"I wonder what you think. Do you want to join my trial training hall?"

After saying that, Kondo looked at Nagakura and the other three openly with sincere eyes.

Just now, while Abi was still preparing tea in the kitchen, Kondo and Hijikata had already introduced themselves to each other with the Nagakura trio, who had never had the pleasure of meeting each other before.

Last night, after learning about the situation of the Nagakura trio from Aoto, Kondo became extremely interested in the Nagakura trio who fit his requirement of "being somewhat famous in Edo".

Therefore, after both sides introduced themselves, Kondo went straight to the point with great initiative and enthusiasm - without any deception, he explained in full the purpose and reasons why he wanted Nagakura and others to join the Trial Guard Hall.

When Ah Bi came in with tea, he had almost finished talking to Yongcang and the others.

Now, all that is left is to wait for the reply from the Nagakura trio.

The first person to give a reply was Todo.

With an embarrassed look on his face, he stretched out his right index finger and scratched the hair on his right temple, then bowed towards Kondo with an apologetic face.

"Sorry, Mr. Kondo, I am still studying at the Ito Dojo. Mr. Ito does not allow our names to become disciples or patrons of other sword halls while our names are still in the student book of the dojo..."

Todo politely declined Kondo’s invitation.

Faced with Todo's rejection, Kondo was not annoyed at all. He laughed a few times in a very free and easy manner, and then said "It's okay" to Todo several times.

"Speaking of which, Todo-kun, I have heard of your name a long time ago." Kondo grinned with his big mouth that could fit an entire adult fist, and changed the subject, "I heard your name a long time ago.

I’ve heard that from the famous Ito Dojo, a young man named Toudo Heisuke was born, who was extremely talented and powerful in swordsmanship.”

"You are much more handsome than I thought! Hahaha!"

"Thank you for the compliment..." Todo smiled shyly.

Kondo's sudden words, "I've heard of you a long time ago," made Todo feel flattered, and a very conspicuous joy appeared in his eyes.

Todo, who is only 16 years old this year, carries the unique youthfulness and rashness of a teenager in his every move, and his emotions and anger are all evident in his expression.

At this time, Nagakura, who was sitting in the middle seat among the three people and had been pondering just now, suddenly said:

"Um...please excuse me."

Nagakura crossed his arms across his chest, looked at Kondo fearlessly with his eyes, and spoke in a calm voice.

"Introducing famous people into the sword hall to attract outsiders to join... Wouldn't it be a little too aboveboard to develop the sword hall with such a small trick?"

Hearing Nagakura's somewhat sharp question, Qingto, who was sitting in front of him, couldn't help but smile bitterly.

Although he had not worked with Nagakura and the others for a particularly long time, Qingto already had a certain grasp and understanding of the temperaments of his three subordinates.

Nagakura... can be summed up in one word - he has a very upright temperament, and is a bit stubborn and a bit stunned. He says whatever comes to mind and never talks about twists and turns. He is so outspoken that people often feel that he is a bit talkative.

No obstruction.

He is extremely disgusted with people or things that are not aboveboard. Whether fighting or doing other things, Nagakura likes to be upright and upright, so Nagakura's usual style of doing things... is "frontal and reckless".

Don't worry about it! Just face it head-on - this sentence perfectly sums up Nagakura's style of dealing with people.

And Nagakura's fighting style is also like this - don't worry about him! Just confront him head-on! Just keep slashing and it's over!

Although he was used to Nagakura's quick words, after hearing Nagakura direct such a sharp question to Kondo and the others who had just met him not long ago, Aomori couldn't help but smile helplessly.

Kondo was stunned when he heard Nagakura's question. Just when he was about to say something, Hijikata next to him took the lead and smiled:

"Nagakura-kun, you are wrong."

"This plan we have adopted to develop the sword hall happens to be the most aboveboard."

"Huh?" Nagakura's eyes widened and he cast doubtful gaze on Hijikata.

"Look, are we hiding this plan of ours?" Hijikata curled up his lips and spread his hands, "We invited you here openly, and then told you all about our plan without any concealment.

I’ll tell you everything.”

"We are openly inviting you. If you are willing to join our Trial Guard Hall, we will openly publicize it to the outside world in the future: Our Trial Guard Hall has successfully made several very powerful warriors join us willingly."

"Isn't this fair enough? Isn't this honest enough?"

Upon hearing Hijikata's explanation, Nagakura was stunned.

Then he lowered his head, raised his hand to hold his chin, and thought deeply, racking his brains to digest Hijikata's explanation just now.

