Female Swordsman Training Dojo

I'm not going to believe it today, damn it!

With a flick of her wrist, Yakumo Kurenai pulled out her gold-inlaid jade pipe, ready to go all out. But a moment later, she calmed down and put the pipe back. She was certain she could break through the Azure Sky Pavilion's defensive barrier with a full-force attack, but that would also attract the attention of other spellcasters, making it impossible to remain hidden in the shadows as she was now.

Not worth it.

Most importantly, her goal of breaking the barrier of the Azure Sky Pavilion can now be achieved without breaking it.

Yakumo Kurenai looked at the two women in kendo uniforms walking towards her from a distance and greeted them warmly: "Gentlemen, gentlemen, would you like to take a look at the newly arrived goods?"

"No need, thank you." Sanada Maya waved her hand skillfully in refusing, pulling Hashimizu Yuri to the other side. They basically had everything they needed at the Aozora-kan, so there was no need to buy anything. Besides, these merchants couldn't possibly have anything of value—if they did, its source would certainly be illegitimate.

But just as they were about to leave, they heard the merchant whisper in a low voice, "Two gentlemen from the Azure Sky Pavilion, would you like to buy a demon sword?"

Demonic sword!

Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri stopped, exchanged a glance, and then turned back to Yakumo Kurenai: "You said you're selling a cursed sword? With your abilities?"

Hong Yakumo portrayed a traveling merchant engaged in illegal business with remarkable realism. Her slightly fearful voice and timid expression were all believable and perfectly suited to the character.

Therefore, Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri had no doubts. Especially when Yakumo Kurenai lifted the gray cloth covering the basket and actually found two katana from under a pile of radishes and cabbages.

While Japan doesn't currently prohibit the sale of knives, that applies to legitimate stores; itinerant merchants aren't qualified. And this refers to ordinary knives; "demon swords" are military supplies with even stricter controls than ordinary firearms, requiring rigorous registration and documentation for each one. Possessing an illegal demon sword is a serious crime, let alone illegally selling one.

"Hands up!" Sanada Maya immediately drew her katana and held it to Yakumo Kurenai's neck. As a Bracer, she couldn't turn a blind eye to such illegal and potentially bloody behavior. Moreover, as a swordsman of the Aozora-kan, she had absolutely zero tolerance for anything involving yokai.

Yakumo Kurenai's eyes widened, and she raised her hands as ordered, trembling as she said, "My lady, my lady, please don't kill me! I'm just following orders!"

"Shut up!" Yuri, whose temper was more volatile than her friend's, snapped at Kurenai Yakumo before picking up the fallen demon sword. She needed to check whether it was a registered "exported" item or a purely illegal demon sword.

As for the bewitching power of the demon sword, she was quite confident in her own will. Moreover, the demon sword's bewitching power was gradual; it wouldn't be very strong at first. As long as she didn't do what it said and let herself sink deeper and deeper, there wouldn't actually be a big problem.

Bridgewater Lily shook her head, refocusing her slightly dazed mind. Sure enough, a seductive low moan surfaced in her mind: "Ah~ my dear master~ you crave power, don't you? Because you don't want to lose to those weaker than you, like Kinoshita Ren and the others. You also want to surpass those lazy dogs who eat and sleep all day—"

Bridge Water Lily suppressed her heavy breathing and glanced warily at the half-drawn katana in her hand: "The demon sword is indeed terrifying. Fortunately, I was prepared."

"What preparations? It's just that it's your turn to accompany the teacher today. The teacher might not even be back tonight," Sanada Maya said sourly, bending down to pick up another katana. After a barely perceptible moment of distraction, a resentful voice surfaced in her mind.

"Why, why won't he accept me? I love you so much! Ah~ I know, it must be those vixens, those sluts, deceiving you. Wait a minute—"

Sanada Maya suddenly took a step back, sheathed the katana that she had almost fully drawn, and looked up at the traveling merchant in front of her.

