Journey to District 79

In the dark room, Duan Mu, who was lying on the bed with a wine pot in one hand, slowly opened his eyes.

The moment his eyes, deeper than the darkness, opened, it was as if a cold glint flashed through the pitch-black room. This sharp and chilling light flashed and disappeared, and Duan Mu returned to his harmless appearance.

"Hiss~~"

Rubbing his aching head, Duan Mu muttered, "I really should quit drinking!"

After tidying up casually, Duan Mu used his key to open the iron door of his bedroom, then pushed the bedroom door open and walked out. As soon as he left the second-floor bedroom without windows, the morning sunlight shone in, making Duan Mu squint.

"You're awake?"

Uzuki sat at the bar, looking at Duan Mu coming down from the second floor, and said with annoyance, "Aren't your students coming anymore?"

"Good morning."

Duan Mu casually replied, ducked into the bathroom, and said while washing up, "The Soul Reaper Academy has already started, so they won't be coming here for the next few months."

"Is that so?" Uzuki nodded in understanding, then took out a notebook from the counter. "Then all of today's work should be finished. Yesterday, there were two requests: one was from Uncle Sa Yu in District 6 to repair a house, and the other was from Granny Hidariha in District 3 to harvest tobacco leaves. These two requests should be enough for you in one day, right?"

Ever since he started the 'Soul Reaper Cram School' half a year ago, Duan Mu had often taken his students to the nearby mountains for training, which often left the shop unattended and caused him to miss many requests from Rukongai. In the end, Duan Mu had no choice but to ask Uzuki for help, and it was only after much persuasion that he convinced her to work at the Yorozuya.

This way, whether Duan Mu went out to work or took his students for training, Uzuki could stay behind to help him receive customers.

"Two requests?"

Duan Mu yawned, "Let's put off Uncle Sa Yu's request for now. I'll go help Granny Hidariha harvest tobacco leaves later."

"Aren't your students not coming anymore?"

"Brother Iwao needs my help with something."

"That guy again." Uzuki's pretty face darkened as soon as she heard Iwao's name. "I really don't understand why you always hang out with that punk."

Although Iwao didn't have the bad habits of nobles, in Uzuki's eyes, he was a good-for-nothing punk who always hung out with thugs from West Rukongai, causing trouble. There were even people who requested Duan Mu to teach Shiba Ganju a lesson.

Duan Mu never refused requests of this type.

The method of completion was incredibly simple...

He just needed to accurately record the content of the request and deliver it to the Shiba Clan. The next day, Shiba Ganju would appear before the client looking like someone even his own sister wouldn't recognize, and sincerely apologize.

Duan Mu glanced at Uzuki sitting behind the counter, a strange smile appearing on his face.

Although Iwao often caused trouble, most residents of Rukongai basically treated him as a mischievous child and didn't hold any ill will. They just wanted to teach him a lesson and make him behave. The reason Uzuki's expression changed so drastically upon hearing 'Iwao' was for other reasons.

"Wahaha, Uncle Iwao is here!"

Speak of the devil, the shop door was suddenly pushed open, and Shiba Ganju appeared at the entrance, laughing with his hands on his hips, "Duan Mu, come with me to District 79 today!"

"I have work in District 3 in the morning, and I'll accompany you in the afternoon."

"Eh? That means... cough, go ahead, I'll watch your shop for you."

Iwao's eyes lit up at this. He plopped down in front of the bar and waved at Duan Mu, "Take your time then. Those bastards can be taught a lesson anytime, work is the most important thing." After saying that, he turned his head and flashed a smile at Uzuki:

"Uzuki, you just stay here and rest assured. With me here, even if a Soul Reaper Captain from Seireitei bothers you, I'll take care of him for you!!"

"Can I ask you to take care of yourself first?" Uzuki asked in an extremely cold tone.

"Eh? Why?"

"You sitting here is like placing a piece of filth in the shop. It's already hindering the shop's operations, so could you please leave?"

"..."

Duan Mu withdrew his gaze. He was used to this scene. Ever since Duan Mu invited Uzuki to work at the Yorozuya, Iwao had come to the shop almost every day with strawberry milk, voluntarily helping Duan Mu clean the shop and receive customers.

