I assembled the strongest swordsman group

"Of course!" Teshiro grinned. "This is Fujisawa-juku in the Tokaido. What this place has no shortage of is travelers from all over the country!"

"I've worked here for eight years! I've seen all sorts of people from different regions! Over time, I've come to recognize dialects from all over the country!"

"Not only can I recognize it, but I can also talk about it!"

"How do you think my Osaka dialect is?" Teshiro asked in perfect Osaka dialect.

"Haha! Your Osaka dialect is very fluent!"

"Hehe, thank you for the compliment! Come on, esteemed guests, please enjoy your meal! I'll get back to my work now!"

Holding the empty tea tray, Teshiro quickly returned to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, the samurai at the table began to share their tea and steamed buns.

"Lord Komuro, tea."

"Oh, okay." Komuro took the tea handed to him by his attendant, took a big gulp, and then pulled out the handkerchief that was already soaked with his sweat from his pocket to wipe the newly formed beads of sweat from his forehead.

Komuro hates moving the most.

Because he is the type of person who sweats very easily, the type of person who will start sweating profusely all over his body after walking just a few steps.

"Lord Komuro, our escort mission can finally be over..." The attendant who had just served Komuro tea sighed softly, "In another 3 or 4 days, we will arrive in Edo."

“Yes.” Komuro put down his teacup and sighed, “The mission to escort that grandfather and grandson to Edo can finally be over. From Osaka to Edo… it was exhausting…”

After saying that, Komuro, as if trying to relieve his fatigue with the delicious tea, took another big gulp of tea.

"Lord Komuro, I really don't understand why those two foreigners, Anthony and Elodie, would choose to come to Edo by carriage instead of taking a proper boat. It's not like there aren't ships that go directly from Osaka to Edo."

“Who knows about them?” Komuro rolled his eyes. “I don’t understand the thoughts of barbarians.”

"Oh dear... actually, thinking about it carefully, I'm quite reluctant to see this mission of escorting Anthony and Elodie come to an end." Another attendant in the room chuckled a few times. "I quite like that Elodie."

"This child is quite endearing."

"It seems like it was about 10 days ago, right? Didn't that guy Oba accidentally twist his ankle?"

"After learning that Oba had injured his foot, Anthony's granddaughter personally brought her maid to visit him."

"We were all quite surprised when we saw Elodie arrive with her maid to visit Ooha."

After hearing what the attendant said, Komuro nodded slightly.

"Hmm... that Elodie is indeed a good person."

"It's a pity that among the barbarians, people like Elodie are ultimately a minority..." Komuro chuckled self-deprecatingly and finished the rest of the tea in his cup.

"Alright, everyone's rested enough, right?"

Komuro picked up the sword lying beside him and slowly stood up.

"Let's go, it's time to go back..."

"Lord Komuro! Lord Komuro! I've finally found you!"

A young samurai, who looked to be only around 16 years old, hurriedly lifted the curtain of the teahouse, his face covered in sweat.

Upon seeing Komuro's slightly plump figure inside the teahouse, the young samurai immediately felt as if he had found his pillar of support, and ran towards Komuro with an expression that looked like he was about to cry.

Before Komuro could even ask "What's wrong?", the young samurai hurriedly pressed his lips to Komuro's ear and whispered something in a voice only Komuro could hear.

The young samurai uttered only one very simple sentence.

But this very simple sentence caused Komuro's expression to change drastically, making him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cave.

“Elodie and her maid are missing.” — These were the words the young samurai spoke to Komuro.

……

……

If you want to kill time in Fujisawa-juku... then the most famous tourist attraction in Fujisawa-juku, Eshima Shrine, is undoubtedly the best place to visit.

Aoto and Saito walked downstream along the river adjacent to Fujisawa-juku, one after the other.

Ancient Japan primarily practiced two religions: the indigenous Shintoism and Buddhism, which originated abroad.

A shrine is a building for worshipping and enshrining various deities in Shintoism, much like a Buddhist temple.

Before long, Qing Deng saw the vermilion torii gate with the shimenawa (sacred rope) hanging on it.

The so-called torii is a type of structure that every shrine must have—a gate shaped like the number "π" (pi).

Torii gates represent the entrance to the sacred realm, used to distinguish the divine realm where gods reside from the secular world inhabited by humans.

The torii gate exists to remind visitors that stepping through it means entering a sacred realm, and that all subsequent actions and behaviors should be carefully considered.

Shimenawa is a thick rope made of straw with a white zigzag paper strip tied to it. It represents a sacred boundary and is often hung on various objects with spiritual power, such as torii gates, shrines, sacred trees, and sacred stones.

As the most famous tourist attraction in Fujisawa-juku, Eshima Shrine naturally attracts a large number of visitors.

As a result, a large number of peddlers and laborers seized this business opportunity and set up stalls outside Eshima Shrine to sell various small commodities.

Vendors selling water, snacks like glutinous rice balls, masks, and specialties from Northeast China...

Since they cannot sell these goods inside the shrine grounds, the vendors have all set up their stalls outside the torii gate.

Aoto led Saito around the stalls outside the torii gate. After not finding anything particularly interesting, they prepared to pass through the torii gate and officially enter Eshima Shrine to take a look.

Just as Aoto took a step toward the torii gate—

Click.

Qingdeng suddenly felt as if he had kicked something.

Looking down and moving his feet aside, Qingdeng's eyebrows immediately lifted slightly.

"Hmm...this hairpin is quite pretty."

What Qingdeng just kicked was a rather nice hairpin.

This hairpin is beautiful, but it has broken in the middle and is no longer usable.

