"We seem to have arrived too early..."

Kinoshita Mai stretched her neck and looked around.

"It seems that Aomori and the others haven't arrived yet...Mr. Kiryu, what time is it now?"

Kiryu, who was sitting next to Kinoshita Mai, took out a pocket watch from his arms.

"It's exactly 9 o'clock. We did arrive too early. There is still a full hour before the game officially starts. It will take a while for Tachibana-kun and the others to arrive."

Kiryu and Kinoshita Mai, an old and young pair who have a close connection with the Imperial Guard Hall and a close relationship with Aoto, naturally cannot miss this rare and grand game today.

Today's game is scheduled to start at 10 o'clock in the morning. The location is set on a riverbank in the outskirts of Edo with a very beautiful scenery and a fairly flat terrain, which is very suitable for being used as a "red and white battle" competition venue.

This competition is not small in scale - each side has 20 disciples, and it is a 20vs20 melee.

In order to have enough space for all 40 players to play to their heart's content, the playing field was specially designed to be quite large - about the size of half a football field.

The west end of the competition venue is the "resting area for the Xuanwu Hall players", and it is also the "main formation" for the Xuanwu Hall players once the competition starts.

Since the west end is the "main formation" of the Xuanbu Hall, the east end of the venue is naturally the "resting area for the test defense hall players" and the "main formation" of the entire army after the start of their games.

Relatives and friends from the two sword halls sat in the "audience seats" at the north and south ends of the venue to watch the game.

In order to facilitate the distinction, and to make this "red and white battle" feel more like a "battlefield", the two "main formations" each raised a flag high, with the Chiba family and the Kondo family respectively printed on the two flags.

family crest.

The "handsome flag" facing east and west is fluttering in the wind... It really has the atmosphere of a confrontation between large armies.

Because Kiryu and Mai Kinoshita arrived too early, Aomori and others have not arrived yet.

Considering that some disciples live in relatively remote places, in order to save trouble, Zhouzhu did not adopt the strategy of "gather together first, and then set off together". Instead, he adopted the strategy of "set off separately, and those who arrive first will warm up first."

Just don’t be late” approach.

At this moment, when the core disciples such as Aoto, Kondo, and Souji have not arrived yet, only less than 10 people have arrived in the main formation of the Imperial Guard Hall.

The gatekeepers of the trial defense hall who arrived in advance worked together to set up the "handsome flag" of their trial defense hall and started their warm-up in advance.

At this time, Kinoshita Mai suddenly noticed keenly: These people...are now looking at the other side with straight eyes.

To be more precise... I was looking at the faces in the main formation of the Xuanwu Hall.

There was obvious fear in his eyes and cheeks.

When Kinoshita Mai saw this, she couldn't help but wonder at Kiryu beside her:

"Mr. Kiryu, why do the people in the Trial Defense Hall look like this? Are all the contestants in the Xuanbu Hall very strong?"

"Well... how should I put it..." Kiryu showed a strange smile, "... In today's game, Tachibana-kun and the others will have a very hard time."

Kinoshita Mai widened her eyes in surprise.

"Even if Qingto is here, the fight will be very hard? Are the players in the Xuanwu Hall so strong?"

Kinoshita Mai didn't know much about the swordsmanship world in Edo. She only knew that the Genbukan, one of the "Three Great Halls of Edo", was very strong, but she didn't know how strong it was.

"The others are fine, but the main thing is that the man is difficult to deal with..."

Kiryu raised his eyebrows, and his eyes hidden behind the lenses cast a meaningful look at the tall young man who was standing in the center of the Genbukan main formation, holding two bamboo swords, one long and one short, in his hands.

Blah blah blah...

Suddenly, bursts of footsteps came from the southeast of the arena.

Kinoshita Mai followed the sound, and then let out a low exclamation: "Ah...it's the Little Chiba Sword Hall..."

In the direction from which the footsteps came, I saw a group of people from Chiba Sword Hall led by Chiba Nobuyoshi heading toward the arena in a mighty manner.

Among this group of people, there are many faces that are quite familiar to Aoto: Sanako, Chiba Jutaro, Shannan Keisuke...

Whether it is with the Shiwei Hall or the Xuanwu Hall, the Little Chiba Sword Hall has a deep friendship that is constantly cutting things off and turning them into chaos.

Therefore, in the "auditorium" of today's game, everyone may not be present, but it is impossible for the people from Xiaoqianba Sword Hall to be absent.

What's more, Chiba Sadayoshi is also the referee of this competition.

No one would be dissatisfied with Chiba Sadayoshi, who is highly capable, highly respected and known as the "living legend", as the referee of the game.

