Spare Me, Great Lord!

Early in the morning, Bunndai heard sharp air-splitting sounds outside when she was still in her bed. Thus, she dressed herself and pulled open the door to see Lu Shu practicing his swordplay in the yard.

Lu Shu asked apologetically, “Did I wake you up?”

Bunndai shook her head, smiling. “No worries. Please carry on. I’m going to make breakfast for you.”

She checked the time. It was only 3am!

At the very beginning of Lu Shu’s cultivation journey, he woke up at 3am everyday to practice swordplay with Li Xianyi. Every stroke had to be performed to the fullest.

Yet, with the stagnation in his progress on sea of chi and snow mountain, it had been a long time since he had trained like that. Hence, a sense of disorientation struck him amidst his rapid growth in strength, and his original purpose in cultivation seemed to be drifting further away.

Li Xianyi once said that one should never forget how to handle a physical sword even when they had reached the level of utilizing everything as their swords.

Maybe one day everyone would reach the end of the road. By then, the sword that one held in their hand would be the only weapon to protect them from harm.

Lu Shu had suddenly found his inner peace upon his arrival in Nishinokyo. There was no need to be concerned about his chives nor the relic, and even the enmity between the Conservatives and the Jingoists did not appear that urgent due to the drastic difference in their strengths…

At the moment, Lu Shu ground his Corpsedog and Concealed Arrow day and night. Li Xianyi once told him that the snow mountain was meant for him to sharpen the intent of his sword, whose meaning remained unclear even till that day.

But honestly speaking, Lu Shu enjoyed peaceful days like this. They were soothing.

After breakfast, Lu Shu saw a slender figure at his door, Sakurai Yaeko.

He drew a startled breath. “You are so early!”

Sakurai smiled. “I’m free on weekends anyways, so I decided to train under you, sensei. I believe my hard work will definitely pay off eventually.”

Lu Shu mused. “Then you’ll need to pay me more.”

“From Sakurai Yaeko’s distress, +199!”

20,000 yen was only the lesson fee for two hours. Besides, Lu Shu had wanted to recruit more students. So wasn’t it sensible that she had to pay more for longer hours of lessons?

Sakurai took a long while to consider her response. “Sure. No problem, sensei.”

She had no shortage of small change like that. Furthermore, the investment would be worthwhile so long as she could get close to Kirihara Yousuke and roll him into their plan.

But disappointment set in after one day of practice, which comprised solely of basic moves like hacks and splits, nothing related to cultivation at all.

It was understandable, though. It would be too easy if she could learn an inherited trade with merely a few tens of thousands of yen a day.

Sakurai felt relieved. She planned on getting another step closer.

Before she left at night, Sakurai suddenly asked, “Sensei, can I be your live-in student? I can take care of you or anything you want me to.”

That was the usual way adopted before the passing on of true skills. It would be more convenient for the teacher to teach and observe a student’s character when they stayed together.

Yet, Lu Shu rejected at once without any room for negotiation. “No.”

Sakurai was stunned for a long moment, racking her brains for a possible reason for this straightforward rejection. Her identity was definitely safe as of now, so was it because she was not pretty enough? Nonsense!

Meanwhile, Lu Shu was calculating too. Not to mention the girl’s hidden identity, her addition to the household would mean a higher budget on food.

Clearly she had wanted to take advantage of him!

Then, he asked, “Sakurai, would you mind me telling others that you are my student?”

Puzzled, Sakurai guessed he might be probing her sincerity. Hence, she smiled at once. “Why would I? It’s my honor to be your student.”

“Good.” Lu Shu nodded.

…

At night, Sakurai sought help from her teacher after she returned to the base. “I think he is too wary. He’s neither willing to teach me real things nor let me get close.”

“Normal,” Oda replied calmly, “Do you not remember your greatest advantage? Go. No more hesitation.”

When this moment had finally come, Sakurai Yaeko felt sorry for herself. In any case, she was like a goddess in so many boys’ hearts and her face and body were almost flawless. However, in the end, such a perfect body had to be sacrificed.

Despite her great efforts in cultivation, it turned out that in her teacher’s eyes, her looks and body were a greater strength of hers than her capabilities.

Oda cast her a glimpse. “Do you feel undeserving?”

Sakurai knelt down on the tatami, her forehead touching her knees. “No. Not at all.”

“Then go. Actually, the Kirihara Yousuke now is not a bad boy. Maybe he will be a good lifelong partner for you.”

“Understood.”

Now thinking about it, Sakurai suddenly felt that in spite of Kirihara’s mediocre appearance and occasional annoyance, she felt comfortable by his side.

Generally speaking, it felt… natural.

Almost the antonym of pretentiousness, he would dig his nose when he felt like it, totally disregarding her presence…

The next morning, Sakurai was so shocked that she felt like being struck by lightning as she arrived at the door of Beika dojo.

There was a gigantic hand-drawn poster pasted outside the dojo and went, “Sakurai Yaeko’s swordplay. Do you want to be as superb as Sakurai Yaeko in swords? Attend the lesson now at only 20,000 yen per session. Open on Saturdays and Sundays!”

Lu Shu walked out when she was struggling to gather her thoughts.

“So… this is why you asked me yesterday whether I minded you telling others that I’m your student?!” Sakurai could not help but ask.

Feeling a bit guilty, Lu Shu replied, “Rest assured that I won’t pocket all the money. I’ll give you 2,000 yen per student!”

Even though he had gained her approval, he felt a little guilty for using her reputation in Nishinokyo high schools for free.

“From Sakurai Yaeko’s distress, +999!”

What the heck? So now she had a new identity, the publicity person for a dojo?!

At this moment, a young student walked out from the dojo. She was overjoyed upon meeting Sakurai. “Sakurai senpai! You are really learning swordplay here!”

Sakurai replied absently, “Yea…”

Then the student took out her phone from her pocket and shouted excitedly, “I really met Sakurai senpai! Come! Quick! Yes, it’s true!”

“From Sakurai Yaeko’s distress, +999!”

Now she realized that perhaps her teacher was right. She was no rival to Kirihara Yousuke in terms of cunningness…

…