I assembled the strongest swordsman group.

For the first time in his life, Qing Deng wondered if there was some hidden, twisted element in his personality...

Just as Aoto's thoughts were drifting off to who-knows-where, Kiryu's question abruptly pulled him back to reality.

"...Tachibana-kun, are you interested in sword-drawing techniques?"

"Huh?" Qing Deng turned to look at Kiryu, who was wrapping his arm in burlap. "What's wrong? Why are you suddenly asking me this?"

"It's nothing," Kiryu smiled. "When I went to change other people's bandages just now, I overheard them discussing topics related to sword-drawing techniques, so I just asked you about it casually."

"Oh, I see." After hearing Kiryu's extremely reasonable explanation, Aoto no longer cared why Kiryu had asked him this question.

"Sword-drawing technique... I'm quite interested in that."

"I've always liked moves that can take down an enemy in one strike."

"And the art of drawing the sword is precisely this kind of skill that pursues 'one-hit kill'."

"If one can master the art of drawing the sword, then the range of attack methods available will increase dramatically."

"If I had the chance, I would really like to learn how to draw my sword."

"However, the Natural Rishin-ryu school I am currently studying does not teach sword-drawing techniques."

At this point, Qingdeng adopted a half-joking tone.

"So right now, I probably won't have the chance to learn any sword-drawing techniques."

"You like those moves that can take down an enemy in one strike, huh..." Kiryu said with a smile. "What a coincidence, I like those moves too."

“When I was learning swordsmanship from my father, I loved practicing those ‘one-hit kill’ moves.”

"Huh? Kiryu-sensei, you know swordsmanship too?"

“Yes.” Kiryu’s lips curled up. “I used to study swordsmanship in Edo, so I know a little bit about swordsmanship.”

"Kiryu-sensei, you have so many talents... So, Kiryu-sensei, which school of thought did you study under?"

"...The swallow's heart is broken and flowing."

—The lingering sorrow of a swallow?

Before Aoto, who had never heard of this school of martial arts before, could even show a confused expression, Kiryu quickly said:

"You probably haven't heard of this style, because it's an extremely niche style that almost no one studies or knows about."

Qingdeng nodded: "Flying Swallow's Broken Heart Flow... that's quite a majestic name."

“The older you get, the faster time seems to fly.” A touch of melancholy appeared on Kiryu’s cheeks. “In the blink of an eye… it’s been seventy or eighty years since I painstakingly practiced the ‘Flying Swallow’s Broken Heart Style’.”

"Seventy or eighty years ago... Come to think of it, Mr. Kiryu, I don't even know how old you are yet."

"I am 92 years old this year."

“92 years old…” Qing Deng exclaimed in astonishment. “Mr. Kiryu, I feel that in terms of mental appearance, some middle-aged people in their 3s and 40s can’t compare to you.”

"Hahaha, thank you for the compliment. Alright, the burlap is tied up now, you can get dressed."

"Mr. Tachibana! Mr. Tachibana! Are you there?!"

Just then, a very loud voice came from outside the room.

"Komuro-kun?" Aoto raised an eyebrow toward the door. "I'm here, please come in."

As soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, the sliding door to the room was immediately and unceremoniously pulled open, revealing Xiao Shi's plump, white body to Qingdeng.

"Kiryu-san, you're here too." Upon seeing Kiryu, Komuro quickly bowed to him as well.

"Komuro-kun, what brings you here so suddenly?" Aoto asked.

Komuro laughed heartily a few times: "Hahaha, it's nothing! I just finished visiting Mr. Angoulême and was bored, so I thought I'd come and visit you, Mr. Tachibana."

After saying that, Komuro casually walked to the opposite side of Aoto and sat down cross-legged.

Qing Deng, who helped them repel the attacking "patriots against the barbarians" and with whom they had a life-or-death bond, was their comrade-in-arms and benefactor.

Therefore, in the past few days, Komuro and the others have treated Aoto with utmost devotion, almost to the point of burning incense and worshipping him.

The way people addressed Qing Deng changed from "Ju" or "Ju-kun" to "Mr. Ju," and when speaking to Qing Deng, they always used the highest level of honorifics.

However, thanks to the respect that Komuro and the others showed to Aoto, Aoto's relationship with Komuro and the others also grew much closer.

Komuro and others visiting Aoto have become one of the most common sights these past few days.

Qingdeng sat back, making more room for the person sitting cross-legged in front of him, and asked:

"Komuro-kun, did you just visit Mr. Angoulême?"

"Oh, yes."

"How is Mr. Angoulême now? Is he feeling any better?"

"Well..." Komuro scratched his scalp, which was particularly shiny due to his chonmage hairstyle, "It's a little better, but it will probably still take some time to fully heal."

