You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

That being said, this does reduce some of the fun.

Akame and Esdeath, being professional, would not allow themselves to fall into a state of unconsciousness, and with the help of their physical constitutions, they were almost completely sober. Only Sera... slumped against Iori in a daze.

"Ugh, no..."

In her dream, Sera mumbled incoherently and occasionally gave strange laughs, but Iori didn't take it to heart.

“Iori…”

"Ok?"

I actually heard my own name called. (Kuai)

"Not enough...hehe, lie down obediently...let me do it...hehe!"

Iori: "..."

Is this guy faking being drunk?!

Although she was curious, Iori intuitively felt it was best not to investigate too much.

……

In the afterglow of dusk, at the bar counter of the open-air bar, soft light shone on her slightly tired face. Her delicate and pretty features were somewhat pale. Today, Gudako was not wearing her combat uniform, but an orange dress. The perfectly fitting long skirt reached her calves, revealing a corner of white stockings, making her look light and agile.

After so many days of revelry, Fujimaru Ritsuka had accumulated a lot of fatigue... It was time to get a good night's sleep.

"Black coffee...I'll have one."

"please."

"Ugh, my head hurts a little..."

But when she tried to pick up her coffee to perk herself up, she experienced a completely different sensation at her fingertips.

"Ok?"

She turned her head in surprise and realized that she was holding a glass vessel in her hand, but the heavy glass that should have been used to hold golden beer was now incongruously filled with red wine.

"Coffee will only make you more alert right now, but I think you need to completely relax."

Iori casually sat on the platform, raised a glass that was also full, and revealed a faint smile.

"Can you have a drink with me? I haven't really spoken to you these past few days."

"Hmm, Iori~"

Gudako paused, her expression softening from its fatigue: "Long time no see... You haven't come to see me for a while, I thought you had a new Master."

"Not just anyone is qualified to sign a contract with me. Don't underestimate me!"

Iori also raised a glass of red wine: "At least until now, my Masters are only you and Sera."

“It’s different… Miss Sera and I have a more precious bond, and I am only your Master in name.”

Gudako said with a smile.

The two clinked their glasses and each took a sip. Iori curled his lip in disapproval: this wine might be considered good in the world, but it was really ordinary to him.

After a moment of silence, Iori slowly glanced around: "Merlin didn't show up at the banquet either. Is he busy with something important?"

"Same as always, he's gone to observe the situation in Chaldea in a parallel world... You know, world lines can easily shift due to small events, and right now, what he needs most is patience."

Gudako thought for a moment: "After all, although there are many Chaldea people, it is not easy to find someone with this level of skill."

"By the way..."

Iori frowned and asked tentatively, "My current online identity and Spirit Origin login have always been 'Susanoo'?"

"How about I call you Rama, or the Great Sage Equal to Heaven?"

Gudako lay on the table, turned her head and looked at Iori with a smile, "Where did you get so many 'real names'?"

"I knew it!"

Iori lowered her head and also focused on the red wine in her glass, gently moving her wrist to make the vibrant liquid swirl slowly.

"Actually, I'm also very curious. Why do I feel different every time I see you? Your soul may not have changed, but many details..."

"It's probably a memory problem. Just like Alzheimer's patients forget things that happened a few days ago, but suddenly recall things from many years ago with incredible clarity."

Gudako's eyes were blurry with drunkenness, and Iori's calm face was reflected in her pupils.

"To combat the 'nightmare,' I occasionally seal away parts of my memories... Consequently, memories from different periods fill in the gaps, and my behavior and verbal tics are probably affected by this."

"..."

"Heh...why did you make that face? It's like a parent watching their child misbehave."

Gudako chuckled. "It's clearly not your responsibility...it's my own business."

“Indeed, this is your private matter, but I remember that Masters of Chaldea have always fought side by side with their Servants, and it is only natural for a Master to accept the help of heroes.”

Iori lowered her lips and said seriously, "Don't forget, I can also be considered your servant."

