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[Japanese History Mini-Lesson Begins!]

The Northern and Southern Offices – just by looking at the names, many people might think that the Northern Office governed the northern half of Edo and the Southern Office governed the southern half of Edo.

This is not the case.

How the two municipal governments, the Hokuban-sho and the Nanban-sho, managed Edo will be revealed in later chapters.

Some readers will surely be curious – how did Edo, a city so large, manage to maintain order with only about 30 police officers?

In fact, let me tell you: for the sake of the novel's plot, I have already changed the number of samurai three times.

[The actual number of people involved in the three historical events was even smaller than the number depicted in this book!!!]

Historically, the "Sanhui" were not middle-level cadres; all the comrades were directly under the jurisdiction of the town magistrate. The "Sanhui" of the South and North districts together numbered only about 25 or 6 people.

The reason why the South and North Police Stations were able to maintain public order in Edo with such a small number of police officers was because of two very special systems.

These two systems will be revealed in later chapters.

Chapter 12 Okita Souji and the Talent of Copying: [A Sword Prodigy]

Long, slender eyelashes, large, bright eyes, delicate nose and mouth, and rosy, small lips—each feature is impeccable on its own, and together they create a perfect whole.

His delicate, fair skin made his jet-black hair look even more beautiful.

There was no such ugly hairstyle as the "moon-shaped" hairstyle. The smooth, black hair was tied into a high ponytail at the back of the head with a purple ribbon, which hung down to the neck, with a few strands of hair left to fall naturally in front of the forehead.

He was quite young; according to Qing Deng's estimation, this handsome young man was probably only 16 or 7 years old.

She has a slender figure and is rather short; her height is estimated to be only 1.55 meters.

Qingdeng felt he couldn't find the right words to describe the handsome young man in front of him.

To put it simply and crudely... this handsome young man's beauty is the kind that would make even the most hardcore straight men think, "It doesn't matter if he's a man or not."

If it weren't for the fact that he was dressed as a man, Qing Deng felt he would have mistaken him for a cute girl.

Qingdeng thought that if this handsome young man dressed up as a woman, he would definitely make countless men willingly become his lapdogs.

Of course, what shocked Qingdeng was not just his good looks.

At this very moment, the handsome young man is holding a bamboo sword and is intently practicing his sword skills, one move after another, in front of the air.

Qingdeng doesn't understand swordsmanship.

Hara Tachibana Aoto, who was not interested in swordsmanship, also did not have many memories related to swordsmanship.

Although Qing Deng doesn't know swords, he does know hand-to-hand combat techniques such as grappling and free fighting, as well as baton techniques he learned at the police academy.

These skills, like swordsmanship, are martial arts with the ultimate goal of "subduing and defeating the opponent," and they share many commonalities in footwork, stance, and other aspects.

Therefore—thanks to his mastery of unarmed combat and baton techniques, Qing Deng was able to see that the sword technique combo that this handsome young man was using was not some kind of "retirement sword technique" that was only good for showing off or for fitness.

There are almost no superfluous movements; every movement of the hands and feet is concise and efficient.

The handsome young man's exquisite swordsmanship captivated Qing Deng, who became somewhat mesmerized by it.

But before he could take a few more glances, the handsome young man finally stopped swinging his sword after noticing Aoto and Kondo standing at the entrance of the dojo. He turned his head and cast a curious and puzzled look at Aoto standing next to Kondo.

Kondo, who had been standing outside the dojo entrance for fear of disturbing him, quickly led Aoto into the dojo.

"Commander-in-Chief, come here. Let me introduce you."

Souji, carrying a bamboo sword, walked briskly up to Kondo and Aoto with small, clattering steps.

"This is Ju Qingdeng, who came to become an apprentice and learn swordsmanship at our Shiwei Hall! Due to certain reasons, I have decided to make an exception and allow him to enter the hall today. He can complete the formal apprenticeship ceremony later when his master returns!"

After briefly introducing Qingdeng's situation to the handsome young man, the young man looked enlightened, then immediately stood up straight and bowed respectfully to Qingdeng.

"Nice to meet you! I am Okita Souji! I am an apprentice at this Shieikan. Welcome to Shieikan!"

Not only is she good-looking, but she also has a very pleasant voice, with a neutral tone that is neither rough nor effeminate.

"Nice to meet you," Qing Deng returned the greeting. "I am Ju Qing Deng."

—Okita Souji…

Qingdeng silently pondered this name in his heart.

He vaguely felt that the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

But after thinking for a long time without being able to recall when he had heard the name, Qingdeng simply stopped thinking about it.

—With such thin arms, how can she wield a bamboo sword so steadily?

Qing Deng couldn't help but glance a few more times at Okita's slender wrist.

