Female Swordsman Training Dojo

"Your house?" The shrine maiden blinked, her mind switching between curiosity and confusion before finally settling back to [...].

"Then I'll add a feature to control whether it's on or off. Come pick it up the day after tomorrow—it'll cost two thousand yen."

Harunobu immediately entered a bargaining phase.

Chapter 198

"That's too expensive, can you give me a discount?"

The shrine maiden's eyes sharpened: "Two thousand yen is already very cheap. This isn't just a simple light switch installation..."

After a heated debate, Harunobu successfully secured the charging service for all the magical artifacts, along with the enhancement and modification service for the white magatama, for 4,000 yen.

Now, let's get back to the main topic.

"Do you have a way to find that dragon through those marked souls?"

Naturally, Harunobu planned to take advantage of the situation and kill the demonic dragon before it regained its senses. But the priestess shook her head: "Not here. You can't afford to get me out of here."

Qingxin was somewhat disappointed, but not surprised. He simply asked, "What about the magical artifact? Can it be made?"

"That's fine, but it's very expensive, extremely expensive." The shrine maiden held out her hand. "I'll give you 100,000 yen."

?

Just as Harunobu typed out a question mark, he heard the shrine maiden add, "It will also take a month to make."

"Farewell!"

Qingxin packed up the various magical artifacts that the paper figures had returned, preparing to get up and run away. However, halfway there, he sat back down: "Do you have a phone here?"

"Yes, we do. The call fee is one yen per minute." The shrine maiden waved her hand, and soon dozens of paper figures worked together to carry a dial phone to Harunobu's front.

The one yen per minute call cost made Harunobu's lips twitch slightly, but rather than looking for other places where he might leak information, he obediently picked up the receiver and dialed the phone number left by Shiranui Ran.

After a few beeps, a tired female voice came through the receiver: "Hello? Who are you looking for?"

Following Shiranui Ran's suggestion, Harunobu replied, "I'm looking for the fox."

"A fox?" The woman's voice, clearly tired, suddenly sounded shocked. Then, a beeping sound came from the microphone, but this time, after the beeping ended, it was Shiranui Ran's voice that came through.

"Master Ping, is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes, it's something very important, it's like this..."

Harunobu repeated the shrine maiden's words, adding his own summary and the shrine maiden's exorbitant price.

Shiranui Ran was rendered speechless on the spot.

"Dragon...Dragon Society..." After a long pause, Shiranui Ran finally uttered those two names through gritted teeth. Harunobu, feeling a pang of heartache, quickly asked, "So, can you reimburse me?"

Perhaps sensing she could make a big profit, the shrine maiden smiled and said, "If you can pay more, we can deliver the goods in as little as three days!"

"No need, I roughly know where that dragon is hiding... that bitch Yakumo Kurenai." Shiranui Ran said through gritted teeth, causing the shrine maiden to sit back down with great regret. It was truly a pity, as if a "regretful" sign was hanging above her head.

Harunobu casually tapped the microphone, waking up Shiranui Ran: "So what do we do now? This dragon sounds incredibly powerful, should we notify the Onmyoji Bureau or something?"

"Of course, but not now... Master Ping, are you interested in pulling off a big heist?"

Chapter 186: Reaching an Agreement

"You're not planning to drag me along to fight the dragon one-on-one, are you?"

Harunobu preemptively asked a question, and Shiranui Ran unsurprisingly gave an affirmative answer: "Of course, doesn't Master Hei want to become a dragon-slaying hero? I can decide to send you the dragon's corpse."

"If I went, it would have been my spoils anyway."

Harunobu first expressed his disdain for Shiranui Ran's attempt to get something for nothing, and then continued, "Besides, I really have no intention of becoming a dragon-slaying hero. I am quite self-aware of my own strength, okay? I sincerely suggest that your Special Higher Police embezzle public funds to buy magical artifacts, and then use a cluster of artillery to flatten that place."

"Anyway, no official doesn't embezzle funds these days, so at least you're doing something legitimate."

On the other end of the phone, Shiranui's blue face darkened. She glanced at her lord, who had already started to laugh, and tried to calm herself down: "Don't you want to go further? Kill the Demon Dragon, and maybe you can become a Hatamoto, the fourth Hatamoto in Tokyo."

“No interest. I can’t even manage Asakusa Ward, let alone the Hatamoto.” Harunobu continued to refuse. “Besides, your Special Higher Police don’t handle samurai… Speaking of which, are we samurai under the jurisdiction of the military or the Ministry of Home Affairs?”

The answer is no, because nominally the samurai were directly under the Emperor. However, the samurai's stipends went into the Ministry of Home Affairs' accounts, while the land registrations that had been returned to the Emperor remained with the military, making it easier for the samurai to transfer to civilian jobs.

Seeing that Harunobu was completely unmoved, Shiranui Ran felt utterly helpless. At this moment, the rich girl, who had finally finished laughing, spoke up: "Tell him that if he helps to deal with the demon dragon, he can regain his law enforcement authority in Asakusa Ward... well, the same law enforcement authority as the police."