“It should have been a very safe trip, but we encountered this kind of thing…” Qing Deng said softly, “Mr. and Miss Angoulême are also unlucky.”

“Yes.” Komuro sighed. “I feel sorry for Mr. Angoulême.”

"Mr. Angoulême and his companions are among the most gentle-natured of all the foreigners I know."

"After arriving in Japan, I have always conducted business in an honest and upright manner and have never done anything despicable."

"In the end, he was almost killed by a group of 'anti-foreign' thugs..."

Although no detailed count has been made, Qingdeng and his men killed at least 60 enemies in that "snowy night battle".

Including our own casualties, there were more than seventy corpses and a pile of severed limbs scattered in that small area...

Even with over seventy cat and dog corpses lying there, the scene was horrifying; let alone with over seventy human corpses lying there...

While the battle was still raging and people were on edge, they didn't feel uncomfortable facing such a bloody scene.

After the battle ended, seeing the scene of corpses strewn across the battlefield, a wave of unease immediately washed over me...

The discomfort was most intense between Anthony and Elodie, the grandfather and grandson.

After all, the former was just a businessman who made a living from business and had never seen bloodshed, while the latter was a 12-year-old girl.

For the past few days, the grandfather and grandson have basically stayed in their room, and they have been looking gloomy every day.

Elodie, who has a very cheerful personality, has hardly been seen smiling in the past few days.

To comfort Elodie, Kinoshita Mai stayed with the child, eating and living with her.

Qing Deng guessed that Kinoshita Mai was probably in Elodie's room right now, still trying to cheer her up as soon as possible.

After discussing Anthony and the others' current situation, Aoto started chatting casually with Kiryu, who also seemed to be quite free at the moment, and Komuro.

After chatting for a while, Komuro asked how Aoto's injury was recovering.

After receiving Aoto's reply that "his injury has recovered very well and he's in excellent condition," Komuro's eyes lit up.

"So—Mr. Tachibana, since you're in good shape right now, do you recall anything about how you led us to victory that night?"

—Oh, here we go again…you ask me this again…

After letting out a silent sigh, Qingdeng smiled helplessly:

"Komuro-kun, it's no use asking me any more times."

"That night, I really just led you by 'feelings' and devised plans based on 'feelings'."

"If you ask me to explain the process in detail, I really can't."

Komuro has always been very curious: how did Aoto know that setting up the defenses in that way would be able to stop the "anti-foreign faction's" attack in the battle six days ago?

To find the answer, Komuro has been asking Aoto almost every day recently, "How did you do that?"

No matter how many times Komuro asked, Aoto's answer was always the same: based on intuition.

Qing Deng really didn't lie or fool Komuro.

That night, he truly relied entirely on intuition to arrange the formation and give commands...

Suddenly, he had a wide field of vision that he still couldn't figure out how it happened; suddenly he saw strange "air currents"; suddenly he could sense the strength of everyone on the battlefield...

After suddenly acquiring these strange abilities, one plan after another kept popping into Qingdeng's mind.

After realizing that the enemy's organization and order were chaotic and that they relied entirely on morale to fight, the tactic of "stabilizing the front line, exhausting the enemy's morale, and then directly attacking the 'main camp' to eliminate Yamada and crush the enemy's fighting spirit in one fell swoop" suddenly came to mind.

He won that battle entirely based on "feeling"... If you asked Qingdeng to explain in specific words exactly how he micro-managed that night, he really couldn't say...

When Aoto replied with "based on feeling" again, a hint of resentment appeared on Komuro's face.

Just as he was about to ask something more—

"Orange."

Saito's voice rang out along with a slightly rough and forceful slamming of a door.

"Ah, Saito, you're back." Aoto turned to look at Saito, who had just returned from the restroom.

Saito, who was also wrapped in a lot of hemp cloth, glanced around at Kiryu and Komuro in the room, and then said to Aoto in a serious tone:

"Tachibana, a large contingent from the Edo Magistrate's Office has come to meet us."

Qingdeng was taken aback, then quickly stood up: "You've finally arrived..."

……

……

Qingdeng quickly changed his clothes, put on his official seal, and then ran to the first floor of the post station.

As soon as Qingdeng left the camp, he saw a large group of people parked outside the camp gate, attracting passersby to stop and watch.

In terms of the manpower that can be mobilized... this is truly a large force.

Six horse-drawn carriages.

Four mounted samurai.

There were 40 foot soldiers who could only walk.

If you include some menial workers... the total number of people in the team is close to one hundred.

Looking at the massive army before him, far exceeding his expectations, Qing Deng couldn't help but show surprise.

Just then, a male voice that was extremely familiar to Qingdeng rang out from beside him: