"...Alright." Chiba Domon Shiro took his gaze back from the crowd around him, "I will have a private talk with you later."
"Let’s go." Chiba Domon Shiro gestured to the companions standing at his sides, then turned around first, ready to leave.
But just as Chiba Domon Shiro was turning—
"Please wait a mont!"
A forceful and resonant voice clearly reached the ears of everyone present.
Chiba Domon Shiro stopped, slowly turning back with a puzzled expression.
Chokata, Saito, Sazanoko, Chiba Shigetarou, Chiba Domon Shiro, and the onlookers... everyone focused their gaze on the owner of that voice—Tachibana Aoto.
Tachibana Aoto, with eyes devoid of cowardice or retreat, stared directly at Chiba Domon Shiro, who was looking at him.
"Please take back your statent about Shiwei Hall being a third-class Sword Dojo."
"Huh?" Chiba Domon Shiro frowned sharply.
"Mr. Tachibana?" Chokata gaped at Tachibana Aoto.
Since Tachibana Aoto suddenly appeared, Chiba Domon Shiro hadn’t paid much attention to this stranger he didn’t know, nor did he care about how Chiba Shigetarou, Chokata, and others addressed Tachibana.
It wasn’t until now, after Tachibana Aoto’s shocking words, that Chiba Domon Shiro noticed that Chokata and the others always referred to Tachibana as "Mr. Tachibana."
"Tachibana..." Chiba Domon Shiro mouthed the word, and after a mont, as if recalling sothing, his eyes widened slightly.
He stared intently at Tachibana Aoto’s face, and asked word by word, "...What might your honorable na be?"
"Shiwei Hall, Natural Reasoning Heart Stream." Tachibana Aoto answered calmly, "Tachibana Aoto."
The crowd around them instantly buzzed with noise.
"Tachibana Aoto? Why does that na sound so familiar?"
"Of course it sounds familiar. We were just talking about this person two days ago."
"Oh, I rember, it’s that ’Three Tis’ dōshin from the North Guard Station who has been quite famous lately, right?"
"He’s so tall."
"He’s the one who solved Granny Ping’s murder case and took down the major ’Radical Anti-foreigner Faction’ that tried to ambush foreign rchants..."
...
The bystanders looked at Tachibana Aoto with eyes as if they were observing so rare creature, eagerly scrutinizing this celebrity close to them.
Chiba Domon Shiro, upon hearing Tachibana’s introduction, an eye twitching the mont after his words fell: "You’re... that Tachibana Aoto. I’ve heard of you."
Chiba Domon Shiro had heard of Tachibana Aoto’s exploits over half a month ago.
So when he realized that Chokata and the others were calling Tachibana "Mr. Tachibana," he had already prepared himself ntally for the fact that this "Mr. Tachibana" was the recently fad "Tachibana Aoto." Thus, his reaction was still relatively calm.
In response to Chiba Domon Shiro’s complint of "I’ve heard of you," Tachibana Aoto nodded courteously, then—
"Mr. Chiba Domon Shiro, indeed, our Shiwei Hall is currently just an obscure small Sword Dojo, whether in terms of the number of apprentices or the quality of students, we are far from outstanding."
"But our Shiwei Hall should not, and cannot, for this reason be labeled with the disdainful title of a ’third-class Sword Dojo!’"
Tachibana Aoto’s voice was righteously heightened by several degrees.
"Only those Sword Dojos where the masters and deputy masters teach indifferently, misleading their students, are truly third-class Sword Dojos."
"Those Sword Dojos that tirelessly and conscientiously provide correct guidance to their disciples, no matter how many or few apprentices they have, or regardless of the quality of students, are deserving of respect as first-class Sword Dojos."
"Although I haven’t been at Shiwei Hall long, no more than two months, in just over a month, I’ve clearly seen: there’s no one in Shiwei Hall who would slack off in teaching."
"Whether it’s Master Kondo Shuuzo, Deputy Master Kondo Isami, or Chokata Toshisuke who often helps teach swordsmanship, not a single one of them is lacking in dedication when instructing in swordsmanship."