Judging from his frown...he is having a hard time digesting it now.

Nagakura has a weakness, and that is his brain... not very smart.

I don’t know if it’s because he has such an upright temperament, but Nagakura’s brain is very dull and he doesn’t know how to think in a flexible way.

Nagakura's dull mind and rigid thinking are also one of the important reasons why he often acts simply and crudely, and is only head-on and rude.

At the same time, because he has a rigid mind and is not good at thinking, he is often easily fooled by others and easily persuaded.

As expected - after thinking seriously for a while, he nodded slightly in understanding: "Well... it seems to be true..."

Just when Nagakura's muttering finished——

"...I just want to specialize in my spear skills, so I don't need to be your disciple."

Harada, who had been silent until now, spoke up.

He crossed his legs casually, put his right elbow on his right leg, raised his right arm, supported his chin, and continued with a smile:

"But I would welcome you as a diner in your restaurant."

Harada's words immediately cheered up Kondo and the others.

Kondo asked in surprise: "Are you willing to join our trial gym as a diner?"

"I'll be provided with accommodation and food. I don't need to do any work. I just need to stay here as a 'diner of the Trial Guard Hall' - such a beautiful job, I can't think of any reason to refuse."

Harada grinned with a naive smile, stretched out his right index finger, and poked his head, "I don't like to use my brain."

"So I actually don't quite understand why you invited us to join the Trial Guard Hall."

"But it doesn't matter, as long as you can provide me with accommodation and food, then I am willing to be your diner!"

After speaking, Harada reached out and patted Nagakura's shoulder.

"Yongcang, you can stay here too."

"Aren't you saving money now so that you can save enough money to continue traveling around the world and carry out 'warrior training'?"

"Now is a good opportunity to save money."

“Being a diner here means you no longer need to spend money on accommodation, food and accommodation every day.”

“You can save a lot of money every day.”

Money——Hearing this word mentioned by Harada, Nagakura's expression changed slightly.

He pursed his lips, then crossed his arms to his chest again, lowered his head slightly, and once again seemed to be thinking.

Everyone present was not in a hurry, they were all quietly waiting for Nagakura, the only one who had yet to express his opinion, to think and answer.

The fast-talking Nagakura didn't keep everyone waiting too long.

In just a short moment, he quietly raised his gaze and secretly glanced at Qingdeng next to him with a subtle movement that no one noticed.

"...I understand." Nagakura let out a long breath, then put his hands on the tatami, leaned over and saluted Kondo opposite, "Then, I will cause you trouble!"

Hearing Nagakura's more tactful reply than Harada's, Kondo was subconsciously stunned for a moment, and then the expression on his face quickly changed to joy.

While he was overjoyed, Kondo couldn't help but feel surprised that he had so successfully persuaded Nagakura and Harada to join their trial camp.

Among those who were surprised by this was Qingdeng.

"Have you all thought about it?" Qingden turned his eyes and glanced back and forth at Nagakura and Harada.

"I've thought about it, I've thought about it." After a few silly laughs and a few vigorous shrugs of his shoulders, Harada replied without thinking, "If I have a place to live and something to eat, why wouldn't I do it."

"Anyway, my legs are longer than mine. If I feel uncomfortable eating here, I'll just leave as soon as possible."

Nagakura didn't talk as much as Harada.

He only nodded firmly towards Aomori, Kondo and the others.

…

…

Originally, it was just with the attitude of giving it a try that Qingto brought the three of Nagakura and invited them to "join the trial guard hall".

Unexpectedly, the invitation to them went so smoothly. Among the three, Nagakura and Harada both agreed to become part of the Trial Guard Hall as diners.

In order to welcome these two new members of the sword hall, Kondo decided to hold a lively celebration tonight.

For this reason, Kondo handed Okita a sum of money and asked Okita to buy more good wine and food while the market was still open.

As a core member of the Trial Guard Hall, Hijikata was naturally suggested by Kondo to stay at the Trial Guard Hall tonight to celebrate the joining of Nagakura and Harada with them.

But who would have thought - Hijikata actually said that he would not attend tonight's celebration.

"A Sheng, I won't attend this celebration. You guys should have fun tonight."

"Why?" Kondo asked in confusion, "Asui, do you have anything to do tonight?"

"...Indeed, there is something important to do." After saying that, Hijikata smiled intriguingly, then raised his hand and patted Kondo on the shoulder, "Akatsu, we successfully recruited celebrities. This is just the first time.
To be continued...