My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 82: Chapter 64: Iaijutsu! Then Embracing Three Girls (Part 1)

”￥#@&（*￥%@&#@@（...”

Mukiwa said something to the shopkeeper again.

Aoto still couldn’t hear clearly, but the shopkeeper seemed to understand.

The shopkeeper gave Mukiwa a meaningful look, nodded, and then turned to take down three skewers of red, unopened rice dumplings wrapped in thin paper.

”Here, 6 mon coins.”

Mukiwa quickly took out a small cloth bundle from her bosom, pulled out 6 copper coins, spread them on the counter, and then received the skewer of red rice dumplings from the shopkeeper, handing it to the girl beside her.

After handing the rice dumplings to the girl beside her, a bright smile reappeared on Mukiwa’s face.

The girl held the rice dumplings in one hand and continued to hold Mukiwa with the other.

Although Aoto couldn’t see the girl’s expression because of the mask, he could sense from her behavior that the girl’s face under the mask must be smiling happily now.

Mukiwa held the girl’s hand and was preparing to leave happily.

But at this moment...

”Hey! Miss, you haven’t given enough money; you’re short by 4 mon!”

The shopkeeper of the snack stall suddenly called out to Mukiwa.

”What?” Mukiwa turned around with a surprised look, ”I gave enough money, 6 mon coins, not more, not less.”

Perhaps because of anxiety, Mukiwa’s voice was much louder when talking to the unfamiliar shopkeeper.

”You didn’t give me 6 mon coins.” The shopkeeper sneered, ”You just tossed me 2 mon coins just now.”

”You’re lying!” the masked girl shouted, ”Miss Wu clearly gave you 6 mon coins just now! I saw it with my own eyes!”

”Little girl.” The shopkeeper frowned, showing a pained expression, ”People shouldn’t be so unkind! I’m just running a small business here, and every mon is hard-earned. You shouldn’t bully an honest person like me.”

The argument between the shopkeeper and Mukiwa naturally attracted a lot of onlookers.

”What’s going on? What happened?”

”I don’t know...”

”It seems those three women are trying to leave without paying enough.”

”That girl in the red kimono looks quite pretty.”

...

”Ugh...” Seeing the shopkeeper’s innocent look, Mukiwa’s face slowly turned red with anxiety.

She wanted to debate well with the shopkeeper.

But she was inherently shy.

Under normal circumstances, she couldn’t speak well with a stranger like the shopkeeper.

And now, with more and more onlookers gathering, Mukiwa became even more nervous and found it difficult to say a complete sentence.

The masked girl was not stage-shy, and she argued fiercely with the shopkeeper.

But her eloquence was not great, not at all a match for the cunning shopkeeper.

The woman who had been quietly standing behind Mukiwa and the masked girl was continuously looking around at the increasing crowd.

However, for some reason, she hadn’t said a word.

—Ah... no matter what era, tourist spots always have con artists who love ripping people off...

Aoto guessed: this snack stall shopkeeper probably figured out that Mukiwa was shy and an easy target to bully, so he chose to rip them off.

Aoto really hated these tourist stall con artists.

In his previous life, he was taken advantage of by these bastards so many times...

It directly led to his long-standing aversion to traveling.

So—Aoto, without much hesitation, strode towards the snack stall.

”Shopkeeper, the one being unkind is you, isn’t it?”

”Everyone! Don’t be fooled by this con artist’s sweet talk! I clearly saw that this girl paid 6 mon coins! It’s just this con artist trying to rip people off!”

Aoto’s shout naturally drew everyone’s attention.

”Mr. Tachibana...?” Mukiwa looked at Aoto, who suddenly appeared, with a stunned expression.

”Huh? You say I’m ripping people off, hey, you can’t just make baseless accusations... gulp!”

Initially, when he heard Aoto’s shout, the shopkeeper was furious.

But when he saw the red-tasseled jitte at Aoto’s right waist and the Edo Magistrate’s Office seal cage, he immediately made a strange choking sound like a duck with its neck grabbed.

”It’s Edo’s ’Three Times’...” mumbling at a volume only he could hear, the shopkeeper gasped wildly.

”Oh? I said you’re ripping people off. Did I say something wrong?”

Aoto leaned his body against the snack stall.

”Then I’ll be all ears.”

”You tell me—where exactly did I go wrong just now.”

”Remember to think it over before you speak next.”

”Lying to Edo’s ’Three Times’... is a serious crime, you know.”

Having said that, Aoto deliberately placed his right hand on his jitte, making a loud noise.