Shiranui Ran was somewhat surprised: "My lord?!"

"So, this guy came here specifically for this reason, otherwise he would have hung up already—are you guys that close?"

"Uh..." Shiranui Ran thought about it and realized it was true. Taira no Shinichi was usually very straightforward in his actions: enemies, kill; women, fuck. She had never seen him speak so formally with anyone before.

The rich girl suddenly added, "Of course, it's also possible that I've been bewitched by you, Sister Lan. Now I'm just waiting for you to offer yourself to me!"

She glared at the little one, then released her hand from the microphone and repeated the lord's conditions to Qingxin.

"Like the police, they have the same law enforcement powers?" Harunobu stroked his chin, somewhat tempted. But to deal with a demon dragon, it would have to be at least a demon king, or maybe even a legendary monster.

Can you beat it?

Harunobu frankly expressed his final doubts.

Shiranui Ai answered confidently, "We will win!"

Harunobu was becoming increasingly uneasy, with a feeling that he might become 2.5 times worse.

"Give me some evidence?" Harunobu said. "What if the opponent is a king-level monster? I remember that monsters of this level already have the ability to confront an army head-on."

Shiranui Ran's face darkened: "Do you think your fighting ability isn't enough to confront the army head-on? The guards at Suzuki Manor are more determined and brave than many soldiers, and the guns they carry are all from the South.

"That's only a few people, is that enough for a whole battalion?" Qingxin curled his lip. "In short, this job is too dangerous, I'm not doing it, and I sincerely suggest you use fire coverage."

Although he coveted the power of law enforcement, Harunobu decisively hung up the phone; he had absolutely no intention of becoming 2.5 Harunobu. And honestly, for a yokai of this level, bombarding them directly would be a better option than sending an individual to their doom.

Ultimately, he had no grudge against the dragon itself, only against the Dragon Society. Instead of wasting time dealing with the dragon, he should focus on eliminating the Dragon Society that was shipping the goods. As for whether the dragon could be resurrected… even if it were, there were still the Special Higher Police's ninja girls, and the Onmyoji Bureau and Tokyo's numerous spellcasters and samurai.

We can't expect him to do everything, can we? He's not the toilet king of the Volunteer Army.

As Qingxin was about to get up after hanging up the phone, the phone, which hadn't been moved yet, rang again.

Harunobu reluctantly answered the phone, but instead of the alluring mature voice of Shiranui Ran, a clear and cold girl's voice came through the receiver: "Lord Harunobu, please assist the fire demon in Shiranui in completing the mission of slaying the demon dragon. This is an order—in the name of the Emperor, may your military prowess be prosperous."

Before Qingxin could answer, the sound of a handover could be clearly heard from the other end of the phone, followed by Shiranui Ran's voice with a hint of schadenfreude: "You wouldn't listen to me when I tried to talk to you properly, now look what happened!"

Now it was Harunobu's turn to be completely exasperated: "Wait, she says it's an order, so it's an order? When did the Taisho Emperor become a young girl?"

Shiranui Ran laughed out loud: "The person who was speaking to you just now was my lord, Misuru-hime—"

Chapter 199

"That's right, she's Emperor Taisho's daughter."

"..." Harunobu fell silent.

"If you don't believe me, I'll have someone deliver the stamped imperial edict to the Azure Sky Pavilion later. Please be prepared, Pavilion Master." Shiranui Ran's smile grew even more arrogant. This brat has finally been outmaneuvered. How satisfying!

"If you don't want your samurai status to be taken away, then work hard, Master Taira."

Hearing this talk full of self-satisfaction, Qingxin rolled her eyes: "Is this a threat? Aren't you afraid I'll shirk my duties? Or maybe I'll just join the Tongxin Society?"

While it's true I wouldn't, organizations like the Tongxin Society are truly disgusting. Even if I were to defect from Qingxin, I wouldn't choose that organization. If all else fails, going solo is much better than joining the Tongxin Society.

Shiranui Ran knew this too, and besides, who would openly declare their intention to betray their lord? However, she didn't want to strain the relationship between Taira no Harunobu and her lord, so she softened her laughter and began to explain: "My lord never said you would work for free. He promised you law enforcement authority, and the dragon's corpse would also be yours."

"Besides, you misled me before. That demonic dragon hasn't been resurrected yet, so there's no way it could be a king-level being. And even if there were a king-level being, the two of us working together wouldn't be unable to defeat it."

"You trust me that much?" Harunobu couldn't help but ask, while Shiranui Ran replied frankly, "Your actions have already proven that you are a good person. To be honest, I think even if you refuse now, you will still go and cause trouble for the Demon Dragon in the end. Because if the Demon Dragon is revived, it will definitely wreak havoc on Asakusa Ward."

"And you are a good person."

Harunobu was not happy at all when people kept telling him he was being friend-zoned.

But with things already said this far, what could Harunobu say? After all, samurai were indeed supposed to obey the Emperor's orders, but he never expected that a ninja could be connected to the Imperial Family.