I won't forget!

"Okay, it's settled then. I'll definitely ask for your help if necessary... Hold my hand then, okay, Lord Aizen~"

Chapter 411 Throwing the Lighter into the Armory

Soul Society, Seireitei, Third Division Barracks.

Iori sat cross-legged at the low table, calmly processing the documents. The work that would make most captains suffer was no challenge for Iori, as if he already had the answer in his heart and only needed to write it down leisurely.

He temporarily suspended the "Legion Transformation Project" and returned to Soul Society. Although he didn't receive the tournament rewards because of his trip to Chaldea, Ritsuka generously offered to commission several ultra-high-grade magic cores for Iori.

Chaldea already has many "wonderful sights" collected from singularities, so it's not difficult to build a completely new system using them as core components. It's just a matter of giving the Casters some time to design the blueprint.

sigh~

The door opened, and Rojuro Fengqiao walked in, the melancholy-looking young man setting down a stack of documents.

"Captain, this is the security plan for next month. Please take a look."

"Well, hard work."

"besides……"

Lou Shilang took out another piece of paper from his pocket. "This was submitted by the Second Division. They are people we need to keep a close eye on."

"Let Tosen and Komamura handle this; his Zanpakuto is well-suited for surveillance missions."

"understood."

Fengqiao Loujuro laughed, "With the abilities of the Fourth Seat of Tosen, it's absolutely impossible for anyone to discover it."

As is well known, the Gotei 13 was a violent group at its inception. There was no division of duties at the time, and everyone's common goal was to kill people. The squad numbers were just for the purpose of differentiation.

However, conquering a kingdom is different from governing it. After a thousand years of development, the 13 teams' authority and responsibilities have expanded to the entire Three Realms, and there are few places in Seireitei that they do not have a say in.

The most famous is the Fourth Division, which has a monopoly in the medical field, especially in high-end medical procedures, which can only be found among the officers of the Fourth Division.

However, the division of responsibilities among the thirteen teams is not a simple issue, with many ambiguous gray areas between them.

For example, while the "Ninth Division" is officially in charge of managing the prison system, the "Maggot Nest," which holds special prisoners, has always been managed by members of the Shihōin clan or their retainers.

For example, the 8th Division is responsible for the intelligence system, while the 10th Division is responsible for patrol and security. However, the 2nd Division (Sidekick) has the authority to investigate, search, and gather intelligence throughout the entire city, and sometimes it even takes over the main authority.

(This also shows that the Shihouin family is a truly powerful noble family, but their style of doing things makes them less conspicuous than Tsuna and Kuchiki.)

While Iori's Third Division is theoretically a "support team," it is actually more like a fire brigade, doing a little bit of everything. Wherever assistance is needed, the Third Division can step in to help.

For example, the list that Fengqiao just brought over is the list of people that the Second Division requested their assistance in monitoring. It's not that the Second Division lacks the ability, but when sensitive individuals are involved, they need a partner who can corroborate their claims.

Yoruichi has taken over as the head of the Shihouin family, and the Second Division is actually under her control. Completely disregarding whether she will cause trouble for others, she often entrusts similar troublesome matters to Iori.

Of course, this is all work at the executive level, and Iori doesn't need to pay too much attention to it; a casual glance is enough.

"Ok?"

Iori had no intention of studying it, but his exceptional eyesight and speed of information processing allowed him to instantly find something special about it.

"This name...didn't the Second Division say anything about it?"

"what?"

Fengqiao Loujuro took the list and glanced at it. "Senko... Huh? Mr. Xianghe, why?"

"As expected, there was no warning."

"But Qian Zixianghe is... he's an upright and good person!"

Fengqiao said indignantly, "I don't believe he would do anything to harm Soul Society, so why would he deliberately... Could it be that..."

"What did you think of?"

"..."

Fengqiao's face was grim, and his expression was complicated.

