Chapter 4

Third person perspective.

At dawn, Ichigo Hitofuri stood at the door of the Saniwa. Before he could even knock, the door opened with a whoosh.

The Saniwa, who hadn't slept in today and had already washed up, stood at the doorway, looking up at the light blue-haired tsukumogami:

Good morning, Ichigo-san.

Ichigo Hitofuri smiled gently and said, "Good morning, Master."

Last night's wild thoughts were affecting Fuyuki's mood. After hesitating for a moment, she reached out her hands to the tsukumogami in front of her: "Can you hug me?"

Even though the young Saniwa tried her best to hide it, her expectant thoughts were still captured by the perceptive Tsukumogami.

Ichigo Hitofuri was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected that the Saniwa, who had only been intimate with Kashuu Kiyomitsu for the past few days, would express such a request that was almost like a child's whining.

Although such thoughts are somewhat rude, Ichigo Hitofuri finds such a Saniwa (master) adorable, just like his younger brothers.

"certainly."

Ichigo Hitofuri crouched down and steadily lifted Fuyuki into his arms.

Fuyuki instinctively hugged his neck, looking around with a sense of novelty. This was the first time she had ever experienced such a high vantage point.

Today's breakfast is soup dumplings. After learning that the Saniwa is a flower grower, Shokudaikiri Mitsutada consciously began to learn how to grow flowers and vegetables.

Soup dumplings are a simple and delicious food, and they are also very suitable for breakfast. The small dumplings look great, with thin skin. When you take a bite, the delicious soup flows into your mouth. The meat filling with soup is flavorful and has a rich meaty aroma.

After a pleasant breakfast, it was time to proceed with the routine of deployment and internal duties.

Fuyuki assigned Kashuu Kiyomitsu and Yamato no Kami Yasusada to the field. These two blades, one strong and one weak, along with Shokudaikiri Mitsutada, Soza Samonji, Sayo Samonji, and Ran Toushirou, brought the four blades together, resulting in a balanced combat strength.

After the head chef, Shokudaikiri, was assigned to the task, today's lunch was handed over to Kasen Kanesada.

This elegant Wenxi knife can also bring you an elegant lunch experience.

Fuyuki didn't spend her time idly like yesterday; instead, she led Ichigo Hitofuri and Kitsunenosuke toward the forging room.

A dozen minutes later.

Looking at the scrap material in front of him, a sign of a failed sword forging attempt, the young Saniwa fell silent.

She stared at the dark object in front of her for a long time before deciding to try again.

Fuyuki invested the minimum resources of all 50, applied an acceleration spell, and the shiny resources turned into black waste again. It seems that yesterday's Yamato no Kami Yasusada was still an exceptional performance by Fuyuki.

"Master Fuyuki."

It was Kitsune-no-suke who broke the eerie silence. Seeing Fuyuki's gaze shift over, he continued, "If you need to quickly increase the number of blades in your citadel, choosing to accept unclaimed swords is also a good option."

Ichigo Hitofuri couldn't help but frown: "Master has only been in office for a short time..."

He stopped talking as he thought about it.

The Saniwa (master) is essentially a second-hand Honmaru (main citadel), and taking over them means taking over unclaimed swords. Apart from Yamato no Kami Yasusada, there are no swords in the entire Honmaru forged by the Saniwa himself.

Fuyuki glanced back and forth between Kitsunenosuke, who bravely offered his advice, and Ichigo Hitofuri, who seemed hesitant to speak. She had learned about these things through the terminal beforehand, and the Saniwa's Handbook also explained this aspect.

As the political situation developed, one generation of Saniwa (masters of the underworld) took office, and another generation of Saniwa left office.

According to reliable statistics, the ratio of newly appointed Saniwa choosing to establish a new Honmaru to those without a master is approximately 3:7.

This led to the emergence of a large number of powerful unclaimed tsukumogami. The government was very troubled by the waste of these fighting forces, so they specially opened up a venue and launched the Saniwa-tsukumogami Exchange Conference.

Abbreviated as the Knife God Society.

It's also jokingly referred to as a matchmaking event on the forum.

After all, forming a contract when two people like each other is indeed somewhat similar to humans getting together when they like each other.

The ownerless spirits can find new masters there, and the Saniwa can also achieve certain goals through this, which is mutually beneficial.

