I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

He was dressed entirely in black. He wore a dark blue kimono on top, black hakama and socks on the bottom, and the only bright color on his body was the red scarf wrapped around his neck.

Upon entering the hall, Qing Deng noticed that Saito had a stern face and a serious demeanor.

After Qingdeng entered the hall, he only glanced at Qingdeng before quickly lowering his head and burying his face below his nose in his scarf, seemingly lost in thought.

When introducing himself, he simply raised his head, said in a cold tone, "No outside flow, Saito Hajime," and then shut his mouth, saying nothing more. He lowered his head again, burying the lower half of his face in his scarf once more...

Hmm... He seems to be a cold and aloof young man who doesn't like to talk much—Qing Deng silently gave Saito this assessment in his mind.

"Lord Arima." After carefully examining Saito, Aoto turned his gaze back to Arima. "What's the deal with this bodyguard?"

Arima, who never liked to talk nonsense, began to explain to Aoto in concise language when he heard Aoto ask this question.

After briefly mentioning that he decided to pool his resources with Inoya and Ushiyama to hire bodyguards for Aoto in order to protect him from the "radical anti-foreign faction," Arima began to introduce Saito.

“Saito and I... are old acquaintances.”

"He is two years younger than you, born in the fifteenth year of Tianbao (1844), and is exactly 16 years old this year."

"Saito is the most reliable and trustworthy bodyguard I could find."

"Although young, he is extremely strong. He is a rare left-handed swordsman and the recipient of the unparalleled mastery of the sword."

All are permitted to be transmitted without permission...?

Aoto cast a surprised glance at Saito, who was still looking down at his nose and inwardly contemplating his thoughts.

During the Edo period, there was no specific model for assessing the level of each disciple; different schools used different methods and ranking systems.

But regardless of the school of thought, the highest level of strength rating is the same—"all are authorized to transmit without permission".

Only by thoroughly mastering all the techniques of a school and gaining the master's approval can one obtain the rating of "permission to transmit all skills".

Obtaining the "Permission to Transmit All Skills" means that the person has completely graduated and can be considered a swordsman who can stand alone.

As for the Wuwailiu style... this school is considered one of the most famous in the world of swordsmanship.

It is known for its extremely high practicality in combat.

Without any fancy tricks or gimmicks, the goal is to kill the enemy as quickly as possible – that is the essence of "no external flow".

This taciturn boy, who was two years younger than him, was actually the recipient of the "No Outflow of Knowledge and Permission"... This really surprised Qing Deng a little.

"Besides his strong abilities, Saito is also a very reliable person."

Arima's lips curled into a slight smile.

“Once you hire him, you won’t have to worry about him betraying you or just taking money without doing anything until the end of his employment period. You can entrust your back to him with peace of mind.”

"..." Qing Deng raised his eyes to look at Saito, and then at Arima.

"Lord Arima, would you please come out with me for a moment?"

"Hmm?" Arima nodded.

After Aoto and Arima left the hall one after the other and went to a place where Saito couldn't hear them, Aoto immediately asked Arima in a quick voice:

"Lord Arima, why didn't you even tell me before hiring a bodyguard for me?"

"Because I think that if I told you in advance that I, Inoya, and Ushiyama were planning to jointly hire a bodyguard for you, you might keep making excuses and wouldn't readily agree," Arima said calmly.

"Ah, that won't happen... I'll politely decline a little, and then readily agree," Qingdeng thought to himself.

With his life in danger at the hands of a group of unreasonable "terrorists," Qing Deng was more than happy to have a reliable bodyguard who wouldn't have to pay for his own protection.

Qing Deng has always maintained that so-called "interpersonal relationships" are a relationship in which "one person constantly owes another favor and then repays that favor."

Therefore, Qing Deng never hesitates to ask others for help and can openly accept the kindness and favors of others.

Such a personality and style is one of the important reasons why Qingdeng had a smooth life both on and off campus before he transmigrated.

If his grades weren't ideal or he encountered any trouble, he would humbly ask others for advice and openly seek their help.

After receiving help from others, one should silently keep this favor in mind and wait for an opportunity to repay it later.

“Tachibana-kun, there’s no need to feel embarrassed or ashamed.” Arima, unaware that Aoto was no longer the same Aoto, said earnestly, “Although I and Inoya and the others seem to have said similar things many times, I’ll say it again now.”

“We are your elders, and it is only right that we help a junior like you.”

"Anyway, the price for hiring Saito isn't too expensive."

"Just relax and accept the bodyguard we've found for you."

