Her slender eyelashes, large and bright eyes, delicate nose and mouth, and small, rosy lips were all flawless on their own, and even more perfect when combined.
Her delicate, fair skin made her jet-black hair appear even more lustrous.
She didn’t have the ugly exploding topknot hairstyle; instead, her smooth, dark hair was tied directly behind her head with a purple ribbon into a high ponytail that reached her neck, with some natural bangs falling across her forehead.
She was quite young; by Aoto’s estimation, this beautiful young woman was probably only 16 or 17 years old.
Her figure was slender, and she was a bit short, likely only about 1.55 meters tall.
Aoto found it difficult to describe the appearance of this beautiful young woman with precise words.
To describe her in simple and crude terms… her beauty was the kind that would make even straight men think, “It doesn’t matter if she’s a man.”
If it weren’t for her wearing male clothing, Aoto felt he would definitely mistake her for a cute girl.
Aoto thought that if this beautiful young woman were to put on women’s clothing, she would definitely make countless men willingly become her simps.
Of course, what shocked Aoto was not just her beauty.
At this moment, this beautiful young woman was holding a bamboo sword, concentrating on practicing one sword technique after another against the air in front of her.
Aoto did not understand swords.
The original Tachibana Aoto, who was not interested in swordsmanship, did not have many sword-related memories.
However, although Aoto did not understand swords, he understood unarmed combat techniques such as grappling and free fighting, as well as police baton techniques learned at the Police Academy.
These techniques, like swordsmanship, are martial arts whose ultimate goal is to “subdue and knock down the opponent,” and they share many commonalities in footwork, stance, and other aspects.
Therefore, thanks to his proficiency in unarmed combat and police baton techniques, Aoto was able to discern that the series of sword techniques this beautiful young woman was performing was not some “retirement swordplay” that was merely for show or for fitness.
There were almost no superfluous movements; every action of her hands and feet was concise and efficient.
The beautiful young woman’s exquisite swordsmanship made Aoto somewhat mesmerized.
But before he could take a few more glances, he saw that the beautiful young woman finally stopped swinging her sword upon discovering Aoto and Kondo standing at the dojo’s entrance, and turned her small head, casting curious and puzzled glances at Aoto, who stood beside Kondo.
And Kondo, who had been standing outside the dojo entrance for fear of disturbing her, now quickly led Aoto into the dojo.
“Soji, come.
Let me introduce you.”
Soji, carrying her bamboo sword, took quick, pattering steps to stand before Kondo and Aoto.
“This is Tachibana Aoto, who intends to become a disciple and learn swordsmanship at our Shieikan!
For certain reasons, I have decided to allow him to enter directly today, and he will complete the discipleship ceremony after Master returns!”
After briefly introducing Aoto’s situation to the beautiful young woman, she showed a look of understanding, then immediately straightened herself and bowed respectfully to Aoto.
“Nice to meet you!
I am Okita Soji!
I am an apprentice at this Shieikan, welcome to Shieikan!”
Not only was her face beautiful, but her voice was also very pleasant, with a neutral tone, neither rough nor overly soft.
“Nice to meet you.” Aoto returned the greeting, “I am Tachibana Aoto.”
— Okita Soji…
Aoto silently chewed on the name in his mind.
He vaguely felt the name sounded familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
But after thinking for a long time and still not remembering when he had heard the name, Aoto simply stopped thinking about it.
— With such slender arms, she can swing a bamboo sword so steadily.
Aoto couldn’t help but glance a few more times at Okita’s slender wrists.
Due to his limited swordsmanship, Aoto could not judge Okita’s swordsmanship level based on the series of techniques she had just practiced in the air, but he could roughly estimate that the beautiful young woman’s swordsmanship would certainly not be bad.
Simply because the beautiful young woman could swing the long, thick bamboo sword steadily, accurately, and powerfully.
Swinging a bamboo sword steadily, accurately, and powerfully—this sounds easy, but it is difficult to do.
It was truly hard to imagine that she could swing the bamboo sword so steadily and powerfully with such a slender physique.
— This person is truly amazing…
Aoto silently added this exclamation in his heart.
…
…
The Shieikan’s tuition fee was exactly as Mr.
Kiryu had said: 3 monme of silver per month.
Since he had already prepared himself mentally for the expense, Aoto paid the money very readily.
Then, Kondo brought a large ledger, which he said was for recording apprentice information, and asked Aoto to fill it out.
There wasn’t much information to fill in, just basic details like name, age, and address.
Aoto knelt on the dojo floor and quickly filled in his information in the ledger.
After closing the ledger with Aoto’s information filled in and tucking it under his arm, Kondo laughed heartily:
“Tachibana-kun!
Once Master returns and you complete your discipleship ceremony, you will be an official disciple of our Shieikan!”
