for some pre-meal exercise."

Harunobu shrugged, causing the orange on his shoulder to tinkle like silver bells. Shiranui Ran adjusted her mask and said simply, "We're looking, but there aren't any clues. The airship was destroyed, and the operators were either turned into charred remains or riddled with shrapnel. Even if we tried to use soul-searching techniques, we couldn't find a single intact head."

"Can't we just summon their spirits directly? Aren't they just ordinary people?"

Although not as effective as soul-searching, for someone who has recently died, trying to summon their soul back for a conversation is still a viable way to verify their identity.

Shiranui Ran shook her head: "I've tried it, but their souls are indeed very powerful. They don't seem like normal newly deceased people; it's more like they've already been dealt with."

"So, we've got a clue—there really is a mastermind behind this, and a guy who's proficient in magic at that." Harunobu habitually stroked the beautiful flesh beneath his hand, lost in thought. "There can't be many in Tokyo who could do something like this, or who would stage an attack on the opening ceremony with such magic, right?"

"Not many, but not few either." Shiranui Ran glanced at Hira Yukiko, whose face was flushed, and suddenly changed the subject, "I was just about to go and question the most suspicious guys, do you want to come along?"

Based on Shiranui Ran's prediction, Taira no Harunobu would definitely agree immediately. He was the kind of person who never held grudges, and if offended, he would want to kill the person on the spot—such samurai are rare nowadays, mainly because their strength doesn't allow it.

As for why Miss Fox was thinking about this, well, it was just a normal prediction about strong individuals; she didn't intend to use it to create any time alone with them. She's going to become the world's greatest ninja, and men would only be in her way!

"No, I'll come find you later. After what happened, I need to get them home safely. Their safety is more important than getting revenge on those bastards."

"By the way, let's agree on a meeting point—hey? Lan? Are you listening?"

I'm listening! You bastard!

Lord Fire Demon gritted his teeth, somewhat displeased, and said, "Come find me in Nihonbashi later. Let's go take a look at some of the branches of the Tsuchimikado family first."

"Oh." Harunobu nodded and patted Hirako's bottom. "See you later, around, um, around eight o'clock."

It's only five o'clock, you jerk! Does it take you this long to ride your bike home?

Also, be respectful when you talk to people, and don't keep touching them!

And what kind of horse demon are you? There's a little girl sitting on your shoulder! You wouldn't even spare such a small child?!

Haru and Kaguya are still watching! You—

Shiranui Ran took a deep breath: "Fine, I'll just go with you, so you won't be stuck at the door later."

Harunobu blinked and nodded nonchalantly: "Okay, but do you have a bicycle?"

A surge of anger rose in Shiranui Ran's chest, and she blurted out, "No, how about you give me a ride?"

Before Harunobu could say anything after hearing this, his disciples—including Fujiwara Kaguya and Tsuchimikado Haru—all looked at Shiranui Ran.

The pure white fox mask and jet-black full-coverage clothing obscured her vision, as well as her pretty face, which was as red as the sunset.

"Ah, that..."

Before Harunobu could finish speaking, the tall figure in front of them had already vanished, his movements so fast that not even a whistling sound could be heard. The Shiranui ninjas who had been silently watching the spectacle couldn't help but marvel at their leader's Body Flicker Technique.

Harunoshi scratched his head, swallowed the words that the back seat had already been reserved, and silently led his wives back home.

Two unlucky kids who lost the fight sat one in front of the other, in his lap and on the back seat.

Chapter 302: The Diary of Innocent Suspicion

Under the piercing gaze of Shiranui Ran, Harunobu felt too embarrassed to continue slacking off. After making sure everyone was inside the building, he grabbed two hand-pulled pancakes that Taira Sachiko had made that morning and set off.

"Eat?"

Miss Fox glanced at the strange food offered to her, her eyes behind the mask shooting a disdainful look at Harunobu. Harunobu shrugged, opened his gaping maw, and devoured the two scallion pancakes, then wiped his hands on his dark hakama.

Chapter 326

"Where to go first? Why did the Tsuchimikado family attack the Tenran Shiga?"

Shiranui Ran turned her gaze away and pointed in a direction: "Where to—in modern times, spellcasters have a higher status than samurai due to their versatility. But His Majesty the Emperor is now convening the Tenran Trial, which is clearly intended to elevate the status of samurai, so naturally some people are not happy about it."

"That's it?" Harunobu followed Shiranui Ran, stepping on the rooftops. "Aren't they afraid of being punished after their scheme is exposed?"

