Every festival, the most indispensable thing at the festival is the various vendors.

Today, everywhere in Yushima Tenmangu Shrine is filled with all kinds of stalls, selling snacks, drinks, souvenirs... everything.

At this moment, Aoto, Okita, and Saito were sitting on a bench next to a certain "sugar water stall" with Chiba Jutaro and Sanako.

"Miss Sanako." Qingto picked up the bowl of sugar water he had just bought and took a sip. "In other words, Chiba Tamonshiro came here specifically to persuade you to cancel today's game."

"Yes." Sanako nodded slightly, and then let out a silent sigh, "Fourth cousin... he has been like this all the time."

Even though Chiba Tamonshiro has left and there is no more excitement to join in, there are still many people staying in place or stopping in the distance, constantly looking at the beautiful Sanako and the recent celebrity Aonto.

Not wanting to be "spectated" by so many people like animals, Aomori and others quickly left the "case" after getting rid of the few shrine maidens who scolded them "not to quarrel or fight with others in the shrine anymore."

"Discovery Site".

Just now, Chiba Tamonshiro kept saying this sentence: Take up the responsibility of your little Chiba Sword Hall!

What is "the responsibility of the small Chiba Kenkan"? Aoto, who was a little confused about the content and meaning of this sentence, asked Chiba Jutaro and Sato about this issue when leaving the "crime scene" with everyone.

The boy asked.

After the brother and sister's summary, Qingto finally understood the meaning of these words. At the same time, he also learned the details of "Sanako was harassed by Chiba Tamonshiro" just now——

…

The Little Chiba Kenkan, like their trial defense hall, rushed to Yushima Tenmangu Shrine early this morning to prepare the competition venue.

Because the Little Chiba Sword Hall arrived earlier than the Trial Guard Hall, they had already completed their part of the site preparations for the Trial Guard Hall first.

Everything that needs to be done has been done, and everyone in the Little Chiba Sword Hall, who had nothing more to do, decided to temporarily disband and try to kill the time while waiting for the official start of the competition.

Both Chiba Jutaro and Sanako wanted to enjoy the white plum blossoms that bloomed only once a year, so the two brothers and sisters went for a walk together in the plum forest of Yushima Tenmangu Shrine.

In the middle of the stroll, Chiba Jutaro, who was suddenly a bit greedy, asked Sanako to stay where he was and wait for him. He went to the nearby "Grilled Squid Stand" to buy some grilled squid to eat.

While Sanako was quietly waiting for her brother to come back...Chiba Tamonshiro came.

Sanako and their uncle, the legendary great swordsman Chiba Shusaku who founded the Hokushin Ittōryu and established the Genbukan in Edo, passed away five years ago.

Chiba Shusaku had a total of 4 sons.

The eldest son, Chiba Kitsutaro, died young.

The second son Chiba Eijiro became an official in Mito Domain in 1853 and no longer lived in Edo for a long time.

The eldest son has passed away, and the second son has gone to work in another family. Therefore, after the death of Chiba Shusakusen, the position of the second generation head of the Beichen Ittoryu clan and the head of the Xuanbu Hall was inherited by his third son, Chiba Michizaburo.

His fourth son, Chiba Tamon Shiro, took over as the shihandai of Genbukan.

Although Chiba Michizaburo did not have a very good relationship with the Trial Guard Hall like the Sanako brothers and sisters, he had never shown any obvious malice towards the Trial Guard Hall.

But that was not the case with Chiba Tamonshiro.

For a long time, he has shown a very obvious resistance to the Trial Guard Hall...to put it bluntly.

He firmly believed that there was no point in exchanging swordsmanship with such a weak sword hall as the Trial Guard Hall.

If you want to exchange swordsmanship, you should also exchange swordsmanship with the Shinto Musen-ryu training hall and the Kagshin Akechi-ryu school academy, which are at the same level as them.

Practicing swordsmanship with a weak sword hall like the Trial Guard Hall? It’s a complete waste of time!

Spending all your time carefully teaching your disciples is the responsibility of a sword hall, instead of wasting time playing games with the trial guard hall. This is quite irresponsible for the future of your disciples.

——This is a concept that Chiba Tamonshiro has always adhered to.

Under the influence of this concept, Chiba Tamonshiro has never stopped opposing the "exchange of swordsmanship with the Showeikan" over the years.

Chiba Tamonshiro went on a long trip for business some time ago and did not return to Edo until yesterday evening.

As soon as he returned home to the Edo Genbukan, he learned that the Chiba Kenkan was going to compete with the Showeikan in the "Plum Blossom Festival".

Not wanting to see Little Chiba Kenkan fooling around here again, he took several of his companions to Yushima Tenmangu Shrine early this morning, intending to persuade Little Chiba Kenkan to withdraw from the competition temporarily and not compete with the Trial Guard Hall.

Engaging in such bells and whistles is a waste of time.

As soon as he led people to Yushima Tenmangu Shrine, he accidentally ran into Sanako who was standing under a certain plum tree waiting for Chiba Jutaro to come back from buying grilled squid.

Since I happened to meet my cousin who has always been supportive of exchanging swordsmanship with the Trial Guard Hall... then I should take advantage of the situation and talk some sense into her first!

So, he aggressively led his companions to surround Sanako and began to "explain the truth" to Sanako with righteous words.

