My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 92: Chapter 73: On the Eve of the Storm, the Battle Approaches! (Part 2)

”Miss Angoulême?” Aoto turned his head to look at the owner of the youthful voice and paused the sword he was waving.

Because the snow on the ground was quite thick, in order to avoid her long dress getting dirty, Elodie lifted her skirt with both hands and hopped towards Aoto.

Elodie’s braided golden hair, falling from her right shoulder to her chest, bobbed along as she hopped.

Since leaving Fujisawa Inn yesterday, Elodie had stopped wearing the blue and white kimono and switched to a white long dress.

Aoto, not being familiar with fashion, couldn’t tell what the official term for the dress Elodie was wearing was, but it was quite beautiful and complemented Elodie’s blonde hair and blue eyes well.

Her maid, Leroy, was also not wearing the light yellow kimono anymore, but had switched to a dark yellow maid outfit, folding her hands in front of her, and followed closely behind Elodie.

Seeing Elodie approach, Aoto sheathed his gleaming sword and smiled at Elodie:

”Good evening, Miss Angoulême.”

”Good evening, Mr. Tachibana!” Elodie blinked her sapphire-like eyes and greeted Aoto with a smile.

If Aoto were to describe this 12-year-old girl in one sentence... she’d be a bit of a ”tomboy.”

In simpler terms, Elodie’s personality was a bit overly lively.

Elodie’s personality and Mukiwa’s personality were almost entirely opposite.

Mukiwa was shy and easily flustered, unable to speak a clear and complete sentence when meeting strangers.

Elodie, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.

Her personality was very outgoing, not afraid of strangers at all, and although she came from a wealthy family and had many privileges in this country as a Frenchwoman, she was not arrogant at all.

It’s hard to imagine how Mukiwa and Elodie, two people with entirely opposite personalities, could become close friends...

Even though she had only just met Aoto, Elodie could interact with him without any reservations or awkwardness, as if they had known each other for years.

Since Aoto had joined their ”caravan” yesterday, Elodie greeted Aoto warmly every time she saw him.

Initially, Aoto thought Elodie’s enthusiasm might be out of gratitude for saving her.

But after careful observation over the past two days, Aoto realized that Elodie’s cheerful and approachable nature was not just directed at him—she was like this with everyone.

Be it Boss Kiryu or the guards led by Oomura, Elodie was equally gracious without any airs or sense of superiority.

As a result, Oomura and the others liked this cheerful little girl quite a lot.

This is probably what they call ”local nurture shaping local people.”

In this Edo Era, still feudal and repressive to women, encouraging them to be demure and obedient, a girl like Elodie was indeed a rare gem.

Aoto was quite fond of Elodie’s ”tomboyish” personality.

After all, he wasn’t very good at interacting with women.

Compared to women whose expressions and moods were hard to grasp, interacting with a straightforward girl like Elodie felt much more comfortable for Aoto.

Besides her straightforward personality, Aoto also noticed that this girl seemed to have a big heart.

Just the day before yesterday, she had experienced the terrifying ”Ronin attack” at Fujisawa Inn, yet from yesterday onward, she acted as if nothing had happened, laughing and playing cheerfully...

By the way—Anthony seemed to spoil his granddaughter quite a bit.

The day before last, when she sneaked out of the inn at Fujisawa Inn and almost caused a big mess, Anthony seemingly hadn’t given Elodie any real punishment.

No corporal punishment, no grounding.

For the past two days, whenever the caravan stopped to rest, Elodie could freely run and play as long as she stayed within 30 meters of the caravan.

Whether Anthony had given Elodie a verbal reprimand, Aoto didn’t know.

But Aoto guessed—even if there had been a verbal reprimand, it probably wasn’t too severe.

After all, if the words were very harsh and Elodie had been scolded badly, she probably wouldn’t be so cheerful and lively these past two days.

After enthusiastically greeting Aoto, Elodie glanced at his right leg.