Most of the tsukumogami that joined other citadels before 197 citadels followed this path.

She clenched her right fist and slammed it into her left palm, making a decision: "Then let's go. The citadel is really lacking in blades. It's not good for everyone to not get any rest every day. We should have a balance between work and rest."

"Ichigo-nii, come with me to take a look~" Fuyuki winked at Ichigo Hitofuri, stretched out her little hand to hold the hand of the tsukumogami that was lying beside her, shook it, and tried to act cute and charming.

First phase... Ni?

A certain blade struck the heart.

He tried to hide the smile he couldn't suppress, and lowered his head, saying, "Yes."

After passing through the teleportation array constructed by Kitsunenosuke, the man, his blade, and the fox arrived at their destination.

The site is very spacious; its area cannot be estimated by sight.

There are countless tsukumogami and Saniwa here, yet it doesn't feel crowded at all.

Each of the Saniwa dressed in various outfits was followed by a Tsukumogami (spirits), and there were also many Tsukumogami that were not with the Saniwa, some sitting, some standing, some walking, and some running.

In just a short while, Fuyuki had already seen several Ichigo Hitofuris. Startled, she quickly grabbed her own Ichigo Hitofuri, afraid that he would be lost and not be found.

Ichigo Hitofuri also became vigilant, as it would be bad if his own Saniwa got separated from him.

"Master, my apologies."

He then picked up the Saniwa who was leaning towards him.

Fuyuki was startled by the sudden increase in her field of vision, but quickly regained her composure. She gripped Ichigo Hitofuri's clothes, which broadened her field of vision and made it easier for her to observe the area.

There are many recreational facilities here, with plenty of food, drinks, and entertainment. Tables and chairs for conversation are everywhere, all equipped with soundproof barriers.

Fuyuki paused in her observation, tugged at the clothes in her hand, and pointed in a direction with her other hand: "Ichigo-nii, I want to go there."

Looking at Ichigo Hitofuri, it's a dessert shop with a soft pink exterior that's sure to attract the attention of girls and children.

Coincidentally, his Saniwa (master) was a little girl.

*

Thanks to the previous Saniwa's relentless efforts of "no work without stopping," resources such as charcoal, tamahagane, cooling materials, and whetstones were running low in the 197th Honmaru, but the koban (a unit of currency) were still plentiful.

To put it simply, it's enough for everyone in the citadel to eat and drink to their heart's content for three or four years and be wealthy enough.

However, the four materials used for forging and repairing swords are extremely scarce. The materials used in the past few days have come from the newcomer subsidies from the current government and from everyone's expeditions.

As the citadel can only muster one team to go into battle each day, even though everyone tries their best to avoid getting injured when they go into battle, it is the first time that they have gone into battle without any injuries like yesterday. On the second day, they were even urgently teleported back to the citadel because both of their blades were seriously injured at the same time.

The already meager resources of that citadel dwindled further, forcing the daily sword forging to be suspended. Only after the government sent over the day's allowance did the Saniwa forge a sword for the first time yesterday, adding the citadel's first new member.

Suddenly, Fuyuki felt a familiar sensation wash over her, and her thoughts of desserts were instantly suppressed, as if something had been shattered and exploded in her ears.

Fuyuki buried her face in Ichigo Hitofuri's arms, clutching his clothes tightly. She was a little scared. Even before they appeared in front of her, she knew it was... the Time Retrograde Army!

She would never mistake such a disgusting and terrifying feeling; she was forced to remember it vividly from their very first meeting.

At this moment, black vortexes filled the sky, with wisps of black mist swirling within them, and sharp blades could already be vaguely seen.

These spaces created by the government are sometimes detected by the Time Travel Army and attacked. Therefore, the manual mentions that when the Saniwa leaves the Honmaru, it is best to take at least one sword with them for the Saniwa's safety.

"The Time Travel Army?"

A cry of alarm rang out, and dark clouds swirled in the sky, growing ever stronger.

Everyone looked up at the vortex in the sky. The Tsukumogami gripped their swords tightly, ready to protect their masters or defeat the Time Travel Army that had found this place.

The Saniwa Tsukumogami Exchange Conference has no shortage of Tsukumogami as combat power.

Enemy blades kept emerging from the vortex.

Short sword, big sword, big sword, big sword!

