Aoto stood there like he was dazed, his mouth slightly open, staring in a stupefied manner at Chokata Toshisuke, who was still looking at him with excitent.
anwhile, Zhouzhu, Kondo, and others around them were also taken aback by what Chokata had just said. Then they slowly cast looks of surprise or confusion toward Aoto.
Aoto’s brain was out of commission for a while before he finally felt his soul return to his body.
"... Mr. Chokata." Aoto took a deep breath, "Where did you hear all these random things from...?"
"I heard it while waiting for the gold flat sugar to be ready at the snack shop, from two old n!"
Chokata ticulously recounted to Aoto how he heard these rumors from those idle old n.
After patiently listening to Chokata’s explanation, Aoto’s mind was left with only one thought:
——?????
Right now, he only felt like countless question marks were fluttering in his mind like fireflies in a sumr night.
How did you manage to spread such outrageous rumors in just two days?!
In this era, due to the lack of basic education, people’s thinking is very feudal, so Aoto foresaw that it would be easy for strange rumors to spread in this era.
However... Aoto now suddenly realized he seed to have underestimated the level of rumor spreading in this era...
Aoto raised his hand and pinched his brow a few tis with force.
"Mr. Chokata... listen to , what you heard is all nonsense, not a single part of it is correct..."
Having his great deeds celebrated and having these bizarre rumors spread about him are entirely different matters...
Not wanting those around him to have any strange misunderstandings about him, Aoto patiently explained to Chokata, succinctly recounting his true process of solving the case at the ti.
Upon learning that what he had heard was completely false rumors, Chokata’s brow furrowed with surprise and a hint of disappointnt.
"Then-then, I also heard that your performance in ’Three Tis’ had always been quite average." Chokata tightened his fists slightly at his chest, "You were even given the nickna ’Blockhead Don’."
"It was just recently that you realized, as a mber of ’Three Tis’, the heavy responsibility of guarding Edo, and you could no longer muddle through, so you worked hard to study the techniques of solving cases, and that’s how you successfully solved that case the other day."
"Is this part true?"
Chokata had always admired the work and mission of ’Three Tis’, not any specific person within it.
He wasn’t a fan chaser, so for the various rumors and gossip within ’Three Tis’, Chokata had never actively sought them out, nor was he interested in doing so.
Therefore, it wasn’t until just now that Chokata learned from those two old n that Aoto had the nickna ’Blockhead Don’ and that he had such episodes in the past.
"Ah..." Aoto raised his hand and scratched the hair at his temples, "That part... is indeed true."
In order to reasonably explain how he stopped being scatterbrained, the "persona" Aoto created for himself was basically the sa as what Chokata had just said.
Yes, the persona he created for himself must be upheld, even with tears.
Seeing Aoto nod, the disappointnt and surprise on Chokata’s face quickly turned back to excitent and joy.
Clenching his fists more tightly at his chest, Chokata stood on tiptoe a bit higher, bringing his face closer to Aoto.
Aoto could clearly see the excitent and thrilled glow in Chokata’s beautiful eyes.
"Mr. Tachibana, you’re amazing!"
"Can I ask you sothing else? What was the turning point that made you realize you had such a heavy responsibility and could no longer live aimlessly?"
Looking at Chokata now gazing at him like a fanboy, Aoto felt that if this beautiful young man had a tail, it would surely be wagging like a fan.
A tail like that of an Akita Inu or Samoyed would suit Chokata very well.
Most people wouldn’t dislike being admired by others.
Being looked at with this kind of admiration and respect by Chokata — Aoto couldn’t help but feel slightly elated inside.
"Um... this..."
Driven by the buoyant and joyful emotion in his heart, Aoto cleared his throat, trying to suppress the uncontrollable corners of his mouth and speak solemnly:
"The specific turning point... I don’t quite rember either."
"I only rember seeing too many people displaced during my patrols in my jurisdiction."
"Saw too many grievances that couldn’t be addressed."
"Saw too many tragedies that I could have prevented if I were more capable."
"By the ti I ca to my senses, I had already gathered my previously lax mindset and started diligently learning various investigative thods and techniques from my seniors at the Garrison."
This bluff was... perfect!
Aoto silently gave himself a full score for his bluff just now.
And Chokata’s reaction was just as perfect.
"Oh oh...!" Aoto saw Chokata’s eyes beginning to sparkle with little stars, and the blush on his cheeks grew more intense.
"Mr. Tachibana, you... you..."
Chokata seed to want to say sothing to praise Aoto.
But it seed his vocabulary was rather lacking... perhaps due to a lack of education, he stamred for a long ti but didn’t manage to co up with anything.
After a long while, he repeated the complint he had already given Aoto:
"Mr. Tachibana, you’re amazing!"
The bluff that Aoto had just put on didn’t just fool Aoto, but also Kondo and others around.
Kondo and the others hadn’t known Aoto had the nickna ’Blockhead Don’, nor had they heard that he had solved a murder case in such a short ti the other day.
They were now all looking at Aoto with expressions of "Ah, so you are that aweso."
With eyes sparkling with little stars, Chokata stared at Aoto for a while before slowly lowering his tiptoed feet back to the ground.
"Ah... if only everyone could be like Mr. Tachibana..."
Chokata’s face still held a look of excitent and joy.
But a hint of loneliness quietly surfaced between his brows.
Aoto did not notice this subtle change in Chokata’s expression.
However, standing at Chokata’s side, Kondo did notice.
Seeing the hint of loneliness around Chokata’s eyes, Kondo pressed his lips and then clapped his hands vigorously a few tis.
"Alright, alright! Stop chatting!"
"Let’s wrap up the idle chatter for now!"
"Quickly disperse and continue with today’s practice!"
"If we keep chatting, it’ll be noon soon!"
*******
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New book launching!
Three Chapters today
Asking for monthly tickets! Asking for recomndation tickets! Asking for favorites!
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