Why were these sisters here? Yamabuki felt a bit confused, but after a brief thought, he understood.
It was normal for great noble families to visit each other.
Many noble families were connected by marriage, and their relationships were as intricate as a spider web.
He decided it was best not to get involved in their struggles.
"Instructor, look, it's Chizuru! Should we go up and say hello?" a squad member said with some excitement.
As one of only two female members in the current Gotei 13, and being young and beautiful, Chizuru was naturally popular among many boys.
What? You mean Saitō Furōfushi? How can that creature be called a girl? That's just a terrifying creature that resembles a girl.
"Say hello to your head! Don't forget we still have a mission!
Besides, didn't you see they're busy? You have no sense! You guys go back first and report what happened in Rukongai to the Captain Commander.
I'll go check on Chizuru's injuries," Yamabuki said indifferently.
These squad members, including Chōjirō Sasakibe, were speechless. This must be what they call a hypocrite, right?
Yamabuki did not go directly to greet Chizuru and Batsu'unsai Katori, but instead secretly observed the sisters.
According to the historical progression of the Gotei 13, Batsu'unsai Katori would definitely join the Gotei 13.
However, this girl was very resistant to joining the Gotei 13 right now, so he needed to find the reason and resolve her inner conflict.
Chōjirō Sasakibe asked curiously, "Yamabuki, why are you secretly watching them? Aren't you going to say hello? Is this... peeking? Are you a pervert?"
Yamabuki said with a serious expression, "Sasakibe, today I'm going to tell you a truth: men are inherently perverted.
You are too!"
Don't drag me into this! You're the one secretly watching the young girl here, aren't you? Why do you have to drag someone down with you when you're about to die?
You're really unreliable, aren't you!
"Didn't I give you a mission? Hurry back and tell the Captain Commander what we saw in Caolu District. Go, go, go! Don't delay my important business!" Yamabuki said.
His 'important business' was, of course, figuring out how to get Batsu'unsai Katori to join the Gotei 13, but Chōjirō Sasakibe completely misunderstood Yamabuki's meaning.
Peeking at beautiful women with such righteous indignation, truly worthy of being our role model.
The head of the Shiba Family was a middle-aged man whom he had met once at Central 46.
He was very casual and a very good person.
Compared to other noble families, the Shiba Family was simply a breath of fresh air.
They had lived in Rukongai for generations, never intermarrying, upholding justice, and were the first to stand up when Soul Society was in trouble, a family of loyal martyrs.
The Tsunayashiro Family, fearing the Soul King's power, constantly dismembered the Soul King, hollowing out his internal organs, and casting his weakened power into the lower realms.
The Shiba Family had always opposed this behavior of the Tsunayashiro Family.
They even developed a secret technique that could temporarily elevate a Shinigami's power to the Soul King's level, alleviating the Soul King's suffering (whether this was Mugetsu or not is unknown).
Unfortunately, the distance between them was too great, and Yamabuki couldn't hear what they were saying.
Batsu'unsai Katori's strength was equal to or greater than his current self, and getting too close might lead to discovery, which would be too awkward to explain.
The Shiba Family Head had a casual demeanor, while Batsu'unsai Katori and her sister Chizuru maintained the elegant appearance of noble ladies.
After a few words, they bid farewell, and Batsu'unsai Katori and her sister took a carriage, preparing to return to Seireitei.
Yamabuki followed from a distance, looking for an opportunity to get close to Batsu'unsai Katori.
As the saying goes, 'it's not the thief you fear, but the thief who covets.' Bah, I'm not a thief; I'm making a great contribution to the Gotei 13.
This place was still some distance from Seireitei, and the road wasn't exactly peaceful.
One often saw thugs and samurai robbing and looting, wandering the streets.
The sole purpose of these people's existence was to maintain the balance of the Three Realms, so in the past, neither the nobles nor the Soul King Palace bothered with them.
In fact, when the Three Realms became unbalanced, the nobles would even kill a group of commoners to achieve the goal of Three Realms balance.
This was unavoidable; order does not necessarily mean justice.
Chizuru held a box in her hands, seemingly a gift from the Shiba Family.
Chizuru leaned in and sniffed gently with her small nose, detecting a sweet fragrance.
"Sister, I bet there are pastries inside the box. Let's open it and see!" Chizuru said with curiosity.
Before Batsu'unsai Katori could stop her, Chizuru had already opened the exquisite box lid, revealing very delicate pastries inside.
"It's white sugar cake!" Chizuru's eyes lit up.
In this era of low productivity, refined white sugar and salt were extremely expensive, and ordinary people couldn't afford them at all.
Batsu'unsai Katori didn't blame her sister; she just smiled dotingly.
Her own life was destined to be spent in suppression, so she hoped her sister could live a happy life, free and unrestrained, doing as she pleased.
Chizuru bit into a piece of white sugar cake; it was sweet and delicious.
Batsu'unsai Katori helped her sister wipe the white sugar from the corner of her mouth.
"Sister, do you want to try some too?" Chizuru said.
Just as Batsu'unsai Katori picked up a piece of white sugar cake, the carriage suddenly stopped abruptly, and the white sugar cake in Batsu'unsai Katori's hand fell to the ground.
"What happened?" Batsu'unsai Katori's voice was still gentle, and she didn't blame the coachman.
The coachman said nervously, "Mistress, it's not good, someone is blocking the road ahead, what should we do?"
Batsu'unsai Katori gently parted the curtain and found that their carriage was surrounded by bandits, and there were quite a few of them, twenty or thirty people.
This place was quite far from Seireitei, so calling for help would probably be too late.
These bandits continuously struck the carriage with wooden sticks and scabbards, making threatening shouts.
"People in the carriage, hand over all your food and money! Otherwise, don't think you'll get past so easily," the bandit leader shouted.
The coachman was very nervous, gripping his sword hilt and shouting, "Arrogant! Do you know whose carriage this is?"
Chizuru was also a bit nervous, but she had gone out to visit today and hadn't brought any weapons with her.
Moreover, she had just recovered from a serious illness and might not be able to defeat so many desperate outlaws.
Batsu'unsai Katori sighed softly, "Tell them to clear the way, give them some money!"
With that, Batsu'unsai Katori stepped out of the carriage, unfastened her money pouch, and handed it over.
By its weight, the money pouch contained a good amount of money, but these bandits didn't take it.
Instead, they stared at Batsu'unsai Katori, dumbfounded.
"It's a noble girl! I've decided, I want the money, and I want the person too! Hahaha!" The bandit laughed obscenely.
He completely failed to notice the white light glinting on Batsu'unsai Katori's glasses.
....
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