Due to his limited swordsmanship, Qing Deng was unable to judge Okita's swordsmanship level based on the series of sword techniques Okita had just practiced against thin air.

But he could roughly estimate that the handsome young man's swordsmanship was not bad.

This is because this handsome young man can wield a thick bamboo sword steadily, accurately, and fiercely.

Wielding a bamboo sword steadily, accurately, and fiercely—this sounds easy, but it's difficult in practice.

It's hard to imagine that he could wield a bamboo sword so steadily and powerfully with such a slender frame.

—This person is really amazing…

Qingdeng silently added this sentiment to his mind.

……

……

The tuition fee at Shieikan was exactly the same as Kiryu had said: 3 monmoku silver per month.

Having already prepared himself for the financial loss, Qingdeng handed over the money with great ease.

Then, Kondo brought over a large book, which he said recorded the apprentices' information, and asked Aoto to fill it out.

There isn't much information to fill in; it's just basic information like name, age, and address.

Qingdeng lay on the floor of the dojo and quickly filled in his information in the book.

After closing the book filled with Qing Deng's information and tucking it under his arm, Kondo laughed heartily:

"King Tachibana! When Master returns in the future, you will be formally accepted as a disciple by him. You will then become a disciple of my Shiwei Hall!"

"It's still early today, not even 10 a.m. How about we start the Natural Mind Flow practice today?"

“Of course!” Qing Deng said.

—I came here so that I could learn swordsmanship and fight people as soon as possible.

Qingdeng silently added this sentence in his mind.

"Great!" Kondo slapped his thigh. "I love people like you who are full of fighting spirit!"

"Wait a moment. I'll go find you a new set of protective gear."

After leaving those words, Kondo, clutching the "Apprentice Information Book," strode out of the dojo.

After Kondo left, only Aoto and Okita remained in the dojo.

Just now, Okita had been sitting quietly next to Kondo without saying a word.

It wasn't until after Kondo left that Okita spoke to Aoto—the second thing they'd said since they met, aside from their self-introductions:

Welcome to Shieikan!

Okita Asahito flashed a bright smile.

Most people's smiles don't look good because of various reasons such as wrinkles on their face, unsightly teeth, etc.

However, there are a very small number of people who have extremely beautiful smiles and a unique charm when they smile.

The man in front of me, Okita Souji, happens to be one of those people.

Okita's smiling face reminded Aoto of the warm spring sun.

"Our Shieikan finally has a new member."

Okita, who had been kneeling respectfully on the ground just moments before, now casually switched to a cross-legged sitting position.

"I've almost forgotten when the last time a new person joined our 'Taro Dojo'."

"'Taro Dojo'?" Qing Deng asked in confusion.

"Hmm? You don't know our Shieikan's nickname?"

Okita raised his handsome eyebrows and then spoke slowly in a self-deprecating tone.

"This all started with the school of thought we teach—the Natural Reason School."

“Our Natural Rishin-ryu school is widely spread in the Tama region north of Edo, and many of our disciples are farmers from the Tama region.”

[Note: Commoners in the Edo period could learn swordsmanship at sword-making schools, but they did not have the right to carry a sword.]

"As a result, many bored fellows ridiculed our Natural Rishin-ryu as 'farmer's swordsmanship,' and then mocked our Shieikan as 'taro dojo,' a place that teaches 'farmer's swordsmanship.'"

During the Edo period, the word "taro" was often used to mock someone for being poor and stingy.

For example, in this era, there was a commonly used term to mock samurai: "taro samurai." When this term was used to refer to a samurai, it was to mock his poverty.

The meaning of "taro dojo" is a poor and stingy dojo.

—So this dojo has such a nickname... I've never heard Kiryu-san mention it to me before...

After thinking this to himself, Qingdeng put on a smile:

"I just saw the series of sword techniques you were practicing. Were those all techniques from the Natural Rishin-ryu school?"

"Oh? You saw my training just now? That's right! The sword techniques I just practiced were the moves of the Natural Heart Style!"

"In that case, those who ridicule your school's Natural Rishin-ryu as 'peasant swordsmanship' are either just parroting rumors or they simply lack vision."

Qing Deng said with certainty.

"If all the schools with so many powerful sword techniques are 'peasant swordsmanship,' then there are very few schools in the world that aren't 'peasant swordsmanship.'"

"Wow!" Okita's eyes lit up, then he smiled happily. "It's been so long since I've heard anyone praise our Natural Rishin-ryu style!"

“You’re right! If our Natural Rinnegan style is a ‘farmer’s swordsmanship,’ then there are hardly any other styles in the world that aren’t ‘farmer’s swordsmanship’!”