Yakumo Kurenai stood trembling in place, casting a fearful glance at Sanada Maya. As if driven to her limit by terror, she immediately began to confess: "Don't kill me! My lord! Don't kill me! I was forced to do this! They...they are all high-ranking officials in the Imperial Court, I dared not disobey!"

Bridgewater Lily and Sanada Maya exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of reluctance in each other's eyes. They had already confirmed that the demon sword was indeed a registered "genuine" item. In other words, it was most likely someone trying to make extra money, and the person in front of them was just a gofer; catching him wouldn't be of much use.

The crucial point is, even if someone is arrested, it's unclear where they'll be held. The training center is definitely out of the question; men outside the teacher's college are prohibited from entering. The Bracer Guild is also out of the question; they don't have a place to hold prisoners, and there's no one guarding it at night.

As for the intersection on Aozora-kan Road where prisoners are usually sent, that's quite a distance from Aozora-kan. The instructors had instructed them to stay inside the facility; it was a bit of a violation for the two of them to go to the Bracer Guild to retrieve something.

Forget it.

Bridge Water Lily and Sanada Maya sighed and said seriously, "We've confiscated these demon swords and money. Now you'd better go and report back to your post. I'll come find you tomorrow. Don't even think about running away. We already know what you look like. You can't escape."

"And you probably don't want to keep doing things that could cost you your head, right?"

Yakumo Kurenai, her face etched with sorrow but a smile playing on her lips, repeatedly agreed. She then dispelled her charm spell and watched Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri walk into the Aozora-kan.

Although she couldn't break through the barrier of the Azure Sky Pavilion, she could still discern its effects. She was quite certain that it didn't contain any effects related to purifying the mind or dispelling allure.

And judging from their appearance, they should be able to withstand at least a few of those two knives.

Chapter 328

Good heavens. By then, the traces of magic on their bodies should have completely disappeared, and there would be no way to trace it back to her.

Of course, this was all on the premise that they weren't killed in the arena by other people wielding the demon sword, Tenmoku Renzo. Yakumo Kurenai earnestly prayed that such a thing wouldn't happen, because she really wanted to know what kind of expression Taira no Seijin would have on his face when he discovered his wives killing each other.

Now, she should run away.

As Yakumo Kurenai turned and walked to the train station, Hashimizu Yuri and Sanada Maya had already entered the meditation room.

Level 3 meditation room.

Chapter 304: A Step Too Late

Under the pitch-black night sky, Qingxin stretched on the rooftop: "Lan, is that all?"

"It's over. The remaining suspects won't be so easy to infiltrate. Although they can't compare to your barrier, their defenses are still quite formidable." Shiranui Ran stood at a slightly higher position, arms crossed, her tone calm and revealing no emotion.

Harunobu easily approached Shiranui Ran and handed her the red fox plush toy: "Don't be discouraged. At least we're certain there's something fishy going on behind this, and it's not an ordinary problem."

Shiranui Ran glanced at the doll and shook her head: "You don't know, if it involves the spellcaster, it will likely be handed over to the Onmyōryō or Ise Grand Shrine for disposal later."

Harunobu tucked the fox plush toy back into his arms and said simply, "So, it's very likely that we'll end up with the thief crying 'stop thief!' right?"

Shiranui Blue flicked her tail in annoyance and turned to look at Harunobu: "Anyway, I'll handle this from now on. Don't worry, if we catch the culprit, I'll try to spare a few heads for you."

"Don't hesitate to ask me for help if you need it." Qingxin didn't press the matter, simply waved his hand, and hurried back towards Qingkongguan.

The moon was still bright, and the night was like a silver veil.

Shiranui Ran stood on the rooftop for a while, until she could no longer see him, then her figure suddenly drifted away with the wind and disappeared.

A short while later, Harunobu arrived at the Aozorakan.

As soon as he entered the room, his expression tensed up.

There is a smell of blood.

