"Hmm." Chokata nodded.

If Chokata was going to take a bath at Qianxun House, he naturally had to first go down to the first floor of Shiwei Hall.

Thus, Aoto and Chokata naturally walked side by side toward the stairs leading to the first floor.

The two initially had nothing to say.

But abruptly, Chokata suddenly murmured in a tone that was hard to decipher:

"It feels a bit scary..."

"Hmm? Scary? What’s scary?" Aoto asked in confusion.

"When we were having dinner today, the masters talked about taking Brother Kondo for a matchmaking dinner... I think it’s a bit scary." Chokata’s lips curved into a bitter smile, "It’s probably because of my personality; I’ve never liked matchmaking..."

"Suddenly being forced by parents to marry someone you barely know... I find such things quite scary."

In the Edo Era, although people could freely fall in love, "parental orders, matchmaker’s words," "marry first and then talk of love" were still mainstream in this era for relationships between men and women.

After listening to Chokata’s sentiment, Aoto nodded in agreement, "Well... our views are quite similar... Compared to matchmaking, I personally prefer the kind of romance that comes from ’meeting by chance and then naturally getting together.’"

Perhaps it’s because of hearing too many bizarre matchmaking stories in past lives, Aoto has always had a slight aversion to such activities.

"Hahaha." Chokata’s smile returned to her usual cheerful expression, "So Mr. Tachibana doesn’t like matchmaking either."

"Compared to matchmaking, I also prefer the kind of romance that comes from ’meeting by chance, gradually falling for each other in daily interactions, and finally getting together naturally!’"

The stairs from the second floor to the first weren’t long; just a couple of sentences and the two were already on the first floor.

As they were about to part ways and go on with their respective tasks, Aoto couldn’t help but glance at the bathtub Chokata was holding.

"Speaking of which... Chokata, you really do like bathing late at night."

"I’ve been staying at Shiwei Hall for quite a while, but I haven’t seen you head to Qianxun House for a bath at any time other than late night."

"Because there are fewer people in the bathhouse at night. Oftentimes, I’m the only one in the whole bath. I really enjoy the feeling of having a whole bath to myself," Chokata answered without hesitation.

After saying that, Chokata waved her hand vigorously towards Aoto.

"Alright, I need to go take a bath; if I don’t hurry, Qianxun House might close soon."

"Okay, see you later." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Aoto just mentioned Chokata’s habit of bathing when the bathhouse is about to close, and put it behind him.

After saying goodbye to Chokata, he moved on to the kitchen to fetch some water.

...

...

Time passed swiftly.

In the blink of an eye, Aoto’s short holiday ended.

Throughout the holiday, Aoto’s life was very routine, spending every day dedicated to training at Shiwei Hall.

In contrast, Kondo was much busier these days. He was often pulled by Zhouzhu and Abi to handle various matchmaking matters, dining with the Matsui Family, and more.

On the last day before the holiday ended, the big news, "The Marquis of Aizu is going to hold a swordsmanship competition," was finally widely announced.

The Aizu Domain, as one of the most powerful domains, was truly affluent—they sent some vassals to visit each sword dojo in Edo to promote their competition.

The location and time of the competition were fixed at Asakusa on April 16, and each sword dojo could only allow up to three apprentices to participate.

Zhouzhu and Kondo both intended to use this competition to train some of the disciples in the dojo. If lucky, achieving a good ranking in this competition could further boost the reputation of Shiwei Hall.

Therefore, when the vassals of the Aizu Domain came to promote the competition, Kondo gathered the disciples in the dojo to see who was interested in participating.

Quite a few people signed up, with more than ten expressing their desire to see the world through this competition.

However, with only three participants allowed per dojo, Kondo was forced to start selecting, picking out the top three to compete—Aoto was fortunately among them.

"Mr. Tachibana, with your current skills... some of our older veterans at Shiwei Hall might not be able to beat you,"—this was what Kondo said when he picked Aoto to participate.

Once the holiday ended, Aoto resumed his job.

Thanks to the achievements of "making another significant contribution" and "instant increase of salary by 400-koku," Aoto’s status and treatment at the North Guard Station were visibly enhanced!

Now as Aoto walked within the North Guard Station, almost everyone he passed greeted him warmly, and the veteran seniors now spoke to Aoto in gentle tones.

The nickname "Blockhead Don"... was effectively a thing of the past.

Aoto’s main focus these days was acquainting Nagakura and others with the daily work of undercover informants.

The daily work of undercover informants was relatively straightforward, to put it simply—they helped the Dōshin who hired them with various errands, such as patrolling the district for Aoto or delivering messages to summon someone...

These tasks didn’t require much technical skill, so Nagakura and the others quickly got the hang of it.

From Aoto’s holiday until now, two notable events happened at the Magistrate’s Office.

The first major event: Tokugawa Iemochi personally ordered—mobilizing the Arson and Theft Magistrate to eradicate the Anti-foreigner Group!

The deployment of the Arson and Theft Magistrate means the nature of the case to capture the Anti-foreigner Group has completely changed.

The Arson and Theft Magistrate, specifically responsible for handling major malicious events and dealing with vicious criminals, akin to the SWAT, was summoned—this indicates that the Shogunate sees the Anti-foreigner Group as a "threat to national order that must be swiftly eliminated" terrorist organization.

The famous Arson and Theft Magistrate being called to assist—significantly boosted the morale of the officials at the Magistrate’s Office.

Unfortunately... the members of the Anti-foreigner Group really know how to hide.

Ever since the incident of "arson at City Town, attack on Foreign Language Research Institute," Edo became noticeably quieter, with none of the Anti-foreigner Group members surfacing.

The Magistrate’s Office and the Arson and Theft Magistrate nearly turned the whole of Edo upside down in their search, but still haven’t located the Anti-foreigner Group’s base, nor captured Shinno and other key leaders.

Regarding the second noteworthy event... though not really serious or very important, it’s worth discussing.

For some reason, the frequency of townsmen sighting the Phantom Thief Cat Monk suddenly increased a lot!

Recently, the Magistrate’s Office has frequently received reports of sightings of Cat Monk at night.

The appearances of Cat Monk are highly irregular, with reports of sightings in the city center one day and rumors of his presence in the eastern suburbs the next.

Then, on April 6, an event occurred... that left the officials at the Magistrate’s Office puzzled.

On the morning of April 6, when the officers at the North Guard Station arrived at their office building, ready to open the doors and start the day’s work, they suddenly found—two middle-aged men, tied up tightly and unconscious, were thrown at the front door.

Notes were stuck on the heads of these two men, featuring a bold assertion: these are the two wanted fugitives who have raped many women!

The puzzled officers took a closer look at the faces of these two middle-aged men—they were indeed the long-wanted fugitives, the rapists, that until now had eluded capture!

The officers quickly detained the two and began interrogating them.

After a round of questioning, they learned what had transpired.

Last night, as the two lurked in an alley of Castle Town, intending to "ambush" a passing nightingale, a shadowy figure suddenly appeared before them.

This shadowy figure, upon emerging, flattened his hands into palm shapes, raising them upwards, then lifted his arms high.

While raising his arms, he stood up and bent his right leg upwards, standing in a Golden Chicken Stance.

After completing this peculiar stance, he shouted:

"Behold, the Cat Monk!"

********

********

Seeking monthly votes! Seeking monthly votes! Seeking monthly votes! (Leopard-head, crying in agony.jpg)

The author is creating a book club group on Penguin! If interested, you’re welcome to join and chat about big bears.

Group number: 1162513609. Just answer a question that an earnest reader of the book would definitely know to join the book club group.

The author occasionally appears in the group~