Sorry, I’m so bad (Leopard Head Crying.jpg). Today’s chapter is a very important chapter that reveals the world view of the book and sets the stage for a lot of plots that follow. It is difficult to write. The author has been writing until early in the morning.

I couldn’t write 1,000 words even at 3 o’clock (leopard death.jpg)

The author misjudged the amount of plot at the end of Volume 1... There should be one more chapter to complete this volume. (Leopard Cry.jpg)

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Wow...

The shop door opens.

Qingden saw Kiryu's old face covered with wrinkles and a pair of glasses on the bridge of his nose.

Kiryu, whose right hand was still resting on the doorknob of the shop door, was looking back and forth at Aoto with a strange expression and Mai Kinoshita, whose pretty face was still red, with a... very unpredictable look.

Obviously he didn't do anything shameful, but for some reason, after hearing Kiryu's words "...what are you doing?" and being looked at by Kiryu with such a censorship-like gaze, Qingnobo felt

I feel a strange sense of tension for no reason...

"Tong, Mr. Kiryu...!"

Looking at Kiryu who suddenly arrived, Kinoshita Mai's delicate body shook hard twice in an instant, and then her eyes looked around nervously, and her feet under her buttocks and her hands on her fleshy legs twisted uneasily.

It was obvious - Kiryu must have heard the "Aonto" that Mai Kinoshita called out in a sweet tone just now.

Kinoshita Mai shouted so loudly that there was no reason why Kiryu, who should have already walked outside the shop door, didn't hear her.

Others heard me call Tachibana-kun "Aoden"... Mai Kinoshita, who was not used to calling Aoden by this name, only felt a strong sense of shame.

The face that had faded just now turned back to a bright red color that looked like it might bleed at any time.

There seemed to be wisps of steam wafting from her face and the top of her head.

"I, we didn't do anything..."

Kinoshita Mai, like Qingto, felt a strange tension at this moment.

Not daring to look at Kiryu, she stared at the ground in front of her knees and murmured softly as if she was reciting a magic spell.

"We were just discussing what to call each other..."

"……call?"

I don't know if it was Qingto's personal illusion, but he always felt that Kiryu's eyes hidden behind his glasses seemed to have suddenly become sharper.

"I feel that Tachibana-kun and I... and Aomori are already so familiar with each other. It would be a bit unfamiliar to use 'Tachibana-kun' or 'Kinoshita-san' as titles, so we decided to use 'Amu' and 'Aoi' from now on."

Qingdeng' comes to match..."

Kinoshita Mai honestly told Kiryu everything.

After quietly listening to the ins and outs of the incident, Kiryu's eyelids sank slightly, and he looked deeply at the young man and woman sitting side by side in front of him... mainly looking at Qingden.

The sight is meaningful.

Kiryu's gaze... made Qingto feel a strong sense of oppression...

It felt like the air around him was pressing down on him.

The tension in my heart became even stronger...

Qingden could quite understand why Kiryu looked at him with such eyes.

Although Kiryu refers to Kinoshita Mai as "young master", Aomori can clearly feel that Kiryu and Kinoshita Mai's daily relationship is more like "a grandfather and granddaughter with a very close relationship."

Some of the interactions between Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita are full of his doting on the 15-year-old girl.

And Kinoshita Mai also respects Kiryu quite a lot.

So simply put yourself in my shoes - I came home in a relaxed mood, and I happened to catch a girl whom I regarded as my own calling a boy by his first name. Before that, the girl had always called the boy quite the same.

Dear Mr. XX.

If Qingdeng encountered such a thing, then he felt that he would definitely look at the boy with sharp eyes...

Qingto could not help but lower his head and eyes in embarrassment, as if he was guilty of treason and did not dare to look at Kiryu.

But at this time, an indescribable emotion quietly emerged in Qingdeng's heart and grew rapidly.

In this era where the moral code between men and women is still very strict, a girl...and a girl who is so easily shy took the initiative to propose that from now on, we should use such an intimate way of addressing each other as "calling each other by name"...

Even a person like Qingden, who had never had any intimate relationship with the opposite sex in his previous life and didn't know much about women's hearts, vaguely realized something from Kinoshita Mai's courageous move.