He sniffed and quickly followed the scent to its source, eventually arriving at the meditation room.

Then, speechless, I looked at Tachibana Yuzu, who was drawing a magic circle at the entrance of the meditation room, and walked over to give this naughty kid who was not sleeping in the middle of the night a good rub.

"Master, I'm doing something important!" Tachibana Yuzu struggled against Harunobu's large hand, while meticulously splashing the last bit of dog blood onto the gap in the magic circle. A soft red light shone, illuminating Harunobu's face, which had tightened again.

"what happens?"

“Maya and Yuri are inside. It seems like someone has put a curse on them and bought two very vicious demon swords.” Tachibana Yuzu put down the large basin in her hand and began to explain to Harunobu. “But luckily, they went into the meditation room to meditate as soon as they got back, and got rid of the effects of the spell and the bewitching power of the demon swords. Then, worried that it might recur, they asked someone else to inform Sachiko-nee. Now Sachiko-nee and Amu-nee are inside watching them.”

"As for me, I'm just sitting around doing nothing anyway. I don't know if it will work, but I'll just set up this warding-off-evil formation first. It would be better if Xiaochun came and took a look."

Upon hearing this, Harunobu breathed a slight sigh of relief, then patted Yuzu's head: "Well done, Yuzu, you've worked hard."

"Hehe~" Upon hearing this, Tachibana Yuzu felt all her fatigue disappear and let out a cute, silly laugh. Then, taking advantage of the situation, she grabbed Haruno's hand and climbed up.

Harunobu raised his hand, allowing her to climb onto his shoulder, and then walked into the meditation room.

The upgraded meditation room is no longer a single room, but a large house with a spacious hall and twelve cubicles. The hall is currently packed with people, but the tall and slender Hirako is undoubtedly the center of attention. As for Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri, they are kneeling calmly on cushions, with two rather peculiar-looking katana placed in front of them.

As soon as Harunobu entered, he immediately attracted everyone's attention. However, Harunobu didn't have time to greet them and hurriedly went to the two fools who had been tricked.

"Are you alright? Are you awake now?" As he spoke, Harunobu also checked the status displayed above their heads. Normal emotions such as [frustration], [sadness], and [self-blame] flashed back and forth, indicating that there seemed to be no problem.

After thinking for a moment, Qingxin decided to add the two to the disciple list for the time being and check their status. Hmm, no problem, the status bar was blank, with no indication of [Charm] or [Become Demonic] status.

Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri were now fully awake. Their previous chaotic thoughts and strange ideas, which had seemed convincing and correct, had lost their allure, replaced by guilt. Therefore, seeing Harunobu rushing over so urgently only intensified their feelings of guilt.

Qingxin naturally saw all this, so he simply sat down and patted their heads one in each hand, comforting them, "Alright, alright, it's nothing, it's not your fault. Rather, it's that a powerful person can bypass your magical artifacts and cast a curse on you. Even if you're on guard, it's useless. Don't feel guilty."

That's what they said, but Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri felt even more guilty. Because, in the end, if they hadn't gone to talk to that merchant because of the demon sword—no, if they hadn't gone out at all, this wouldn't have happened at all.

However, now was not the time for self-pity. Sanada Maya choked up for a moment and began to tell Harunobu the whole story.

"...Then, when we entered the meditation room, we suddenly woke up. We realized that we had only taken the demon swords and ignored the merchant's illegal gains. Not to mention the bewitching power of those demon swords, we hadn't broken free at all. Instead, we were influenced from the beginning and felt that we had to get the demon swords and become stronger in order to defeat Sachiko and the others and take over the Master's Academy."

Harunobu's face darkened, but he wasn't too surprised. He simply tapped the two of them on the head with his index finger: "Have you forgotten that you have to beat me to do something like this?"

Sanada Maya pursed her lips; she had indeed forgotten. Or rather, the demon sword wasn't confident it could let her defeat Taira no Harunobu, so it could only make her ignore this weakness.

