I, Yorii Tsugikuni, Must Do Something

"So, Yorii brought me back yesterday?"

"A girl's home isn't a place you can just barge into, but with Yorii, I suppose it's not impossible."

After getting dressed, and putting on her shoes, Sayo, who was usually a whirlwind of activity, stopped in front of the mirror in her home.

She rarely paid attention to her hairstyle or the wrinkles in her clothes.

"Woof woof woof..."

Kobi had half its body already at the doorway. It looked back at Sayo, its expression one of stunned disbelief, as if to say, "Something's not right with you."

After dawdling for a while longer, Sayo finally left the house with Kobi.

Imperial Capital Security Force.

Though it wasn't early, not many people from the Security Force had arrived.

In the courtyard.

Yorii Tsugikuni was teaching Sayo and Ieyasu swordsmanship.

Compared to yesterday, the two of them had clearly improved a lot.

Tatsumi was also there, but he was already packing his things, preparing to leave.

"Goodbye, Master. I'm heading off now."

"See you tomorrow."

Because he had to rush to Aria's family's manor, Tatsumi naturally had to leave early.

He said goodbye to Yorii and the other two.

"See you tomorrow."

Yorii Tsugikuni nodded at Tatsumi.

After a morning of instruction, he could tell that Tatsumi's aptitude for swordsmanship was clearly a bit stronger than Sayo's and Ieyasu's.

In a short amount of time, he had grasped many of the essentials.

"I'm late."

"I drank a bit too much last night and just woke up."

Sayo, with Kobi, approached from a distance, calling out greetings to Yorii and the others from afar.

"This is breakfast for you, Yorii."

"Sayo and Ieyasu get some too."

Sayo opened a small food container, revealing three portions of breakfast inside.

Hearing Sayo, Kobi gave her another look of disbelief.

"Thank you, Sayo-neechan."

"I was just hungry after practicing my sword. This breakfast looks delicious."

Sayo took the food Sayo handed her, looking ravenous.

However, she was also a bit confused. During her days at the Security Force, she had heard from some of the older members that Sayo was a violent person.

But now, having spent time with her, she hadn't felt Sayo was violent at all.

"Thank you, that's very thoughtful."

Yorii Tsugikuni nodded, looking at the breakfast Sayo handed him.

Opening the lunchbox, he could clearly see that while the three boxes contained the same food, his portion had an extra egg compared to Sayo's and Ieyasu's.

However, Yorii Tsugikuni didn't think too much of it. He simply assumed it was Sayo's extra expression of gratitude for him walking her home yesterday.

"I'm late today."

"I'll have to ask you for swordsmanship pointers tomorrow then."

Chapter 31: Tracking Night Raid

In the small pavilion by the courtyard.

Sayo sat down on the long bench next to Yorii Tsugikuni.

There was a lot to do at the Security Force, especially with a pile of cases that had been accumulating and needed to be resolved. She would be heading off to deal with these matters next.

"Whenever you have time."

"If nothing unexpected happens, I'll be practicing here with Sayo and the others for the foreseeable future."

Yorii Tsugikuni ate slowly. He had no intention of keeping his swordsmanship and breathing techniques secret.

Of course, Yorii Tsugikuni didn't teach everyone.

He also had his own principles for choosing disciples.

Although he hadn't known Sayo for long, Yorii Tsugikuni had come to respect her.

This was why he was willing to teach Sayo.

"Oh, right, everyone take a look at this."

"These people are all members of Night Raid; they're wanted criminals by the Empire."

Sayo took out several wanted posters and handed them to Yorii Tsugikuni and the others.

Unfolding the posters, Sayo briefly explained, "These are the known members of Night Raid. Their organization likely has more members than just these few."

Because of what happened yesterday, Sayo was now certain that Night Raid was responsible.

Therefore, she began to focus her attention on tracking them down.

The Imperial Capital had a complex mix of powers, but if one were to talk about the strongest underground organization, it would undoubtedly be Night Raid.