Meanwhile—

Click.

Standing behind Aoto, Saito suddenly placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword, creating a significant noise.

Aoto raised his eyebrows and cast a smiling glance at Saito behind him.

Saito, still expressionless, stared directly at the owner.

Noticing Aoto’s smiling gaze, he bowed his head slightly to Aoto, then continued staring intently at the snack stall owner.

—— Helping me build momentum, huh...

Even without a word of communication, Aoto instantly understood that Saito wanted to help him ”build momentum” and exert greater psychological pressure on the owner.

At this moment, Aoto suddenly realized—his aloof bodyguard didn’t seem to be a complete ”wooden figure.”

Under the joint psychological offensive of Aoto and Saito, large beads of cold sweat broke out on the owner’s forehead.

After stammering for a moment, his face filled with flattering smiles.

”Dōshin sir! Sorry, so sorry! I was momentarily foolish! I was blinded by greed!”

Facing Edo’s ”Three Times,” the owner completely lacked the courage to argue or haggle, and continuously apologized to Aoto.

”These are for you! All of these are for you to eat! Please be magnanimous and forgive me this once!”

The owner grabbed four sticky rice dumplings and four well-packaged buns and handed them to Aoto.

Aoto glanced coldly at the snacks the owner presented.

Noting Aoto’s gaze, the owner grit his teeth and, with a painful expression, grabbed another two sticky rice dumplings and two buns.

”Dōshin sir...”

”The person you should apologize to isn’t me, is it?” Aoto interrupted the owner with a nonchalant tone.

The owner was momentarily stunned, then quickly shoved this heap of snacks into Mukiwa’s arms.

”Miss, sorry! Really sorry! I was momentarily foolish! You didn’t lose a single mon coin! I was possessed!”

”Please forgive me this once!”

Mukiwa, the masked girl, and the woman who had been standing behind them all glanced at the heap of snacks the owner handed over, then looked at each other.

At this moment, Mukiwa was slightly opening her mouth, appearing absent-minded and bewildered.

”What do you think?” Aoto asked Mukiwa and the others, ”Are you willing to forgive this person?”

Mukiwa and the others exchanged glances for a while.

Ultimately—they nodded after staring intensely at the heap of snacks the owner offered for atonement.

”... Since the victims have chosen to forgive you, I will spare you this time.” Aoto told the owner sternly, ”There won’t be a next time.”

”If I catch you scamming again, I’ll send you to Edo to eat prison meals.”

”Yes, yes, yes.” The owner nodded earnestly, ”Dōshin sir! I promise I won’t do it again!”

Seeing no more excitement, the onlookers began to disperse.

And Aoto also guided Mukiwa and the others away from this place of conflict.

Just after leaving the snack stall, Aoto heard Mukiwa, walking behind him, quietly but sufficiently audibly say to him:

”Um... Mr. Tachibana, thank you...”

Probably because she hadn’t fully recovered from the ”scam incident,” Mukiwa lowered her head slightly, her lips pursed.

However, at this moment, Mukiwa was curling her mouth, showing a hint of gratitude towards Aoto walking ahead of her.

”No thanks needed.” Aoto turned his head, giving Mukiwa a slight smile, ”It was just a small favor.”

After walking away from the snack stall, Aoto stopped.

”Miss Kinoshita, we do seem to be quite destined.” Aoto smiled as he turned around, ”I didn’t expect to bump into you on the street again so coincidentally...”

After speaking, Aoto turned his gaze to the masked girl always held by Mukiwa, and the ”pale yellow lady” following behind them.

”Miss Kinoshita, who are these two?”

At this moment, Aoto suddenly noticed something odd.

The masked girl and the pale yellow lady kept their heads lowered.

Appearing completely afraid to meet Aoto’s eyes...

”Um... these two... they are...”

Facing Aoto’s question, Mukiwa looked at the masked girl she held, then at the pale yellow lady behind her, stammering.

Seeing Mukiwa’s reaction, Aoto raised an eyebrow, musing internally:

—— Hmm... Is it inconvenient to tell me about these two?

Just as... Aoto was considering whether to help Mukiwa who seemed reluctant to divulge information about the two women—

”Celestial Punishment!”

”Celestial Punishment! Go!”

”Kill! Kill! Celestial Punishment! Celestial Punishment!”

...

Several Samurai, raising their Tachi high and shouting ”Celestial Punishment,” suddenly charged from Aoto’s right side, heading directly towards Aoto and his companions...

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