“It’s still early today, not even 10 o’clock in the morning.
How about it?
Do you want to start your Tennen Rishin-ryu training today?”
“Of course!” Aoto said.
“Good!” Kondo slapped his thigh, “I like people with your kind of fighting spirit!”
“Wait a moment.
I’ll go find you a new set of protective gear.”
Leaving these words, Kondo, holding the “Apprentice Information Ledger,” quickly walked out of the dojo.
After Kondo left, only Aoto and Okita remained in the dojo.
Earlier, Okita had been sitting quietly beside Kondo, not saying a word.
It wasn’t until Kondo left that Okita spoke her second sentence to Aoto, besides their self-introductions: “Welcome to Shieikan!”
Okita flashed a bright smile at Aoto.
Most people, when they smile, do not have pleasant smiles due to wrinkles on their faces, unattractive teeth, and various other reasons.
But there are a very few people who have extremely beautiful smiles, possessing a unique charm when they smile.
The Okita Soji before him happened to be one of these people, Okita’s smile made Aoto think of the warm sun of spring.
“Our Shieikan finally has a new person.”
Okita, who had been respectfully kneeling on the ground just now, now casually switched to a cross-legged sitting posture.
“I’ve almost forgotten when the last newcomer joined our ‘Taro Dojo’.”
“‘Taro Dojo’?” Aoto asked, puzzled.
“Huh?
You don’t know our Shieikan’s nickname?”
Okita raised her beautiful eyebrows, then slowly said with a self-deprecating tone.
“This all starts with the style we teach—the Tennen Rishin-ryu.”
“Our Tennen Rishin-ryu is widely spread in the Tama area north of Edo, and many of our disciples are farmers from the Tama area.”
[Note: Commoners in the Edo Period could learn swordsmanship at dojos, they just didn’t have the right to carry swords.]
“So, many bored people ridiculed our Tennen Rishin-ryu as ‘farmer’s swordsmanship,’ and then ridiculed our Shieikan as the ‘Taro Dojo’ that teaches ‘farmer’s swordsmanship’.”
In the Edo Period, the term “taro” was often used to mock others for being poor or rustic.
For example, in this era, there was a commonly used term to mock samurai: “Taro Samurai,” using this term to refer to a samurai was to mock him for being poor.
And the meaning of “Taro Dojo” was a poor dojo.
— So this dojo has such a nickname… Mr.
Kiryu never mentioned this to me…
After thinking this in his heart, Aoto put on a smile:
“I just saw the series of sword techniques you were practicing.
Are those all Tennen Rishin-ryu moves?”
“Oh?
You saw my practice just now, yes!
The sword techniques I was just practicing are indeed Tennen Rishin-ryu moves!”
“In that case, those who ridicule your dojo’s Tennen Rishin-ryu as ‘farmer’s swordsmanship’ are either blindly following rumors or lack discernment.”
Aoto said with a confident tone.
“If a style with so many impressive sword techniques is ‘farmer’s swordsmanship,’ then there aren’t many styles in this world that aren’t ‘farmer’s swordsmanship’.”
“Oh, oh!” Okita’s eyes lit up, and then she showed a happy smile, “It’s been a long time since anyone praised our Tennen Rishin-ryu!”
“You’re right!
If our Tennen Rishin-ryu is ‘farmer’s swordsmanship,’ then there aren’t many styles left in this world that aren’t ‘farmer’s swordsmanship’!”
At this point, Okita paused.
“You can see the value of our Tennen Rishin-ryu.
Have you studied swordsmanship before?”
“I only know a little about swordsmanship.” Aoto honestly shook her head, “I’m only good at unarmed combat and police batons… ah, no, Jutte techniques.
So I can vaguely see the extraordinary nature of your dojo’s style.”
“Unarmed combat and Jutte techniques?” Okita was startled, then quickly looked Aoto up and down several times, finally focusing her gaze on the inro at Aoto’s right waist, “You’re an official from the Magistrates Office!”
— You just noticed that…
After a wry smile in his heart, Aoto said:
“Yes, I am a Doshin of the Kita-banshō sadame machi-ka.”
“Oh, oh!
Regular Town Patrol?
One of the ‘San Kai’?” Okita’s eyes lit up again, “No wonder you’re good at unarmed combat and Jutte techniques.”
With that, Okita, whose eyes sparkled with excitement, slowly said in a cautious yet somewhat expectant tone:
“Um… could I see your inro?”
“Hmm?
Of course you can.”
Although he didn’t understand why Okita was interested in his inro, Aoto still very deftly unfastened the exquisite inro, which only officials of the Magistrates Office like him possessed, from his right waist and handed it to Okita. Get faster updates on g.com.
Okita held Aoto’s inro carefully in her hands, as if holding something fragile, turning it over and examining it intently.
