"in short--"

Tianzhangyuan's conversation suddenly changed.

"The yamen reformed by thieves will be a brand new world for you, full of unknowns."

"You are very likely to encounter many...'enemies' you have never encountered before."

"As for your future life in Huofu Thief Kai... there's not much I can do to help you."

Speaking of this, Tianzhang Academy changed into a half-joking tone:

"After all, it is impossible for the General and I to issue an order that 'no one is allowed to bully Tachibana Aoden'."

"In the future, when you go to formally serve as an official, you have to be extra cautious and work hard. Whether you can live a comfortable and comfortable life in the Huo Fu Thief Reform basically depends on you."

"All I can do right now-"

She smiled and waved the purple bow in her hand.

"The only thing I can do is give you as many skills as possible that can effectively convince your colleagues and subordinates."

"The unit you are going to attack next is the Third Division, which is concurrently served by the Seventh Division of the Advanced Archers."

"Nowadays, martial arts are in decline. Even in the shogunate army, there are quite a lot of people who are just pretending to be soldiers. The cavalry can't ride a horse, the spearmen can't use a spear, and the archers can't draw a bow."

"As a result, the conditions for becoming a unit commander have become much easier."

"Nowadays, if you want to be the leader of the first-hand bow team or the first-hand iron cannon team, you don't need to be proficient in archery or iron cannon skills."

"It's just that - as a commander of the archer army, if you can have good archery skills, it is always a good thing to win good popularity for yourself."

"Compared to an incompetent person who doesn't even know how to pull a bow, the generals of the first-hand bow group are obviously more willing to listen to the orders of those who know how to bow."

"As far as I know, Tachibana-kun, you have never been exposed to archery before, right?"

Qingdeng nodded without thinking, and then silently added in his heart:

——I played bow and arrow several times in the "Archer Club" and other places in my previous life, but I only played blindly. This should not be considered as having some exposure to archery.

Compared with swordsmanship, spearmanship, and archery, the cost of learning is very high.

If you don’t have a sword or a gun, you can go to the wild and pick up a stick of suitable size to make do with it, but how do you pick up a bow and arrow from the wild?

Therefore, in the Edo period, archery was a martial art that only those samurai from well-off families could afford.

People like Qingto, who used to be lower-level warriors, had basically no chance to come into contact with archery.

Tianzhang Academy has obviously investigated Qingdeng's past a long time ago, so it is well aware that Qingdeng does not understand archery at all.

She continued:

"Although I can't make you a master of archery immediately in less than 2 months, I can still teach you how to hold a bow and how to nock an arrow."

"It's just that archery is not a required martial skill for the new Yu Ting Fan."

"Therefore, it's up to you whether you want to learn archery or not."

"If you are willing to learn, I will teach you everything you have without reservation."

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to learn. I won't blame you."

"How about it? Are you interested in learning archery from me?"

After saying that, Tianzhangyuan tilted his head and smiled brightly at Qingdeng.

While looking at Qingdeng with peaceful eyes full of smiles, he waited for Qingdeng's response.

——Arch skills...

Qingdeng let out a long groan in his heart.

To be honest, Qingden is not very interested in archery...

Learning to bow now when the steam battleships of the Western powers are sailing the sea... is like learning how to use a film camera in an era when digital cameras have begun mass production.

Compared with archery, the martial arts that Qingdeng is more interested in is the American martial arts!

However, in this country where matchlocks are still the main weapon and have not fully introduced Western firearms, there is no way to learn from the American military...

In Aoto's circle of friends, the only person with advanced firearms was Katsurin Taro, who had been saved by Aoto and was about to be sent to destroy the Shogunate Navy.

But the revolver that Rintaro Katsu owned was given to him by a friend, and he had no way of getting a gun.

Aoto once contacted Katsurintaro and asked him if there was any way he could help assemble the pistol. As a result, he sighed and shook his head...

