Yamadatarō

After the brief disturbance, the rest of the journey went smoothly, without a single hitch.

"I never thought those bandits would be such cowards."

"Yeah."

One of the guards chimed in. "If I'd known taking down their leader would make the others run, I could've handled that skinny guy myself."

"Hahaha! You're sure talking big now. You were so scared back then, you nearly pissed yourself."

"Shut up. You're the one who nearly pissed himself."

Duan Mu walked at the very front with the guards. After the earlier skirmish, President Shinno had moved him directly into the guard party.

Neither the guards nor the people pushing the carts objected. After all, Duan Mu had kicked one of the bandits clear up onto a hill.

The force he'd shown with that final kick had left them even more stunned than the Shunpo he'd used to get behind Takahashi. That was because... no one there even knew what Shunpo was.

Still...

It feels like I've done two jobs.

Standing among the guards, Duan Mu grew more and more convinced that something wasn't right.

By the time President Shinno moved him into the guard party, they'd already left the mountains. The people who'd pushed the carts alongside him earlier were now cheerfully discussing how Duan Mu had fought the bandits.

Duan Mu was the only one who'd ended up with the guards.

He sighed and gave up on asking President Shinno for more money. After all, he'd originally taken a job guarding the caravan, not pushing carts.

Once they reached the main road to Seireitei, the caravan picked up speed.

As its name suggested, the main road to Seireitei led straight to Seireitei. Unless it took a turn, it didn't pass through any towns at all. It was essentially Soul Society's highway.

It had taken the caravan three whole hours to get from West Rukongai's District 43 to District 40. But after they reached the main road to Seireitei, they covered the distance from District 40 to District 1 in just seven hours.

Duan Mu looked up at the sky. Before he knew it, dusk was approaching.

Of course, he wasn't thinking about how long they'd been traveling. It was that...

He was hungry!!

They'd gathered too early that morning, so Duan Mu hadn't had time to eat breakfast. He hadn't even had time to make the packed rations he usually brought along when he went out to work.

Though...

The main reason was that he'd overslept after getting drunk the night before.

Ten hours had passed, and Duan Mu's stomach had long since started sounding the alarm. But at that very moment, President Shinno was showing his true colors as a capitalist: he wasn't providing any food!

Not only was there no food, there hadn't even been time for a lunch break. They'd only given everyone a flask of water...

Duan Mu took a couple of swallows from his flask. Looking at the energetic people around him, he sighed to himself. Once we deliver the goods, I'll pay for a meal at a restaurant.

"Quiet down, everyone. The Byakudō Gate is just ahead."

Ahead of them lay a white-stone road, starkly different from the streets of Rukongai. It was immaculate, with no buildings anywhere along it.

Unlike during wartime, there was no towering wall between Rukongai and Seireitei. The white-stone road alone marked the boundary, separating Rukongai from Seireitei.

But as soon as anyone entered the boundary's guarded area, a towering wall would appear out of thin air and enclose all of Seireitei.

That didn't mean anyone could rush into Seireitei before the wall came down. Even when the wall wasn't visible, a spherical barrier still surrounded the whole place.

Duan Mu had no idea why the wall usually remained hidden.

The caravan stopped at the warning line, fifteen meters from the white-stone road. President Shinno stepped forward and called out respectfully, "Excuse me, is Lord Jidanbō here?"

Clatter~

The sound of a rolling shutter being lifted came from behind the caravan, followed by a deep voice. "Over here."

They looked toward the sound and saw a huge head poke out from a massive building behind them that looked like a warehouse.

As he spoke, Jidanbō stepped out from the tall, warehouse-like building. He stood nearly ten meters tall, and every step he took made the ground tremble beneath their feet.

"Lord Jidanbō."

Everyone in the caravan greeted him respectfully. To the residents of West Rukongai, this hero who had come from their own district was a figure worthy of far more respect than those aloof Soul Reapers.

Jidanbō, whose full name was Ikkansaka Jidanbō, guarded the Byakudō Gate. Nearly ten meters tall, he was imposing enough to leave anyone stunned just by standing before them.

"This is the new rest house I had built. From now on, you can just come here and knock."

Despite his appearance, Jidanbō was remarkably gentle. He looked over the caravan as he said, "Old Shinno, the Fourth Division already told me about your delivery. They're handling the paperwork now, so they'll be here to collect the goods in a bit... Hm?"

Jidanbō's gaze paused as he looked over the caravan, then settled on Duan Mu. Smiling, he said, "Little Duan Mu, you came too."

"Long time no see."

Duan Mu smiled back. "Are you enjoying the house?"

"It's fantastic!"

President Shinno looked from Duan Mu to Jidanbō, puzzled. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah."

Duan Mu nodded, though they were only acquaintances. In recent years, Duan Mu's reputation in West Rukongai had begun to rival Jidanbō's, but in truth, the two had never spent any time together in private.

The reason Jidanbō was so familiar with Duan Mu was a job Duan Mu had done.

The huge rest house behind Jidanbō hadn't been built with Jidanbō's own money. The residents of District 1 had pooled their money to build it for him.

After screening the applicants, the residents who'd contributed had chosen Duan Mu, whose construction work was both the best and the cheapest.

The finished house had pleased Jidanbō immensely, and his fondness for Duan Mu had soared. Whenever they met, he greeted Duan Mu warmly. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were close friends.

Unfortunately, Jidanbō was a man, so his fondness meant nothing to Duan Mu.

If only Big Sis Kūkaku's affection were this easy to win.

"I'm telling you, Little Duan Mu is incredibly good at building houses."

Jidanbō pointed at the enormous building behind him and said with a smile, "It may not look like much from the outside, but everything inside—the layout and the furnishings—was designed to fit my height. I've lived for so many years, and I've never felt this comfortable indoors!"

"That's true," President Shinno said with a hearty laugh. "He's built most of my farms out in the countryside, too."

The others in the caravan chimed in, and before long, the praise was pouring in from all sides. Duan Mu was getting a little carried away; he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling up.

"What did you do when you were alive, anyway?"

The man beside him patted Duan Mu and asked, perplexed, "How come it feels like there's nothing you can't do?"

At that, everyone turned to look at him.

Truth be told, all the residents of West Rukongai were curious about what Duan Mu had done for a living while he was alive.

That guy was genuinely good at everything...

No matter what kind of job he took, he could do it exceptionally well. Even when he occasionally came across something he didn't know how to do, he picked it up quickly after watching and learning for a little while.

Duan Mu didn't answer. Instead, he turned toward Seireitei and said, "Looks like the people collecting the goods are here."

At that, everyone turned their eyes toward Seireitei.

A group of more than a dozen people was slowly approaching them. At the front was a young man with drooping brows and the corners of his eyes turned down, giving him a timid, meek look.

Duan Mu's gaze immediately fell on the timid young man.

"Don't stare at him. It's rude."

The man beside him secretly tugged at Duan Mu's sleeve. "Don't be fooled by that lord's 'I'm easy to bully' face. As far as I know, he's the Fourth Division's Seventh Seat."

"..." Duan Mu.

Which one of them was being rude?

Did he think whispering would keep a Soul Reaper from hearing him? Hadn't he noticed the way the people behind the man were looking at him?

But the people from the Fourth Division clearly had good tempers. Even Yamadatarō himself didn't take offense. Instead, the tips of his ears turned slightly red.

"Um..."

Yamadatarō led the group to a stop in front of them and said softly, "You can just hand the goods over to us."