My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 319 - 130: Mukiwa’s Request: Teaming Up Against the Man-Slayer Group

Chokata also carried a sword like Kondo and the others—though with his hair all messy from sleep, he still seemed a bit not fully awake.

With traces of drool at the corner of his mouth, he staggered and swayed with zigzagging steps, appearing as if he could barely control his own body.

"Bang"—his head hit solidly against the door frame on one side of the corridor.

Though he was still in a sleepy, dazed state, his pace with Kondo and the others charging into the dojo wasn’t slow at all.

He raised his hand, rubbing the red mark on his forehead from the bump, while hastily keeping up with Kondo and the others.

Kyūbē also came, clutching his pillow tightly, trailing behind everyone else.

"Mr. Tachibana, what’s going on?" Zhouzhu, who rushed into the dojo first, surveyed the surroundings with a solemn expression, "We just heard you shouting ’Who’s there,’ did some thief break into Shiwei Hall?"

"Uh..." Aoto, after subtly twitching the corners of his mouth a few times, pondered how to fool Kondo and the others. An idea struck him—

"Master, sorry to have startled you all."

Aoto chuckled a few times apologetically.

"There’s no thief, I made a mistake."

"I was just stretching my muscles when I suddenly saw a shadow flicker past the window."

Aoto nodded towards a window nearby.

"I thought it might be a thief, so I shouted ’Who’s there.’

"After running over to check outside the window, I realized I was wrong—it wasn’t a thief, just a... very large black cat."

—I wasn’t exactly lying.

After speaking, Aoto added silently to himself.

He truly wasn’t lying.

From another perspective... he indeed wasn’t completely lying.

He had actually encountered a "black cat" just now.

"Cat?" Zhouzhu raised an eyebrow in surprise.

"Yes." Aoto nodded decisively, "it was just a cat."

Bursting into the dojo aggressively, only to find it was a false alarm—Kondo and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

Kondo and the group asked Aoto some more questions, but all were refuted by Aoto’s firm insistence that "nothing happened, it was just a misunderstanding."

Seeing that nothing serious seemed to have occurred, Kondo and the others had no choice but to disperse.

After finally muddling through and watching Kondo and the others file out through the corridors, Aoto quietly revealed a relieved expression and let out a long breath.

Next, Aoto turned his head with a complex gaze, looking towards the direction of the ramen shop east of Shiwei Hall...

...

...

The ramen shop not far east of Shiwei Hall is called "Erle Ramen," and since it is close to Shiwei Hall, Aoto occasionally visits this ramen shop, so he naturally remembers the "alley behind the ramen shop east of Shiwei Hall" that Mukiwa mentioned earlier.

After sending Kondo and the others back to sleep, Aoto quietly changed his shoes and slipped out of Shiwei Hall, heading straight for the alley behind Erle Ramen.

As soon as he darted into the alley, Aoto found the person he was looking for.

With a black mask pulled up again, covering her face below the eyes, Mukiwa squatted with her arms around her knees at the deepest part of this damp alley.

She rested her chin on her rounded knee, lowering her head, seemingly observing something.

With his Cat’s Eye innate ability and strong night vision, Aoto glanced around—Mukiwa was watching a line of ants on the ground carrying food.

Upon catching sight of Aoto striding in from the alley entrance, Mukiwa quickly stood up, then took three steps in two strides to greet Aoto.

"Mr. Tachibana," she said, "you came much faster than I expected."

"..." Aoto instinctively wanted to greet Mukiwa.

But after opening his mouth, he found he couldn’t utter a single word.

Honestly... he still felt like he was floating in midair, stepping on fluffy clouds—an unreal, intangible sensation.

That famous Great Thief Cat Monk... turned out to be his well-acquainted friend Mukiwa...

Aoto didn’t even know what words to use or how to express his current emotions.

This kind of thing... had he not seen with his own eyes that the face behind the black mask was indeed Mukiwa’s, he wouldn’t dare believe it was true.

Mukiwa noticed the odd expression on Aoto’s face.

As if she had predicted Aoto’s reaction, she placed her hands on her hips and laughed a few times.

"Mr. Tachibana, you seem very surprised."

"Though it’s normal for you to feel stunned."

Speaking with a tone of pride, Mukiwa suddenly straightened her back, then began a peculiar little performance like a famous detective about to showcase his brilliant deductions to the public.

"That’s right!"

"Just like what you saw earlier!"

"Outwardly, an unremarkable worker named Mukiwa at the job agency."

"But her true identity is the Great Thief, Cat Monk, who strikes fear into countless villains!"

As she shouted the final sentence, Mukiwa bent her right leg upwards, standing in a Golden Chicken Stance, then spread out her hands into a palm shape, palms up, and raised both arms high.

Quiet...

After Mukiwa’s voice faded, the secluded alley instantly became exceptionally silent.

"..." Aoto watched Mukiwa maintaining this bizarre stance with slightly parted lips, not knowing what expression to adopt or what to say.