I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

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Chapter 52: Acquired the talent: [Left-handed] and went on a business trip.

Since his transmigration, Qing Deng has been plotting to "take action" against his relatives and friends.

Who knows, someone might be hiding a powerful talent.

However, because he has not been able to find an opportunity or time, among his group of relatives and friends, Qing Deng has only managed to "make a move" on Jiubei so far.

Qing Deng had casually made up an excuse to spar with Jiu Bingwei the night before last.

As Qingdeng expected, the result was that this ordinary old servant had no special talent.

Now that there's a new member in the family, how can we not quickly check if he has any special talents?

Qingdeng had already practiced swordsmanship at the Shiwei Hall all day, and he simply couldn't muster the energy or the mood to compete with anyone else.

Fortunately, copying talent from others doesn't necessarily require serious martial arts sparring with them.

Previously, when he copied "Sword Prodigy" from Okita, he had already proven that one could copy talent from others using some less-than-orthodox methods.

“…” Saito frowned slightly as he looked at the hemp rope in Aoto’s hand.

Seeing Saito's furrowed brows, Aoto suddenly realized that this seemed to be the first time he had seen Saito display an expression other than "expressionless".

"Don't worry, it'll be quick." In order to persuade Saito to come and be tied up by him... ah, no, to persuade Saito to come and help him "test his moves," Qing Deng said quickly, "You just need to practice one move with me."

“…What do you want me to do?” Saito asked.

"You don't need to do anything. Just pretend to be a criminal resisting arrest and attack me with your fists and feet."

"I don't know hand-to-hand combat."

"It's okay. Just hit me wherever you want."

"...I understand. I'll only practice with you for a little while."

Seeing that Saito finally nodded in agreement, Aoto was overjoyed: "Then come with me to the courtyard."

The 60-ping (approximately 2 square meters) yard of Qingdeng's family home is more than enough for two people to spar and fight.

After unsheathing the sword from his right waist, Saito stood in front of Aoto and assumed a fighting stance that looked like that of an amateur.

Looking at Saito's posture, Aoto couldn't help but think to himself:

—The fighting stance of a left-handed person is indeed completely different from that of a right-handed person…

Whether in his past life or this life, this was the first time Qing Deng had ever seen a left-handed martial artist.

Upon seeing a left-handed martial artist for the first time, Qing Deng couldn't help but scrutinize Saito a few more times with curious eyes.

—I wonder if the talent of becoming left-handed will be copied from him...

After thinking this to himself, Qingdeng tightened the hemp rope in his hand.

"Alright. Saito, you can attack now."

Seeing that it was time to begin, Saito nodded and then punched Aoto in the chest.

Well, you can tell from Saito's actions that he wasn't very serious.

It was all about "just getting by" mentality.

However, this did make things easier for Qingdeng.

——3……4……5……6……

As Qing Deng dodged Saito's punches, he silently counted the time in his mind.

To copy a talent, you need to fight the opponent for 10 seconds, so Aoto can't subdue Saito immediately.

After counting to 10, Qing Deng took a deep breath, dodged another attack from Saito, and lunged at Saito, binding Saito's body with the hemp rope in his hand.

Saito was basically going all out; after Aoto pounced on him, he didn't struggle much and let Aoto tie his body up tightly.

[Ding! Talent detected]

[Successfully Replicating the Talent: Left-Handed]

[Talent Introduction: Increased flexibility in the left side of the body]

—They really did copy their talent for being left-handed…

Qingdeng blinked a few times, realizing he had actually guessed the talent he had copied.

At this moment, streams of warmth surged from Qingdeng's dantian, enveloping the left half of his body.

After the warm current subsided, Qingdeng clenched his left hand tightly a few times.

The hand is still the same hand, and the foot is still the same foot.

But Qingdeng clearly felt that the left side of his body had become much more flexible.

—Have I become ambidextrous...?

Qingdeng chuckled to himself.

The left side of my body has now become as flexible as the right side... which is quite a useful talent.

