I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

Arima is... to put it nicely, he has a personality; to put it bluntly, he's someone with a mental problem.

Perhaps it's a matter of upbringing, but Arima's values ​​are like this: as a samurai, one must set a good example for the common people and never do anything that violates the image of a samurai. One must act uprightly, sit properly, and walk steadily! One's clothes and living place must always be neat and tidy!

Therefore, a horse's back, whether sitting or standing, always forms a 90-degree right angle with the ground.

Whether it's the office or the clothes on my body, they are always clean and tidy.

Qing Deng had never been to Arima's house, otherwise he would really like to see what Arima's house was like.

Maintaining an upright posture and keeping one's clothes and workplace spotless—these are all within the realm of understanding.

Arima's other behaviors are truly puzzling.

For example, when a horse turns a corner, it will never turn at an angle other than 90 degrees.

When turning a street corner, Arima will first walk straight to the center of the intersection, then make a 90-degree turn to the intersection he wants to go to, and then walk straight forward again.

For example, Arima never squints, no matter what.

Whether sitting, standing, or walking, Arima's eyes will always be looking straight ahead, and he will never let his gaze wander.

If he accidentally lets his gaze wander, he will look like a monk who has broken his vows, with an extremely frightened expression that makes him break out in a cold sweat.

If he wants to see something nearby, he will turn his neck, but not his eyes or his gaze.

Do you know what an owl is?

An owl's eyes cannot move.

Arima's eyes happen to be very big, and he happens to be the kind of person who blinks very infrequently.

So—when you're being stared at by Arima, he'll give you a strange feeling of "you're being stared at by an owl!"

For example, Arima also uses a 90-degree angle to bring food into his mouth when he eats.

The specific steps are as follows: Use chopsticks to pick up the food, hold it in front of your face, and then put it straight into your mouth.

The trajectory of the food being held up in front of Arima and then fed into his mouth forms a 90-degree right angle.

Arima drinks water in the same way, bringing the cup to his lips at a 90-degree angle.

So when Arima is eating with a group of people, he is always the most handsome one!

If you go out to eat with Arima, you'll see—there's this guy who always eats, whether it's food or soup, from a bizarre angle...

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I updated almost 8000 words today... I've been incredibly diligent.

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[Currently available information]

Arima Hideyuki: 27 years old

Ushiyama Masaji: 32 years old

Inotani Hanjiro: 32 years old

Tachibana Aoto: 18 years old

At first glance, they don’t seem to be that far apart in age, but in the Edo period, both Ino and Ushi were old enough to be Aoto’s father.

After all, Japan was still in ancient society at that time, and it was not unusual for people to get married at the age of 13 or 4 and have children at the age of 15.

Because ancient Japan practiced a hereditary system of official positions, it was quite normal for leaders to be much younger than their subordinates, and it was quite common for them to reach the highest ranks of officialdom in their 2s or 30s.

Chapter 21 My Deceased Father's Colleagues

Seeing that Qing Deng and the other two had arrived, Arima put down his brush, put his hands behind his back, and stood up.

Arima's style of doing things is to never procrastinate; if something can be said in one word, he will never use two.

Therefore, when chatting with him, I often can't keep up with his incredibly fast-paced conversation.

For example, right now—

Good morning to you all.

“Come with me now. The magistrate has summoned all members of the ‘Three Returns’ today, saying he has important information to tell us.”

"Summon all members of 'Sanhui'... It's important..." Inoya's lips twitched. "Lord Arima, could it be that some troublesome case has come up?"

"I don't know about that. Anyway—once we get to the Magistrate's office, we'll find out what he wants from us."

After speaking, Arima took his sword from the sword rack next to him and led Aoto strode toward the magistrate's office.

With Arima leading the way, Aoto and his group immediately became the coolest guys in the entire northern region!

Arima's unwavering gaze and his habit of always turning 90 degrees when making a turn make it hard not to attract attention.

The town magistrate's office is located on the top floor of the North House.

The distance between Arima's office and the town magistrate's office is not short.

Following Arima into a deserted corridor, Aoto turned to look around, and after confirming that there were no outsiders around, he cleared his throat:

"...Lord Arima, I have something very important to tell you."

"Hmm? Speak."

"Lord Arima, I... have been targeted by the 'Anti-foreign Faction'."

"what?"

Arima abruptly stopped and turned to look at Aoto with a startled gaze.

Pig Valley and Ox Mountain, who were walking on either side of Qingdeng, were both looking at Qingdeng with shocked expressions.

“About a month ago, I was attacked by four ‘expelled foreigners,’ and then the night before last, on my way home after finishing the operation to eliminate the ‘Renyi Clan,’ I was ambushed by three more ‘expelled foreigners’…”

Qing Deng succinctly recounted to Arima and the others the entire process and reasons for his attack by the "anti-foreign faction."

