I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

The image of a benevolent king, standing tall and glaring angrily at the mortal world.

This statue of Niou was given to him by his mother five years ago when Suehiro left his hometown, ready to dedicate his passion to the "Great Cause of Expelling the Barbarians".

Remember to pray to him properly every day! I got this statue of Niou from a temple! It's very effective! As long as you pray to him properly every day, it will definitely bless you—these are the exact words that Suehiro's mother told him back then.

Suehiro has never been particularly interested in matters of ghosts and spirits.

But alas—he had always been someone who dared not disobey any of his mother's requests since childhood.

Even though he had no interest in ghosts and spirits, he could only hold his nose and, as his mother had instructed, respectfully worship the statue of the King of Benevolence every day.

But to everyone's surprise, Suehiro later discovered that his mother was not lying.

This statue of Niou seems to be quite efficacious!

After leaving his hometown to participate in the "Great Cause of Expelling the Barbarians," Suehiro experienced several major crises that nearly killed him, but each time he managed to escape danger and survive.

After escaping danger time and time again, Suehiro couldn't help but start to waver: Could it be that the statue of the King of Benevolence is really that powerful?

Ever since he had this thought in his mind, Suehiro completely abandoned any disdain he felt for the statue of Niou that his mother had given him, and devoutly prayed to it once during the day and once at night every day.

To this day, worshipping this statue of King Niou has become a daily habit for Suehiro.

After finishing his daytime prayers and opening his eyes, Suehiro suddenly heard Yamada's voice coming from afar:

"Mr. Suehiro! Mr. Suehiro!"

Yamada rushed to Suehiro's side, and before he could catch his breath, he said breathlessly:

"Anthony's convoy has come to a stop due to the snowstorm!"

Two beams of light suddenly shot out from Suehiro's pupils.

"They've stopped...! Continue monitoring the convoy's movements!"

"Notify me immediately if the convoy moves!"

"Yes!" Yamada responded loudly, then let out a long breath and patted his chest. "Mr. Suehiro... a perfect opportunity has arrived..."

“Hmm…yes.” Suehiro nodded with a slight smile. “If the caravan doesn’t move by noon…then they definitely won’t be able to reach the camp before nightfall.”

"In that case, they will inevitably have to camp out in the wild tonight."

"Yamada, please also tell everyone: Eat well today! Be prepared for battle!"

"If the convoy hasn't moved by noon, then... it'll be tonight!"

Suehiro's hands, which had been hanging down naturally, were now clenched tightly together.

Standing before him, Yamada's breathing quickened with nervousness and excitement...

……

……

The heavy snowfall didn't gradually stop until 1 p.m.

To make up for the time wasted waiting for the snowstorm to subside, Anthony immediately ordered the team to speed up as soon as the convoy was able to move again, trying to reach the camp before nightfall.

Anthony's attempt was destined to be futile.

It's easy for a carriage to speed up, but it's not so simple for people to speed up. These guards, who can only travel on foot, can't speed up much no matter how hard they want to.

Ultimately, Anthony had to abandon his unrealistic goal of "reaching the camp before dark."

After it started to get dark, I directed the convoy to park on a relatively flat open space by the East China Sea Road, set up camp, and prepared to spend the night in the wild.

"It looks like it's going to snow again..."

Aoto, who was sitting with Saito in a corner of the camp, looked up at the night sky above.

Tonight is a moonless night.

At this time, although the wind and snow had completely stopped, the thick layer of dark clouds in the sky had not yet dispersed.

Layer upon layer of dark clouds completely obscured the moon and the starry sky.

With such a thick layer of dark clouds, it wouldn't be surprising if it snowed again sometime.

The time now is... just past 7 p.m.

Camping outdoors means you won't be able to enjoy any delicacies.

Even Anthony and Elodie could only eat some dry rations and hastily finish their dinner.

After dinner, the guards, led by Komuro, began to get busy.

Some stood guard, some tended the camp, and some rested.

As for Qingdeng, who could be considered Anthony's guest, he naturally didn't need to handle these heavy and tiring tasks.

Therefore, after casually finishing his dinner, Aoto, feeling extremely bored with nothing to do, could only stay in a corner of the camp with Saito and practice his swordsmanship.

Chatting with Saito?

nonexistent!

Talking to him is no better than talking to the big rock next to you; there's no difference anyway.

After gazing at the night sky and reflecting on the weather, Qing Deng focused his mind and body, gripping his sword tightly as he practiced his Su Zhen technique—a skill he had recently developed into a daily habit, one that he felt uncomfortable if he didn't practice it every day—in front of the air.