As the number of swirling spirits traveling back in time increases, many of them are already locked in battle with the enemy, showing no fear despite their extensive experience.

Fuyuki was held tightly in Ichigo Hitofuri's arms, her whole body trembling. She was terrified; she couldn't control her trembling at the thought of the Time Retrograde Army that had almost killed her.

Ichigo Hitofuri could sense his young master's fear, so he tried to soothe him with his voice as gentle as possible: "Don't be afraid, Master, I'm here."

Ichigo Hitofuri, whose skill level wasn't particularly high to begin with, wouldn't have had too much trouble dealing with these endless streams of enemy blades, even if he couldn't handle them with ease. However, with one hand restricted while protecting the Saniwa, and more things to consider, he was finding it somewhat difficult.

But his master had only been in office for a few days and was still a child. He had not yet learned how to use spiritual power. Right now, he could only rely on the sweat that seeped from Ichigo Hitofuri's forehead. He dared not stop because he had to protect the master in his arms.

This feeling was strange, Fuyuki felt, this feeling of being cared for seemed familiar.

Dongshu took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Although she couldn't help trembling, she tried to think. In the past few days, she had carefully read and studied the spiritual power teaching section of the forum, which was something that the staff had repeatedly emphasized she must learn when she took office.

She remembered—

shield!

Golden spiritual energy suddenly spread out, sparkling and instantly condensing into a solid sphere, which perfectly blocked the attack of the enemy's short sword. The enemy's short sword was suddenly deflected and attacked again after the force was dissipated.

Although Ichigo Hitofuri was surprised by the Saniwa's learning ability, which exceeded his expectations, he quickly regained his composure and cut the enemy's short sword in half with a single strike.

Fuyuki was also somewhat surprised, not expecting that controlling spiritual energy was so simple, and she succeeded on her first try. But she was even more delighted by the power of the shield.

"Ichigo-nii, I can hold out for a long time with this shield, put me down..." Fuyuki quickly finished explaining her thoughts.

With everyone's concerted efforts, some of the Time Retrograde Army has been eliminated, and the area is now much safer. After hearing Fuyuki's words and confirming them, Ichigo Hitofuri loosened his grip slightly, allowing Fuyuki to land.

"Please be careful, Master. You must protect yourself."

Fuyuki nodded, her gaze falling on Ichigo Hitofuri's arm, where she noticed a long, bloody scratch.

Fuyuki felt a pang of pain in her heart. Since she could create a shield, then—she mobilized her spiritual power, and Ichigo Hitofuri, who was in a "damaged" state, quickly recovered.

—

Fuyuki erected a shield that could only encircle her alone. Most of the enemies were repelled by the blood-soaked katana, and the few that escaped were killed by the surrounding tsukumogami after being deflected by the shield.

At this moment, she could clearly see every enemy blade; every enemy knife was equally black, equally sharp, equally bloody, and equally aggressive.

...just like that short sword from back then.

Fuyuki saw not only Ichigo Hitofuri, but also other tsukumogami, who were fighting fiercely. Suddenly, an enemy blade attacked from behind while they were blocking another enemy blade.

"Ichigo-ni! Behind you!" Fuyuki was flustered by concern.

Ichigo Hitofuri reacted quickly, but he was still inevitably injured.

"Cough cough!" Ichigo Hitofuri couldn't help but cough twice. He raised his sword and attacked again, with the final, resolute intent of a last resort.

"I myself am not sure what kind of expression I have right now..."*

True sword, guaranteed kill!

The powerful attack was followed by shattered enemy blades, which turned into black fragments and dissipated into smoke.

—

The darkness dissipated, the swirling vortex overhead disappeared, and sunlight shone on everyone.

Fuyuki looked at the bright red liquid flowing from Ichigo Hitofuri's body; the blood had dried, but was still faintly visible.

She took Ichigo Hitofuri's hand and began to heal her wounds by channeling her spiritual power.

"First-generation nun, thank you for your hard work."

Ichigo Hitofuri smiled and shook his head. He felt the warm spiritual energy flowing through his body, and his wounds were slowly healed.

"You are my master, and protecting my master is what I should do."

Fuyuki smiled softly without saying a word. Her lips were pale and her face looked tired, but she still tried her best to put on a bright smile.

[Author's Note]

*Game Dialogue