"Good morning, Mademoiselle Angoulême. (French)" Gerald politely took off the hat on his head, put the hat on his chest, bowed and said hello to Elodie.
Under the top hat, only some black and white hair remains on the temples, and the top of the head is so smooth that it can reflect the light of the "Mediterranean" hairstyle.
Elodie folded her hands in front of her and returned the salute to Gerard with a smile: "Good morning, Mr. Gerard! (French)"
"Ms. Angoulême, did you complete the homework I gave you last week? (French)"
Elodie smiled and said humorously: "I worked hard all night long last night, and I managed to finish all the homework you gave me before dawn today. (French)"
"Hahaha." Gerald imitated Elodie's humorous tone just now and chuckled a few times, "Hahaha", "That's not okay. It is important to complete the homework, but you cannot sacrifice sleep in order to complete the homework. (French)"
"Ms. Angoulême, you are now growing up. You should pay more attention to the balance between work and rest. Otherwise, you will not grow up. (French)"
After Gerald exchanged a few words with Elodie, he quietly raised his gaze and looked at Qingden, who was standing not far behind Elodie.
"...Ms. Angoulême, who is this Japanese? (French)"
Hearing Gerald ask who the Japanese behind her was, Elodie cheered up a little: "Mr. Gerald, this is the Tachibana I mentioned to you before who saved my grandfather and me. Mr. Qingto! (French)"
"Oh..." Gerald nodded expressionlessly, "This is the Tachibana Aoden who saved you and Mr. Angouleme... Compared with the average Japanese, he is quite tall. Yes. (French)"
"Mr. Gerald, let me take you to meet Mr. Orange! (French)" Elodie smiled happily.
But the smile on her face did not last long.
"No need." Gerald responded in a very cold tone without hesitation, "Ms. Angoulême, let's start today's class quickly."
"Today I am going to teach you more advanced knowledge in rhetoric. The content will be relatively obscure, so you have to be mentally prepared. (French)"
Gerald refused without hesitation the suggestion of "taking him to get to know Qingdeng"... Elodie felt a little embarrassed, and the smile on her face suddenly froze.
Elodie quickly realized: Why was Gerald so resistant to getting to know Qingden... After she figured out the reason, the frozen smile on her face slowly turned into a look of helplessness. A complex expression of trouble.
"Well..." Elodie gently pecked her little head a few times, trying to force out a new smile, "Then Mr. Gerald, let's go to class. (French)"
After that, Elodie and Gerald walked towards the stairs leading upstairs one after another.
"Mr. Tachibana." As she passed by Qingden, Elodie raised her hands and picked up her robe. She smiled apologetically and gave Qingden a light salute, "I'm sorry, I have to go to class now. Sorry, please excuse me for now."
"Yes." Qingden smiled freely, "Don't pay attention to me, just go to class seriously."
After saying goodbye to Qingden, and then giving some instructions in French to Leroy beside him, Elodie continued to walk with Gerald towards the stairs not far away.
Gerald, who was walking behind Elodie, passed Qingden at this moment.
He didn't say a word to Qingden.
Just when he was about to miss Qingdeng, he glanced at Qingdeng with a sideways glance.
Although Gerald's sight was fleeting... Qingden still relied on his powerful dynamic vision to keenly capture the emotions contained in his sight.
It was exactly the same emotion that appeared in his eyes when he entered the house and saw Qingdeng for the first time - that kind of disdain full of superiority...
Qingden's brows immediately wrinkled.
He stood silently, watching Elodie and Gerald leave without saying a word.
It wasn't until the figures of the old man and the young man disappeared at the stairs leading upstairs that Qingdeng said quietly in his heart:
——Westerners like Miss Angoulême and Mr. Angoulême who have no racial discrimination are in the minority after all...
Why did Gerald always look at him with disdain... The reason was not difficult to guess.
The Edo shogunate was forced to open the country by force by Western powers.
While Western countries have entered the industrial age due to the widespread use of steam engines, Japan under the rule of the Edo shogunate is still stuck in an agricultural society based on a small farmer economy... How will the citizens of these Western powers view this backwardness? country, it goes without saying.
