"So boring." Fujimura casually tossed the paper in his hand, "There’s really nothing interesting or usable in this intelligence."
"That’s why I said, there’s hardly any valuable information on this paper."
After speaking, Shinno raised his head and glanced at the night scene outside the window.
"...It’s about ti." Shinno said as he stood up, "Let’s go, Fujimura, it’s ti to return to our ho base."
"Mm, okay." Fujimura nodded, then grabbed the sword placed by his side.
With their swords secured and their faces concealed by wide-brimd hats, Shinno and Fujimura departed from the secluded little house, walking further and further down the narrow path outside.
Their figures gradually faded into the dark night.
...
...
Edo, Little Ishikawa Hoshimura Willow Street, Shiwei Hall, on the second floor of a certain room——
"What?! Let those three temporarily stay at our place? No way!!"
Faced with the stormy roar from Abi, Kondo and Chokata, seated formally in front of her, involuntarily shrank back.
In the room, Zhouzhu, Abi, and Kondo, Chokata sat facing each other.
"Um... auntie." Chokata first spoke to Abi, "Isn’t our Shiwei Hall quite spacious? We can easily accommodate a few more guests."
"It’s not about whether our ho can accommodate a few more guests!" Abi shot a glance at Chokata’s face, "You know very well without having to say, how bad our Shiwei Hall’s inco is right now, right?"
"Let our ho take on three freeloaders? No way! Absolutely no way!"
"And also—"
Saying this, Abi paused for a mont, then gave Chokata a weird look, scanning him up and down several tis.
"...Toshisuke, you wouldn’t feel uncomfortable with three grown n moving into Shiwei Hall, would you?"
"Not at all." Chokata raised his hand, playing with the thin ponytail at the back of his head, and smiled without hesitation, "I wouldn’t mind it."
Seeing Chokata rebut her without any hesitation, Abi frowned.
"Uh... ma’am." Zhouzhu then took a deep breath, as if to bolster his courage, "I think... letting Mr. Tachibana and the others stay at our place for a bit is no big deal."
"It’s not like they’re living with us permanently, it’s just temporary until they find a stable residence."
"While our family’s inco might not be great right now, it’s not so bad that we can’t afford to cover als for three extra people..."
"You shut up!" Abi glared at Zhouzhu.
"Yes..." Zhouzhu silently withdrew his gaze and shrank back a little more...
Kondo and Chokata calmly watched Zhouzhu being instantly "suppressed" by Abi—this was a scene they had beco accustod to.
"In any case—I won’t allow those three to live in our ho!" Abi forcefully waved her kimono sleeve, "Those three can live wherever they want, just not in our house!"
"...Mother!" Having remained silent with his head down until now, Kondo gritted his teeth, lifted his head, and t Abi’s gaze without flinching, "Please hear out!"
"Mr. Tachibana is not just anyone; he’s an apprentice at our Shiwei Hall, a part of our Shiwei Hall."
"Now that a mber of Shiwei Hall is in trouble... as the Deputy Master of Shiwei Hall, I can’t stand idly by!"
"Besides, even regardless of Mr. Tachibana being part of Shiwei Hall, he’s soone truly admirable!"
"Mother, you must have heard of Mr. Tachibana’s ’snowy night defeat of formidable foes’ story."
"With just a few n, he defeated a ’Anti-foreigner Faction’ gang that was several tis larger than his group."
Excitent slowly appeared on Kondo’s face at this point.
"Though I wasn’t fortunate enough to witness Mr. Tachibana’s valiant deed of overpowering the strong with the weak, just hearing the tales makes my heart race."
"The ’Anti-foreigner Faction’ thugs have been causing trouble for a long ti, harming countless innocent civilians."
"Just recently in Asakusa, I saw a shop go bankrupt because those ’Anti-foreigner Faction’ thugs extorted military funds."
"Mr. Tachibana’s defeat of these disgraceful thugs was a substantial blow to those maniacs’ arrogance."
"Even if only out of respect for a hero, I can’t stand by and do nothing while Mr. Tachibana is in trouble and holess!"
"To have the ability to help, but watch from the sidelines... it’s just too heartless and unjust!"
Kondo’s words were stirring... but they didn’t move Abi.
On the contrary—it seed to have angered Abi.
Abi first looked at Kondo with a slightly dumbfounded expression, then her face quickly flushed red.
"Hmph! Yong, you think I oppose those three freeloading in our ho because why?"
"It’s because I’m worried about our family’s money!"
"Yes! Our family isn’t so poor that we can’t afford als for three extra people! We can surely sustain three more people!"
"But our money doesn’t co from nowhere!"
"It’s earned bit by bit from your and Zhouzhu, Toshisuke, Minamoto’s hard work at the Sword Dojo!"
"If you all don’t care about money, I do!"
Finishing, Abi angrily slapped the tatami by her side.
Then... unsettled by emotions, she muttered to herself:
"Hmph... peasants are peasants, always worrying..."
Abi’s mutter wasn’t loud.
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