Thinking about it now makes me feel itchy all over; it was so embarrassing.

Harunobu found it somewhat amusing and couldn't help but pinch their smooth cheeks: "Alright, it's good that you're awake. These two swords are the demon swords you stole, right?"

"Yes, that's right—teacher's college, no way!"

Sanada Maya, who was nodding, saw Harunobu reach for the demon sword in front of her and tried to stop him, but Harunobu had already picked it up.

The instant he gripped the hilt, he immediately sensed a subtle yet persistent force attempting to seep into his consciousness. His instinctive mental defenses intercepted it. The consciousness controlling that force, however, also sensed something amiss and began to struggle.

Correspondingly, the demon sword in Harunobu's hand began to struggle wildly. Unfortunately, its struggles were no match for Harunobu's strength; it was merely giving Harunobu a hand massage.

However, Harunobu was also helpless against him. He didn't know how to deal with a soul hidden in a sword—maybe he could try cutting it with an asabu? Hmm, never mind, that's a bit of a waste. He'd better take it to the shrine maiden for a look.

As Harunobu was thinking, a clear voice suddenly came from the doorway: "Teacher's College! Teacher's College! Are you there? I have something important to report—eh?"

Chapter 305: Springtime Shadows Reappear

The clear voice coming from the doorway was familiar to everyone; it was Tsuchimikado Haru's voice. However, when everyone looked towards the doorway, a question inevitably arose. Because besides Tsuchimikado Haru, there was another person crouching behind her...

Chapter 329

A long-haired beauty with a curvaceous figure.

"Yahoo~" The long-haired beauty, Kasuga Kage, waved to the surprised crowd, but her gaze remained fixed on Harunobu. "Oh my, I was going to do you a favor, but I didn't expect your dojo to be so unique. You solved the fox's charm so easily."

"The allure of the fox?" Harunobu repeated the information Kasuga Kage had revealed, then beckoned to Tsuchimikado Haru. "Ms. Tsuchimikado, could you please tell me what the current situation is?"

Tsuchimikado Haru nodded slightly and walked towards Harunobu. Haruhi Kage, who was clinging to her back, smiled and said in a very surprised tone, "Eh? You call the other disciples by their first names, but you call me by my full name, so formal. Do you really think I won't stay here long? Or is it because I'm not like them—"

Halfway through her sentence, Kasuga Echo seemed startled by the stares of those around her, raising her hands to cover her mouth. Her large, bright eyes conveyed an innocent expression.

Tsuchimikado Haru rubbed his fingers and approached Harunobu: "Master, this is what happened..."

As Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri entered the Aozora-kan with the demon sword, Tsuchimikado Haru, who had been practicing swordsmanship alone in the training ground, suddenly shuddered. Then, the figure she hated so much suddenly appeared and embraced her affectionately.

"You're really trying hard, my other half. Are you really that eager to get your magic back? You actually enjoy swordsmanship now, don't you?"

"I just want power!" Tsuchimikado Haru roared, turning to swing his wooden sword at Kasuga Kage. But the sword passed right through Kasuga Kage, as if piercing through thin air. Ordinary weapons have no effect on spirits; at least a mental connection is needed to inflict any damage.

Haruhi Kage chuckled and drifted closer to Tsuchimikado Haru: "Yes, yes~ let's just say that. But now is not the time to play around with me like this. Someone has brought something very scary into this place. If you don't stop them, there might be a bloodbath."

Tsuchimikado Haru sneered. She wasn't a fool; how could she believe the words of a possessed spirit? Besides, the Azure Sky Pavilion had a powerful protective barrier; what evil thing could possibly get in and cause such a bloodbath? It was clearly a deliberate attempt to soften and corrupt her will to resist.

I don't think about it!

"—That's what you think, right?"

Haruhi Kage lightly touched her red lips with her index finger, revealing a perfectly alluring smile. Tsuchimikado Haru remained tense, responding with a cold expression.