Although he had little interest in archery, Qingdeng had to admit that what this pretty widow said was not completely unreasonable.

Qingdeng had the double debuffs of "Airborne Leader" and "Infernal Bloodline", and his subsequent "fire-to-thieves reform journey" would be abnormal if it were not ups and downs.

Therefore, it is better to make some corresponding preparations early.

Let's compare our feelings - imagine that I am an archer, and there are two leaders in front of me. One can't even draw a bow, and the other is proficient in archery. It is obvious that the latter is more likely to win favor.

Moreover, as the saying goes, "Many skills do not overwhelm the body." Putting aside the above-mentioned utilitarian factors, it is not a bad thing to learn more skills, even if this skill is difficult to achieve in this era.

A place of use.

At this thought, Qingdeng opened his mouth, about to say something.

But at this moment, Qingdeng suddenly thought of something, his open lips froze, and then he asked quickly:

"Your Highness Tianzhangyuan, the person who taught me the art of arching... couldn't be you, right?"

"Of course it's me."

As soon as Qingdeng finished speaking, Tianzhangyuan showed an expression that seemed to say, "Isn't this natural?"

"There are only you and me in this archery range now, and I still hold a bow in my hand... Who else can teach you archery besides me? What's more, there is no one better than me.

I have found someone who can teach you archery. What? Do you doubt that I am capable of teaching you well?"

"That's not..."

Tianzhangyuan's wonderful skill of "accurately hitting the bull's-eye 50 meters away" demonstrated just now has well demonstrated her archery skills.

This level is more than enough to teach people.

Tianzhangin Atsuki, who is the grand commander of the Imperial Palace and the new commander-in-chief of the imperial court, wants to teach him archery in person, and all this is just to make Qingteng's career as a fire-fighting thief Kai more smooth in the future... Thinking of this,

Qingdeng couldn't help but secretly thought:

——Be it Tenzouin or Tokugawa Iemo, haven’t they treated me too kindly...?

Qingdeng's thoughts were disturbed by Tianzhang Yuan's rhetorical question.

"How is it? How are you thinking? Have you made up your mind?"

"..." Under the direct gaze of Tianzhang Yuan, Qingdeng felt a strange pressure for no reason.

After weighing the pros and cons and thinking deeply for a while, Qingdeng took a deep breath with a slightly troubled expression:

"Then - Your Highness, I will ask you for more advice in the future."

Tianzhangyuan seemed to be quite satisfied with Qingdeng's answer. After hearing Qingdeng's answer, she showed a bright smile.

"Then - without further ado, let's start practicing immediately! Tachibana-kun, stand in this position and hold your bow!"

Chirp—!

At this time, a flying swallow happened to fly over the heads of Qingdeng and Tianzhangyuan.

This flying swallow flew across the sky, climbing over one town after another and over one mountain after another.

Finally, it flew straight into the high sky.

…

…

2 months later——

The first year of Wanyan (1860), November 1st——

Edo, Koishikawa Kohinata Yanagi Town, Imperial Guard Hall——

"I said...Kyuubei, it should be almost done, right?"

Qingto, who was sitting on the verandah of the courtyard, facing the courtyard, asked helplessly at Jiubei behind him.

"No! Not yet! The bun is still a little crooked!"

Kubei meticulously adjusted the angle of the bun on Aoden's head with arcs accurate to millimeters.

"Today is your first day in the fire, young master, to serve as a slave to a thief! How can you be too slovenly and unkempt?"

Hearing what his old servant Kyuubei said, Qingto could only hold back his temper for the time being and continue to endure Kyuubei's "millimeter-level fine-tuning" of his bun.

After another moment, Qingdeng couldn't bear it anymore and said angrily:

"Okay, okay, what does it matter if your bun is one part crooked or one part straight?"

After saying that, Qingdeng stood up and turned back to the house.

Seeing this, Kyuubei had no choice but to give up his obsession with Aoto's bun, and followed Aoto back to his room step by step.
To be continued...