My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 611: Chapter 192: Mr. Tachibana! Come Learn Iaido With Me!

”To avoid any leaks, only a very few people within Gourd House know my true identity.”

”Sorry, Young Master, for keeping it from you all along.”

”Mr. Kiryu!” Mukiwa exclaimed urgently, ”Why have I never heard anything from you or Grandma about this ’Law Punishment Faction’ before?”

”Young Master, this is our Lord’s decision.” Kiryu explained leisurely, ”The Lord thinks you were too young in the past and didn’t need to know these things that children shouldn’t be aware of.”

”The Lord plans to tell you these things when you’re a bit older.”

”During the time Mr. Tachibana was recovering at Ren Medical Hall, I sent a message to the Lord in Osaka, asking whether to tell you the truth.”

”Currently, both the Lord and I agree that now is the best time to tell you everything about the Law Punishment Faction.”

”That’s why I asked you to stay and listen with Mr. Tachibana to the biggest secret our Gourd House holds.”

Mukiwa, as the daughter of Gourd House, apparently knew no more than him, which indeed surprised Aoto somewhat.

Aoto pressed his lips together, summarizing and synthesizing the information he had.

In short, the organization behind Boss Kiryu is a business known as ”Gourd House,” which openly conducts various commercial activities while secretly striving to maintain societal peace and stability.

In recent years, they’ve been secretly dealing with a mysterious organization called ”Law Punishment Faction,” whose base, members, and goals are all unknown and which specializes in various terror activities.

After organizing his thoughts and emotions briefly, Aoto took a deep breath and threw out the next question:

”Kiryu... Mamiya...”

Aoto hesitated whether he should call ”Boss Kiryu” as usual or ”Mr. Mamiya,” while Kiryu smiled slightly.

”Mr. Tachibana, you can call me Boss Kiryu as usual. After all, a name is just a title. How you call it doesn’t matter.”

”Then... Boss Kiryu, why did you appear so timely that night? You wouldn’t... have been secretly protecting Awu all this time, would you?”

Though the latter part of Aoto’s sentence was in the form of a question, the tone was decidedly affirmative.

Aside from this reason, Aoto truly couldn’t think of any other explanation for why Kiryu could appear so timely to save the situation that night.

What Kiryu said next confirmed Aoto’s thoughts.

Just seeing Kiryu nod with a smile, his gaze then turned towards Mukiwa.

”Young Master, do you think I don’t know what you do every night?”

Mukiwa’s delicate body suddenly shuddered.

She raised her gaze, her eyes shrinking, locking eyes with Kiryu.

Her little face was covered with surprise and disbelief...

”Mr. Kiryu, you, you already knew? When did you find out?”

”I knew from the very beginning.”

”The very beginning?”

”As the name implies, I knew from the first day you decided to rob the rich and give to the poor in Edo that my Young Master is the legendary Thief Cat Monk.”

Mukiwa’s delicate body shuddered again.

In a state of utmost confusion in both mind and expression, she used a trembling voice to weakly issue new questions to Kiryu.

”Mr. Kiryu, you, you didn’t tell Grandma about these things, did you?”

”Do you think I might not report such matters to the Lord?”

Mukiwa immediately buried her little head tightly in her chest like an ostrich.

”Then what does Grandma say...?”

”The Lord neither supports nor opposes.” Kiryu smiled warmly at Mukiwa, ”You have your dreams and are willing to fight for them, which makes the Lord very pleased.”

”But the Lord doesn’t want you to do such dangerous things either.”

”After all, there are too many hidden talents and masters in Edo.”

”Though your martial arts skills are pretty good, exceptionally among your peers, no one can say for sure that you won’t face any unforeseen events someday.”

”Therefore, after weighing several times, the Lord decided to burden me, a 92-year-old man, with this task.”

With this, Kiryu let out a long sigh, with a touch of resignation shown on his face.

”Whenever you embody Cat Monk ’and go out,’ I secretly follow behind you, protecting you from the shadows.”

”I must say—Young Master, your body technique is truly becoming more and more exquisite.”

”Recently, I’ve often found myself unable to keep up with you.”

”I see...” Aoto let out a breath, ”So—Boss Kiryu, the brown-robed man Awu and I faced before was indeed you, right?”

Kiryu chuckled, shrugged.

”I initially just wanted to shake you off.”

”But as expected, I’m too old to outrun you young ones, so I could only use some... relatively forceful means to make you stop pursuing me.”

Another puzzle gets solved.

The person with the Eternal Talent·Eightfold Banner of No Regrets... was indeed Boss Kiryu!

Aoto’s gaze flickered slightly due to intense emotional upheaval.

”Mr. Tachibana, do you have anything else you want to ask?” Kiryu shifted his gaze, sweeping across Aoto and Mukiwa’s faces, ”Young Master, if you have any questions, now is the time to ask freely.”

”...Boss Kiryu, I have one more... small question.” Aoto slightly lowered his eyelids, eyes directly confronting Kiryu, ”According to a friend of mine, ’Ship-Slaying Sword Hero’ Mamiya Kurō mastered Iaido.”

”At a young age, he developed his unique Iaido: Flowing Light.”

”In Mamiya Kurō’s heyday, when he used his Flowing Light to cut someone, the opponent wouldn’t hear Mamiya Kurō’s blade sound until after being struck.”

”That night, Boss Kiryu, the move you used to defeat Scythe Weasel... wasn’t it ’Flowing Light’?”

Kiryu looked at Aoto with a gaze mixed with surprise.

Then he showed a peculiar smile and nodded slightly.

”Mr. Tachibana, that’s a good question.”

”Indeed. The move I used to defeat Scythe Weasel was indeed my proud unique Iaido: Flowing Light.”

”Speaking of this skill... Mr. Tachibana, I happen to have a very important matter to discuss with you today.”

”Hm?” Aoto was taken aback.

”Are you interested in becoming my disciple to inherit my legacy?”

”Huh?”

”Or rather, let me put it more clearly. Mr. Tachibana, are you interested in learning my Iaido: Flowing Light?”

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Though I didn’t make it to 10,000 words, this Chapter is close to 9,000 words, which isn’t a small count, and the information is dense, even the pickiest readers shouldn’t say that this Chapter’s plot is filler. Please, judging by both the word count and quality of this Chapter, support the book with monthly votes!

Monthly votes, recommendation votes, please! (Crying and begging with leopard head.jpg)

Today’s target of 10,000 words, I’ll make it up later!

!![Author wants to take a day off tomorrow, today I’m going to eat some good food with my college friends, healthy and tasty, and should have no time to write today, so please allow me a day off tomorrow, I’ll resume updates the day after (Crying leopard.jpg)]!!