Unlike other organizations that lacked combat power, Night Raid members, due to their control over numerous Teigu, were each like Teigu Users.

In fact, within the entire Security Force, besides herself, no one else stood a chance against Night Raid.

This was something Sayo found quite troubling.

However, with Yorii Tsugikuni's addition, the Security Force's combat strength had undoubtedly increased significantly compared to before.

"Of course, if you encounter any of these people, just fire a signal flare for backup."

"Their combat strength is not something ordinary people can compare to."

Although Sayo deeply detested the members of Night Raid, she wasn't blinded by hatred.

She clearly understood how powerful those individuals were; even when she fought them, she did so with the mindset of facing certain death.

"They actually possess Teigu."

"Back in the village, I heard that Teigu Users could even split mountains and crack the earth."

Ieyasu, flipping through the wanted posters, couldn't help but shrink back.

While he was indeed much stronger than an ordinary person, in the face of a Teigu User, his so-called strength was utterly insignificant.

Thinking this, he finally understood the immense danger he might face from now on.

"They are indeed very strong."

"But I believe justice will prevail."

Sayo didn't pay much mind to Ieyasu's fearful expression.

In reality, within the entire Security Force, besides herself who was constantly tracking Night Raid, the others would generally stay as far away as possible unless summoned.

Since it was already noon, after some consideration, Sayo decided to take her newly formed squad out on patrol that evening.

Her objective was simple: to find any trace of Night Raid.

Time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, three days went by.

During these three days, Sayo and the other three went out on patrol every night.

But unfortunately, they had no success.

Night Raid seemed to have vanished, leaving no sign of their activities.

"Looks like we won't have any luck today either."

"Let's head home early. We'll practice sword fighting together tomorrow."

On the dimly lit street, Sayo bid farewell to Yorii Tsugikuni and the others.

After days of no progress, she was feeling a bit disheartened.

"Goodbye, Sayo-neechan."

"I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow, Sayo-neechan."

Sayo waved goodbye to Sayo. After a few days of working together, as fellow girls, Sayo and Sayo had quickly grown closer.

They had now become good friends.

"I'm so tired, my legs feel like they aren't mine anymore."

"I wonder when we'll finally find those elusive guys."

Ieyasu sounded weary. To help them adapt to the Breathing Techniques sooner, Yorii Tsugikuni had increased their training load over the past few days.

After training, they still had to go on patrol, which was overwhelming for Ieyasu, who hadn't grasped the essence of the Breathing Techniques yet.

Sayo, who was training with Yorii Tsugikuni alongside him, was different.

Having already grasped some of the core principles of Water Breathing, Sayo found her training much easier now.

Moreover, with the aid of the Breathing Techniques, her body had become stronger and her stamina greatly improved, making her appear much more energetic.

"Once you've mastered Water Breathing, you'll be fine."

"But if we run into those guys, we'll probably just have to call for backup."

Sayo patted Ieyasu's shoulder, trying to cheer him up.

Before, she had only heard that Teigu Users were incredibly powerful. But after Sayo witnessed it firsthand a few mornings ago, she finally understood.

Ordinary people like them stood no chance against a Teigu User.

Of course, in Sayo's opinion, Yorii Tsugikuni would be somewhat better off than them, but she had no idea how he would fare against a Teigu User.

"I will definitely learn Water Breathing."

"I just wasn't taking it seriously before."

Watching Sayo, who used to be significantly weaker than him, gradually grasp the uses of Breathing Techniques.

Ieyasu decided to get serious.

Although learning Breathing Techniques carried the risk of a shortened lifespan, he found that a shorter life was more acceptable than being killed due to a lack of strength.

"I wonder if Tatsumi came back today."

Because Tatsumi was serving as a bodyguard at Aria's residence, he had been returning very infrequently lately.

Most of the time, he stayed at Aria's estate.

As he slowly walked back, Ieyasu realized he hadn't seen Tatsumi in days.

"Don't worry."

"Didn't he say last time that he'd come back once a week?"