Heading to District 79

In the dark room, Duan Mu slowly opened his eyes as he reclined on the bed, a wine jug hanging from one hand.

The instant those eyes, deeper than the darkness itself, opened, a cold glint seemed to flash through the pitch-black room. The sharp, icy light vanished in a flicker, and Duan Mu returned to his harmless appearance.

"Ughhh..."

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

After tidying up casually, Duan Mu unlocked the iron door to the bedroom with a key, then pushed it open and walked out. The moment he left the windowless second-floor bedroom, the morning sunlight poured in, making him squint involuntarily.

"Awake?"

Uzuki sat behind the counter, watching Duan Mu come down from the second floor. With an annoyed look, she said, "Aren't your students coming anymore?"

"Morning."

Duan Mu answered casually before slipping into the bathroom. As he washed up, he said, "The Soul Reaper Academy has already started its term. They won't be coming here for the next few months."

"I see." Uzuki nodded knowingly, then took a notebook from beneath the counter. "Then we should be able to finish today's work. There were two requests yesterday. 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. One day should be enough for you to finish both, right?"

Ever since opening the "Soul Reaper Cram School" half a year ago, Duan Mu had often taken those students to the nearby mountains to train. As a result, the shop was frequently left unattended, and they missed many requests from Rukongai. With no other choice, Duan Mu had to ask Uzuki for help, and only after a great deal of persuasion had he convinced her to work at Yorozuya.

That way, whether Duan Mu went out to work or took those students training, Uzuki could stay behind and receive customers for him.

"Two requests?"

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

"Aren't your students not coming anymore?"

"Brother Iwao has something he needs my help with."

"That guy again?" The moment Uzuki heard Iwao's name, her pretty face darkened. "I really don't understand why you're always hanging around with that delinquent."

Although Iwao didn't have the bad habits of a great noble, in Uzuki's eyes, he was still a delinquent who did nothing productive. Every day, he hung around with the thugs and ruffians of West Rukongai, causing trouble. Some people had even commissioned Duan Mu to teach Shiba Ganju a lesson.

Duan Mu never turned down requests like that.

The method was even simpler...

He only had to record the request exactly as it was and deliver it to the Shiba Clan. The next day, Shiba Ganju would appear before the client with an expression that said even his own sister wouldn't recognize him, then offer an utterly sincere apology.

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

Although Iwao often caused trouble, the residents of Rukongai basically treated him like a mischievous child and didn't really dislike him. Their requests were merely intended to teach him a lesson and make him rein himself in. As for why Uzuki reacted like this whenever she heard the name "Iwao," it was for another reason.

"Wahahaha! Lord Iwao has arrived!"

Speak of the devil, and he appeared. The shop door was violently pulled open, and Shiba Ganju appeared in the doorway, laughing heartily with both hands on his hips. "Duan Mu, come with me to District 79 today!"

"I have to work in District 3 this morning. I'll accompany you in the afternoon."

"Eh? Doesn't that mean... Ahem, go ahead. I'll watch your shop for you."

At those words, Iwao's eyes immediately lit up. He dropped heavily into the seat before the counter and waved at Duan Mu. "Take your time. Those bastards can be taught a lesson anytime. Work comes first." With that, the guy turned his head and flashed Uzuki a toothy grin.

"Uzuki, just stay at the shop without worry. With me here, even if a Soul Reaper captain from Seireitei offends you, I'll take him down for you!"

"Could you start by taking yourself down?" Uzuki asked in an extremely icy tone.

"Eh? Why?"

"By sitting here, you're like a pile of filth placed in the shop. You're already interfering with our business, so could you please leave?"

"..."

Duan Mu looked away. He had long since grown used to scenes like this. Ever since Duan Mu invited Uzuki to work at Yorozuya, Iwao had brought strawberry milk to the shop almost every day, voluntarily helping Duan Mu clean the place and receive customers.

Anyone who didn't know better would have thought he was Duan Mu's newest employee...

