"Until the very end, no one knows what the outco of the competition will be."
"It’s not like we haven’t defeated the Little Chiba Sword Dojo before."
Kondo clenched his right fist and lightly pounded his chest with it.
"Mother, I promise you: on the day of the competition, I will try my best..."
Kondo hadn’t finished speaking when Abi, seemingly disinterested in Kondo’s words, snorted coldly and then left in a huff.
While leaving the hall, without looking back, Abi said to Kondo:
"Try your best... When you competed with Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo before, didn’t you try your best? And then what? Did your efforts lead us to triumph over those two dojos? Hmph!"
Watching Abi leave so abruptly, Kondo awkwardly maintained the stance of his fist against his chest.
Zhouzhu also shared this awkward expression.
"Sigh..." Zhouzhu sighed heavily while slowly standing up, "Yong, co with , let’s talk with your mother again."
"Your mother is a bit upset now... it needs patience to resolve."
"Hmm..." Kondo smiled helplessly and then stood up with Zhouzhu, "Father, it seems tonight will be another busy evening..."
...
...
After advising Aoto and Chokata, "You should go to rest early," Zhouzhu and Kondo headed out of the hall one after the other to find Abi.
The hall, lively just minutes ago, instantly beca cold and deserted, leaving only Aoto and Chokata.
"Mr. Tachibana, I’m sorry..." Chokata offered a wry smile to Aoto, "Aunt often gets upset in so strange places without consideration of the occasion... it’s embarrassing for you to see this..."
Being soone else’s family matter, Aoto felt it was inappropriate to comnt or interfere.
After so courteous words, Aoto raised his gaze to look at the still-open hall door.
"Mr. Chokata, does Mrs. Kondo really dislike the Little Chiba Sword Dojo?" Aoto couldn’t help but ask Chokata.
Abi’s earlier words made Aoto very concerned—(I don’t want to see our Shiwei Hall getting defeated in front of so many people! Let alone being defeated by that Little Chiba Sword Dojo!)
It sounds as if Abi has significant prejudice against Little Chiba Sword Dojo.
"Ah... well..." Chokata pondered for a mont, then smiled helplessly, "I’m not sure whether Aunt dislikes Little Chiba Sword Dojo or not."
"In any case, I personally quite dislike Little Chiba Sword Dojo."
"Hmm?" Aoto was surprised, "Why? I thought you had a good relationship with Mr. Shigetarou and Miss Sazanoko?"
Aoto had noticed—just now, Chiba Shigetarou and the others directly called Chokata "Toshisuke"... being addressed by na is a sign of a good relationship.
"Well... maybe I wasn’t very clear earlier."
Chokata habitually reached behind his head, playing with his ponytail at the back of his brain.
"To be precise—it’s certain people in the Little Chiba Sword Dojo that I dislike."
"I do have a good relationship with Mr. Shigetarou and Miss Sazanoko, and I like these siblings very much."
"Mr. Shigetarou, Miss Sazanoko... and their father, Chiba Dingji, are all very nice people."
"Even though our Shiwei Hall is a small, unknown ’Taro Dojo’ compared to the wealthy and well-established Little Chiba Sword Dojo, the three of them have never looked down on us and have always treated us with a natural, equal attitude. Hence, we have maintained a very good relationship with Mr. Shigetarou and the others."
"However... not everyone in Little Chiba Sword Dojo is like that."
"Certain people in the Little Chiba Sword Dojo have always looked down on us, thinking that our Shiwei Hall isn’t even qualified to be a foil to their Little Chiba Sword Dojo..."
"On a side note—it’s the sa with Xuanwu Hall, so people in Xuanwu Hall also look down on us, which is why I dislike so apprentices there too."
"I don’t know why Aunt has a prejudice against Little Chiba Sword Dojo, but I guess... she might be like : disliking those apprentices at Little Chiba Sword Dojo who look down on our Shiwei Hall."
"It’s because they dislike those people that they don’t want us to hold the ’Red and White Battle’ with Little Chiba Sword Dojo in public, if we lose to them in front of everyone, it’ll only make those arrogant people who already look down on us even more conceited."
"I see..." Aoto, who had been listening quietly, let out a long sigh.
——So people in Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo really look down on our Shiwei Hall... well, that’s quite normal...
——If nobody in those two dojos viewed our Shiwei Hall through a colored lens, that would actually be unusual...
In terms of fa or student quality... Shiwei Hall is not on the sa level as Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo, it’s only through ’ancestral goodwill’ that they are sowhat connected.
Such a disparity in strength and status naturally makes it easy for so people in Xuanwu Hall and Little Chiba Sword Dojo to develop a strong sense of superiority over Shiwei Hall.
"Ah, I feel like I’ve talked too much about these heavy topics." Chokata laughed a few tis at this point.
His face once again showed a cheerful smile.
"Let’s stop dwelling on these heavy matters and discuss sothing more interesting!"
As soon as Chokata finished speaking, he gave Aoto a aningful grin, then extended his right elbow to nudge Aoto’s flank.
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