"So—please take back your disparagent of Shiwei Hall."
Deep within Tachibana Aoto’s serene eyes, there was an unshakable belief.
Since a while ago, sothing unusual, which Tachibana Aoto and the others hadn’t noticed, had occurred.
When Tachibana Aoto began speaking, many of the onlookers unconsciously closed their mouths upon hearing his voice, silently watching and listening to his passionate argunt.
The previously noisy crowd thus gradually quieted down.
Chiba Domon Shiro stared dazedly at Tachibana Aoto, who was looking at him with calm eyes.
To make , in front of so many people, take back the words I’ve already spoken? What a joke!
Such a disgraceful act, Chiba Domon Shiro instinctively wanted to refuse.
However...
Tachibana Aoto’s gaze at the mont seed to hold so kind of peculiar influence.
Under his direct gaze, Chiba Domon Shiro felt entirely unsettled.
Although he had already organized his words to decline Tachibana’s request, the uncomfortable feeling sparked by Tachibana’s gaze prevented him from uttering the words that were on the tip of his tongue...
"...Fourth Cousin."
Suddenly, Sazanoko, who had been silent all along, spoke up.
Since a while ago, a trace of hesitation had hung on Sazanoko’s cheeks.
After struggling with this hesitation on Sazanoko’s face for quite so ti, it finally seed to vanish entirely.
She glanced at Tachibana Aoto several tis, and then, like him, directed a stern gaze at Chiba Domon Shiro.
"Mr. Tachibana is right."
"What you said earlier was indeed too much, Shiwei Hall should not be slandered like that."
"Please take back your previous disrespectful remarks."
Sazanoko’s support—caught many people off guard, including Tachibana Aoto.
Tachibana Aoto turned his gaze in surprise towards Sazanoko speaking on his behalf.
Noticing Tachibana Aoto looking at her, Sazanoko nodded in acknowledgnt, then continued to glare at Chiba Domon Shiro.
Now all eyes were focused on Chiba Domon Shiro.
They were all waiting for Chiba Domon Shiro’s response.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Chiba Domon Shiro, after a mont of silence, clenched his teeth.
"...Alright, since you said so, Sazanoko."
Chiba Domon Shiro took a deep breath, then half-closed his eyes and slightly bowed to Tachibana Aoto and Chokata.
"...I’m sorry... I was careless with my words just now."
"I take back all my remarks about Shiwei Hall."
After quickly saying this sentence, Chiba Domon Shiro didn’t glance at Tachibana Aoto and the others again, hurriedly leading his four companions away, not lingering for a mont more in this place.
Chiba Domon Shiro and his group’s pace was swift; in just an instant, their figures disappeared into the crowd, causing the onlookers to gradually disperse as there seed to be no more excitent to take part in.
So people truly left, but others pretended to leave, only to stop slightly farther away to continue ’observing’ Sazanoko, who they found much more appealing than plum blossoms, or to sneak peeks at Tachibana Aoto, whose fa recently filled every corner of Edo.
After the crowd dispersed, several young witches who had been blocked outside and unable to approach finally got close to Tachibana Aoto and the others.
Since Chiba Domon Shiro had already left, these few witches could only reprimand Tachibana Aoto and the others.
"Dear guests, fighting and arguing are prohibited within the shrine! Should such an incident occur again, we will have to ask you to leave the shrine!"
"Ah, I’m sorry." Chiba Shigetarou apologized to the angry young witches with a grin, "I’m deeply sorry for inconveniencing you."
"We will be more careful in the future." Tachibana Aoto’s voice interjected as he stepped to stand beside Chiba Shigetarou.
Sazanoko also joined in to deal with the witches: "We apologize for any trouble we’ve caused, very sorry."
Busy fending off the witches with Chiba Shigetarou and Sazanoko, Tachibana Aoto hadn’t noticed—Chokata was wide-eyed and staring blankly at him, who had just with a few words made Chiba Domon Shiro retract his contemptuous remarks about Shiwei Hall and apologize...
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