As Aoto pulled open the shop door, the old man with glasses and the thick-lipped old woman inside the shop immediately turned their heads to look at Aoto.
“Oh, it seems we have a customer.
Mr.
Kiryu, I won’t trouble you any further.
I’ll take my leave now.”
“Mrs.
Izumi, please take care.” The bespectacled old man smiled and bowed, performing a very elegant gesture towards the old woman.
“If your clothes are damaged again next time, feel free to come back to me anytime.”
“Oh!
Mr.
Kiryu, if only my old husband had half your talent and gentleness!”
The thick-lipped old woman, like a maiden in love, covered her face with her hand, wiggled a few times, and then, holding a large cloth bag containing a women’s kimono, quickly walked out of the shop.
As she left, the old woman frequently turned her head, casting affectionate glances at the bespectacled old man, who continued to smile and watch her go.
Only after the old woman had completely disappeared from the bespectacled old man’s sight did he turn his gaze to Aoto.
“May I ask who you are?”
“Is your shop open now?
I have something to consult about,” Aoto said.
“Of course, we’re open.” The bespectacled old man nodded.
“Please have a seat.”
Kneeling behind the counter, he gestured towards the front of the counter, inviting Aoto to sit.
“Please allow me to introduce myself first.
My surname is Kiryu, my given name is Kazuma, and I am the owner of this Thousand Affairs House.
What would you like to consult about?”
While the old man, who introduced himself as Kiryu Kazuma, was speaking, Aoto had already walked quickly to the counter and settled down in front of it.
Closer to the old man, Aoto subconsciously sized up his face.
He was very old, at least 80 or 90, but his eyes were still bright and sharp, and he looked quite energetic, so his body must be very healthy.
Although his face was covered with the marks of time, it was still faintly discernible that he must have been quite handsome when he was young.
Japan had already opened its doors for seven years, and after such a long time dealing with foreign countries, people wearing glasses like Kiryu in front of him were no longer a “rare species” in Japan.
The old man introduced himself, and Aoto, out of politeness, also introduced himself.
“My surname is Tachibana, my given name is Aoto.”
After a brief introduction, Aoto went straight to the point:
“I heard that your shop can help people find sword dojos.
Is that true?”
Kiryu smiled and nodded: “Yes.
That’s one of our shop’s main specialties.
Are you looking for a sword dojo?”
“Yes!” Aoto nodded vigorously.
“Then what kind of sword dojo are you looking for?
I want a sword dojo that meets these three conditions.”
Aoto held up three fingers.
“First: It must be affordable with the funds I have.”
“Second: The sword techniques taught must be practical, not just for show.”
“Any sword dojo that meets these three conditions will do.”
With that, Aoto pulled out his money pouch from his Arms.
This money pouch contained all the remaining funds of the Tachibana family.
After taking out the money pouch, Aoto placed it on the counter and opened it, allowing Kiryu to clearly see the amount of money inside.
Kiryu lowered his head to look at the money in the pouch, then asked Aoto back with an unchanged expression:
“Customer, to help you find the most suitable sword dojo, please allow me to ask you a question.”
“I can understand the first two conditions you just mentioned.
But regarding the third condition, I’m a bit confused.”
“Why do you insist on finding a sword dojo with many people?”
“I love sparring with others the most, so I want to go to a sword dojo with many people and spar to my heart’s content,” Aoto casually made up a lie.
“Oh, I see.” Kiryu nodded gently.
“Please wait a moment.”
Kiryu said, pulling out a large ledger from under the counter and spreading it on the countertop.
“What is this?” Aoto asked, puzzled.
“This is the most valuable item in my employment agency,” Kiryu said with a smile.
“It contains detailed information on all the sword dojos in Edo.
The information covers everything from tuition fees to the number of students in the dojo.”
“Oh, oh!
Then this thing is indeed very valuable.”
“I put a lot of effort into creating this ledger.” Kiryu, with a look of reminiscence, sighed and then began to flip through this “Edo Sword Dojo Compendium.”
“The sword techniques taught are extremely practical…
and there must also be enough sparring partners…
then this sword dojo is very suitable for you”.
As Kiryu’s voice fell, his finger, which was flipping through the ledger, also stopped.
“Shieikan of Tennen Rishin-ryu.”
“Tennen Rishin-ryu?” Aoto raised an eyebrow.
He skillfully searched through Tachibana Aoto’s memories in his mind.
The result was: Tachibana Aoto’s memories contained no fragments about Tennen Rishin-ryu.
Kiryu seemed to have read Aoto’s thoughts and smiled slightly at him.
