After hearing the word "bodyguard" from Arima's mouth, Aoto immediately subconsciously moved his eyes and looked at Saito carefully.
This is a very young boy, about 16 or 7 years old.
He is very tall, slightly taller than Qingdeng who is 1.75 meters tall, about 1.8 meters tall.
His skin is very fair, his facial features are sharp and angular, and his hair is not shaved into the ugly Tsukiyo haircut. Instead, he wears his hair straight like Ayoto, and his overall appearance can be considered a bit handsome.
Dressed in all black. The upper body is a dark blue kimono, the lower body is black hakama and cloth socks, and the red scarf wrapped around his neck is the only bright color on his body.
After entering the living room, Qingto noticed that Saito had always kept a straight face and looked serious in speech.
After Qingdeng entered the hall, he only glanced at Qingdeng, and then quickly lowered his head and gaze, burying the part below his nose in his scarf, looking at his nose and heart.
When introducing himself, he just raised his head and said simply "No leaks, Saito Ichi" in a cold tone, then closed his mouth, said no more, lowered his head again, and opened the lower half of his face again. Buried in his scarf...
Hmm... he seems to be a cold-blooded young man who doesn't like to talk - Aomori silently commented on Saito in his heart.
"Sir Arima." After looking at Saito Ichitou carefully, Aoto turned his attention back to Arima, "What's going on with this bodyguard?"
Arima, who never likes to talk nonsense, saw Qingteng asking this question, and began to explain to Qingteng in concise language.
After briefly explaining that he decided to join forces with Inoya and Ushiyama to hire bodyguards for Aoto in order to protect Aoto from the "radical anti-barbarian faction", Arima began to introduce Saito.
"Saito and I... are old acquaintances."
"He is 2 years younger than you. He was born in the fifteenth year of Tianbao (1844), so he is exactly 16 years old this year."
"Saito is the most reliable and trustworthy of all the bodyguards I can find."
"Although he is young, he is very strong. He is a rare left-handed swordsman, and the winner is passed down without leakage."
No need to pass it on...?
Qingto cast a surprised look at Saito, who was still looking at his eyes and nose, and his nose and heart.
In the Edo period, there was no specific model for assessing the level of each disciple, and each school used different methods and grades.
But no matter what genre it is, the highest level of strength rating is the same - "If you don't allow it, you can pass it on".
Only by thoroughly mastering all the techniques of this style and gaining the approval of the master can one obtain the rating of "No permission is required".
Being able to obtain the "Freedom and All Passes" means that this person has completely mastered the art and can be regarded as a swordsman who can stand on his own.
As for the lack of leakage... this school can be regarded as one of the most famous schools in the swordsmanship world.
Known for its extremely high practicality.
There are no bells and whistles, and the pursuit of hacking the enemy to death as quickly as possible - this is no leakage.
This Wukou boy, who is 2 years younger than himself, is actually the winner of the Unleashed and Undisputed Success... This really surprised Qingdeng.
"In addition to being strong, Saito's character is also quite reliable."
A slight smile appeared at the corner of Arima's mouth.
"As long as you hire him, you don't have to worry about whether he will betray you or just take money and do nothing until the end of the employment period. You can safely leave your back to him."
"..." Qingto raised his eyes and looked at Saito, and then at Arima.
"Arima-sama, could you please come out with me?"
"Huh?" Arima nodded.
Aoto and Arima left the living room one after another and came to a place where Saito could not hear. Aoto immediately asked Arima in a quick voice:
"Arima-sama, why did you find a bodyguard for me without even saying hello to me?"
"Because I feel that if I tell you in advance that Inodani, Ushiyama, I, and I are going to jointly hire a bodyguard for you, you may keep declining and not agree happily." Arima said calmly.
Ah, that's not the case...I will politely give in and then agree happily. Qingdeng said in his heart.
At a time when his life is being targeted by a group of unreasonable "terrorists", Qingdeng would be happy to have a reliable bodyguard to protect him personally without having to spend any money on his own.
Qingdeng has always insisted that the so-called "interpersonal relationship" is a relationship in which "each other constantly owes and repays favors."
Therefore, Qingdeng never shied away from finding people to help him, and he was able to openly accept the kindness and favors from others.
Such a character and style were one of the important reasons why Qingdeng had a smooth life both on and off campus before time travel.
No matter where his performance is less than ideal, or where he runs into any trouble, he can ask others for advice and seek help openly and generously.
After receiving help from others, he silently keeps the favor in his heart and waits for the opportunity to return the favor later.
"Tachibana-kun, there is no need to feel embarrassed or sorry." Arima, who didn't know that Aoto was no longer the same Aoto, said sincerely, "Although Inoya and I have said similar words many times, but I Let’s say it again now.”
"We are your elders, and it is only natural that we help juniors like you."
"Anyway, the price for hiring Saito for you is not very expensive."