The original owner of this body—"Haraju Aoto"—was a person whose personality was hard to describe as gentle or dull...

One month ago, after being attacked by the "anti-foreign faction" for the first time, he did not tell anyone except his own servant, Kyubei, about being targeted by the "anti-foreign faction"!

The reason he gave for doing so was quite simple—he didn't want to place an unnecessary burden on his companions who were busy dealing with the "Renyi Zhong" at the time.

The night before last, the annihilation of the "Renyi Clan" was exhilarating.

However, in order to have such a wonderful night, Arima, Inoya, Ushiyama, and Hara Tachibana Aoto paid a heavy price.

It took the four of them nearly a month and a half to gather enough intelligence and make thorough preparations.

One month ago, around the time when "Haratsuki Seito" was first attacked by the "Anti-Foreign Faction," everyone was busy racking their brains trying to gather useful intelligence.

At that time, in order to analyze the truly valuable information from a pile of information that was difficult to distinguish between true and false, Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama did not close their eyes to rest for several days in a row.

Hara Tachibana Seito was worried that telling his companions at this time that he was being targeted by the "Expel the Barbarians" would affect their morale and work progress, thus impacting the pursuit and suppression of the "Renyi Clan".

So he chose to keep it a secret.

He only informed Kyubei of this matter.

Kyubei was also a rather taciturn person. After being warned by Hara Tachibana Aoto that he must not tell anyone about this matter, he obediently kept his mouth shut.

Qing Deng didn't know whether Yuan Ju Qing Deng's actions were right or wrong.

All he knew was that the "Ren-Yi Clique" had been destroyed, and the huge burden that had been weighing on Arima and the others for more than a month was finally lifted off their shoulders. He no longer needed to worry about "affecting morale and mission" like "Haru Tachibana Seito".

Fighting terrorists like the "radical anti-foreign faction" and seeking support and help from fellow "police officers" is clearly much wiser than foolishly fighting alone.

This morning, Qing Deng made up his mind to seize the opportunity to reveal to Arima and others the whole story of how he was attacked by the "anti-foreign faction".

As soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, Zhu Gu's face turned as dark as coal.

"So you chose to keep it from us so as not to affect the pursuit of the 'Renyi Clan'? Tachibana-kun... what am I supposed to say to you..."

Why didn't you tell us sooner?

Inugani, who usually greets everyone with a smile, now had a rather frightening expression.

"If something happens to you, how will we face your father in the afterlife!"

Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama—the relationship between these three and Aoto is more than just that of ordinary colleagues.

The three of them were not only Aoto's colleagues... but also colleagues of Aoto's deceased father, Takayuki Tachibana.

Six months ago, when Aoto's father, Tachibana Takayuki, was still alive and was still the leader of the Hokuban-sho-cho town, Tachibana Takayuki had served under Arima for many years along with Inoya and Ushiyama.

Seigaku learned that his father had an excellent relationship with Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama. After Tachibana Takayuki died, all three of them attended Tachibana Takayuki's funeral. Inoya even cried so hard in front of Tachibana Takayuki's memorial tablet that he almost fainted.

Aoto's success in succeeding his father as the new leader of the Sadamachi clan was largely due to the secret help of Ma, Ino, and Ushi, who were already working in the Sadamachi clan.

Therefore, for Qingdeng, the horse, the pig, and the cow were not only work partners, but also elders with close ties to his family.

This is why Qingdeng always referred to Zhugu and Niushan as "Mr." and always used honorifics when addressing them.

Faced with the questioning of his colleague, who was also an elder with a close relationship with his father, Qingdeng lowered his head:

"Feel sorry……"

Qingdeng is now feeling like he's being scapegoated...

This pot clearly belongs to "Yuanju Qingdeng" and has nothing to do with me, but because I am now one with "Yuanju Qingdeng," I have no choice but to bite the bullet and take the blame for this huge, dark pot...

Inugaya opened his mouth, seemingly about to say something more to Aoto.

But then, Niu Shan raised his hand and patted Zhu Gu on the shoulder.

“Alright, Inugani,” Ushiyama said in a deep voice, “Tachibana did that for our sake too.”

Inugani turned his head and glanced at Ushiyama, who was trying to dissuade him.

After a moment of silence, Inugami slowly shut his mouth, which had just been about to scold Aoto again.

“...Tachibana-kun”.

At this moment, Arima, who had been silent until now, stared directly at Aoto with his owl-like eyes and asked:

"So far, you've been attacked twice, once a month ago and once the night before last, right?"

Qingdeng nodded.