Duan Mu didn't interfere with Iwao's "simp" behavior. Although Iwao had the personality of a delinquent, he was actually an exceptionally pure-hearted type who had never made any inappropriate advances. And although Uzuki acted as if she regarded Iwao as a "maggot," she had never asked Duan Mu to drive him away, avoided him, or simply quit her job.

If Uzuki really hated Iwao, Duan Mu would have kicked him out long ago. After all, Uzuki was the first friend Duan Mu had made after arriving in the Soul Society.

Although Uzuki's favorability toward Duan Mu had always remained at the maximum friendship level, ever since Duan Mu had completely severed her romantic thoughts, she had come to regard him as a younger brother and family. Otherwise, with Uzuki's personality of "just live one day at a time and pursue nothing," she never would have come to work at Yorozuya.

It could be said that if the system had a family-affection stat, Uzuki's family-affection value toward Duan Mu would probably already be close to full.

The morning's work was not complicated.

Generally speaking, tobacco leaves were harvested once a year. However, the concentration of reishi in the Soul Society was extremely high, and plants grew very quickly. Thus, the tobacco leaves Granny Hidariha planted matured once every two or three months, allowing her to grow two or three crops a year depending on the circumstances. Since they matured in batches, she often asked Duan Mu to help pick them.

This was the final batch of the year.

Picking tobacco leaves was simple. The only things that bothered Duan Mu were the sticky sap that got all over him and the black liquid on his hands, which was extremely difficult to wash off.

After finishing the work, Duan Mu politely declined Granny Hidariha's invitation to stay for a meal. He returned directly to the shop and set out with Iwao for West District 79. District 79 was extremely far from District 38, and Duan Mu had no desire to spend the night outside.

"Come to think of it..."

The corner of Duan Mu's mouth twitched. "Do we really have to ride these things?"

Looking into the distance, he saw six tall, sturdy boars charging forward at tremendous speed, kicking up clouds of dust.

Shiba Ganju led the way on his "boar," with Duan Mu close behind. Following them were Shiba Ganju's four newly recruited underlings. "Newly recruited" was not quite accurate—they had all grown up with Iwao since childhood. Although Duan Mu had been the first to agree to become Iwao's underling, he ranked last...

He was practically the underling among underlings.

Duan Mu had no intention of fighting for the position of top lackey. In the end, whether one was the underling among underlings or the number-one lackey, one was still an underling. He wasn't bored enough to fight for power in this childish little organization... Thus, Duan Mu had always been the least noticeable of the six.

According to Iwao's number-one underling, Miyamoto Taichi, whose nickname was "Hawk," Duan Mu was just there to make up the numbers in their gang.

That was because Duan Mu spent most of his time working. On the few occasions he went out wandering with them, he merely stood off to the side and watched.

Although Iwao's four underlings lacked the aptitude to become Soul Reapers, having grown up playing with Iwao, they were all better fighters than ordinary Rukongai residents.

Even if they couldn't win, they still had Iwao. Naturally, there was no need for Duan Mu to meddle. All he had to do was stand off to the side, shout "Nice!" and cheer them on.

Since the topic had come up, it was a good opportunity to introduce the group.

Miyamoto Taichi was, as mentioned above, Iwao's number-one underling. He was very good at cooking and was responsible for their meals whenever they went out.

The number-two underling was Ishino Mitsuru, whose nickname was "Fieba." He had no remarkable traits, but his singing was unbelievably awful.

The number-three underling was Yamashita Kenji, whose nickname was "Topu." He was the weakest fighter among the four.

The number-four underling was Saionji Sadatomo, whose nickname was "Danbel." He was naturally gifted at taking care of animals, and he had trained the mountain boars they were riding.

And Duan Mu...

Iwao had given him a nickname too: "Yoda." The nickname, which sounded like it belonged to some cosmic sword saint, was rejected under Duan Mu's firm opposition.