Once again, there was an itchy feeling on my chest, like being caressed by high-quality silk.

This itching feeling was strangely uncomfortable, but it also brought a strange warmth to Qingdeng's body.

Qingden tilted his eyes slightly, and quietly stared at the pretty face of Mai Kinoshita next to him with complicated eyes.

Kinoshita Mai's eyes and all her mind were firmly fixed on the ground in front of her knees, and she had no idea that Qingteng was secretly looking at her at this moment.

But Kiryu noticed it.

Qingto thought that his peeking at Mai Kinoshita was very subtle, but he didn't know that he didn't hide it from Kiryu at all, and Kiryu could see all his little moves.

For a moment, the wrinkles on Kiryu's face seemed to become more...

Kiryu half-closed his eyes and said "huh...", turning all the emotions in his heart into a long sigh.

"Has it finally come to this point..."

After murmuring in a tone that he didn't even hear clearly, Kiryu put the termite removal tools in his hand by the door of the shop, and then quickly walked towards Ayonobu and Mai Kinoshita's house in three steps at a time.

In front...that is, behind the counter, he said softly with a tone that seemed to have something to say:

"As long as you didn't do anything weird."

When he finished saying this, Kiryu happened to be sitting behind the counter.

"In short... Mr. Ju, first of all, congratulations on you no longer need to live in Renyitang."

The expression on Kiryu's face returned to the elegant smile that Qingto was familiar with.

“How does it feel to be free again?”

"It feels great." Because Kiryu no longer looked at him with that oppressive gaze, Qingden finally dared to look at Kiryu and look at Kiryu. "Finally, I don't have to smell those pungent things anymore."

It smells like medicine."

After a brief exchange of greetings, Kiryu suddenly changed the subject.

"I've kept you waiting for so long. After waiting for so long, I finally got to wait for today."

Qingden, who understood the implication of Kiryu's words, smiled calmly:

"Yes. Finally, I can have a long talk with you, Boss Kiryu, without being disturbed."

While Aoto was hospitalized, Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita visited Aoto every day, but the crowded Jinyido was not a place where they could have a good chat.

So Aomori could only hold back the mountain of questions he wanted to ask Kiryu one by one.

He has been holding it in until now... Qingto finally waited for today, the perfect opportunity to talk freely with Kiryu.

"Boss Kiryu, Kinoshita-chan and I...Amai and I have followed your request and concealed the existence of that Kamaitachi."

"Can you tell me... who are you and who is that Kamaitachi? Why do you look like you know that Kamaitachi?"

Without going through too many twists and turns, Qingdeng went straight to the point and spoke out all the questions he had been holding back in his heart for the past few days in one breath.

Kiryu didn't immediately respond.

Instead, he half-closed his eyes, and the elegant smile on his face turned into a helpless bitter smile...

"A Wu... I heard the name 'A Wu' from your mouth, and my mood was more subtle than I imagined..."

Kiryu's emotion made Qingto startled...and then he unconsciously glanced sideways at Mai Kinoshita next to him with an embarrassed look on his face.

After sweeping his eyes over, he saw a faint smile hanging on Kinoshita Mai's cheeks.

Just now was the first time Qingden called her "Awu"... This seemed to make Kinoshita Mai very happy. The corners of her mouth were raised crazily, and she couldn't suppress them no matter how hard she tried.

This small movement of Qingto and the expression of Mai Kinoshita were once again seen by Kiryu...

"Ahem..."

In order to get rid of the slightly confused expression he was showing, Kiryu coughed softly a few times and straightened his already straight waist even further.

"Well...which question should I answer first..."

Kiryu brought the topic back to the topic.

Facing the series of questions Qingden spewed like a barrage of questions, Kiryu smiled calmly.

"I will explain it to you one by one in the order of the questions you asked."

"I have told you before: before I came to Edo to open this 'Senshiya', I had been working at a small and medium-sized silk and satin merchant in Osaka named Rinya. And this Rinya

The owner is the young master’s godmother.”

"These words are not actually deceiving you."

"In a sense, before I came to Edo to open this 'Senshiya', I had been working at Rinya."
To be continued...