I'm a demon in Tokyo!

Chapter 272 All the waiters are the same person! Demon King Hoshiguma Doji! Ririko, advancing to the elimination rounds.
Mugen no Suke was a famous swordsman in the late Sengoku period.

Although he was someone Uesugi Tetsu would most likely never meet even if he went back in time, he still studied this nominal "Katori Shinto-ryu swordsman" very carefully when doing his homework.

The reason it is said to be nominal is because although Yume Konnosuke started his career by practicing the Katori Shinto school and obtained the qualification of "Menko Kaiden".

However, after that, the Katori Shinto-ryu style was never mentioned much in the biography of this famous swordsman.

Instead, he first followed the founder of the Kashima Shinryu school, Matsumoto Bizen no Kami, and secretly learned the secret technique of "Ichi no Ken" from the essence of the Kashima Shinryu school.

Then, after being defeated by the sword saint of that generation, Miyamoto Musashi, he wanted to devote himself to researching ways to defeat Miyamoto Musashi.

So, Quan Zhizhu traveled all over the world, studying various schools of thought, taking the essence and discarding the dross.

Finally, by combining spear techniques, knife techniques, sword techniques, and so on, the unique "Way of the Staff" was created!
He also developed the secret technique, the Cross Pass, which is said to be able to defeat Miyamoto Musashi, whom he once encountered, and established the Shinto Musou-ryu Staff Style!
Unfortunately, after that, Kensuke never met Miyamoto Musashi again.

Therefore, the world would have no way of knowing who would win if the two were to fight again.

But at least in the heart of the dreamer, Kensuke has defeated Miyamoto Musashi, whom he met that day and who had defeated him mercilessly, and he has also defeated his past self.

that's enough.

Later, Shinto Musou-ryu stick style was further developed and even became the designated stick style within the All Japan Kendo Federation in modern times.

However, since this method was created by the dream-loving Gennosuke specifically to deal with human swordsmen, it is somewhat ineffective when dealing with demons and monsters.

Therefore, very few extraordinary individuals who have truly fought against demons and monsters are proficient in this art.

Uesugi Tetsuya was not one of them either.

"Pity……"

Although the swordsman's memory orbs are excellent, neither Katori Shinto-ryu, Kagami-jima-ryu, nor Shinto Musou-ryu staff-doing has anything to do with the Natural Rishin-ryu he practices.

If you were to read through this memory orb, you might gain a lot of experience in swordsmanship.

But that's all.

Unlike when I watched Tokugawa Yugoro practice the Myo-gawa Breathing Technique, I didn't gain much from it.

After all, different sword styles are clearly distinct, and Uesugi Tetsu didn't have the extra energy to delve into other styles and their secrets.

Uesugi Tetsuya put away the memory orb of Dream Konnosuke with a backhand, already deciding in his mind where it would go.

—Sell this orb to Sheng Hai the next time you see him.

Although Uesugi Tetsu himself did not know any masters of Shinto Dream School Staff Path, Katsumi definitely did, and had channels to sell them.

These memory orbs are incredibly valuable in the hands of certain groups of people.

"My lord, congratulations on winning the third round of the World's Number One Song Tournament."

The fox-faced woman's melodious and vivid voice pulled Uesugi Tetsuya back to his senses. She knelt down and leaned close to Uesugi Tetsuya's ear, whispering her congratulations.

Uesugi Tetsu raised an eyebrow: "When did my address change from 'sir' to 'sir'?"

"Now that you have won the third round," the fox-faced woman said with a smile, "please follow me upstairs to continue the fourth round of the competition."

In this card-playing shop, those with high card-playing skills have high status, right?

Uesugi Tetsu chuckled. He still remembered the first time he refused three invitations to play cards outside the Hanafuda shop, and then his vision went black.

Following the fox-faced woman, whose tone and movements had become even more lively, Uesugi Tetsu bypassed the countless a cappella singing of waka songs and the battleground filled with the smell of gunpowder, and stepped onto the stairs covered with a soft red carpet.

The stairs are normal stairs, with only thirty or forty steps after turning a corner.

But as soon as they stepped onto the second floor, the noise in the lobby below vanished completely, as if it had never existed.

Uesugi Tetsu looked up and saw rows of antique-style private rooms marked on plaques in ancient characters he didn't recognize.

"Please follow me, don't wander off."

The fox-masked woman lowered her voice and slowed her footsteps.

She hadn't gone far when she stopped in front of a private room whose decor was clearly from the Heian period.

