Chapter 194: Chapter 98: Oh! Miss Kinoshita, Are You Blushing?

By the way—Kiryu and Mukiwa also attended tonight’s celebratory banquet.

Zhouzhu invited the two of them to join their celebration, and Kiryu agreed readily.

At this moment, Kiryu stood in a corner of the banquet, quietly eating, sipping wine, and he had just toasted to Aoto and the others.

Sitting beside him, Mukiwa, feeling tense due to the many unfamiliar strangers around, sat with her body tightly wound.

"By the way... Mr. Tachibana, your speaking skills are really impressive." Sitting beside Aoto, and having drunk quite a bit, Kondo spoke with a slight slur, "Today, before the match... after hearing your ’I want to win’ words, I felt filled with strength, my condition was great..."

As soon as Kondo finished speaking, echoes of agreement rose around the banquet.

"Yeah, me too. I was terribly nervous, but after listening to Tachibana’s speech, I didn’t feel as anxious."

"Me too, me too. Thanks to Mr. Tachibana’s eloquence, my condition today was excellent! I haven’t felt this good in a long time!"

...

Upon hearing these words from Kondo and others, Aoto couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows.

— My... my speaking skills are good...?

Aoto suddenly recalled: a month ago, after defeating those "Anti-foreigner Faction" ruffians, Oomura and the others also said similar words to Aoto.

They said: After hearing Aoto’s voice, for some reason, they suddenly felt their state improved, not so tense, not so panicked.

At the time, Aoto didn’t pay much attention, thinking it was just a coincidence.

However... if this only happened once, it could be a coincidence; but if it happened twice, it couldn’t just be explained as coincidence...

— Could it be... my own talent...?

Aoto couldn’t help but ask himself in his heart.

— Having an infectious voice, being able to inspire people with just a few simple words...

Aoto half-closed his eyes, began to carefully review today’s competition process and details in his mind.

He found—his state in today’s competition is very similar to that snowy night chaos over a month ago.

In both, his mind was extremely calm.

The only difference between these two battles was that he didn’t obtain that strange wide field of view and didn’t see those strange qi streams today.

When did he revert to that extremely calm state from the snowy night chaos today?

It seemed to be when he heard what those participants from Little Chiba Sword Dojo said at the squid stall.

His mind instantly became extremely calm.

Then suddenly thought of that tactic "Kondo, Chokata beheading general and flag capture".

— This... could it also be my own talent? Under emergency situations, my mind becomes extremely calm...?

— But if these are my talents, why don’t I see corresponding entries like "inspiring" or "calm mind" in my system list...?

Suddenly, a multitude of questions, even after exhausting his thoughts, left Aoto unable to find any answers.

At this time, due to drinking too much earlier, Aoto gradually felt his bladder starting to swell.

After telling people around "going to the toilet", Aoto wobbly stood up and walked out of the room.

As soon as Aoto left the room, Mukiwa, who had been silent and tense since the banquet started, immediately lifted her head like a cat smelling fish, looking towards the door Aoto had just exited.

After a few traces of hesitation flashed across her face, she turned to Kiryu beside her, saying, "I want to go to the toilet," and without waiting for Kiryu’s response, she hurriedly got up and ran out of the room.

Although Aoto had drunk quite a lot, he wasn’t so drunk that he couldn’t walk steadily.

As he slowly walked along the corridor towards the toilet on the first floor of the restaurant, a slightly trembling, delicate female voice called to him from behind:

"Uh, Mr. Tachibana!"

"Hmm? Miss Kinoshita?" Aoto stopped walking, turning his head, looking with confusion and surprise at Mukiwa, who was standing a few steps behind him.

Upon noticing Aoto’s gaze, the nervousness on Mukiwa’s face immediately intensified.

"That... well..."

Before she could say anything further, Aoto preemptively smiled and said:

"Miss Kinoshita, have you also been drinking? Your face is quite red."

"Huh?" Mukiwa was stunned, then quickly lifted her hands to touch her cheeks—they did feel a bit warm...

"Y-yeah." Mukiwa awkwardly chuckled a few times, "I had a few drinks... Sorry to make you laugh..."

"Ah, it’s nothing, nothing." As Aoto, slightly muddle-headed from drinking, waved his hand, he subconsciously said softly, "Miss Kinoshita, you’re a really cute girl."

"Now, with your face all red, you look even cuter."

Instantly, a crimson blush spread across Mukiwa’s cheeks, reaching the tips of her ears.

"Th-that! I wanted to ask!" Mukiwa, now blushing furiously, changed the subject, "In today’s competition, why did you dare to take the field personally as the Grand General?"

"Weren’t you afraid of having the porcelain bowl on your head broken, causing the whole team to lose?"

In Mukiwa’s eyes was a touch of urgency, clearly she was extremely curious about this question.

"Ah... about that..." Aoto raised his hand, scratching his head, "How should I put it... to say I wasn’t afraid is impossible."

"I was afraid at that time, but no matter how afraid I was, I had to just grit my teeth and go forward."

"To defeat Little Chiba Sword Dojo, every single person had to enter the fray with all their might, no one could sit idly in the Main Array waiting to be protected."

At this point, Aoto paused for a moment before continuing:

"One reason I decided to charge myself today was thinking that doing so would greatly boost Mr. Kondo and others’ morale."

"Whenever an important person who should stay far back charges bravely at the front, it greatly inspires their side."

"After all—"

Aoto laughed freely.

"If the king does not lead, how will the subordinates advance courageously?"

This phrase Aoto had seen online in his previous life, and because he thought it sounded cool, he unconsciously remembered it.

It’s said to be from some anime, but which anime specifically, Aoto didn’t know.

Mukiwa was stunned for a moment.

Then, a faint excitement appeared on her face: "That saying is so cool!"

"Haha..." Aoto laughed, "Really... you also think it’s cool, huh? I think it’s quite cool too."

Now Aoto’s bladder was really about to burst; if he didn’t go to the bathroom soon, it would be too late.

So after chatting with Mukiwa a bit more, Aoto ended the brief "corridor talk," and hurriedly continued towards the toilet.

Mukiwa stood in place, quietly watching Aoto leave.

Her eyes lit up again with that vibrant brilliance.

"Cute... am I...?" Mukiwa raised her hands to cover her rapidly heating cheeks...

Her gaze, under increasing bashfulness, gradually became misty.