His two eyes were staring straight at Chiba Eijiro.

Next to him, Harada, who usually looked silly and naive, had a rare serious look on his face at this time, looking at Eijiro Chiba with interest.

It was the first time for Nagakura and Harada to see the famous "Chiba" with their own eyes. This big star in the Japanese swordsmanship world was sitting in front of them. It was difficult for them to stay calm.

Aoto and Saito had already met Chiba Eijiro in previous sword competitions, so compared to Nagakura and Harada, Aoto and the others were much calmer.

Chiba Eijiro picked up the tea that Abi had just handed him, took a careful sip, and then raised his eyebrows.

"Good tea... Madam, your tea-making skills seem to have improved a lot."

"You are so complimentary." Abi held the tea tray in front of him and smiled politely.

"Hahaha, I don't think I'm being ridiculous." Chiba Eijiro took a few more sips of tea, then put down the teacup, raised his gaze, and looked at Nagakura and the others.

"Mr. Zhouzhu, in a while, there will be many unfamiliar faces in your hotel... Who are these?"

Chiba Eijiro and Saito met once at the Aizu Hou Swordsman Competition that just ended, so he knew Saito, but he had never met Nagakura and Harada.

"Oops, I almost forgot to introduce."

Zhousuke turned his upper body and pointed at Nagakura and others.

"Eijiro, let me introduce you."

"This is Nagakura Shinpachi, and this is Harada Sanosuke. These two are currently patrons of my trial guard hall, and both of them are also Okabiki under Tachibana-kun."

"First meeting! I am Nagakura Shinpachi!" As soon as Shusuke finished speaking, Nagakura put his fisted hands on the tatami, bent his upper body, and saluted Chiba Eijiro respectfully.

"First time we meet, I am Harada Sanosuke." Harada followed Nagakura and bowed his head to Chiba Eijiro.

"Well, hello." Chiba Eijiro nodded to Nagakura and Harada, then showed a calm smile without any pretensions, "You don't have to be so reserved and polite, please raise your head quickly, you are too polite.

His polite appearance makes me feel a little uncomfortable."

Under Chiba Eijiro's half-joking urging, Nagakura and Harada slowly straightened their waists that had been bent to bow to Chiba Eijiro.

Shusuke, who had helped Chiba Eijiro get to know Nagakura and Harada, raised his hand with a smile and rubbed his bare chin.

"Eijiro, if you think about it carefully... it's true that you haven't been to our place for a long time."

"Are you the only one here today?"

"Well, yes." Chiba Eijiro smiled slightly, "Because it was an impromptu visit to 'avoid guests,' so I didn't bring any relatives, friends or entourage."

"'Avoiding guests'?" Zhou Zhu's snow-white eyebrows raised slightly.

There was a hint of bitterness in the smile on Chiba Eijiro's face: "After I returned to Edo, the guests who wanted to see me and the warriors who wanted to challenge me almost destroyed the Xuanbu Hall door.

"

"If it's normal times, that's fine."

"But today is the annual Dragon Boat Festival, and I don't want to be disturbed by those who visit during the festival."

"So this morning after saying hello to my family, I went out alone, planning to return to the Xuanwu Hall after dark."

"My original intention was to find a place where no one would disturb me and have a good cleansing."

"Then I suddenly remembered: I haven't visited your hotel for a long time."

Chiba Eijiro smiled and spread his hands.

"So - I'm here."

"I've taken the liberty of visiting, and I'd like to invite Haihan."

Chiba Eijiro used a very relaxed posture throughout.

He did not tense up his body in a restrained manner, nor did he say any polite polite words. He simply and straightforwardly explained the reason for his sudden visit to the Trial Guard Hall.

"Hohoho, that's it." As soon as Chiba Eijiro finished speaking, Zhousuke smiled and nodded slightly.

——Avoid those who come to the door...

Qingdeng said to himself, while showing an expression of "Ah, I understand it very well."

Eijiro Chiba was born in the Chiba family, "the most famous family in the martial arts world", and he himself was a well-known warrior with honorary titles such as "Chiba of Skills" and "The Strongest Swordsman in Edo".

As long as he has a good family background and strength, there are naturally countless people who want to curry favor with him or challenge him.

Qingdeng can relate to this feeling of being "disturbed by visitors" - because he has recently encountered people who want to visit him frequently.

After Aonto won the swordsmanship competition held by Lord Aizu, his already famous reputation in Edo grew again.

Many people came to the Imperial Examination Center and even the Northern Bureau to see with their own eyes what this young man who had appeared in public view almost every once in a while in recent months looked like.

Some people really just come to see what Qingdeng looks like.

But more people actually want to curry favor with Qingdeng.

Although the number of people who came to visit Qingdeng was not particularly large, it still made Qingdeng feel quite troubled. After all, these people had already had a certain impact on Qingdeng's daily life.

Just when Aoto was feeling empathetic to Chiba Eijiro's words just now, Shusuke then said to Chiba Eijiro with a smile:

"Eijiro, you came at the right time today. We make rice dumplings every Dragon Boat Festival at the Imperial Guard House, and the rice dumplings made by my wife are excellent. You must try them later."

Chiba Eijiro laughed a few times with "haha": "In that case, I will have a good taste of it later!"

Having said this, Chiba Eijiro suddenly paused.

After a moment of silence, he said quietly:

"In addition to avoiding those annoying guys and taking advantage of the opportunity to visit your hotel in the long future, there is actually another reason why I came here suddenly today..."

"I'm here for Mr. Tachibana."
Chapter completed!