If one didn't know better, they would think he was a newly hired employee of Duan Mu...

Duan Mu didn't stop Iwao's 'dog-like' behavior. Although Iwao had the personality of a punk, he was the pure and innocent type and never did anything out of line. As for Uzuki, despite her putting on an act of treating Iwao like a 'maggot,' she never asked Duan Mu to drive Iwao away, nor did she avoid Iwao or quit her job.

If Uzuki truly disliked Iwao, Duan Mu would have driven Iwao away long ago. After all, Uzuki was the first friend Duan Mu had made after arriving in the Soul Society.

Although Uzuki's affection for Duan Mu had always remained at the level of full friendship, ever since Duan Mu completely severed her romantic thoughts, she had come to see Duan Mu as a younger brother, like family. Otherwise, given Uzuki's personality of 'living one day at a time with no pursuits,' she wouldn't have come to work at the Yorozuya at all.

It could be said that if the system had a 'family affection' value, Uzuki's family affection value for Duan Mu would probably be close to full by now.

The morning's work was not complicated.

Generally, tobacco leaves were harvested once a year. However, the concentration of spiritual particles in the Soul Society was extremely high, and plants grew very quickly. Therefore, the tobacco leaves planted by Granny Hidariha basically matured every two to three months, allowing for 2-3 harvests per year depending on the situation. However, due to the staggered maturity, she often asked Duan Mu to help harvest the tobacco leaves.

This job was the last batch of the year.

Harvesting tobacco leaves was a simple task. The only thing that made Duan Mu uncomfortable was the sticky tobacco sap that would make his whole body sticky, and the difficulty in cleaning the black liquid from his hands.

After finishing the work, Duan Mu politely declined Granny Hidariha's invitation to a meal and returned directly to the shop to set off for West District 79 with Iwao. District 79 was very far from District 38, and Duan Mu didn't want to spend the night outdoors.

"Speaking of which..."

Duan Mu's mouth twitched, "Do we really have to ride these things?"

Looking ahead, six tall and sturdy wild boars galloped at an extremely fast speed, kicking up clouds of dust.

Shiba Ganju took the lead on a 'boar,' with Duan Mu closely following. Behind them were four new subordinates recruited by Shiba Ganju. Although they were newly recruited, they were actually companions who had grown up with Iwao since childhood. Duan Mu was the first to agree to become Iwao's subordinate, yet he was ranked last among the subordinates.

He was truly the subordinate of subordinates.

Duan Mu wasn't vying for the position of top dog either. After all, the lowest of the low and the top dog were still just underlings in the end. He wasn't so idle as to fight for power and position within this playful little organization... so for the longest time, Duan Mu was arguably the least noticeable of the six.

According to Miyamoto Taichi, Ganju's top underling, nicknamed 'Hawk', Duan Mu was just there to make up the numbers in their gang.

This was because Duan Mu spent most of his time working. On the few occasions he did come out to hang around with them, he just stood by and watched.

Although Ganju's four underlings lacked the qualifications to become Soul Reapers, having grown up playing with Ganju since childhood, they were all stronger fighters than the average Rukongai resident.

Even if they couldn't win, they still had Ganju, so there was no need for Duan Mu to get involved. He just needed to cheer them on from the sidelines with a "666".

Speaking of which, this was a good opportunity to introduce the others.

Miyamoto Taichi, as mentioned above, was Ganju's top underling and was very skilled at cooking. He was responsible for all their meals when they traveled.

The second underling, Ishino Mitsuru, nicknamed 'Fieba', had no particular distinguishing features, but his singing was exceptionally terrible.

The third underling, Yamashita Kenji, nicknamed 'Top', was the weakest fighter among the four.

The fourth underling, Saionji Sadatomo, nicknamed 'Danbel', was naturally gifted at taking care of animals. He had trained the wild boars they rode.

As for Duan Mu...

Ganju had also given him a nickname, 'Yoda'. This nickname, reminiscent of a certain cosmic sword saint, was rejected by Duan Mu's firm protest