】

"This..." After hearing what Sanako said, Chiba Jutaro's expression and tone became slightly out of control, "Sonako, do you really want to be single forever?"

"Brother." Sanako paused, and when she opened her red lips again, she still showed a slight smile to Chiba Jutaro, with a hint of joking in her tone, "This kind of emotional thing,

You can’t force it.”

"You can't force me to fall in love with someone, or directly force me to marry someone, right?"

Chiba Jutaro was choked for a moment and could not say anything to reply to Sanako.

He can only recommend men that he thinks are excellent to Sanako, and try his best to bring them together. He can never force Sanako to marry anyone - this is a bottom line that Chiba Jutaro will never break.

Chiba Jutaro's brows frowned slowly and uncontrollably.

Although the country has long opened its doors and the Edo shogunate has completely liberalized exchanges with foreign countries, the current Japanese society is still generally a feudal society.

On the premise that there are no major problems with one's own conditions, pursuing celibacy in a feudal society... this kind of thinking is a bit too far ahead.

At least Chiba Jutaro would find it difficult to accept that his sister would remain unmarried, childless, and alone for the rest of her life.

There is no pension or welfare system in this era.

Chiba Jutaro couldn't help but think deeply: If Sanako really never marries... what will she do in her later years?

My parents are still alive and I am still young and can still protect and take care of Sanako, but my parents and I cannot take care of Sanako forever.

The more Chiba Jutaro thought about it, the deeper his frown deepened.

At this time, Sanako pressed the hem of her kimono with her bare hands and slowly stood up.

"Brother, I have said everything I want to say."

"In short, brother, please don't add new names to this book."

After saying that, Sanako turned around, walked out of the room with her delicate, white and rosy feet that were faintly visible under her clothes.

Looking at Sanako's leaving figure, Chiba Jutaro, who couldn't help but feel a little depressed because of Sanako's remarks just now, couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth, and then put on a self-defeating look, "Ah, I

Don't care." He looked at Sanako in a low voice with a hint of grievance and dissatisfaction:

"I have absolutely no interest in things between men and women...Huh, that's what you said."

"You must never come to me mysteriously for help one day in the future and ask me some strange questions."

Having said this, Chiba Jutaro cleared his throat vigorously, then pinched his throat and tried to imitate a very girly and shy tone.

"'Brother, brother, do men prefer women who are good at cooking?'"

As soon as Chiba Jutaro finished speaking, Sanako, who was about to step out of the room, staggered and almost fell to the ground.

She quickly stood up, then turned her head and stared at her brother behind her.

Sanako, who usually always stood still, could no longer maintain a dignified posture due to violent mood swings.

She was staring fiercely at Chiba Jutaro with her beautiful eyes wide open, the anger and shame of "an unbearable memory being exposed" appeared in the depths of her eyes.

The delicate, white face and ears were blushing with shame at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Looking at his sister whose ears were turning red, Chiba Jutaro grinned and showed a smile that said "the plan succeeded".

Chiba Jutaro still doesn’t know what the character of his sisters, who they grew up together and have a deep affection for each other, is like?

Sanako has a strong personality. Although she always looks like a "strong woman" on weekdays, she is actually surprisingly thin-skinned. A simple word or action can often make Sanako's whole face turn red with embarrassment.

Sanako's moist red lips kept moving. She seemed to want to say something to Chiba Jutaro, but in the end she seemed to give up the idea of ​​talking to Chiba Jutaro.

She put her eyes away, turned her face back, let out a heavy "hum", and continued to walk out of the room.

However, just as she had time to take two steps forward, Chiba Jutaro's voice sounded again.

"That... Sanako."

Sanako paused again. The blush on her face had not completely dissipated. She asked in an annoyed tone without looking back, "Is there anything else?"

Because Sanako didn't turn around to look at Chiba Jutaro this time, she didn't notice that her brother had slowly put away his "plan succeeded" smile.

"Before you leave, I just...want to make sure."

Chiba Jutaro sighed heavily, then raised his eyes and cast complicated eyes on Sanako.

"You just said you don't like anyone, including Sakamoto Ryoma...is this true?"

"Do you really not like Ryoma Sakamoto?"

Chiba Jutaro, who had been carefully observing Sanako's movements and demeanor, keenly observed that before the words of his question could be finished, Sanako's body visibly stiffened.