After discovering the arrival of the people from the Little Chiba Sword Hall, Kinoshita Mai immediately felt like a kitten meeting a big vicious dog. She lowered her head and tightened her shoulders and neck in fear.

His eyes were fixed on the ground in front of his knees as he lowered his head...

But after a while, as if she was unwilling to "hide" herself like this, she stubbornly and cautiously slowly raised her gaze to look at Sanako, who was walking beside Chiba Nobuyoshi and standing at the front of the team...

…

——Chiba Sanako... She's really beautiful... I can't compare to her at all...

Kinoshita Mai's gaze was uncontrollably staring straight at Sanako's pretty face... There were complex emotions in her eyes that were difficult to describe in detail...

At this time, Sanako was keenly aware that there seemed to be a kind of... "heavy" eyes locked on her.

With confusion on her face, she raised her elegant swan neck and looked around. In a blink of an eye, she spotted Kinoshita Mai.

The eyes of the two women collided and entangled in mid-air...

The moment her eyes met Sanako's, Kinoshita Mai subconsciously wanted to look away.

But suddenly, as if she thought of something, she stopped the timidity in her heart, took a deep breath with a "ha" sound, then tensed her muscles, opened her eyes wide, and spoke to Zuo without giving in.

The boys looked at each other.

——This child is...?

Sanako's brows furrowed with a shadow of doubt. After his consciousness passed through the "Sea of ​​Memory", he finally remembered who this cute girl who looked very familiar was.

——This child... is the girl in red who previously assisted Mr. Ju in dealing with the anti-barbarian group...

The scene of her first encounter with Mai Kinoshita in the settlement that was engulfed by fire flashed quickly before Sanako's eyes.

——Look carefully...this child looks really cute.

Sanako blinked a few times, and after leaving this bland comment in her heart, she slowly withdrew her gaze and voluntarily withdrew from looking at Mai Kinoshita.

Seeing Sanako look away first, traces of pure joy appeared on Kinoshita Mai's cute face.

——I win! Great!\(≥▽≤)/

Obviously they were not engaging in any "glaring contest" with Sanako, and Sanako's active avoidance of gaze did not mean anything, but Kinoshita Mai felt inexplicably happy, as if she had won a big victory.

…

…

Trial Guard Hall, second floor, in front of the General Secretary's room——

"Miss Okita, haven't you changed your clothes yet?"

Qingto stood in front of the general manager's room and shouted loudly into the room.

"Move quickly! Master and the others are already urging us! If we wait too long, we may not be able to catch up with the competition!"

"Come on, come on!"

Dong-dong-dong...the sound of the tatami being stepped on quickly came from behind the door.

A moment later, with the sound of the sliding door being pushed open, a slender ponytail that swayed with the owner's figure appeared in front of Qingdeng's eyes.

The slender high ponytail that hangs down to the shoulders, the purple ribbon used to tie the hair, the white kimono, the lavender hakama, and that bright smiling face like the sun... an outfit that is so familiar that it is so familiar.

's smile.

"I've changed my clothes! Let's go!"

As Souji said this, he walked with a cute pace like a penguin walking, swaying from side to side, swaying the ponytail on the back of his head, and passed Aomori's side, heading straight towards the first floor and towards the trial guard.

Go to the entrance of the museum.

The time now is 9:10... If I go out now, I can arrive at the stadium in time without being late and allowing enough warm-up time.

"...Miss Okita."

Aoto is now able to switch between the two titles of "Okita-kun" and "Okita-san" very skillfully.

In public, he calls the general manager "Okita-kun", and in private without any outsiders present, he calls him "Miss Okita".

"Huh? What's the matter?" Souji turned around and gave Qingto, who suddenly called her, a bold look that said, "If you have anything to say, just say it quickly."

"I see you have been in a good mood these past few days."

Qingteng continued to speak while watching the boss's bouncing and energetic steps.

"Did anything good happen to you recently?"

Recently, for some reason, Souji suddenly changed his dejected appearance, where he was in a trance and bumped into the wall when he walked. His face was filled with a bright and warm smile every day, he jumped up and down when he walked, and he exuded an energy that could make anyone

It is obvious that she is in a good mood now.

Perhaps influenced by this good mood, the General Secretary has been in excellent condition recently.

The daily swordsmanship training is both serious and hard-working. Every part of the body seems to have endless energy. You will not feel tired after practicing swordsmanship in the dojo for a whole day.

The condition was so good that Zhousuke, who was always strict in swordsmanship training, couldn't help but feel dumbfounded.
To be continued...