"In your words, they'll all be temporary workers—separated from the main family—acting on their own, and will have nothing to do with the main family." Shiranui Ran easily leaped and bounded across the rooftops and through the streets. "Moreover, they definitely have other forces helping them behind the scenes, such as the Navy and Army, who are in a hurry right now, or even those who support the Constitution."

Regardless of faction, neither side clearly wanted to see the samurai, this "feudal remnant," return to the table to divide political interests and power. This didn't conflict with their usual efforts to curry favor with and win over the samurai. Maintaining good relations with the samurai was for their own safety and reputation, while undermining the samurai as a whole was for their own political advancement and power.

After all, there are only so many rights and official positions, and everyone already has not enough to go around. If a bunch of old samurai come to the table, won't everyone get even less? Someone who could have become a minister might end up as a general, and someone who could have become a general might end up as a sergeant—is that any different from murder for money?

This is murder for money!

However, just after saying that, Shiranui Ran suddenly stopped on the spire of a Western-style building, turned to look at Harunobu who had caught up with her: "By the way, those were just speculations, maybe they really didn't do it."

"What do you mean?" Harunobu looked at Shiranui Ran and easily leaped to her side. "The Tongxin Society?"

The spire wasn't wide; if two people were to stand there, they would have to be right next to each other, skin to skin. Shiranui Ran could even feel the heat radiating from beneath Harunobu's clothes, yet she spoke as if nothing was amiss: "Yakumo Kurenai is indeed capable of those things, and the fact that I haven't found her yet is highly unusual. However, motive-wise, she shouldn't be doing this, because her aim is to assassinate His Majesty the Emperor, and such a heinous act would only make it more plausible for His Majesty not to participate in the Tenran Trials."

"So, will His Majesty the Emperor attend?" Harunobu asked, his hot breath immediately reaching Shiranui Ran's nose, which was very close to his. She shifted uncomfortably, feeling a little strange... Hmm, it must be because Harunobu's breath still tasted of food.

The clothes rustled as their owner moved, disappearing into the silent night breeze. Qingxin suddenly looked up into the distance, pointing to a window: "Is that that family?"

Shiranui Ran quickly calmed herself down, followed Harunobu's finger and nodded: "That's it, Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto's house. By seniority, he's Koharu's cousin, although he's from a branch family, but his strength and talent are quite good. He's currently working as an Onmyo Doctor in the Onmyo Bureau."

"Furthermore, he himself was quite fond of ancient systems and expressed in public on more than one occasion that he believed the political structure of the Heian period was the best. In other words, the so-called court nobles were a faction that was quite questionable among the nobility."

Shiranui Blue is far too conservative; this isn't just questionable, it's downright idiotic. She's like someone at the same table demanding self-discipline and a return to the old ways in the information age.

The political landscape of the Heian period, to put it nicely, was a system of shared rule between the emperor and court nobles; to put it bluntly, it was a centuries-long period of power held by maternal relatives, ultimately shattered by the rise of samurai lords. Isn't the emperor's life now much better than before, when even choosing a wife required deference to the regent? Even the court nobles—which court noble family doesn't have samurai ties now? How many of their main lineages have become extinct, leaving only branches of the samurai family to inherit the throne?

However, it's not unreasonable for someone so mentally challenged to do something like that during the day. After all, the timing of that idiocy is so perfect that it's hard to tell if it's real or not.

"So, what do we do next? Sneake in?"

"No, you go straight through the main gate and visit him under the guise of the Special Higher Police to attract his attention. I'll sneak over there then—take this; it can disrupt the barrier around his house so I can get through smoothly."

"Alright." Although Harunobu possessed the swordsmanship of the Shimada school, he was ultimately not a ninja and did not know magic. In terms of stealth and investigation, he was still no match for Lord Fire Demon. So he took the fiery red fox plush toy that Shiranui Ran handed him and stuffed it, which still retained a faint warmth, into his arms.

"Then I'll take the first step."

Harunobu jumped off the spire and quickly arrived at the door of Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto's house, ringing the doorbell.

The Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto family home was just an ordinary detached house, without a gatekeeper, and unlike the shrine maiden's hut, the floor was covered with paper figures. Finally, a middle-aged woman wearing an apron opened the door.

"Hello, who are you?"

"I am Hirahara Harunobu. I'm here on a mission from the Special Higher Police." Harunobu awkwardly pulled out his police notebook and opened it for the middle-aged woman to see. "Excuse me, is Mr. Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto home?"