Huff...! Huff...! Huff...!

The sound of a sharp blade cutting through the air, and his own breathing, became the only two sounds emanating from Qing Deng.

But suddenly, a childish voice broke the silence surrounding Qingdeng:

"Mr. Ju! Are you practicing your sword?"

A beautiful pale gold hue appeared in the corner of Qing Deng's right eye.

*******

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Chapter 73 On the Eve of the Storm, a Great Battle Is About to Begin! (Part 2)

“Miss Angoulême?” Qing Deng turned to look at the owner of the childish female voice and stopped waving his sword.

Because the snow on the ground was quite thick, in order to avoid getting her long dress dirty, Elodie lifted the hem of her dress with both hands and hopped towards Qingdeng.

Elodie's golden hair, braided into three strands and hanging down from her right shoulder to her chest, bounced with her movements.

Since leaving Fujisawa yesterday, Elodie has stopped wearing her blue and white kimono and has instead changed into a white long dress.

Qingdeng wasn't knowledgeable about clothing and couldn't recognize the official name of the dress Elodie was wearing, but anyway, the long dress was quite pretty and suited Elodie's blonde hair and blue eyes very well.

Her maid, Leroy, no longer wore the pale yellow kimono, but instead donned a dark yellow maid's outfit, clasping her hands in front of her as she followed closely behind Elodie.

Seeing Elodie approaching, Qingdeng sheathed his gleaming sword and smiled at her:

"Good evening, Miss Angoulême."

"Good evening, Mr. Orange!" Elodie greeted Qingdeng with a smile, her sapphire-blue eyes sparkling.

If Qingdeng had to describe this 12-year-old girl in one sentence, it would be: she's a bit of a "tomboy".

To put it simply, Elodie's personality is a bit too lively.

Elodie's personality and Kinoshita Mai's personality are almost completely opposite.

Mai Kinoshita is shy and easily embarrassed. When she meets unfamiliar strangers, she can't even speak a clear and complete sentence.

Elodie, on the other hand, was the complete opposite.

She had a very cheerful personality and was not afraid of strangers at all. Despite being a wealthy Frenchwoman who enjoyed many privileges in the country, she had no airs whatsoever.

It's hard to imagine how Kinoshita Mai and Elodie, two people with completely opposite personalities, became such close friends...

Despite having only just met Qingdeng, Elodie was able to interact with him without any hesitation or restraint, as if they had known each other for years.

Ever since Qingdeng hitched a ride with their family yesterday, Elodie has greeted him very warmly every time she sees him.

At first, Qingdeng thought that Elodie was so enthusiastic towards him because he had saved her life.

But after two days of careful observation, Qingdeng discovered that Elodie's cheerful and outgoing personality was not just directed at him; she was like that with everyone.

No matter who was in the caravan, whether it was Boss Kiryu or the guards led by Komuro, Elodie was always poised and generous, without any haughty or condescending attitude.

Therefore, Komuro and the others all liked this cheerful girl.

This is probably what they mean by "the environment shapes the people."

In the Edo period, which was still feudal and placed considerable oppression on women, encouraging them to be quiet and obedient to men, women like Elodie were extremely rare.

Qingdeng quite liked Elodie's "tomboy" personality.

After all, he's not very good at interacting with women.

Compared to women whose expressions and moods are hard to read, Qing Deng finds it much more comfortable to be around girls like Elodie, who have a straightforward, tomboyish personality.

Besides her straightforward personality, Qingdeng also discovered that this girl seemed to have a rather big heart.

Just two days ago, she had a terrifying experience at Fujisawa-juku's place, being "attacked by ronin," but since yesterday, this girl has been acting as if nothing happened, laughing and playing happily...

Incidentally, Anthony seems to dote on his granddaughter quite a bit.

The day before yesterday, Elodie sneaked out of the hotel in Fujisawa-juku and almost caused a major disaster, but it seems that Anthony did not give Elodie any substantial punishment.

There was no corporal punishment, and no house arrest.

These past two days, whenever the team stopped to rest, Elodie was able to run and play freely within 30 meters of the team.

As for whether Anthony gave Elodie any verbal criticism, Qing Deng doesn't know.

But Qing Deng guessed that even if Elodie was given verbal criticism, the words used to reprimand her would certainly not be too harsh.

After all, if the words were quite harsh and Elodie was thoroughly scolded, Elodie would not have been so cheerful and lively these past two days.

After giving Qingdeng a warm greeting, Elodie glanced at Qingdeng's right leg.

"Mr. Ju, your leg injury hasn't fully healed yet, is it alright for you to practice swordsmanship here?" Elodie asked with concern.