However, Harunobu still had one question: "So why not use artillery?"

"Because moving artillery would have to go through the military headquarters, and that would definitely leak the news. Besides, the Tongxin Society was hiding in a residential area, so they couldn't carry out any cover bombing anyway."

As she spoke, Shiranui Ran couldn't help but complain, "So what were you talking about just now? You kept rambling on about something else."

Harunobu was speechless: "Isn't it you who kept bringing up things like joining the ranks of the Hatamoto? You should have said that earlier."

Miss Fox fell silent.

She never expected that Taira no Harunobu wouldn't be interested in getting promoted or making money!

"In any case, let's prepare the battle plan now..."

Shaking his head, Harunobu decided to let the fox lady off the hook, who quickly changed the subject, but added, "The phone call here costs two yen per minute, remember to reimburse me later."

"what?!"

Chapter 187: The Flow of Timely Rain and Azure Swallows

February 10th.

On a quiet and peaceful morning like any other, Harunobu woke up with Hirako in his arms. After spending some time with his beloved wife, he got up, washed, and ate breakfast. Then he left the Aozora-kan with Tachibana Nako.

The guerrillas went out as usual, and the Dragon Society had now completely retreated... well, that's a nice way of putting it; in reality, it had basically disappeared. Apart from the Tanaka Group, who successfully betrayed their leader and purged the poisonous blood within, the rest of the Yakuza either fled or joined the Orange Group.

This is very much in line with Hiraharu's approach. Although Suzuki Ryuichi was extremely heartbroken, this actually shows that everything is normal.

Therefore, he didn't notice that there were quite a few guerrillas out today, and that their patrol positions were all quite close together.

Harunobu led Tachibana Nako all the way to the Sumida River. Looking at the ramen shop in the distance, he chuckled and said, "Come to think of it, my first job was around here."

That was the ramen shop where Suzuki Michiichi once hid.

After a brief moment of recollection, Harunobu looked at Tachibana Nako: "Are you ready? It's about to begin."

Nako Tachibana took a deep breath: "I'm ready, Instructor."

"Very good." Qingxin gazed at the river and noticed that the boat mentioned in the intelligence report hadn't arrived yet, so he opened the system page. He looked at his remaining 5 points of study points.

Considering the need to deal with the demonic dragon, Harunobu used up all his points before setting off—though it was only two draws.

The drop rate was good, with one R-grade item and one SR-grade swordsmanship skill.

Although R-grade items are practically unusable.

Looking at the [Rain Box - Rain Dolphin] on the system page, Qingxin felt a headache coming on. It was actually a very good item, the only problem was that Qingxin couldn't use it. It required a special ring to activate and unleash its effects, but Qingxin didn't have one.

Fortunately, his swordsmanship was quite good.

【Shigure Souen Ryu - Mianxu Jiechuan】, and 【Ame-haku - Ame-dolphin】 are from the same work, "Katekyo Hitman Reborn!". Putting aside the moves for now, this swordsmanship can manipulate water flow - the underwater breathing even has special effects.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to teach it to Tachibana Nako. Moreover, this swordsmanship is quite strange; it can only be taught to each person once. If you learn it, you learn it; if you don't, you never will. It even has the nickname of a self-destructive style.

But let's talk about that later.

Watching the ship slowly approach and dock at the shore, Qingxin closed the system page and walked towards the ramen shop. The Demon Dragon Society wouldn't be foolish enough to traffic people in public; they were currently hiding underground in the ramen shop, sending people directly onto the ship via a secret passage. The large ship attracted all attention and blocked other views, and guards were stationed on the shore to prevent others from approaching.

Even if an accident occurs, the people in the secret passage can stop shipping in time and hide in the passage until the situation passes.

So Harunobu prepared to give them a surprise.

The ramen shop was quite busy, and unsurprisingly, the Yakuza inside had already been arrested, at least the previous ones had been.

Now, as Harunobu approached, the expressions of the new master inside gradually stiffened. Especially when Harunobu grasped the hilt of Asauchi's sword, everyone inside, from the cook to the shopkeeper, knelt down in unison.

"..." Harunobu, who was all ready to strike with lightning speed, shook his head speechlessly. "Open the door, and then go and turn yourself in."

"Yes!"

The chef, who was also the manager, stood up excitedly. The excitement of surviving the ordeal made him move much faster. He quickly lifted the floorboards, revealing a long ladder leading underground.

"get out."

Harunobu waved his hand, watching helplessly as his men quickly took off running.

Next comes the killing.

Harunobu unleashed the thunderous roar of Thunder Breathing, and the underground passage, which was already prone to echoing, was instantly filled with the sound of thunder, shocking the Yakuza and Tongxinhui members hiding inside.

"Taira Harunobu!"

The distinctive voice made them react quickly. Some were so frightened they wet themselves, while others angrily drew their knives and guns from their waists.

Unlike his subordinates' excitement, Ryuichi Suzuki continued to leisurely sip his wine: "Hmm, the wine tastes alright, not as bad as I imagined."