“This is a relatively obscure sty, So you might not have heard its name.”
“But I can assure you—in terms of practicality, this style is in no way inferior to famous schools like Hokushin Ittō-ryū or Shindo Munen-ryu.”
Kiryu opened his mouth, just about to say something when—
“Mr.
Kiryu, I’m so hungry.
Is breakfast ready?” A clear, pleasant young female voice, like a silver bell, suddenly came from the back room of the shop.
Aoto subconsciously followed the sound—a small figure slowly emerged from behind a corner in the depths of the shop.
It was an extremely cute girl holding a small orange cat.
She was about 15 or 16 years old.
The cat she was holding was an orange cat that was probably less than 1 year old.
In Aoto’s eyes, this girl’s height was on the shorter side, probably just over 1.5 meters.
Her features were delicate, especially her eyes, with bright and expressive dark pupils, and an air of scholarly refinement between her brows.
From her appearance, she seemed to have just woken up.
Her long, dark hair was casually draped behind her, her clothes were a bit disheveled, and she was barefoot with cute, fair feet.
Although she looked to be at most 15 or 16 years old, her development was surprisingly good—even though she was wearing relatively thick winter clothing, the fabric over her chest was clearly bulging.
The girl who came out from the corner of the back room of the shop froze in place as if struck by a petrifying spell when she saw Aoto. The source of this chapter is g.com.
After a fleeting moment of eye contact with Aoto, she immediately hugged the cat in her arms and, with a speed like instantaneous movement, hid back behind the corridor corner from which she had just emerged.
“I apologize.” Kiryu then gave Aoto an apologetic wry smile.
“This child is a bit shy, please forgive her.”
No sooner had Kiryu’s words fallen than Aoto glimpsed the girl reappearing from behind the corridor corner—though only half of her face was visible.
The rest of her body remained hidden behind the corner of the corridor.
The half of her face that was exposed was now flushed with shyness.
Girl: “@#￥%&*#…”
Aoto saw the girl’s lips moving.
He vaguely sensed that the girl seemed to be talking to him, but Aoto couldn’t hear what she was saying at all.
Listening to the girl’s voice, which was like a mosquito buzzing, Aoto felt as if she wasn’t speaking Japanese but rather chanting a spell.
While Aoto stared intently at the girl who was speaking to him, out of politeness, Kiryu was also watching the girl.
After the girl finally finished her spell, Kiryu smiled and turned to Aoto, saying:
“She said, ‘Welcome to Thousand Affairs House, she is Handai here: Kinoshita Mai.'”
[Note: Handai: In the Edo Period, the term for a shop assistant.]
After translating what the girl had just said to Aoto, Kiryu turned his attention back to the girl.
Girl: “￥%&@#*#…”
Kiryu: “She said: ‘This is her good friend: Tada.'”
As soon as Kiryu’s words fell, the girl held up the orange cat she had been holding in her arms with both hands, presenting it beyond the corner of the corridor.
Meow~~
The orange cat, held out in the corridor, very tactfully meowed at Aoto.
After the orange cat had finished its “greeting” to Aoto, the girl brought it back behind the corner again.
—Why is she introducing a cat…?
While Aoto was inwardly complaining about the girl’s strange behavior, the girl’s “spell” continued.
Girl: “#￥&@#￥%#&@#￥%#&@…”
Kiryu: “She said: ‘I was really rude just now, I didn’t know there was a customer, and you saw me in such an ungraceful state just now, I am truly sorry.'”
Girl: “&@#￥%*#…”
Kiryu: “She said: ‘Please wait a moment, I’ll go make you some tea.'”
“…How do you two even communicate?” Aoto’s face was covered in confuses lines.
“I once studied lip-reading in the Omi region.” Kiryu smiled at Aoto, then turned and shouted to the girl, “Young mistress, I haven’t cooked breakfast yet.
Please bear with it for a moment.
After I finish with this customer, I’ll go cook.
Today’s breakfast is your favorite boiled eggs.”
Aoto saw the half of the girl’s face exposed from the corridor corner light up with intense joy after Kiryu’s words fell.
Then, the girl pulled her head back into the corridor, and her figure was no longer seen.
“Young mistress?” Aoto repeated Kiryu’s address to the cute girl with a puzzled look.
“That girl is both Handai who works for me in this shop, and also the adopted granddaughter of the person I serve,” Kiryu explained unhurriedly to Aoto.
“So, she and I have both an employment relationship and a master-servant relationship.”
An old man named Kiryu Kazuma, wearing glasses, runs a shop called Thousand Affairs House in Edo and lives with a girl—so many elements are overflowing!.
*****
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