My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 320 - 130: Mukiwa’s Request: Teaming Up Against the Man-Slayer Group

After a moment, Mukiwa, still waiting for Aoto’s response, awkwardly laughed and quietly lowered her arms and right leg.

"Mr. Tachibana, your reaction is so calm... I thought I’d see some interesting response from you..."

"Ah, sorry... Actually, I’m very surprised inside, but I just don’t know what to say at the moment..."

Mukiwa’s recent actions had added many more question marks to Aoto’s mind...

Aoto took several deep breaths to steady himself.

"Miss Kinoshita, doesn’t it feel uncomfortable to speak with such a thick face mask on? Since it’s just the two of us here, why not take it off?"

Saying that, Aoto reached out to remove Mukiwa’s mask.

Seeing Aoto’s approaching hand, the expression under Mukiwa’s mask changed dramatically.

"Don’t take off my mask!" Mukiwa hurriedly raised her hands to cover the mask on her face, then quickly stepped back two steps, "Without the mask, I wouldn’t dare to speak loudly like just now."

——So you’re the kind that lets loose as long as your face is covered!

Aoto carefully recalled every scene and moment after reuniting with Mukiwa in this alley——indeed, Mukiwa standing in front of him now seemed much more cheerful than the Mukiwa in his memory.

Whether it was her tone of voice, her expression, or her actions, she seemed more lively, entirely different from the usual image of being shy and introverted.

Since Mukiwa didn’t want to remove the mask, Aoto didn’t insist.

Aoto silently let out a long breath, then lowered his head, raised his right hand, and pressed and rubbed the middle of his brows with the second knuckle of his right index finger.

Aoto intended to sort out his chaotic thoughts and organize the current information.

However... because Aoto lowered his head, his gaze lowered as well.

And his lowered gaze... just happened to sweep over Mukiwa’s chest, who was half a head shorter than him...

Because of the loose clothing, Mukiwa’s chest, which was remarkably outstanding among her peers, did not show its presence as it should.

As his gaze swept over Mukiwa’s chest, concealed by loose clothing, the skin on Aoto’s right arm instantly "remembered" the peculiar sensation it encountered on his forearm when he tried to restrain Mukiwa in Shiwei Hall earlier.

At that time, Aoto didn’t know what soft, bouncy, heavy object resembling a well-filled water bag his right arm had touched.

Now, with this memory resurfacing in Aoto’s mind, he finally understood what he had touched on Mukiwa back then...

Aoto’s expression visibly turned strange.

In neither his previous life where he never dated a girl, nor in the current life, had Aoto ever touched such private parts of a girl.

Shame, awkwardness... all sorts of emotions began to surge in Aoto’s heart.

And just then, Aoto suddenly remembered something...

——Miss Kinoshita is the Cat Monk...

——So that means... I copied the "Milk" talent from Miss Kinoshita back then...

Thinking this, Aoto couldn’t help but glance a few more times at that part of Mukiwa.

The introduction of the "Milk" talent kept replaying in Aoto’s mind uncontrollably and wouldn’t stop.

This continually replaying talent introduction made Aoto’s expression more and more peculiar.

At this moment, Mukiwa noticed Aoto staring straight at her chest and his strange expression.

Like Aoto, she recalled the scenes that occurred in Shiwei Hall earlier.

Due to the mask, Aoto didn’t see—Mukiwa’s face was now turning red and hot at a tremendous speed.

She involuntarily pulled her shoulders inward slightly, hunching over, and turned her body slightly, with her right shoulder facing Aoto.

Realizing how impolite it was to stare at Mukiwa’s chest, Aoto quickly diverted his gaze and then coughed a few times to cover his embarrassment.

"Miss Kinoshita, um... I’m really sorry about what happened in Shiwei Hall..."

"It’s okay..." Mukiwa murmured, "I understand..."

The atmosphere between them at this moment... was indescribably awkward.

To alleviate the suffocating awkwardness around them and to swiftly get answers to the heap of questions in his mind, Aoto, after a brief silence, coughed lightly again, then regrouped and looked squarely at Mukiwa, his face stern.

"Miss Kinoshita, I have a mountain of questions I want to ask you one by one."

"Firstly — can you tell me why you became the Phantom Thief, causing such a commotion in Edo?"

Upon hearing Aoto’s question, Mukiwa was initially stunned, then chuckled dryly:

"Haha... asking such a serious question right off the bat..."

"Why become the Phantom Thief..."

After softly repeating Aoto’s question, Mukiwa pressed her lips together and remained silent for a moment.

"Actually, the reason is not complicated."

"It’s just simply to punish the wicked and help the good, lending a hand to the powerless and impoverished people."

"Since I was a child, I’ve always heard various heroic stories from my grandmother, Uncle Ting from the town, and Auntie Ting."

Mukiwa’s brow revealed a nostalgic look.

"For instance, ’the greatest warrior of the Warring States Period,’ Sanada Yukimura, leading a Cavalry Team in the Battle of Osaka (Summer), almost capturing Tokugawa Ieyasu’s head while trying to save the collapsing Toyotomi Clan."