A broken hairpin... completely useless. Qing Deng glanced at the hairpin and then looked away, continuing to lead Saito into the shrine.

Because there are many stalls and vendors outside the shrine, the area outside the shrine is actually more lively than the area inside.

With his hands tucked into the sleeves of his haori, Qing Deng aimlessly surveyed the surrounding scenery and buildings when he suddenly felt as if he had kicked something again.

Stepping away from the ground reveals a rather plain-looking inro that can be bought anywhere on the street.

The inro that Qingdeng had just kicked had a large hole in its bottom, which was understandable, since it was an intact inro that had already been picked up and used by someone else.

"Why do I keep bumping into strange pieces of trash on the ground since just now?"

Aoto smiled at Saito behind him and continued in a joking tone.

"Can't I just encounter something more powerful? Like money or something, I'm currently short on cash."

Saito, as always, did not respond verbally, but simply nodded slightly to show that he was listening to Aoto.

Qing Deng had already gotten used to Saito's slow-witted nature, so he didn't expect Saito to give him any response.

After cracking a little joke with Saito, Aoto put his hands back into the sleeves of his haori and continued striding deeper into the Eshima Shrine...

*******

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Chapter 63: Encountering a Wild Beauty

There's not much to see inside the shrine; you can only look at the architecture and the shrine maidens.

The so-called shrine maiden is one of the priests in a shrine, responsible for managing the shrine and serving the gods. She usually wears a white robe and scarlet hakama, with white socks and red-buttoned straw sandals.

Between the torii gate and the main hall, several women dressed as shrine maidens could be seen sweeping with brooms or making gestures in the air that Qing Deng couldn't understand, holding unidentified objects.

Shrines usually only become lively and fun on certain special holidays, such as New Year's Day and Obon.

On these special festivals, there are many performances to watch, such as shrine maidens performing dances to ward off evil and pray for blessings, using instruments like Kagura bells and taiko drums.

Normally, when you come to the shrine, you can only look at the buildings, watch the shrine maidens sweeping and wiping the floors, and go to the shrine to offer incense, pray for blessings, and make wishes.

Qingdeng had absolutely no interest in the so-called "making a wish before the gods".

After having seen most of the buildings and scenery within the shrine, Qing Deng turned his gaze behind him—

"Saito, would you like to wander around the shrine a little longer?"

Saito's response was exactly what Aoto expected: he shook his head without hesitation.

Seeing Saito shake his head, and realizing he was also tired of the place, Aoto planned to leave the shrine and explore other places in Fujisawa-juku.

There's still a little time before dark, so Aoto can continue sightseeing in Fujisawa-juku for a while longer.

Just as Aoto was about to turn and leave Eshima Shrine—

Bang!

"what!"

A dull thud of flesh colliding and a sharp scream erupted simultaneously in front of Qingdeng.

Drawn by the strange noise, Qingdeng subconsciously looked up ahead—and saw a young witch, around 20 years old, holding a broom, sitting on the ground at the source of the two noises, while a person wearing a brown cloak stood in front of her.

The person wearing the brown cloak was wearing a cloak with a very wide hood.

The person was wearing a hood, the large hood covering her entire face, while an equally large cloak concealed her figure.

Their face and body were covered, making it impossible to recognize their appearance, gender, or age.

The only thing that could be identified was his height—according to Qingdeng's estimation, this person's height should be around 1.65 meters.

It's the dead of winter now, so this kind of cloaked and hooded outfit isn't unusual for this time of year.

"Ah...it hurts so much...!" The shrine maiden, who had fallen to the ground, clutched her right shoulder, her mouth contorted in pain.

"...I'm sorry, I was walking in a hurry and bumped into you. Please forgive me."

The cloaked figure apologized to the witch in a hoarse voice, as if phlegm was stuck in her throat, and then reached out her hand to help her up from the ground.

After helping the shrine maiden up and apologizing to her, the cloaked figure turned and ran, taking off in a hurried manner towards the outside of the shrine.

Watching the cloaked figure disappear into the distance, the witch continued rubbing her right shoulder while muttering curses:

"Seriously, are we rushing to the Sanzu River... Why are we running so fast... Ouch..."

Recalling the scene he had just witnessed and listening to the shrine maiden's curses, Qing Deng roughly guessed what had happened.

Most likely, the cloaked figure was walking too fast and accidentally knocked the witch down.

It was just a trivial matter that was common in everyday life and not worth paying too much attention to, so Qingdeng didn't care much and left after watching the excitement for a while.

After leaving the shrine and arriving at the bustling market area outside the torii gate, Qing Deng looked up at the sky.

—It's still a little over half an hour before it gets dark... That's not too long, not too short... I'll go check out the market in Fujisawa-juku...

Aside from the market in Fujisawa-juku, Aoto really couldn't think of any other place to kill time.

Although he knew that asking Saito's opinion would be pointless, out of respect for Saito, Aoto still asked Saito if there was any place he wanted to go.

Saito, as always, gave a response that had the air of a "conversation killer": it doesn't matter where you go.

—Then let's go to the market in Fujisawa-juku...

Qing Deng put his hands on his hips and looked around, searching for any passersby who seemed free and could give him directions.

But at this moment—

"Ah, Miss Wu! I want to eat that!"

"Sticky rice balls... Great! Which skewer do you want?"

"I want to eat those three skewers that are all red!"

"Do you want three skewers? Can you finish them?"

A conversation consisting of two pleasant female voices suddenly entered Qingdeng's ears from behind his side.

Upon hearing this conversation, Qing Deng was suddenly stunned.