However, this indifference gradually turned into hesitation as Kasuga Kage slowly revealed the details about the two demonic swords and the filth.

"Anyway, that's all I wanted to say. Whether you go and report it is up to you~" Kasuga Kage smiled and licked her lips, then leaned close to Tsuchimikado Haru's ear, "Hey, my other half, you don't want to be seen as someone who wouldn't help someone in distress by Taira Harunobu, do you?"

Back to the present, Tsuchimikado Haru, extremely embarrassed and annoyed, watched as Haruhi Kage, perched on Harunobu's shoulder, repeated the last words she had used to convince herself, her small fist hardening into a large fist.

You just wait! Once I master the Thunder Sword, I'll shred you, you shameless possessing spirit, into pieces!!

Harunobu didn't feel anything, mainly because Haruhisa, being a spirit, didn't exude any warmth when speaking, so being close or not made no difference. Moreover, although his actions seemed ambiguous, it was clearly just him teasing on purpose, completely lacking the allure and affection that his wives usually showed when they did such things.

I can only say it's average. (.JPG)

However, I still want to thank her for the news she brought, including the part about the fox's allure. Although when this is mentioned, the first thing that comes to mind is a certain golden fox whose every smile and frown exudes natural charm, Shiranui Ran has been with him all night, so it can't be her.

The remaining fox demons, possessing the ability to bypass the passive defenses of shrine maidens' magical artifacts, naturally led Harunobu to think of a certain red-haired fox. While it could simply be another fox demon, wild demons generally couldn't obtain demon swords, especially not registered, genuine ones.

Not to mention that the fox was able to bypass the shrine maiden's magical artifacts and use its charm on Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri. Although it was only the most basic manipulation to confuse their judgment and arouse their desires, and not yet strong enough to control their minds, it still showed that it was not a weakling.

He looks like an official from some kind of united front organization.

Harunobu stood up and put the two demon swords into the wooden box that Hirako had brought. Then he turned around and patted the two idiots who looked worried: "Don't worry, it's alright. I'm going to the shrine maiden's place. Don't go out again until I get back."

"Yes, teachers' college."

Although the disciples were worried, they didn't stop Harunobu, but simply obeyed his orders. Tsuchimikado Haru wanted to say something, but Haruhi Kage pounced on her at the perfect moment, the stimulating sensation like being splashed with ice water interrupting her. By the time she came to her senses, Harunobu was already gone.

Hirako clapped her hands lightly: "Alright, everyone go back and rest. We have to continue the competition tomorrow! Maya, Yuri, don't worry too much. The teacher won't blame you."

Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri stood up dejectedly: "Then, Sachiko-nee, the punishment should be..."

"Simply canceling your three opportunities to serve the emperor is already a very lenient punishment. Disobeying the teachers' college's orders without authorization should, in principle, demote you to the very bottom."

While Harunobu would never do that, Taira no Sachiko wouldn't mind being the bad guy. If you're not happy, come and beat her!

No one else had any objections. After all, Sanada Maya and Hashimizu Yuri almost caused a major incident this time. If they hadn't made it a habit to meditate in the meditation room before going to sleep... they didn't even dare to think about what would have happened afterward, or how much of a blow the teacher would have suffered as a result.

The two were well aware of this, so they did not take the opportunity to plead with Harunobu.

—Actually, the training room also has a calming effect, ensuring they don't lose control. It's just not as effective as the meditation room; it simply dispels the negative energy.

Haru Tsuchimikado watched this scene with a hint of envy. Such a pleasant atmosphere was nowhere to be found in the Tsuchimikado household. Let alone a punishment like this, even their daily interactions were never this harmonious. Especially for a powerless nobody like Shiki, there was no room for any warmth.

After all, if samurai are destined to become obsessed and irrational, then spellcasters are destined to become heartless and ruthless irrational. And the Tsuchimikado family...

Haru Tsuchimikado rubbed his head, which Haruno had just slapped, and turned to leave.