Chapter 25: Oni girl! Mikoshi Chiyo!

On the other side.

Leaving the Tenryou Commission, Hearing Luo Li pondered as he headed toward Tenshukaku.

Along the way, the direct troops serving as guards of the Narumaki dignity, the Hatamoto samurai, bowed their heads to him one after another.

Until approaching outside Tenshukaku, with his status, he naturally didn't need to show tokens or other credentials to the personal guard O-tsume-ban.

Seeing it was him, the O-tsume-ban and others immediately cleared the way.

It was just that the look of one of them wanting to speak but stopping made Hearing Luo Li couldn't help but take an extra look.

"What's wrong, something to report?"

"That, allow this subordinate to say one more word, Lord Mikoshi just visited the General not long ago."

Hearing Luo Li paused and waved his hand with a laugh: "Alright, I know."

He just felt that Chiyo was relatively noisy, and the people below might have some misunderstanding, actually reporting the situation to him in advance to give a reminder.

Can't say there's a problem; it was probably out of kindness.

After putting the O-tsume-ban at ease, Hearing Luo Li stepped into Tenshukaku again, walking toward the depths while whispering.

"The newspaper said that girl would take three days to return; it seems that in some cases, it can't be counted on."

He was so familiar with the furnishings and environment in the pavilion that he could find his way with his eyes closed.

As he approached the place, the laughter of several women came vaguely through the cracks.

In addition to the familiar Raiden Makoto and Raiden Ei, there was one more spirited woman.

"It really is Chiyo's voice."

Hearing Luo Li pushed open the door; the place that originally belonged to the General for handling state affairs was unexpectedly full of entertainment.

He saw Makoto sitting by the desk acting as a reader, singing waka.

On her left and right sat a woman each, both holding more than a dozen paper cards, looking at each other with eyes full of provocation and fighting spirit.

One of them was Ei, and the other was the long-unseen, victorious Oni girl—Mikoshi Chiyo.

The girl had taken off her armor and was wearing a loose white and red robe; her face was like the moon, and the pair of long horns on the side of her forehead fully displayed ferocity and heroism.

Her crimson and narrow eyes stared fixedly ahead, ready to move.

Looking around, several paper cards were also placed between the two.

It was estimated that the two were playing Karuta.

Looking at the scene, it had reached the critical moment of the decisive battle, almost fighting to a standstill.

Because they were too focused, they didn't notice someone had come.

Only Makoto noticed Hearing Luo Li approaching, smiled gently at him, and then continued to recite the waka.

The moment she heard the waka, Ei immediately moved to collect the paper card with the short phrase from the song into her formation.

Chiyo, who was a step slow, took a deep breath, preparing to concentrate again.

However, a shadow suddenly obscured the light; the girl frowned, intending to scold.

As a result, when she looked up, she met Hearing Hearing Luo Li eyes.

The girl was stunned for a moment, and taking this opportunity, Ei quickly collected the last song card into her pocket.

"Game over!"

Makoto, who was working part-time as a reader, put her hands together, and a "clap" sound signaled the appearance of the winner.

At the same time, Ei, who had been tensing her body, jumped up almost instantly, her eyes lifting with joy.

"I won! I won!"

Heaven knows how happy she was.

Ever since she started playing the Karuta game with her good friend, she had never won once.

For Ei, who had a high desire to win, this "shame" was always kept in mind; for this reason, she practiced diligently in private with Makoto and finally managed to grow to this point.

However, she soon reacted, and everyone present was looking at her with strange eyes.

Hearing Luo Li couldn't help but click his tongue; it was the first time he had seen Ei so excited and even unable to control her emotions, feeling quite novel.

Clearing his throat, the slightly blushing Ei regained her reserve and sat down, lowering her head without a word, as if the person just now wasn't her.

Before Hearing Luo Li could tease her, the next second he was pushed back a few steps by an extremely oppressive impact.

Lowering his head slightly, he met a pair of blood-red eyes mixed with joy and love.

Chiyo hugged Hearing Hearing Luo Li waist, pressed her face tightly against his chest, and declared.

"I'm back!"

"Mm, you've worked hard."

Caressing the girl's black hair, which was as smooth as silk, Hearing Luo Li sat down along the table, letting Chiyo rest on his lap, pulling his palm over to rub against her cheek.

The girl lying in his arms was as lazy and attached as a cat, shrinking her body; there was no trace of the war-ghost appearance in the rumors, and she couldn't even care about the Karuta game they were just competing in.

Ei, who had recovered, saw the curve of her mouth disappear, only the gaze she occasionally cast toward Chiyo exposed something.

The atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

Until the sliding door outside the palace opened, and a blind old man holding a set of expensive tea sets slowly approached.

As if it were a daily habit, the old man went to the tea room in the dark, starting to make tea with slow but steady movements, not saying a word during the process.

As if he had practiced it a thousand times, the old man soon brought a pot of black tea to the main hall to be placed.

"Princess, please enjoy."

Makoto nodded slightly and said gently: "Go down, Koyama, I will order you if there is anything."

"Alright, Princess, and all the lords, this old man will retire first."

After bowing, Koyama retreated along the same path.

Being disturbed like this, the condensed atmosphere changed suddenly, no longer so oppressive.

Finally, it was Makoto who broke the atmosphere.

"I heard you were living very leisurely at the Grand Shrine and even found a little apprentice?"

Hearing Luo Li poured tea for everyone one by one with one hand and replied: "Isn't this what Saiguu asked for? Anyway, I was bored, so I incidentally found something to do for myself, which can also be considered a contribution to Inazuma."

I don't know how much of this statement is true or false.

Makoto didn't go to investigate, then asked about his meeting with the Khaenri'ah envoy, and why he suddenly set up a barrier some time ago.

Hearing Luo Li didn't speak and brushed it off randomly.

Seeing that he didn't want to say, Makoto stopped at the point and asked back about Chiyo's cleaning up of monsters and pirates.

Thus, Chiyo, while using her hand to stick to Hearing Hearing Luo Li hand to compare sizes, counting the lines on his palm, answered nonchalantly.

Once the topic was opened, everyone interjected a few words from time to time.

Ignoring Chiyo's behavior of playing with his palm, Hearing Luo Li said casually: "Just when I returned, I heard officials talking about Takamine getting married?"

Takamine the Mistsplitter, a man who loved to gamble, once won the precious bow of the Tengu clan leader, Reizenbou, and learned martial arts and spells to serve the General.

Makoto, moved by his bravery, specially bestowed the famous sword "Mistsplitter."

"That's right, I permitted him to marry the daughter of a high-ranking samurai."

Hearing Luo Li fell into deep thought.

Speaking of which, he took Asase Hibiki as an apprentice, which seemed to have unintentionally cut off this unrequited love.

PS: Seeking flowers! Seeking evaluation tickets! Seeking evaluation! ===== CHAPTER 27 =====