“Are you very interested in the Magistrates Office’s inro?” Aoto asked curiously.
“No, I’m very interested in the Magistrates Office’s ‘San Kai’.” Okita, after carefully examining Aoto’s inro, reluctantly handed it back to Aoto, “Ever since I was a child, I’ve always looked up to the ‘San Kai’ samurai in the Magistrates Office.”
“I think they are amazing, constantly striving and working to maintain public order in the city.”
“If I ever get the chance, I want to join the ‘San Kai’ too!
To work hard to protect the people and slay those petty villains!”
With that, Okita, her face overflowing with determination, raised her hand and forcefully patted her flat chest.
“Working hard to protect the people… that can be very tiring, you know.” Aoto replied in a half-joking tone.
“If I can slay villains and protect the people, then even if I suffer a bit of hardship and fatigue, I think it’s worth it.” After saying that, Okita once again showed a bright smile to Aoto.
Okita seemed particularly interested in Aoto’s identity as a “police officer,” as she immediately pressed Aoto with a question:
“I’ve always been very interested in the ‘Hojojutsu’ that is passed down in the ‘San Kai’!”
Okita said, moving her arms in strange gestures as if performing a ritual.
“I was once fortunate enough to see a ‘San Kai’ samurai use Hojojutsu to catch a thief on the street.”
“The thief threw a punch, and that ‘San Kai’ samurai raised his hand, caught the thief’s punching fist, then ‘swish swish swish’ twisted the thief’s hands behind him and firmly bound them with the rope.”
“It was truly amazing, to be able to bind a person’s hands so quickly.”
Hojojutsu—a technique passed down through generations in the Edo Period government, used to quickly bind a thief with a rope.
This was one of the essential skills for the “San Kai” samurai responsible for maintaining public order.
The original Tachibana Aoto was quite skilled in Hojojutsu, so Aoto, after inheriting his memories, gained another proficiency in unarmed combat.
“I’ve always wanted to find an opportunity to ask you—how do you instantly tie up someone who was just punching you a moment ago?”
After asking, Okita blinked with curious eyes.
“Ah, about that… how should I put it…” Aoto raised a hand to stroke his chin, “Just explaining it dryly like this won’t make it clear.”
“How about this—you throw a punch at me, and I’ll demonstrate directly how we tie up someone who is attacking us in one go.”
Aoto stood up, pulling a sleeve-tying cord from his embrace.
[Note: Sleeve-tying cord: The sleeves of japanese kimonos are very wide, making them inconvenient for any task.
Therefore, before working, people would often use a sleeve-tying cord to tie up the sleeves of their kimono.
The sleeve-tying cord thus became one of the items people in the Edo Period often carried with them when going out.]
Seeing Aoto say he would give a practical demonstration, the anticipation in Okita’s eyes intensified.
“Can I just punch directly?” Okita straightened up.
“Yes, just punch directly.” After saying this, Aoto switched to a half-joking tone, “But don’t hit too hard.
My Hojojutsu level isn’t that high; if you hit too hard, I might not be able to handle it.”
“Then… I’ll try my best to act like a frail old woman!” Okita giggled.
“You don’t have to pretend to be too weak.
All right, you can punch now.”
“Okay!
Then—here I come!”
Okita took a deep breath, then threw a slightly lighter right straight punch at Aoto’s chest.
Aoto did not immediately counterattack Okita, but first stepped aside, dodging Okita’s attack.
He was waiting.
Waiting for the best opportunity to tie up Okita in one go.
Seeing that her first strike missed, Okita quickly retracted the punch she had just thrown, then threw another punch at Aoto, but it was again dodged by Aoto.
Based on Okita’s movements, it was not difficult to see—she was completely in a playful mood.
Her punches were not thrown with full force at all.
But perhaps because she had studied swordsmanship, Okita’s stance and attack angles were very skilled, and Aoto found it difficult to find the best timing for a counterattack for a while.
It wasn’t until Okita threw her fifth punch that Aoto finally found the best counterattack opportunity—
Just as Okita’s small fist was about to land on Aoto’s chest, Aoto, following the Hojojutsu application techniques from the original Tachibana Aoto’s memory, agilely dodged to the side.
He then pulled her punching right fist and her left hand behind Okita, and deftly bound Okita’s hands firmly with the sleeve-tying cord.
“How does it feel to be arrested by a ‘San Kai’ samurai?” Aoto was about to say this to Okita in a teasing tone.
But just as he opened his mouth, a series of system notifications in his mind made Aoto freeze on the spot as if struck by lightning.
[Ding!
Talent detected!]
[Successfully copied talent: “Sword Genius”]
[Talent description: Swordsmanship talent amplified to 50 times the average human level]
***********
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