My Gang of Swordsmen

"Since it’s been a long time since we’ve watched this play, how about finding some time to see it one day?"

Aoto casually suggested.

"Listening to the shouting of those trying to attract customers... This Shibai Little House’s ’Yodogiri Jizai’ will be running until August 20th."

"Hmm... we’ll see." Chokata grinned, "If there’s time later, then we’ll consider whether to watch the play slowly. Ah, Mr. Tachibana, look! It’s Daifuku Mochi!"

Chokata’s eyes sparkled like little stars as he pointed towards a man not far away who was carrying two large wooden boxes with a shoulder pole, constantly calling out, "Daifuku Mochi~ 4 mon coins each~".

Without waiting for Aoto to respond, the greedy Chokata trotted over to the uncle selling Daifuku Mochi.

Aoto sincerely felt that today’s outing was very suitable for being named "Chokata’s Food Tour".

With a very greedy appetite, whenever Chokata saw a snack stall he was interested in, he would definitely go over and "huff and puff" to enjoy the food, his mouth hardly ever stopped.

Watching Chokata quickly run towards the Daifuku Mochi vendor, Aoto helplessly smiled and quickly followed.

"Hey, Mr. Chokata, don’t run too fast!"

...

...

Leisurely strolling from one end of Ryogoku-dori to the other, time happened to reach noon.

With the arrival of noon, temperatures suddenly soared steeply.

The weather, already hot, now became as if one was trapped in Red Lotus Hell.

Both Aoto and Chokata found it difficult to resist the extreme heat, so after finishing their stroll at Ryogoku-dori, they hurriedly turned back, embarking on the return journey to Shiwei Hall.

Upon returning to Shiwei Hall, which for Aoto now felt no different from home, he immediately heard the dense sounds of shouting and the clashing of bamboo swords.

Entering the dojo, a series of greetings flooded towards Aoto.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Tachibana!"

"Mr. Tachibana, so you went out, I was wondering why I didn’t see you today."

"Tachibana, have you had lunch?"

...

Aoto currently enjoys extremely high popularity in Edo, unquestionably a celebrity of the times.

As expected — Aoto is now a star at Shiwei Hall.

After Aoto’s establishment of achievements like "rescuing the concession", the number of people apprentices entering Shiwei Hall has increased considerably.

Many come to Shiwei Hall to train in the Natural Reasoning Heart Stream, drawn by Aoto’s great fame.

Now, both seniors and juniors hold the once unknown little junior Aoto in great respect... at least superficially.

Having spent the entire morning accompanying Chokata on an outdoor stroll, feeling slightly tired, Aoto wanted to return to the "Dining Room" for a rest.

After exchanging simple greetings with the dojo brothers, Aoto made his way directly to the Kondo family’s rear section located beyond the dojo.

Crossing the entrance, skillfully navigating the corridor connecting the entrance and the depths of the residence, Aoto suddenly noticed — Nagakura and Harada, currently living as guests in Shiwei Hall, were crouching outside the closed hall door.

The expressions on both their faces were quite peculiar, looking as though they could burst into laughter at any moment.

"What are you doing?"

Aoto walked gently towards Nagakura and Harada.

The two did not reply.

They simply pointed towards the tightly closed hall sliding door before them.

"Yong, listen carefully! You must remember the etiquette I taught you! You mustn’t embarrass yourself at the wedding in a month!"

The voice of their master’s wife, Abi, came from inside the hall.

"I don’t want the Matsui family to look down on us, the Kondo family."

"Now, recite the marriage vow again, you must memorize it well! If you can’t even recite a vow smoothly, people will laugh at you!"

"Yes..."

The speaker changed to Kondo.

"Choosing this auspicious day, holding the wedding."

"From now onwards, we shall respect and love each other, establish a family, share joys and sorrows, never to change for eternity."

"May we both be happy forever, with this pledge... pledge... pledge..."

"Yong! Why are you stuttering again!" Abi’s sharp voice caused Aoto and the others eavesdropping outside the hall to instinctively shrink their necks.

"Mother, isn’t this vow too hard to read... Is what’s written here really Japanese?"

"The wedding vow is written in classical Japanese, don’t you know? Stop whining, continue practicing! If you don’t memorize this vow today, you won’t get dinner today!"

...

Nagakura slowly lifted his head, giving a wry smile to Aoto and Harada who were eavesdropping with him outside the hall, and sighed lightly:

"Marriage sure is tough... Mr. Kondo’s situation makes me a bit scared about getting married suddenly..."

"Mr. Kondo has been practicing wedding etiquettes in this hall for nearly an hour." Harada yawned widely and then chuckled, "Did you hear Mr. Kondo’s tone just now? I can already sense from his tone how much he’s suffering right now."

To Nagakura and Harada’s teasing of Kondo, Aoto responded with a gentle smile.

In the coming month, Shiwei Hall will host two major events.

First: a "Red and White Battle" against Xuanwu Hall.

Second: Kondo Isami’s wedding ceremony.

*******

*******

The promised double Chapter reward from the day before yesterday successfully fulfilled!

The month-end double vote time is here~~!

Thanks to the enthusiastic support of book friends, this month’s book’s vote ranking is unprecedentedly high, so the author’s ambition has also risen!

This month, the author wants to challenge the top 100 in the total vote rankings! So the author is entering "Sea Lion Rise" mode!

When this Chapter was published, the vote count for this book was 4233. If it reaches 5200 votes today, the author will post a massive update of 10,000+ words tomorrow! This goal might seem a lot, but during the "double vote" period, it’s still quite easy to achieve.

The author’s credibility is still reliable.

Therefore, please be sure to vote a lot for this book! (Leopard head crying.jpg)

Seeking votes! Seeking recommendation votes! (Leopard head crying.jpg)