So far, the only Westerners that Qingden has had in-depth contact with are Elodie and her family.
Because he basically only had detailed interactions with Elodie and her family, Qingden almost forgot that there were very few Westerners like Elodie and Anthony who were not racially discriminatory.
The vast majority of Westerners are like this Gerald - they don't even bother to say hello to Qingden, and there is always a hint of fullness in their eyes when they look at Qingden, as if they are overlooking some inferior creature. A disdainful look of superiority.
——Forget it.
Qingden raised his hand and rubbed the back of his neck.
——Just think of it as being bitten by a mosquito.
After all, that Gerald was Elodie's tutor. Even for the sake of Anthony and Elodie, Qingden was too embarrassed to argue with this guy.
Moreover, Qingdeng's mind was not so narrow that he would get angry just because of a contemptuous look from others.
Qingden only regarded the look Gerald had just cast at him as a mosquito staring at him, and quickly relieved himself of the depression in his heart.
"Mr. Orange, the black tea has been brewed. Do you want me to send it to the study now, or do you want me to wait for a while and then send it there?"
Shock suddenly appeared in Qingdeng's eyes.
--Who is speaking……?
The female voice that suddenly sounded behind Qingdeng had a rather strange accent, and the pronunciation of many words was extremely inaccurate.
With strong shock, Qingden hurriedly turned around and looked behind him.
Behind Qingdeng, there was only one person - Leroy, who was standing respectfully with his hands folded in front of him.
"Miss Leroy..." Qingden opened his eyes in confusion, "So you can speak Japanese?"
Leroy nodded slightly, pursed his lips and smiled, then said stiffly:
"I can barely communicate with others, but I can't speak as fluently and standardly as a young lady."
This was the first time Qingteng saw Leroy speaking Japanese.
Because Qingteng had only seen Leroy speaking French before, Qingteng always subconsciously thought that Leroy knew nothing about Japanese.
At this time, Leroy softly repeated the question she just asked:
"Mr. Orange, do you want me to deliver the black tea to the study now, or do you want me to deliver it after a while?"
Qingden slowly recovered from the shock of "Leroy can actually speak Japanese."
"Send it over now." Qingdeng replied without hesitation, "Sorry to bother you."
"You're welcome." Leroy bowed, "These are what I should do."
After saying that, Leroy turned around and walked towards the kitchen.
Qingden took a few glances at Leroy's leaving figure and let out a sigh of relief.
——I’ll also go back to the study to see what’s going on with Saito and the others...
Qingdeng made up his mind, straightened his clothes, and then walked quickly towards the stairs not far away.
But at this moment, a sudden word of thanks, like a chain, trapped Qingdeng's feet that had already stepped on the stairs.
"...Mr. Tachibana, thank you very much for your willingness to play with the lady just now."
"Huh?" Qingden was stunned for a moment, then looked doubtfully at Leroy who suddenly thanked him.
After turning his attention to Leroy, Qingden realized that the beautiful young maid was looking at him with her head held high, a smile full of gratitude on her face.
After Qingdeng looked over, Leroy lowered his head, bent his upper body, and saluted Qingdeng from a distance.
"Miss... she has been very lonely since she moved to Edo."
"We are surrounded by strange people and strange surroundings."
"There are no children of her age nearby who can be her playmates."
"My husband and I are very busy every day, and we can't spare much time to spend with the lady."
"Only Miss Kinoshita comes to play with her from time to time."
When she said this, the corners of Leroy's mouth drooped in a slight arc... This subtle change in expression gave her face a hint of sadness.
"If my guess is correct...it must be the young lady who just now asked you to practice sword practice with her, right?"
"Miss, she has always liked swordsmanship."
"But after leaving France and coming to Japan, it was rare for the young lady to find anyone who had the time, ability, and willingness to practice swordsmanship with her."
"Today I wielded a sword with someone for the first time in a long time... Miss, she must be very happy."
Under Qingdeng's straight eyebrows, his eyes flickered slightly at this moment.