What happened next... Qingdeng and the others also knew it, and there was no need to elaborate further.

"Tachibana-kun, you are so... courageous." Chiba Jutaro, who was sitting across from Aoto, took a big mouthful of sugar water from the bowl, grinned, and gave Aoto a smile with complicated emotions, "

Just now, when I heard you asking Duomen, who has always been very arrogant, to take back what he just said, I was so shocked that I didn't even know how to move my arms and legs."

"Aren't you afraid that Brother Duomen would sneer at your request or do something humiliating to you?"

"To be honest - I was worried." Qingdeng smiled bitterly, "But in front of so many people, he slandered the trial defense hall who was kind to me. No matter what, I can't take his words as nothing.

hear."

Putting aside the "teacher-disciple relationship" of carefully teaching him swordsmanship, the kindness of Kondo and others who were willing to help him and Saito when they lost their homes and allow them to stay in the trial defense hall temporarily was enough to make Aoto.

No hesitation to maintain the dignity of the trial defense hall.

"When I told him to 'wait a moment,' I was actually mentally prepared to have a very unpleasant fight with him... and even to draw a sword against him."

"But the good thing is - that person is not a completely inexperienced person."

Aoto attributes the main reason why Chiba Tamon Shiro was relenting just now as this man is also sensible and not someone who cannot be persuaded.

The persuasion of Chiba Tamonshiro went surprisingly smoothly.

Originally, Aoto had prepared all kinds of worst-case scenarios, so it was an unexpected surprise to be able to persuade Chiba Tamonshiro to admit his mistake so smoothly.

After hearing Aoto's words that he "cannot ignore the slandered Imperial Guards", Chiba Jutaro was stunned for a moment, and then he looked at Aoto, with a hint of admiration slowly appearing in his eyes.

There was another person whose expression changed after hearing what Qingteng said just now - Okita, who was sitting behind Qingteng with a bowl in both hands and silently drinking sugar water, his expression darkened at this moment...

"...Tachibana-kun, Commander-in-Chief, I'm really sorry just now."

At this time, Sanako suddenly stood up and bowed slightly to Qingden, a faint look of shame appeared on his cheeks.

"When my fourth cousin made rude remarks to the Imperial Guard Hall, my brother and I should have stopped him immediately and asked him to retract his rude remarks."

"I'm really sorry for causing you an unpleasant experience."

Looking at Sanako who suddenly stood up to apologize to Qingnou and the others, Chiba Jutaro who was sitting next to him was stunned for a moment. Then he put down the sugar water in his hand, stood up and followed Sanako to Qingnou and the others.

People bowed and apologized.

Looking at the two brothers and sisters standing side by side in front of him, apologizing to him and Okita, Qingto smiled helplessly: "Don't be like this, sit down quickly."

"That Chiba Tamonshiro has retracted his statement and apologized to us."

"The matter has been settled, so don't apologize here."

After some strong persuasion from Aoto, Chiba Jutaro and Sanako finally sat back on the bench.

Because we had been talking about Chiba Tamonshiro just now, the atmosphere surrounding everyone at this time had a heavy aura.

In order to dispel this heavy and uncomfortable atmosphere, Qingdeng took the initiative to stir up a new topic:

"Miss Sanako." Qingto looked at the kendo uniform that Sanako was wearing, which is quite convenient for movement, "Are you... also going to participate in this afternoon's competition?"

"Hahaha." Chiba Jutaro smiled, "Tachibana-kun, don't you know? Sanako really likes 'joint battle games'."

"She is never absent from any 'joint battle games' that she can participate in."

"When I first started to remember, she would often drag me and several cousins ​​to play the 'war game' with the children from nearby neighbors in the yard behind our house."

"Sanako is so strong."

"Once they lose, they will cry and say that they want to fight again, and they will not stop until they win."

"Brother." Sanako suddenly squinted his eyes and gave Chiba Jutaro a sharp look.

She used her actions and eyes to warn Chiba Jutaro: Don't talk about her past embarrassing things anymore.

After receiving Sanako's silent warning, Chiba Jutaro subconsciously twitched the corner of his mouth, and then he laughed while trying to change the topic stiffly...

…

…

Sitting on the bench next to the "sugar water stall", after chatting with Chiba Jutaro and Sanako for a while, Aoto took advantage of the situation and politely extended an invitation to the brothers and sisters——

"Mr. Jutaro, Miss Sanako, it's still more than an hour before the game starts. It's still early. Do you want to go shopping with us at the Plum Blossom Festival?"

As soon as Qingdeng's invitation was sent out, he quickly received a response from the brother and sister: Sorry, we won't continue to play with you.

The reason why Chiba Jutaro and Sanako rejected Aoto's invitation is also very simple - before meeting Chiba Tamon Shiro, they had already walked around Yushima Tenmangu Shrine for a long time, and there were places that should be visited and seen.

We have visited all the beautiful places and seen them all.

Both of them have no interest in continuing to play anymore. They just want to go back to the competition venue to rest and wait quietly for the afternoon game to start.

Since neither brother nor sister had any intention of going out for fun, Qingdeng did not force them to do so.

So after chatting for a while, Qingto and others parted ways with Sanako and the others.

Chiba Jutaro and Sanako returned to the competition venue.
To be continued...