I Formed the Strongest Swordsman Group-Chapter 64: Draw the Sword! Then Hug Three Girls (1)

"￥#@&（*￥%@&#@@（……"
Kinoshita Mai said something more to the shopkeeper.
Aoto still couldn't make out what she said, but the shopkeeper seemed to understand.
The shopkeeper gave Kinoshita Mai a meaningful look, nodded, then turned around and took down three skewers of dango rice dumplings that were all red in color and still wrapped in thin paper, unopened.
"Here, six copper coins."
Kinoshita Mai deftly took out a small cloth pouch from her robe, pulled out six copper coins and spread them on the counter, then took the skewer of all-red dango from the shopkeeper and handed it to the girl beside her.
After giving the dango to the girl beside her, a bright smile reappeared on Kinoshita Mai's face.
The girl held the dango in one hand while continuing to hold Kinoshita Mai's hand with the other.
Though the mask prevented Aoto from seeing the girl's expression, he could sense from her behavior—the face beneath that mask must be smiling happily right now.
Kinoshita Mai held the girl's hand and was about to leave cheerfully.
But just then...
"Hey! Miss, you didn't pay enough, you're still four coins short."
The snack stall owner suddenly called out to Kinoshita Mai.
"Huh?" Kinoshita Mai turned around with a stunned expression, "I paid enough, six copper coins, no more no less."
Perhaps because she was anxious, her voice became much louder when speaking to this stranger shopkeeper.
"You didn't give me six coins." The shopkeeper pursed his lips, "You only threw two coins at me just now."
"You're lying!" the masked girl shouted, "Miss Mai definitely gave you six coins! I saw it with my own eyes!"
"Little miss." The shopkeeper frowned, putting on a hurt expression, "You can't be so dishonest! This is just a small business, every coin is hard earned. You can't bully an honest man like me."
The argument between the shopkeeper and Kinoshita Mai naturally attracted many onlookers.
"What's going on? What happened?"
"Not sure..."
"Seems like those three women tried to leave without paying enough for their purchase."
"That girl in the red kimono has a nice figure there."
...
"Mmm..." Looking at the shopkeeper's innocent expression, Kinoshita Mai's face slowly flushed red with anxiety.
She wanted to argue properly with the shopkeeper.
But she was naturally shy around strangers.
Even normally, she couldn't speak properly with strangers like shopkeepers.
And now, with more and more onlookers gathering, Kinoshita Mai became even more nervous, finding it difficult to form complete sentences.
The masked girl wasn't intimidated though, she argued fiercely with the shopkeeper.
But her eloquence wasn't great, completely no match for the cunning, experienced shopkeeper.
The woman who had been silently standing behind Kinoshita Mai and the masked girl kept looking around at the growing crowd.
But for some reason, she hadn't said a word.
—Ahh... No matter which era, tourist spots always "abound" with these kinds of unscrupulous merchants who like to extort money from people...
Aoto deduced: This snack stall owner probably recognized that Kinoshita Mai's shy nature made her an easy target, which is why he chose to extort money from them.
These unscrupulous merchants in tourist spots... Aoto hated them the most.
Because in his previous life, he had been cheated by these bastards many, many times...
It directly led to him hating traveling for a long time.
So—Aoto barely hesitated before striding toward the snack stall.
"Shopkeeper, aren't you the one being dishonest here?"
"Everyone! Don't be fooled by this unscrupulous merchant's smooth talk! I clearly saw this girl pay exactly six coins! This merchant is just trying to extort money!"
Aoto's shout naturally drew everyone's attention.
"Tachibana...kun...?" Kinoshita Mai looked at the suddenly appearing Aoto with astonishment.
"Hah? You say I'm extorting money? Hey, you can't falsely accuse... gurk!"
When he first heard Aoto's shout, the shopkeeper had been aggressive.
But upon spotting the jutte with red tassels at Aoto's right waist and the Magistrate's Office inrō, he immediately made a strange sound like a duck being choked.
"It's Edo's 'Three Squads'..." After murmuring this at a volume only he could hear, the shopkeeper began gasping frantically.
"Oh? Did I say something wrong about you extorting money?"
Aoto leaned his body against the snack stall.
"Then I'm all ears."
"Tell me—exactly what part of what I said was wrong."
"Remember to think carefully before you speak next."
"Lying to Edo's 'Three Squads'... is a serious crime."
After saying this, Aoto deliberately placed his right hand on his jutte, making a loud noise.
At the same time—
Click.
Saitō, standing behind Aoto, suddenly also placed his right hand on the hilt of his worn sword, making a loud noise.