"This is the arena for the fourth round of competition." The fox-faced woman bowed. "I can only go this far. Please, sir, push open the door and enter yourself."

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at the fox-faced woman bowing at a ninety-degree angle, and after a calm response, pushed open the creaking wooden door.

The interior was not the Heian period residence he had expected, but rather trees, rubble, weeds, wasteland, and...

A one-horned demon was sitting cross-legged on a boulder, drinking wine in large gulps from a bowl.

This one-horned demon was tall and muscular, with its entire upper body exposed, only its heavy chest wrapped with a few bandages.

This was the first woman, whether human or demon, that Uesugi Tetsu had seen in the Hanafuda shop, aside from the waiters.

Uesugi Tetsu turned his head again and saw the attendant standing next to the unicorn demon, wearing an exquisitely crafted blue fox mask.

This mask looked much more sophisticated than the fox-faced woman who had brought him up.

"Nice to meet you, sir."

The fox-masked waiter spoke, bowing slightly to him, which made Uesugi Tetsu nod inwardly with suspicion.

He sensed that this was not his first meeting with the fox-faced servant, but rather that he had seen him many times before.

What confirms this is that Uesugi Tetsu had previously felt that all the waiters in the Hanafuda shop's main hall seemed to be the same person, no different from the fox-masked woman.

Now, he's sure.

His intuition repeatedly reminded him that it would be foolish of him to ignore it.

So he spoke up: "Didn't we just see each other outside the door?"

The fox-masked waiter paused slightly, then shook his head in denial: "Although we wear similar masks, my identity is completely different from that waiter's."

I don’t think so.

"All right!"

With a crisp crack, the dry wine bowl shattered.

“So what if it is, so what if it’s not?”

The one-horned demon casually wiped his mouth and raised his chin at Uesugi Tetsuya: "Don't worry about these trivial matters, Six-Tailed Fox. Didn't you come here to play cards?"

"bring it on."

The unicorn demon casually grabbed a stack of song cards and, using some unknown method, arranged them perfectly neatly on the stone floor in an instant.

"It's been such a long, long time since I've lost..."

She gave a sneer, revealing her gleaming white fangs: "I hope you don't lose too badly and end up beating your mother to a pulp."

Upon hearing this, Uesugi Tetsuya stopped pursuing the matter and sat down with a light laugh.

"Don't get too cocky," he said.

Fifteen minutes later, the result was, naturally, a crushing defeat for Uesugi Tetsuya.

The score was 4-46, a crushing defeat.

This one-horned demon clan member is ridiculously strong. Not only are their skills superior to the mysterious great demon from the previous round, but their undisguised strength also shocked Uesugi Tetsuya.

Just from the dissipated life force and spiritual power, it is easy to tell that the One-Horned Demon Clan has at least reached the pinnacle of the demon god realm.

It's not impossible for it to go even further. In short, it's another demon among demons.

Uesugi Tetsuya's lips twitched as he looked at the mountain of karuta cards next to the other person.

I think this demon realm is doomed; so many powerful demons are addicted to playing cards...

Haha! Don't get too cocky!

The unicorn demon, thoroughly enjoying frying fish, couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Six-tailed fox, how dare you say such a thing? Do you think that having six tails means you have six chances?"

After saying that, she suddenly stopped smiling and looked coldly at the bewildered fox-masked waiter: "Didn't you say that there would definitely be a worthy opponent for me in the flower card shop?"

The fox-faced waiter quickly bowed and apologized, "My lord, please don't be in such a hurry..."

"Very well." The unicorn demon picked up another large jar of wine and gulped it down. "Let's see what else you can prepare for me."

She ignored Uesugi Tetsuya, the loser.

Some trembling fox-masked waiters approached Uesugi Tetsuya and bowed to open the door to the private room for him: "My lord, I hope you can win the championship next time you come."

“Okay,” Uesugi Tetsuya replied, then asked in confusion, “No stakes required?”

"Playing cards is supposed to be fun, why bother with extra stakes?"

The one-horned demon raised his eyes and tossed a bowl of wine over: "I see your basics are barely passable. Train for five hundred years first, then come back and challenge me to a fight."

Uesugi Tetsuya's eyes widened slightly as he took the wine bowl, then he replied calmly.
"Then it's settled."

Watching Uesugi Tetsuya walk out of the private room, showing no sign of discouragement from his defeat, the One-Horned Demon grinned.
"He's an interesting fellow, though."

……

Hoshiguma Douji's Sake

[Quality: Epic]

[Effect: After drinking, one falls into a state of "drunkenness" and temporarily enters a state of "communication with heaven and earth."]