"The master is home, please come in, please come in." The woman, presumably the housekeeper, stepped aside to let him in, and Harunobu entered without ceremony. Instantly, he felt the fox-shaped cloth idol in his arms burn as if it were on fire, emitting a scorching heat. And in the originally unremarkable detached house garden, a constantly changing, eerie blue suddenly appeared.

The sound of hurried footsteps came from inside the house, and a man rushed out the door clutching a handful of talismans: "What kind of demon dares to—"

Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto, who had rushed out of the room, suddenly fell silent and stared intently at Harunobu. Harunobu waved the police notebook in his hand at him: "Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto? I'm here to investigate whether you have any connection to the Ueno Park bombing earlier today. Could you please cooperate? You'd better put away all your talismans."

Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto sighed, stuffed the handful of talismans into his pocket, and waved to the middle-aged woman: "Go get some tea and pastries—come in and talk, Master Taira, or perhaps you should call me Section Chief Taira?"

"Just call me Hirahara Harunobu." Harunobu put away his police notebook, grinned, and said, "Mr. Tsuchimikado, could you please tell me your recent whereabouts?"

Above, Miss Fox, using invisibility magic, slipped into the wide-open window. The trap, which should have easily captured the intruder, remained unresponsive, allowing the large fox to enter the room.

Shiranui Ran made a hand seal, skillfully activating her Heavenly Eye and scanning the room. Before long, she found the secret chamber within and easily broke through the layers of magic set up by Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto, retrieving the contents inside.

That was a...diary?

Shiranui Ran flipped through it briefly and found that the contents were nothing special; they were simply records of transactions between Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto and a demon swordsmith. It was more like an account book than a diary, except that it contained many of Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto's complaints about prices and dates.

But was such tight security really necessary? At least fifteen layers of magic were used to seal it, hidden in a secret compartment within the chamber. It's only because she's experienced and powerful; anyone else might have searched the entire place and still not found it.

Never mind, I'll keep it for now.

After carefully putting away the diary and restoring all traces of evidence, Shiranui Ran began examining the various documents on Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto's desk. She worked quickly, swiftly completing the review and confirming that Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto was indeed mentally challenged—but that it had nothing to do with the air raid during the day.

According to his plan, he wanted to replicate the Fujiwara family's past practices, using the sending of his daughter as a roundabout way to achieve his goal—idiot.

Cleaning up the mess, Shiranui Ran returned the way she came, then gently poked the blue fox doll in her arms. Harunobu's red fox doll then reached out and poked Harunobu in return. Harunobu then leisurely chatted with Tsuchimikado Yoshimoto for a few more minutes, and then ended this sudden investigation.

Chapter 327

“It’s not him, let’s go next,” said Shiranui Ran. “By the way, you should keep the fox puppet, so it won’t keep being passed around.”

"Okay." Harunobu didn't stand on ceremony, stuffing the red fox plush toy he had taken out back into his arms and following Shiranui Ran's footsteps.

The author says:

Author's note: Haha, I got my new keyboard after get off work and was about to start typing when I turned it on and found my old keyboard was working again. So, just to give it a try, I started typing, and it worked perfectly. Then, after finishing typing and playing some games, oh dear, it broke again—damn it!

I'm worried that the new keyboard is useless now. I feel like the problem might be caused by the computer overheating and the USB port is hot. The keyboard's USB port is hot, although it's only slightly hotter than body temperature. Anyway, it's ridiculous.

Chapter 303: The Demon Sword Vendor

While Harunobu and Shiranui Ran were investigating the suspects, the real culprit had already disguised herself as an ordinary merchant. Carrying a dozen or so demon swords she had gotten for free from Tenmokuren, she moved through the streets and alleys with ease, just like a real merchant, effortlessly navigating even the most secluded corners.

However, compared to ordinary merchants, her products sell much better.

Almost every customer she approached would take out all their money after following her into a nearby dark alley. Then they would take a carefully wrapped long strip from her basket and quickly leave.

Origin Hall.

Justice Museum.

Test Health Hall.

Training ground.

After that……

Yakumo Kurenai glanced at the street sign in the distance, a smile spreading across her stunningly beautiful face, which was covered in grime. She slowly walked over. The street sign behind her swayed in the night breeze, illuminated by the headlights of the late-night tram, revealing the words: Aozorakan Station.

A moment later, Yakumo Kurenai stood a few meters in front of the Aozorakan with an expressionless face, chewing on a piece of malt candy.

Who set up this barrier? Even she can't interfere with it? Are you kidding me! Her barrier skills are the best in the world. Even if Shiranui Ran and that old idiot came together, they wouldn't be a match for her!