"Not too expensive?" Qing Deng raised his hand and scratched the hair at his temple. "Lord Arima, may I ask how much Saito Hajime's hiring fee is?"

“Three taels of gold per month.” Arima didn’t hide anything and told Aoto the price Saito was charging.

"Lord Arima, you call a monthly commission of 3 taels of gold 'not expensive'?"

“As I just said, Saito was hired for you by me, Inoya, and Ushiyama together. If we split the cost, each of us only needs to pay 1 tael of gold per month, which is more than enough for us.”

When the topic of "money" came up, Arima seemed to remember something and paused for a moment.

"Oh, right, I almost forgot. Here, Tachibana-kun, this is for you."

Arima took a small cloth bag out of his pocket and handed it to Aoto.

Qingdeng stretched out his hands to receive it, looking puzzled.

Click...

The small cloth bag landed in Qingdeng's palms, making a soft metallic clinking sound.

"Hmm...?" Qingdeng's eyebrows twitched violently as he quickly untied the cloth bundle.

The cloth bag contained nothing else.

It only contained a large handful of money.

Gold, silver, and bronze were mixed together, making Qing Deng dazzled and disoriented.

"Lord Arima, what is this?"

“There are a total of 23 taels of gold, 58 monmoku of silver, 4 kan and 412 copper coins here,” Arima said. “Saito is responsible for protecting you personally, so he will eat, live and travel with you until the end of his contract period.”

“Saito’s commission does not include the daily expenses he incurred while protecting you.”

"In other words, in addition to paying him a commission of 3 taels of gold per month, we also have to cover his food, drink, lodging and transportation."

"I found you a bodyguard, but I didn't prepare the money to keep such a bodyguard for you. That's really not fair."

“This money is raised by me, Inoya, and Ushiyama together for you to ‘support’ Saito.”

"Please accept it without worry."

"With this sum of money, it should be enough to support Saito for a while."

As soon as Arima finished speaking, Qing Deng's expression changed slightly.

He lowered his gaze and turned his attention back to the large handful of money in his hand.

—The money used to "support" Saito... Ha, what a lame excuse...

Qing Deng smiled helplessly to himself.

Arima said the money was to support Saito—only a fool would believe such a thing!

With such a large sum of money, it's enough to support two adult men for six months, let alone one adult male, if used sparingly.

As elders closely associated with Aoto, Arima and the other two were naturally aware of the current economic situation of the Tachibana family, which was burdened with huge gambling debts.

Why would Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama raise such a large sum of money for him at this time...? The reasons are not hard to guess.

Aoto didn't point out Arima's lame reasoning.

After staring intently at the bag of money in his hand for a while, Qingdeng gripped it tightly—

"...Lord Arima. Thank you."

Aoto looked at Arima with a grateful gaze.

"I'll accept this bag of money, and that Saito Hajime too!"

Seeing that Qingdeng readily accepted the kindness of these elders, a hint of gratified smile appeared on Youma's lips.

……

……

Since it was almost dinner time, Qing Deng wanted Arima to stay for dinner at their house, but Arima said he had some official business to attend to and had to go home to take care of it, so he declined Qing Deng's invitation.

Seeing that Arima was about to leave, Saito, who had been staying in the hall, also came to the door and saw Arima off with Aoto.

"Saito. I'm entrusting Tachibana to you."

Saito, who never smiled, did not respond to Arima's words.

He simply nodded slightly.

wow...

Aoto watched Arima open the door, and after Arima's figure disappeared from his sight, he turned his head to look at Saito, who was standing to his side and walking alongside him.

Looking at this new family member who would be living and eating with him and Kyubei from this day forward, Aoto scratched the back of his head, cleared his throat, turned to face Saito, and said seriously:

"You must have heard about me and my name from Lord Arima, right?"

"Although you probably already know who I am, I'll still give a formal self-introduction."

"My name is Tachibana Aoto. From today onwards, I will be relying on your care."

After saying this, Aoto bowed slightly to Saito.

“…Nice to meet you.” Saito turned to Aoto, half-closing his eyes, and returned Aoto’s bow.

After formally introducing himself to his aloof bodyguard, Qingdeng straightened up and looked at the kitchen, where the faint aroma of food was now wafting out.

"There's still some time before dinner is ready..."

"Saito, before dinner is ready, could you do something with me?"

"...Please speak."

"I've recently learned a new rope-catching technique." Qing Deng walked slowly to a storage cabinet in the hall and took out a hemp rope. "I've been having trouble finding a suitable practice partner lately. Could you be my sparring partner?"

After saying that, Qingdeng tightened the hemp rope in his hands with both hands, making a crisp "snap" sound.

*******