Aoto raised an eyebrow and cast an amused glance at Saitō behind him.
Saitō, still expressionless, stared straight at the shopkeeper.
Noticing Aoto's amused glance, he lowered his head, gave Aoto a slight nod, then continued staring intently at the snack stall owner.
—Helping me create presence...
Though they hadn't exchanged a single word, Aoto instantly understood that Saitō was trying to help him "create presence" and apply greater psychological pressure on the shopkeeper.
Only now did Aoto suddenly notice—his aloof bodyguard didn't seem to be a complete "wooden puppet."
Under the combined psychological pressure from Aoto and Saitō, large beads of cold sweat appeared on the shopkeeper's forehead.
After hemming and hawing for a moment, he put on an ingratiating smile.
"Dōshin-sama! My apologies, truly my apologies! This lowly one lost his head for a moment! This lowly one lost his head! Blinded by greed!"
Facing Edo's "Three Squads," the shopkeeper completely lacked the courage to argue or bargain, continuously apologizing to Aoto.
"These are for you! Please take all of these! Please be magnanimous and forgive me this once!"
The shopkeeper grabbed four skewers of dango and four well-wrapped steamed buns, offering them to Aoto.
Aoto glanced coldly at the snacks the shopkeeper offered.
Noticing Aoto's gaze, the shopkeeper gritted his teeth, looking pained as he grabbed two more skewers of dango and two more steamed buns.
"Dōshin-sama..."
"The one you should be apologizing to isn't me, right?" Aoto interrupted the shopkeeper in a neutral tone.
The shopkeeper froze for a moment, then hurriedly shoved the pile of snacks into Kinoshita Mai's arms.
"Miss! My apologies! Truly my apologies! I lost my head earlier! You didn't pay a single coin less! I was possessed by greed!"
"Please forgive me this once!"
Kinoshita Mai, the masked girl, and the woman who had been standing behind them all looked at the pile of snacks offered by the shopkeeper, then exchanged glances with each other.
At this moment, Kinoshita Mai's mouth was slightly agape, looking dazed as if she hadn't quite processed what was happening.
"Well?" Aoto asked Kinoshita Mai and the others, "Are you willing to forgive this person?"
Kinoshita Mai and the others exchanged glances again.
Finally—after staring at the pile of snacks the shopkeeper had given them as apology for a while, they all nodded.
"...Since the victims have chosen to forgive you, I'll let you off this time." Aoto said gravely to the shopkeeper, "There won't be a next time."
"If I see you extorting money from people here again, I'll send you to Edo to eat prison food."
"Yes, yes, yes." The shopkeeper nodded like pounding garlic, "Dōshin-sama! I promise you, I will never do it again!"
Seeing there was no more excitement to watch, the onlookers began to disperse.
And Aoto led Kinoshita Mai and the others away from this troublesome place.
Just after leaving the snack stall, Aoto heard Kinoshita Mai, walking behind him, say to him in a soft but barely audible voice:
"Um... Tachibana-kun, thank you..."
Probably because she hadn't fully recovered from the earlier "extortion incident," Kinoshita Mai kept her head slightly lowered, lips pressed together.
But at this moment, the corners of Kinoshita Mai's pressed lips were curved upward slightly in gratitude toward Aoto walking ahead of her.
"You're welcome." Aoto turned his head and gave Kinoshita Mai a slight smile, "It was nothing really."
Only after walking quite far from that snack stall did Aoto stop.
"Miss Kinoshita, we really are quite fated." Aoto smiled as he turned around, "I never thought we'd coincidentally meet on the streets again like this..."
After saying this, Aoto turned his gaze to the masked girl still holding Kinoshita Mai's hand, and the "pale yellow woman" in light yellow kimono who had been closely following these two girls.
"Miss Kinoshita, who are these two?"
At this moment, Aoto suddenly noticed something strange.
This masked girl and the pale yellow woman had been keeping their heads lowered the whole time.
As if completely afraid to make eye contact with Aoto...
"Um... they two... they two are..."
Faced with Aoto's question, Kinoshita Mai looked at the masked girl she was holding, then at the pale yellow woman behind her, hemming and hawing.
Seeing Kinoshita Mai's reaction, Aoto couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, thinking to himself:
—Hmm... is it inconvenient to tell me about these two?
Just as... Aoto was considering whether to help Kinoshita Mai, who seemed reluctant to share information about these two girls, save face—
"Divine Punishment!"
"Divine Punishment! Charge!"
"Kill! Kill! Divine Punishment! Divine Punishment!"
...
Samurai raising their katanas high charged out from Aoto's right front, shouting "Divine Punishment" as they rushed toward Aoto's direction...