Seeing this, Iori shook her head: "Don't worry, the thing you're most worried about shouldn't happen."

"team leader……"

“Look closely, the marked items are for tracking and recording. This is to keep track of his movements, not to eliminate him.”

"Phew...that's good."

Fengqiao breathed a sigh of relief and scratched his head sheepishly, "The captain is so sharp and calm; I didn't even notice any of that."

"Don't take it to heart. This kind of thing is very common in Soul Society. Maybe you or I have been targeted at some point in time. Nothing unexpected will happen."

"I understand, thank you for your guidance, Captain. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

sigh~

After the vice-captain left, Iori's smile didn't disappear, but it seemed to have become inexplicably distant, and she couldn't help but feel a bit curious when she looked at the list.

"Qianzi Xianghe... While this is reasonable, it is not logical."

Although Xianghe was only a seat officer, his "fame" was no less than that of some captains. In the eyes of most Grim Reapers, he was an extremely special existence. Even if they knew he was an upright person, they always kept a certain distance from him.

The root of all this is his Zanpakuto—[Muramasa]!

In a sense, this is a more terrifying demon sword than Ryujin Jakka, because it has the ability to bewitch sword spirits and hypnotize them, causing the Zanpakuto to rebel against its master!

The more important a Zanpakuto is to a Shinigami, the more detestable the sword Muramasa becomes, leading to a different view of Hibiki... Shinigami and swords are one in spirit, and Hibiki cannot sever ties with Muramasa.

Why is monitoring Xianghe River reasonable?

Since the distant past, before the establishment of the Gotei 13, Soul Society has always had the rule of "eliminating dangerous elements".

This rule is not for punishing sinners. Even an innocent person, if they have the potential to threaten the stability of Soul Society, will be monitored or even eliminated!

The significance of the maggot's nest lies in this.

It's important to understand that "Death" isn't a messenger of justice, but a guardian of order; he wouldn't do anything with a saintly heart.

Kenpachi, a member of the Thirteenth Division, was once recommended to the Zero Division because his Bankai was so powerful that it could even disrupt the stability of the Seireitei. Since it was too powerful to control, they simply put him aside.

However, some things happened later, so the recommendation was unsuccessful.

Qian Zixianghe, with just that demonic sword, is undoubtedly an extremely dangerous guy!

This isn't a matter of his strength; the key issue is that his abilities are so unique that the entire Death God Group has no effective countermeasures.

It's important to know that Ryujin Jakka can also destroy Soul Society, but that's only possible because of Yamamoto's powerful spiritual pressure. If the sword were in Kensei Muguruma's hands, it would probably only burn down some streets.

But Muramasa can hypnotize people beyond his level!

It's like a celestial demon in a fantasy novel; its physical strength may not be that great, but it's invincible in the spiritual realm!

In the past, things were alright. Xianghe was only at the level of a minor official. Even if a village head was incredibly powerful, he still had to abide by certain rules, so he couldn't have any effect on a senior captain.

However, Hibiki himself is very talented (even if there is some exaggeration, he is still a Bankai user), and his spiritual pressure is now at the top level among the vice-captains... At this stage, he has not yet shown the upper limit of his hypnotic ability, but it is easy to imagine what the Seireitei higher-ups would think of him.

What if, what if he had a brain fart and hypnotized Yamamoto's Zanpakuto... thirty seconds would be enough to destroy Seireitei!

Just imagine, that would be absolutely amazing!

It's perfectly normal to monitor Xianghe. In fact, based on his past behavior, he wouldn't have survived this long; his Zanpakuto would have been confiscated long ago, and he would have been imprisoned in the maggot's nest.

The reason it didn't develop in this way is because Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni and Kuchiki Ginrei—the two top-tier players of the Thirteenth Division—provided protection.

After personally interacting with him, they all believed that Xianghe was not an unruly person, that he recognized the ideals of the Gotei 13, and that he was willing to sacrifice himself to protect the three realms.