In the next moment, he suddenly recalled what Elodie said to him before he and Elodie fought -
(I haven’t sparred with someone for a long time... I almost forgot what it feels like to spar with people or things other than air.)
The scenes of the fight with Elodie just now flashed through Qingden's mind.
Only then did Qingden notice that Elodie was smiling happily all the time while fighting him.
It was clear that his sword could not hit Qingdeng at all, but he was still smiling.
It seems that just being able to lift the sword and practice with others is something worthy of celebration...
Qingden now understood why Elodie asked him so abruptly to practice sword practice with her.
There are no other peers of the same age nearby, and her grandfather and maid cannot squeeze in much time to spend with her every day. Only Mai Kinoshita can come to play with her from time to time... Just listening to these descriptions of Leroy, Qingto's mind It has already sketched out a picture of "a lonely blond girl who can only practice her favorite swordsmanship in front of the air every day."
Qingden pursed his lips and didn't know what to say for a moment. He raised his head with a complicated expression and looked upstairs, in the direction of Elodie's bedroom...
Elodie's bedroom is located on the third floor of the top floor. Qingdeng is still on the first floor, so naturally he can't even see the door to Elodie's bedroom.
However, after raising his head, Qingdeng saw something else——
Dong dong dong dong dong dong…
A series of hurried footsteps came from the direction of the top floor.
Immediately afterwards, Qingden saw Todo hurriedly walking at the top of the stairs.
"Mr. Tachibana, we found the man with the beard that the reporter mentioned!"
…
…
As soon as Aoto and Todo quickly returned to the study one after another, Saito and others who were gathered around the window immediately came to greet Aoto.
"Has that bearded man entered that dim sum shop?" Qingdeng said without any nonsense and got straight to the point with a serious look on his face.
Nagakura nodded: "We saw it very clearly! Just now, a warrior wearing scarlet clothes and black hakama with a thick beard on his face entered the pastry shop!"
Qingdeng strode to the window, stared deeply at the pastry shop not far away through the transparent window glass for a few times, then put his hand into his arms and took out a cuff.
Looking at the cuff in Aoto's hand... Saito and the others, who understood what Aoto was trying to do, silently stretched out their hands and took out the cuffs they carried with them.
As if they had rehearsed in advance, the five people tightened the wide sleeves of their kimonos with cuffs in uniform movements.
"...You all come with me." Qingden held the two sabers on his left waist, his deep voice was neither sad nor happy.
Before meeting Elodie and the others on the street, Qingdeng and the others had already investigated the architectural style of the pastry shop and the layout of the surrounding buildings.
This dim sum shop has only two doors in total: the main door at the front and the back door at the back.
In view of the fact that the shop only has two entrances and exits, Ayoto quickly made arrangements - he and Nagakura were responsible for attacking from the front entrance, while Saito led Harada and Todo to guard the back door of the snack shop.
Qingdeng and his small team, except for Qingdeng who is the undoubted leader, the rest of them have no obvious distinction between superiors and subordinates.
However, although no specific hierarchical classification has been made, everyone, including Aoto, has always assumed that Saito is their "vice-captain" and Aoto's "adjutant".
Nagakura and Harada Sora have brute strength and do things simply and roughly. Especially Harada, who barely understands Chinese characters and can even say stupid things like "Liu Bang and Liu Xuande committed suicide by the Pearl River" that would piss off the history teacher, basically bid farewell to the possibility of being entrusted with important responsibilities.
Todo, on the other hand, has too little experience, has not shed his childishness, is still naive in his behavior, and is not cautious enough in his actions. Although he is capable of literature and martial arts, he still lacks experience.
Among Aoto's subordinates... Saito is the only one who can stand alone.
Saito, who is unsmiling and expressive of emotions and anger, is incredibly calm.
Mount Tai collapses in front but remains unchanged, elk rises to the left but does not blink - this classic saying is perfect to describe Saito.
Even Aoto, who has been friends with Saito for the longest time, has rarely seen Saito lose control of his expressions and emotions.
