I formed the strongest swordsman group.

Chapter 879: Entrust your dream! Obtain "Ten Thousand Steels"! [4500]

"A jet-black sheen... Miss Souji, other than that, does 'Wan Lian Gang' have any other characteristics?"

Although Souji was very surprised by Elodie's strange behavior, she did not think too much about it and answered truthfully:
"Hmm, let me think... Qing Deng seemed to have told me before that weapons forged with 'Ten Thousand Refined Steel' would be extremely tough and sharp, and even the 'Most Great Work' would be difficult to match."

"..."

Elodie remained silent, pursed her lips, and looked thoughtful.

Souji, whose curiosity was aroused, could not help but ask:
"Elody, what's wrong? Are you interested in 'Ten Thousand Steel Refining'?"

"..."

Elodie remained silent, with her head down, still immersed in her own world.

Seeing this, Souji didn't know what to say and could only wait quietly.

Fortunately, the other party did not make her wait too long.

Suddenly, Elodie raised her head abruptly, as if she had made up her mind, with a determined light flashing in her eyes.

"…Sorry, Ms. Souji, I have to excuse myself first!"

Before she finished her words, she stood up and ran towards the corridor in two steps, making a "dong dong" sound on the floor.

Souji sat there in a daze, staring at the blonde girl who was leaving so quickly, muttering:

"What's happening here……?"

……

……

Judi, Qingdeng's office——

At this moment, apart from Qing Deng, there was no one else in or outside the room.

Behind the desk, Qing Deng sat casually cross-legged, leaning on the elbow rest beside him, looking down at the letter in his hand with a frown on his face.

Recently, he and Tokugawa Iemochi have started to have particularly intensive correspondence.

A while ago, they worked hard on the issue of "military system reform" and finally reached a preliminary consensus.

Without waiting for a moment's rest, they immediately started the next important topic: "The Conquest of Choshu"!
As the saying goes, "It is better to use the remaining courage to pursue the enemy rather than to seek fame by imitating the tyrant."

After several consecutive wars, Choshu's national strength has declined significantly.

If we don't seize this opportunity to launch an attack, when will we?
Although it has been confirmed that the war will begin, when to start the Western Expedition and how to attack specifically remain to be discussed.

Regarding the timing of the attack, Qing Deng's opinion is to wait until the beginning of next spring to launch the offensive.

The reason is simple. The climate in spring is neither too cold nor too hot, the logistical pressure is relatively small, and the soldiers' physical condition is better.

However, Tokugawa Iemochi expressed a completely different opinion from Aoto.

He advocated officially launching the Western Expedition in the next month...that is, at the end of November!

To be honest, Qing Deng did not agree with his opinion.

Fighting troops in winter...the soldiers' warm clothing and the poor road conditions caused by windy and snowy days alone are a considerable logistical burden.

However, Tokugawa Iemochi's considerations were not groundless.

First of all, Choshu is now at its weakest.

Since we have decided to strike it dead while it is weak, it is natural that the sooner we send troops, the better.

If time is delayed too long, there is no guarantee that something unexpected will happen.

From this perspective, the best strategy is to send troops as quickly as possible and win a quick victory.

Furthermore, if we wait until the beginning of next spring to launch the expedition, "spring ploughing" will be a factor that we must consider.

As the saying goes, "A year's plan begins in spring."

Spring is the time when farmers plant new seedlings.

In this Western Expedition, the shogunate and the feudal domains will mobilize a massive army of 200,000!

In this case, it is necessary to mobilize a large number of civilians to carry out logistical work.

These laborers who were forced to transport grain were doing corvée labor and did not receive any wages.

Even if the shogunate and the feudal domains wanted to be kind and pay the wages obediently, their dilapidated finances could not support such horrific expenditures.

If more people go to transport grain, then there will definitely be fewer people farming in the fields.

As a result, next year's grain production is bound to fall sharply.

In the feudal era, a reduction in grain production was no small matter...if not handled properly it could lead to a big mess.

Although sending troops in winter will increase the logistical burden, the pressure is limited.

Japan is not Russia, and "General Winter" is not that scary. There is neither waist-deep snow nor horrific temperatures of dozens of degrees below zero.

Therefore, sending troops in winter is not an unwise move.

Looking through Japanese history, there are numerous precedents of sending troops in winter.

All in all, both of their arguments make sense.

In the end, Qing Deng agreed with Tokugawa Iemochi's proposal - to start the Western Expedition at the end of November this year!
After finalizing the attack time, the two began to discuss the next step: how to attack?
Such a complex issue cannot be effectively communicated through simple letters.

