Spare Me, Great Lord!

Exhausted, Sakurai could finally end her lessons at night. She had been swinging her sword for the entire day. Her public image was one of amiability and generosity, which won her great respect.

Now, despite her grudges against Lu Shu, she could not vent her negativity on others…

Actually, she had expected a break after her morning sessions. But, to her astonishment, Kirihara Yousuke was nowhere to be found!

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

Was it a scheme to distract her so that he could carry out some secret activities?

A childish move indeed, but she could not do anything about it. Since she had promised to give it all she had, there was no way she would regret it now!

There were few minds of great wisdom in the world, and Sakurai was ashamed of her falling for such a simple trick.

Thus, Sakurai messaged her teacher once she got the chance, reporting on Kirihara Yousuke’s disappearance. She hoped her mistake could be compensated by locating Kirihara with her teacher’s help.

In the worst case scenario, Kirihara Yousuke would have to be wiped out should he be found to be in contact with the Jingoists.

Although it would be tough to kill him in broad daylight, there was poison.

As a matter of fact, driven by results, many Japanese Practitioners had resorted to such hideous means. They used poison together with practices such as ambushes or assassination.

Admittedly, Practitioners were blessed with a high resistance against poison. But they would become an easy target once their powers were weakened!

Truly, it would be almost impossible to locate Lu Shu in a big city like Nishinokyo with only the limited manpower of the Conservatives, but a group of commoners served them too.

That was very normal and standard practice for most big organizations, just like how Taniguchi Bunndai worked for the Heavenly Network.

This was because some duties were better off not done personally by Practitioners. The Heavenly Network was at the extreme end, though, and even jobs such as plumbers and toilet cleaners in the Lingjing Lane basement were filled by their own people. They had done it in the army anyway, so it was not something to be fussy about.

What was the matter with cleaning up the place, if that was the task assigned?

On the contrary, all Practitioners, regardless of their level, in the Phoenix Society led an aristocratic life. They hired commoners to take care of their needs. The Phoenix Society hoped to develop a sense of honor and pride in Metahumans through this.

Therefore, a new service industry had emerged among the commoners. Some had an eye on its lucrativeness, while others wished to be recognized and practice cultivation with the pros. After all, legends said that many big organizations were interested in improving the efficiency of power awakening.

Not long after, Oda received updates on Kirihara’s whereabouts. Then, he said to Matsuura Haraichiro, “Go. He was spotted at the Sixth Street.”

Matsuura’s brains throbbed in pain at the order to monitor Lu Shu. But he had to obey. “Okay. I’m going right away.”

“Don’t lose him again.”

“… Understood.”

“From Matsuura Haraichiro’s distress, +399!”

When Matsuura arrived at the place following the clues given, he saw Lu Shu peeking furtively into a building by its door. Matsuura was happy. Caught ya!

Could it really be a secret meeting with the Jingoists? Complicated feelings bubbled up in Matsuura’s heart. After all, Kirihara was one of the people most wanted by the Conservatives, for his family had a great influence in the circle due to their mysterious inherited trade.

But if he had betrayed the Conservatives, they had to kill him before any agreement was made between him and the Jingoists.

Nonetheless, it would be a great loss for the Conservatives.

Hiding in Lu Shu’s blind spot, Matsuura observed him closely.

Suddenly, someone exited from the building and Matsuura saw with his own eyes that Kirihara Yousuke stepped forward with a stack of unknown materials in his hands. Matsuura’s heart began pounding hard. Here he goes!

However, in the next instant, he realized from the building walked out a group of students who had just finished their weekend tuition classes. And Lu Shu distributed to each of them a piece of white paper with prints “Beika Dojo. Sakurai Yaeko’s swordplay. We welcome you to join us for swordplay classes conducted by Sakurai Yaeko herself. Extraordinary sword skills!”

“From Matsuura Haraichiro’s distress, +666!”

Can you please stop being such a joker? You’ve come so far just to give out leaflets to tuition students?

Then, Lu Shu asked those students a few questions before rushing to the next location with his leaflets. It was hard for him to find tuition classes by himself, but those students had a much better knowledge of that.

Matsuura Haraichiro was dumbstruck. Apparently Lu Shu was planning to cover all the tuition classes in Nishinokyo!

As a result, a second wave of students crowded into the dojo right after Sakurai finished her morning shift…

Advertisements always worked, Lu Shu knew it.

On the other side, Sakurai was close to desperate upon seeing even more students. What’s going on? Then, she received a call from Mastuura. “Sakurai, Kirihara distributed leaflets to seventeen tuition classes and students are still rushing to the dojo right now…”

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

Matsuura also could not explain Kirihara’s peculiar behaviors…

Why, as the owner of the dojo, are you out publicizing on your own?

People have great expectations of you, be it to restore the Kirihara’s influence and your family’s past glory or to stay closely connected with the Jingoists and the Conservatives. Otherwise, you could also contact those hidden clans who used to be on your side!

But it seemed that Kirihara Yousuke had abandoned the cultivation arena altogether and buried his head deep in the business realm…