No matter what time he was, he was so calm and calm.
Because Saito is so mature and stable, Aoto and the others often subconsciously forget that Saito and Toudo are the same age. Both are only 16 years old this year. Saito is only a few months older than Toudo. It is Aoto and the others who The second youngest person in a small team.
In fact, strictly speaking... Saito doesn't need to obey Aoto's words at all.
Because he is just Aoto's bodyguard, not Aoto's Okabiki like Nagakura and Harada.
"Absolutely obey Aitobo's orders" - this is the responsibility of Nagakura and others, but Saito is not like this.
His only mission is to protect Qingdeng.
He does not have a direct superior-subordinate relationship with Qingdeng, so he only needs to try to ensure Qingdeng's personal safety.
Apart from that, he could ignore everything else.
However, I don’t know why… Saito has always listened to Aoto’s words.
No matter what Qingdeng asked him to do for help, he basically nodded and agreed without hesitation.
Whether you ask him to help with some of the daily chores in the prison; whether you ask him to help with the arrest of some prisoners or the execution of some tasks... Saito is always open to anyone who comes.
Ayoto also asked Saito one day: Why are you so obedient to someone like him?
Saito only responded calmly: There is no special reason. I wanted to do it so I did it.
Whether it is Saito's calm character or his powerful ability to kill countless people, Nagakura and others are very convinced, so Nagakura and the others are willing to submit to Saito and respect Saito as their "deputy" team leader".
Qingdeng and his party quickly made a simple action plan of "splitting the troops into two groups" and rushed out of Elodie's house in a "long snake formation". After that, they started to act separately according to Qingdeng's arrangements. .
Of course, before leaving, Qingden did not forget to say "We have to leave temporarily" to Anthony, who was working in the bedroom, and Leroy, who had not had time to serve them black tea.
Qingden originally wanted to say hello to Elodie, but considering that Elodie was currently in class and did not want to disturb Elodie's study, Qingden had to give up the idea in the end.
Qingto and Nagakura stayed outside Elodie's house.
Saito led Harada and Toudo around to the back of the snack shop.
Counting the time silently in his mind, after judging that Saito and the others should be in place, Qingto waved his hand to Nagakura, motioning for Nagakura to follow him, and approached the main entrance of the pastry shop with lightning speed.
Qingden tilted his head and winked at Nagakura beside him.
Nagakura received the signal from Qingteng's eyes and nodded solemnly to Qingteng.
After completing a silent and brief exchange, the two men drew out the sabers at their waists at the same time.
Qingdeng, who was holding the Ding Guishen in his hand, took a big step forward and opened the door of the pastry shop with a "swish" sound——
"We are officers from the Edo Northern Police Station! We are here to conduct a search!"
There is no one on the first floor of this dim sum shop now.
Looking around the entire first floor... only behind the counter sat a middle-aged man with half-black and white hair.
Seeing Qingto and Nagakura rushing in with knives, the middle-aged man was immediately frightened and fell to the ground, stammering and asking quickly, "What's wrong?" "What's going on?"
Qingdeng ignored the middle-aged man.
He scanned every corner of the first floor with lightning eyes. When he didn't find the man with a beard, he immediately rushed to the second floor of the dim sum shop.
This dim sum shop has a total of 2 floors.
The first floor is used for receiving guests, while the second floor is an area specifically used for guests to sit and have dinner together.
At this moment, on the second floor of this pastry shop, guests in twos and threes are sitting around small tables, enjoying wagashi with warm tea, and there are many foreign faces among them.
Qingdeng reached the top of the second floor at lightning speed. With only a cursory glance, he found their target - a warrior with a very thick beard on his face, sitting in a corner of the second floor.
This bearded man was sitting opposite someone. Sitting opposite him was a young Kazuo who was dressed in a rather special way.
The reason why this young Kazuto is dressed in a special way is because he is not wearing a kimono, but a suit and leather shoes. He has a vest, tie, leather shoes... everything is available. He also wears a pair of thick-looking glasses on the bridge of his nose. Black-rimmed glasses.