To this end, Tokugawa Iemochi invited Aoto: Tachibana-kun, please come back to Edo! Let's talk face to face!

The letter that Qing Deng is reading now is Tokugawa Iemochi's "invitation letter".

This was exactly what he wanted - Qing Deng really wanted to go back to Edo.

Firstly, it is necessary to discuss such an important military issue in detail face to face.

Secondly, it had been a long time since he last returned to Edo.

He could take this opportunity to go back and visit old friends such as Kondo Shusuke and Chiba Shigetaro.

At this moment, somehow, when the thought of "visiting old friends" flashed through Qing Deng's mind, he suddenly recalled the graceful figure of a widow...

——Your Highness Tianzhangyuan... Thinking carefully, it has been a long time since I last saw her...

Qing Deng thought to himself with a helpless smile on his face.

Then he let out a long sigh and put down the letter in his hand.

Then he leaned most of his weight on his elbows and relaxed his nerves.

His mental state has indeed not been very good recently.

The reason was that he was busy with so many things that he didn't even have time to breathe.

In addition to the "Choshu Conquest", there was another thing that made him frown.

That was Elodie's father.

Toranosuke Nitta was sent to follow and monitor Mahel - this happened several days ago.

Logically speaking, Nitta Toranosuke's "surveillance report" should have been delivered early in the morning.

However… as of today, Qingdeng has not received his report.

What this means is self-evident...

Toranosuke Nitta is one of the most elite ninjas in the 9th Division, and ordinary people can do nothing to him.

Even he had an accident... Elodie was right, Mael was indeed suspicious!

According to Elodie, Maher is just an ordinary person with good physical fitness, not a martial arts master with extraordinary skills.

In this case, the person who killed Nitta Toranosuke was most likely a bodyguard or something like that.

When he thought of this, Qing Deng became more concerned about Mael's real purpose of coming to Japan.

Losing an outstanding elite ninja for nothing... Although it was a pity, Qing Deng didn't have time to be sad.

He now only thinks about how to make amends, how to find Maher, and how to find out the truth behind it.

Just as Qing Deng was thinking to himself, a waiter's voice suddenly came from outside the door:
"My lord, the director wants to see you!"

Qing Deng couldn't help but look surprised when he heard this.

—Elody? Why is she here?

Although he was confused in his heart, he did not hesitate to speak:
"Let her in!"

"Yes!"

After a while, familiar footsteps reached Qingdeng's ears.

Wow—accompanied by the sound of the door being opened, the long light golden hair tied into a high ponytail for convenience of movement jumped into Qingdeng's eyes.

"Elodi, why did you come here suddenly?" Qing Deng asked while looking down into the other's arms.

I saw Elodie holding a huge bag, which looked very heavy and I didn't know what was in it.

At first, Qing Deng also thought about changing her real name to "Alice".

However, it was indeed quite difficult to ask him to suddenly change his name to "Elodie" after having called her that for so many years.

After getting the other party's promise of "Don't mind, you can call me whatever name you want", Qing Deng chose to keep everything as usual and continued to call her "Elodie".

Facing Qing Deng's question, Elodie smiled slightly:
"Master, it's nothing serious. I just... wanted to give you something."

"Send something?"

Upon hearing this, Qing Deng subconsciously looked at the big bag in his arms again.

"Master, do you still remember the dream I talked about a while ago?"

As Elodie spoke, she bent down, placed the large bundle in her arms on the ground in front of her knees, and then sat on the ground respectfully.

Qingdeng immediately said:
"'Live a free and chivalrous life like Robin Hood' - of course I remember it."

Elodie nodded.

"Yes."

"Although this dream was naive and far-fetched, I was very serious about it back then."

"Even to this day, I occasionally fantasize about being the second Robin Hood."

"Master, if I remember correctly, I should have told you that in order to fulfill my dream, I not only asked my father to arrange a few more swordsmanship classes for me, but also stole the special steel that has been passed down from generation to generation in my family, hoping to use it to forge a magical weapon that belongs only to me."

Having said that, Elodie reached out and slowly untied the big bundle in front of her knees.

“It is difficult to verify where this piece of steel came from.”

"All I know is that my family acquired this piece of steel a long time ago and regarded it as a precious family treasure, passed down from generation to generation."

"My father had no interest in it, so he just casually put it in the cabinet in the study, which gave me the opportunity to steal it secretly."

"My father probably still doesn't know that the family heirloom is in my hands."

"When I was very young, my grandfather often told me stories about this family heirloom by the fireplace."

"Although the contents of the story are all kinds of strange, there is one thing I always remember - weapons forged with this steel will have a jet-black luster! And they are extremely tough and sharp!"