Now that I'm ambidextrous, I'll have an easier time gaining an advantage, both in daily life and in fights.

Especially in combat, if both hands are equally dexterous, the available combat methods and techniques will become much more diverse.

Qing Deng has gradually gotten used to the existence of the system. After being bombarded by top talents such as "Sword Prodigy" and "Sleep God", the talent of "Left-Handed" which is not particularly outstanding can no longer stir any excitement in Qing Deng's heart.

After calming himself down a bit, Qing Deng thanked Saito for his sparring partner while untying Saito.

……

……

A new member joined the family—but Qingdeng's family didn't become any more lively as a result.

Although Aoto could tell from his first glance that Saito was a serious and unsmiling young man.

But he never expected him to be so serious and unsmiling...

If you don't take the initiative to talk to him, he will never take the initiative to talk to you.

Even when talking to you, they can express their meaning clearly with four words, and they would never use five words.

During dinner, he ate quietly by himself, not joining in Qing Deng and Jiu Bingwei's conversation.

By the way—Saito is a very tall man, but he eats surprisingly little.

According to Aoto's calculations, Saito's appetite was only about half that of him.

After dinner, Saito sat by the door with his sword in his arms, guarding the gate for Aoto.

During the time between finishing dinner and going to bed, Saito only spoke one sentence to Aoto.

After seeing Qingdeng start exercising, he took the initiative to ask Qingdeng: What are you doing?

After receiving Qingdeng's reply that "I'm training my body," he fell silent and continued to silently guard Qingdeng's door...

The "sleep god" has enabled Qing Deng to now only need 4 hours of sleep a day to be so energetic that he doesn't need to take a nap the next day.

Qingdeng's current routine is to go to sleep at 22 p.m. and get up at 2 a.m. After waking up, he goes to the yard to continue practicing swordsmanship or exercising.

At 2 a.m., after waking up refreshed, Qing Deng picked up his sword as usual and went down to the courtyard on the first floor with great excitement.

As he got into position, ready to begin his "morning exercise"—

"...What are you doing here so late at night instead of sleeping?"

Saito's voice suddenly rang out from beside Aoto.

"Hmm?" After Saito's question, Aoto quickly turned his gaze in the direction of the sound.

Saito stood on the veranda connecting the house and the courtyard, carrying his sword.

Although his expression remained blank, a hint of confusion could be faintly seen between his brows.

"Oops, did I wake you up?"

Due to the nature of his duties, Saito did not sleep in his room, but instead slept by the door, leaning against the wall with his sword in his arms.

“If you don’t have the ability to wake up at the slightest noise, you can’t be a bodyguard,” Saito said casually. “Did you used to have the habit of getting up at 2 a.m. to practice your sword?

This is the longest sentence Saito has ever said to him that Qing Deng heard today.

"Hmm...more or less." Qing Deng smiled. "I only need to sleep for two hours a day to recover my energy."

"So I usually get up around 8 pm and then exercise in the yard until dawn."

"...Doesn't he need a lot of sleep...that's a convenient talent, isn't it?"

After saying that, Saito hugged his sword to his chest, sat cross-legged on the ground, leaned back against the wall behind him, and then closed his eyes.

"Are you going to sleep here?" Qing Deng was taken aback.

“My mission is to protect you,” Saito said without even looking up. “In that case, I’ll follow you wherever you go.”

"Don't worry about me."

"You can practice your own."

Since Saito had said so, Aoto decided not to pay any more attention to him.

I shifted my attention away from Saito and focused entirely on my morning exercise.

……

……

The next day—

The seventh year of Anzheng (1860), March 1——

Saito, who officially took up his post as Aoto's bodyguard yesterday, naturally went to "work" with Aoto.

However, he was not an official serving in the magistrate's office and could not freely enter and leave the office. So after accompanying Qing Deng to the North Battalion Office, he stood alone at the foot of a brick wall opposite the North Battalion Office and waited quietly outside the office.