At present, because Japanese society has not yet completely accepted Western styles, Kazuto wearing suits is still very rare.
Qingto and Nagakura, who rushed up to the second floor with dazzling knives, naturally attracted the attention of everyone on the second floor.
When the man with the beard and glasses saw Ayoto and Nagakura... no, to be more precise, he saw the Juju hand with a red tassel on the bottom of the handle that Ayoto wore on his right waist, and the red tassel on his right waist. The next moment after hanging the seal cage, his face suddenly changed!
Like a conditioned reflex, the two people jumped up from their seats and ran away in different directions!
The bearded man fled toward the east window.
The man with glasses fled to the west window.
Just run away when you see an official official... The suspicion level of these two people is already full!
The direction in which the man with the eyes escaped by jumping out of the window was exactly the direction of the back door that Saito and the others were guarding.
Ayoto immediately lay down on a nearby window facing west, and shouted to Saito and others outside the window:
"Saito! Catch this man in a suit and glasses!"
Before Aoto shouted this order, Saito and others who were guarding outside the back door had already seen the bespectacled man jumping out of the window.
This bespectacled man's skills... were very poor at first glance. He didn't seem to have practiced any martial arts, and his hands and feet were extremely stiff.
He climbed over the window with his feet and landed awkwardly on the eaves of the dim sum shop on the first floor. Then he jumped down the eaves and landed on the ground.
When his feet landed on the ground, he almost fell over because he failed to adjust his center of gravity.
Saito consistently maintained his taciturn and ruthless behavior - he did not respond to Aoto, silently holding the sword on his right waist and chasing the bespectacled man who was in a panic.
Toudo followed closely behind Saito with a groan.
Harada, on the other hand, held his spear high with both hands and said, "Mr. Tachibana! Leave it to us!"
Aoto handed over the bespectacled man to Saito and the others, leaving the heavy responsibility of chasing the bearded man who fled in the other direction to himself and Nagakura.
"Nagakura, follow me!"
"Whoa whoa!"
In order to make it easier to run, Qingdeng temporarily retracted the Dingguishen he was holding into its sheath, then ran towards the window closest to him facing east, jumped up, climbed over the window, and landed directly on the street outside the house. superior.
He raised his eyes and looked up - the bearded man was escaping to the north intersection.
Compared with the man with glasses, the man with the beard is obviously much more muscular, and you can tell at a glance that he is a skilled man.
After Nagakura, who had half-stepped out of the window, shouted "Follow closely," Qingden chased the bearded figure in the streets of the residence, starting a chase that seemed like a race against the wind.
The bearded man was like a bull, knocking away all the people and things in front of him.
For a time, screams and curses in various languages rose one after another.
"Shit!"
"Hé! Tu m'as frappé!"
"Сукаблядь!"
…
Nagakura does not lack strength or physical strength, but speed is his weakness.
After a short while, Nagakura gradually fell behind Aoto because he was not as fast as Aoto, and the distance between him and Aoto became wider and wider.
Qingdeng couldn't care about Yongcang who couldn't keep up with him now.
Beard's speed is very fast, and his physical strength is extremely sufficient. Until now, his speed has not slowed down even half a minute.
Qingdeng, who has the two talents of "strong muscles" and "leading the way", will find it difficult to catch up with him in a short period of time.
The bearded man kept running away.
Since Nagakura had fallen behind, Qingto, who could only act alone for the time being, kept chasing after him.
Soon, in this fierce pursuit, Luo Shihu and Qingden both rushed out of the residence and entered a certain town in the north of the residence.
The beard "led" Qingdeng around in various streets and alleys, wandering around like a headless fly.
Qingdeng gritted his teeth, held his breath and concentrated, never letting the bearded figure disappear from his sight even for a moment.
After following Beard and turning into a secluded alley... Suddenly, Qingden saw several figures blocking him.
Then at the same time, several more people appeared behind Qingdeng...
There were 9 people in front, 9 people in the back... a total of 18 people, blocking Qingdeng in this alley.
*******
*******
The long-lost real sword duel...
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