”Mr. Tachibana, your leg injury hasn’t healed yet, are you sure it’s okay to practice swordsmanship?” Elodie asked with concern.

”It’s fine.” Aoto tapped his right leg, ”It’s just a minor surface wound.”

”Just don’t exercise too intensely and make sure the wound doesn’t split open.”

The medicine Boss Kiryu applied to his wound was surprisingly effective.

Although standing on his right foot still caused some pain from the muscles around the wound being stretched, the pain had lessened considerably compared to the day before yesterday and yesterday.

”Hmm? By the way... Miss Angoulême, why haven’t I seen Miss Kinoshita?” Aoto raised his head and glanced around, unable to stop himself from asking Elodie.

After casually dismissing the topic of his leg injury, Aoto realized that within his field of vision, he hadn’t seen Mukiwa.

This made Aoto feel amazed...

Because over the past couple of days, Mukiwa and Elodie have been inseparable, like a pair of ”conjoined twins”... Wherever there is Mukiwa, there is Elodie, and wherever you see Elodie, you will certainly see Mukiwa...

Now, not seeing Mukiwa next to Elodie made Aoto unable to resist questioning Elodie about Mukiwa’s whereabouts...

”Miss Wu? Miss Wu is currently at the other end of the campsite looking for a suitable place to build a snowman!” Elodie said excitedly.

”...A snowman?” Aoto tilted his head.

”The snow that fell today is perfect for building snowmen!” Elodie bent down, grabbed a handful of snow from the ground, then vigorously tossed it above her head, performing a ”Heavenly Maiden Scatters Flowers”, ”It’s wet and sticky, perfect for building snowmen!”

”Miss Wu and I have already agreed to have a snowman-building contest tonight!”

”We are now splitting up to find the best spots for snowmen.”

”Miss Wu is searching at the other end of the campsite, while I’m looking in this direction!”

With that, Elodie added:

”Tonight, I want to build a huge grandpa!”

Elodie spread her arms wide and made a big circle in front of her – she was probably trying to outline Anthony’s big belly.

In her sapphire eyes, there was a beautiful glow at this moment.

This is the kind of glow only found in children with pure hearts.

Seeing the light in Elodie’s eyes, Aoto subconsciously revealed a faint smile.

”Miss Angoulême, if you’re looking for a suitable place to build a snowman...” Aoto looked around, ”Then there doesn’t seem to be a suitable spot nearby, the snow around here is either too little or too dirty... Hm?”

While originally scanning the surroundings, Aoto’s gaze suddenly stopped.

He was staring... straight east of the campsite.

”Hm? Mr. Tachibana, what is it?” Elodie followed Aoto’s gaze and looked towards the east of the campsite.

”...Nothing.” Aoto slightly lowered his eyelids, squinting a little, ”It’s just that I seemed to see a figure flickering on the east side of the campsite just now...”

”A figure?” Elodie was taken aback, then stood on her tiptoes, straining to look eastward, blinking in confusion, ”...There’s nothing there.”

Suddenly, Aoto felt a chill on the back of his neck.

Lifting his hand to the nape of his neck, he felt a patch of melted snow.

”It’s snowing...?” Aoto looked up towards the sky.

Flakes of fine snow drifted and danced down from the thick clouds.

They adorned the pitch-black clouds.

The snowflakes flew like willow fuzz, bringing a refreshing chill.

...

...

At this very moment—

The north side of the campsite—

Whoosh...!

A gust of cold wind suddenly swept up.

Swirling the snowflakes that fell from the clouds.

Swirling... the hem of Mogami’s feathered robe.

Standing straight on a high slope, Mogami gazed with an extremely serious expression at the camp bathed in torchlight from afar, where Aoto and others were...

His right hand rested heavily on the ground with his beloved gun: Wind Cut.

His left hand held a matchlock gun, its fuse burning...

The cold wind blew stronger and stronger...

******

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