Sanako didn't let Chiba Jutaro wait for her reply for too long.

After only a moment, Sanako moved his steps lightly, turned around slowly, and faced Chiba Jutaro.

"Of course what I said is true."

She smiled at her brother again... a smile that reminded people of rain clouds.

She was probably reminiscing... No, that doesn't seem to be the case. Sanako's eyes seemed to be staring into the distance, and there seemed to be some kind of melancholy emotion hidden inside.

This emotion... can be roughly described as "persistence" or "unwillingness".

"No matter how I am, I am not humble enough to continue to like someone who once said to me such excessive words as 'women are too weak' and 'taking you will only tie my hands and feet'."

"I want to take a breath and let Sakamoto-kun see that although I am a girl, I am not weak and let him know that he is wrong... This should be the last emotion I have for Sakamoto-kun now.

Already."

The sound fell and Sanazi stopped talking.

She put away the smile on her face that always made people feel uncomfortable, turned back to the dignified and elegant Miss Sanako, turned around quickly, and walked quickly outside the room without any further pause.

And go.

The slender and delicate figure slowly disappeared from Chiba Jutaro's field of vision.

…

…

Edo, somewhere——

Led by a rather tall man with colorful tattoos on his body, Kamino returned to the empty teahouse that he had visited many times.

There was no furniture, and the only decoration was a screen with a picture of a hundred ghosts walking at night.

In front of this large screen, sat the combination of "Rakshasa and Shimizu Eiichi" that Kamino was very familiar with.

Rakshasa, with a faint smile on his lips, sat cross-legged and carefree.

His favorite sword...a sword with a bare sheath and a bare handle, lying quietly on his right hand.

As for Rakshasa's beloved sword, Shenye had heard of its name by chance: Changyang Zhengzong.

Kamino once had the unsheathed Changyang Zhengzong pointed at his nose by Rakshasa, and he deeply felt how sharp this knife was.

The leader of the "Shimizu Clan" with a huge burn mark on his left cheek: Shimizu Eiichi, is sitting behind Rakshasa on the right side.

When he glanced at Rakshasa and Eiichi Shimizu, Kamino was surprised to find that there was an extra person in the tea room today that he had never seen before.

I saw a young man about 25 years old and quite strong sitting behind and on the left side of Rakshasa.

Kamino had never seen this young man before, so he couldn't help but look at him a few more times.

"Oh, Kamino-kun. You're here." Seeing Kamino striding into the tea room, Rakshasa grinned and put down the teacup in his hand, "Come on, come and sit."

After Kamino entered the tearoom, the strong man who led Kamino exited the tearoom and gently closed the tearoom door.

"Lord Rakshasa, Lord Qingshui." Kamino sat down in front of Rakshasa respectfully, then bowed to Rakshasa and the others.

Although he didn't know the name or identity of the strange young man sitting behind Kamino, Kamino still saluted him.

At this time, Rakshasa seemed to realize that Shenye did not know anything about the strong young man next to him. He laughed "haha" a few times and reached out to gesture to the strong young man.

"Kamino-kun, before we get down to business, let me first introduce who the person next to me is."

"This is Kamamitachi, one of the cadres of our Punishment Party. For some reasons, he came to Edo two days ago to help me."

After introducing the young man next to him to Kamino, Rakshasa looked at the young man...that is, at Kamaitachi.

"Kamaitachi. This is the leader of the Yi group: Kamino Tatsugoro."

cadre!

When he heard this word from Rakshasa's mouth, Kamino's pupils suddenly shrank.

After cooperating with the Fa Zhi Party for so long, Kamino also learned some basic information about the Fa Zhi Party after going back and forth.

The leaders of the Fa Zun Party and all cadre-level figures will give themselves a code name. And all the code names they use are taken from those vicious monsters in myths and stories.

While using the names of those vicious monsters as their own codenames, the leaders and cadres of the Punishment Party would also tattoo the monster that they used as their codenames on their backs.

Kamaitachi... Even an illiterate person who cannot read a single Chinese character must have heard the name and story of this famous monster to some extent.

The Kamaita is a wind monster in the legend of Koshinetsu, Japan. It will appear in the shape of a whirlwind and attack the people it encounters with its sharp claws like a sickle. Although the victim's skin will be scratched with long wounds, there are only a few small wounds.

I don't feel any pain either.
To be continued...