"So, our family calls it 'Broken Steel', which means 'cutting steel and breaking iron'!"

When Qing Deng heard this, he could no longer remain calm and his facial expression was dominated by intense shock.

"Elodie, could it be that..."

Before he finished speaking, Elodie nodded in understanding and a smile appeared on her face.

"Although I'm not sure, I think our family's 'Broken Steel' is your 'Ten Thousand Refined Steel'!"

The moment she finished speaking, Elodie opened the bundle, and the object inside finally appeared - an irregular piece of iron.

At the same moment she opened the bundle, a dark halo lit up in the room - it was the luster of the iron block.

At first glance, it seems to be just a big black lump of iron.

But if you look closely, you can find that this block of iron has a faint pearl-like beautiful luster.

Even though Qing Deng knew nothing about materials science, he could tell at a glance that this iron was extraordinary!

Before Qing Deng recovered from his shock, Elodie continued:

"Master, I came here this time to entrust it to you."

She paused for a moment, then straightened her back and spoke seriously, word by word:
"Please use this steel to recast Vairocana's blade!"

The solemn expression, the serious tone...it can be seen that she is not joking, she is very serious.

Qing Deng looked at Elodi, then looked at the "broken steel" in front of his knees, and the shock on his face gradually subsided.

"...Elody, I appreciate your kindness. But I cannot accept this."

As he spoke, he shook his head solemnly.

"This is your family's heirloom. How can I steal it?"

"Besides... aren't you planning to use this steel to forge a magical weapon that belongs to you alone?"

"In this case, I can't accept it."

Elodie didn't seem surprised by Qingdeng's reply.

She just smiled:
"Master, you don't have to be polite."

"Indeed, this item is indeed our family's treasure, and I do intend to use it to forge a magical weapon that belongs to me alone."

"But since I am my father's only daughter, I will inherit all the family property sooner or later."

"In that case, how I use this family treasure depends entirely on my personal preference."

"I'm just using my wealth early."

Having said this, she stuck out her tongue playfully, with a cunning look on her face.

"As I get older, I've come to terms with reality."

"With my abilities, I can never be Robin Hood."

"Compared to wielding swords and sabers, fiddling with an abacus is more suitable for me."

"I'm not a talented warrior like Miss Souji and Miss Sanako. I'm just an ordinary person with a little talent."

"It's such a waste for a mortal like me to use such divine steel."

"A good knife deserves its owner, and so does good steel."

"It is better to give up a precious pearl generously than to let it be covered in dust."

"In other words, I am not giving it as a gift, but entrusting it to you."

"Master, I now entrust my dream to you!"

"Please use this steel to forge a sword that is unrivaled in the world. Then you can become a knight who is feared by all and will be remembered for eternity. This will help me fulfill my unfulfilled dream!"

After saying that, Elodie bowed solemnly and gracefully, and pushed the black steel in front of her knees forward towards Qingdeng.

Qing Deng opened his mouth, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

He wanted to say something else, but after hearing what Elodie had just said and seeing her expression, the words that were about to come out of his mouth fell back into his stomach.

If Elodi is not wrong, then this piece of "broken steel" is very likely to be "Wanlian Steel".

The "Wanlian Steel" that he had been searching for for a long time but could not find actually appeared before him in this way... To be honest, Qing Deng had a sense of illusion that he was "trapped in a dream".

However, he was not surprised by such unexpected developments.

In the real world, no matter how absurd the things are, they can happen.

At this moment, he felt Elodie's unshakable determination.

Especially after she said the words "entrust your dreams to me", Qing Deng could only give one answer -

"……I see."

Qing Deng sat solemnly, nodded solemnly, then bowed in return, and spoke loudly, word by word:
"'Broken Steel', I'll take it!"

……

……

The person who knows the most about swords and steel around Qing Deng is undoubtedly Mr. Kiryu, who comes from the Yamada Asaemon family.

After the battle with Bannya, Boss Kiryu, who was seriously injured, did not return to Osaka, but recuperated in a villa in the western suburbs of Kyoto.

In order to verify whether "Broken Steel" is "Wanlian Steel", Qing Deng hurriedly rode the ox to the house of Mr. Kiryu.

As soon as he saw the other party, he directly took out the "Broken Steel" to show him.

It would have been fine if he hadn't looked at it, but when he did, Boss Kiryu's eyeballs almost rolled out of their sockets.

Qing Deng asked:
"Boss Kiryu, how is it? Is this 'Ten Thousand Steel'?"

Boss Kiryu was silent for a moment, then said quietly:

"Tachibana-kun, this is troublesome... This steel is too perfect. I'm afraid no swordsmith can handle it nowadays...!"

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