"Just accept the bodyguard we found for you with peace of mind."
"Isn't it very expensive?" Qingto raised his hand and grabbed the hair at the temples, "Arima-sama, let me ask, how much is Saito Ichi's salary?"
"Three taels of gold per month." Arima did not hide anything and directly told Qingnobo Saito's price.
"Sir Arima, do you call the monthly commission of three taels of gold 'inexpensive'?"
"I just said that Saito was hired by me, Inotani, and Ushiyama as a joint venture. If we divide it up, each of us only needs to pay 1 tael of gold per month. This price is more than enough for us. .”
After the topic of "money" came up, Arima paused as if he remembered something.
"Ah, yes, I almost forgot. Come on, Tachibana-kun, this is for you."
Arima took out a small cloth bag from his arms and handed it to Qingteng.
Qingdeng stretched out his hands to take it with a confused look on his face.
Click...
The small cloth bag fell on Qingdeng's palms, and there was a subtle metal collision sound.
"Hmm...?" Qingden twitched his eyebrows and hurriedly untied the cloth bag.
There was nothing else in the bag.
It only contained a handful of money.
Gold, silver, and copper were mixed together until Qingden was dazzled by the sight.
"Arima-sama, what is this?"
"There are a total of 23 taels of gold, 58 pieces of silver, 4 strings and 412 copper coins here." Arima said, "Saito is responsible for personal protection of you, so until the end of the commission period, he will eat and live with you. , peers.”
"Saito's commission does not include the daily expenses he produces while protecting you."
"That is to say, in addition to paying him a monthly commission of three taels of gold, he also has to take care of his food, drink, housing and transportation."
"I found a bodyguard for you, but I didn't prepare the money to support such a bodyguard for you. That's really unreasonable."
"This money was raised by me, Inotani, and Ushiyama for you to use to 'raise' Saito."
"Just accept it with peace of mind."
"With such a sum of money, it should be enough to 'support' Saito for a while."
As soon as Arima finished speaking, Qingden's expression changed slightly.
He lowered his gaze and returned his gaze to the large handful of money in his hand.
——The money used to "raise" Saito... Ha, this reason is really lame...
Qingden smiled helplessly in his heart.
Arima said that the money was used for him to "raise" Saito - Aoto would only believe this if his head was pinched!
With such a large amount of money, let alone one adult male, as long as you spend it sparingly, it will not be a problem to support two adult males for half a year.
As the elders who have a close relationship with Qingnobo, Arima and the others cannot be unaware of the current economic situation of the Tachibana family, which is currently burdened with huge gambling debts.
Why Arima, Inoya, and Ushiyama wanted to raise such a large amount of money for him at this time... The reason is not difficult to guess.
Ayoto didn't point out Arima's lame excuse.
After staring at the bag of money in his hand for a long time, Qingdeng firmly grasped the bag of money——
"...Arima-sama. Thank you."
Aoden raised his grateful gaze towards Arima.
"This bag of money, and that Saitoichi... I will accept it!"
Seeing Qingdeng happily accepting the kindness of their elders, a smile of relief rose from the corner of Arima's lips.
…
…
Since it was almost dinner time, Qingnobo originally wanted to keep Arima at their house for dinner, but Arima said that he still had some official business that he had to go home to deal with quickly, so he declined Qingnobo's dinner date.
Seeing that Arima was about to leave, Saito, who had been staying in the living room just now, also came to the door and saw Arima off with Aoto.
"Saito. I leave it to you, Tachibana-kun."
The unsmiling Saito did not respond to Arima's words.
He just nodded slightly.
Wow...
Qingto watched Arima open the door. After seeing Arima disappear from his sight, he turned his head and looked at Saito, who was standing beside him and walking side by side with him.
Looking at this new member of the family who would live and eat with him and Kubei from today on, Aoto scratched the hair on the back of his head, then cleared his throat, turned around, and faced Saito , said seriously:
"You must have heard about me and my name from Lord Arima, right?"
"Although you must already know who I am. But let me formally introduce myself."
"My name is Tachibana Aoden. From today on, I will ask for your attention."
After saying that, Qingden bowed slightly and saluted Saito.
"...Please give me more advice." Saito turned to Aoto, half-closed his eyes, and returned Aoto's bow.
After formally introducing himself to his aloof bodyguard, Qingden straightened up and looked towards the kitchen, where the faint aroma of food was now wafting out.
"It's still a while before dinner is ready..."
"Saito, could you please do one thing with me before I wait for dinner to be ready?"
"……Please say."
"I have recently practiced a new rope-catching technique." Qingdeng slowly walked to a locker in the living room and took out a hemp rope from it, "I have been worried about not finding a suitable partner to practice with recently. , can you please be my sparring partner?"
After saying that, Qingdeng tightened the hemp rope in his hands with both hands, making a crisp "pop" sound.
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