[A bowl of wine, offered to an interesting fellow.]

That's right, the one-horned demon who just played cards with him and brutally defeated him is actually the legendary ruler of Mount Ooe, one of the Four Heavenly Kings under Shuten-dōji.

—Hoshiguma Doji!
On the bed, Uesugi Tetsu gazed at the crystal-clear wine that still exuded a faint fragrance, thinking to himself, no wonder he lost without any suspense.

However, according to legend, Shuten-dōji and the Four Heavenly Kings of Mount Ōe were all killed by Minamoto no Yorimitsu.

Isn't that how the famous sword Dojigiri Yasutsuna, which actually exists, came to be?

Even if the Hanafuda shop is set in the Edo period hundreds of years ago, Hoshiguma Doji shouldn't be there...

Completely baffled by the reason, Uesugi Tetsuya had no choice but to set it aside for the time being and then put the bowl of sake into his storage backpack.

Although Hoshiguma Doji said there was no need for a bet, if he actually defeated his opponent in karuta, the benefits he would receive would probably far exceed a few memory orbs.

"But to run into such an opponent in the fourth round is just too unlucky."

Having been brutally defeated once, Uesugi Tetsuya knew that defeating Hoshiguma Doji was not something that could be achieved by simply reloading saves a few times.

With such a huge gap in skill level, it would take at least a hundred more attempts, which translates to about forty days in real time.

But this is both slow and inefficient.

"I wonder if the karyuta style was popular during the Warring States period... I'll have Imagawa Yoshimoto find me a few karyuta masters to train me in rotation."

Faced with an extraordinary boss like Hoshiguma Doji, Uesugi Tetsu had no choice but to put aside his plans to continue the game.

Let's take a look at the seeding battle that's just around the corner.

Uesugi Tetsu glanced at the date on his phone screen—Ririko had to play her final round tomorrow.

If she wins all her matches, she will enter the knockout stage as the top scorer in the Arakawa district.

However, before the crucial elimination rounds even began, Ririko had already demonstrated almost all of her methods.

That's right, it's "demonstration," not something that has to be used.

Therefore, she will definitely be targeted by many players after they have studied her strategies during the knockout stage.

Ririko clearly knew that achieving a higher ranking in the seeding battle would allow her to better deal with the Tokugawa clan, and she also knew that everyone was currently holding back.

She was the only one who used all her strength.

Therefore, countless eyes and attention, and an overwhelming amount of pressure naturally poured onto her.

This is what Ririko wanted.

Uesugi Tetsu knows her too well.

Ririko is undoubtedly enjoying the unprecedented pressure that is ruminating on her, wanting to squeeze out all her potential and force herself to move forward, and then forward again.

"Ugh……"

……

"Ogasawara-san, are we closing up shop like this for today?"

"Yes...it's about to rain, and this location is quite remote, so not many people come here."

"It's such a waste to throw away so much fresh food. Hmm... why not sell it somewhere further inside?"

"I don't have a license, so I can't go there."

"Oh……"

Motonobu Okabe nodded as if he understood, and helped the old man in the apron tidy up the oden and other ingredients on the food cart.

Ever since being treated to a free meal two days ago by this old man named Ogasawara who was pushing a food cart, Okabe Motonobu had been helping him out while learning a lot about common knowledge about this era.

It's safe to say that if she hadn't happened to meet this little old man, she probably would have been caught by modern people long ago because she was too strange.

Just then, a brightly colored radio truck drove through the middle of the road, catching the attention of Motonobu Okabe.

She blinked in confusion: "Seed battles, what are they?"

"This..."

The old man squinted, thinking for a long time, before slowly uttering the words.
"This event seems to be quite famous in Tokyo recently, which has led to a significant increase in the number of people coming to Tokyo from surrounding cities. I've also heard that many important figures are going there."

A formidable figure?
Che, the great Onmyoji who was famous throughout the five provinces and seven regions long ago, must also be considered one of them.

If this guy isn't amazing, then Motonobu Okabe can't think of anyone else who is.

There's definitely a possibility that he'll participate in this "seed battle"!
And it's not small!

Because today's "Tokyo" is the former Edo, which was the capital or center of this era.

Okabe Motonobu's eyes brightened slightly, thinking to himself that having his lord's blessing was truly a stroke of good luck.

Anyway, we don't have any clear clues right now, but let's go and take a look. Even just joining in the fun and getting some information is perfectly fine!

(End of this chapter)