Konai

The supplies were procured by the Fourth Division, but the inspection was handled by the patrol team to prevent anyone from hiding among the cargo and infiltrating Seireitei.

Duan Mu's gaze swept over the people from the Fourth Division who were talking with President Shinno. He inwardly sighed, regretting that if the visitors had been the Captain and Vice-Captain of the Fourth Division, he would have shamelessly approached them for a chat.

Especially their Captain; even gaining a little favorability from him would be enough for Duan Mu to use for a long time.

"Hm?"

Suddenly, Duan Mu froze, his gaze settling on a young girl from the Fourth Division.

The girl had been secretly observing Duan Mu. When their eyes met, her face instantly flushed, and she instinctively lowered her head to avoid his gaze. However, she immediately felt her action was impolite and quickly looked up again.

After meeting Duan Mu's eyes, she lowered her head once more.

Her conflicted expression made Duan Mu chuckle. This girl hadn't changed at all.

This girl's name was Konai, and she was one of the first students in the 'Soul Reaper Cram School' that Duan Mu had opened. A year had passed, and she had clearly graduated and joined the Fourth Division. Duan Mu wasn't surprised by this at all.

Among the nearly a hundred students Duan Mu had taught, Konai was the only one who studied 'Kido (Healing)' with him. Duan Mu had personally guided her teaching, and she also had the highest favorability towards Duan Mu among all his students, reaching a staggering 54 points!

If Duan Mu hadn't started avoiding being alone with her after her favorability reached 50, and deliberately shown a distant attitude, that number might have been even higher.

"Long... long time no see."

Suddenly, Konai, who had been struggling with her emotions, seemed to make up her mind and looked up abruptly.

Duan Mu was initially stunned, and then his expression changed drastically.

As expected, Konai gritted her teeth, bowed to Duan Mu, and said, "Teacher Duan Mu!"

"..." Duan Mu.

"???" Fourth Division members.

"???" President Shinno.

"..."

Everyone in front of the Byakudō Gate, except for the patrol team inspecting the goods, looked confused.

As for the patrol team, being the second squad of the Onmitsukidō, they were no strangers to Duan Mu. After all, they had been monitoring him since he opened his Soul Reaper Cram School.

Some of them had even infiltrated his side and studied with him for a period.

Teacher Duan Mu?

But for everyone else, this title left them utterly dumbfounded.

A Soul Reaper in a shihakusho calling a Rukongai resident a teacher was an incredibly bizarre sight, so bizarre that no one knew where to even begin asking.

Duan Mu nodded stiffly at Konai as a response, his heart filled with endless regret.

Konai had always wanted to overcome her shyness and difficulty in communicating with people. So, in addition to her studies, she also sought Duan Mu's advice on communication techniques.

"If you encounter a situation where you want to communicate but don't know how to start, don't hesitate. Just boldly greet them. As the saying goes, a smiling face doesn't get hit. After you greet them, even if the other person has a bad temper, they will surely respond."

This was the advice that the 'semi-socially anxious' Duan Mu had given Konai.

But now…

Duan Mu wished he could slap his past self to death for saying such a thing.

"Are you a Soul Reaper?"

Jidanbō was the first to react. Normally, the only person a Soul Reaper would call "teacher" would be another Soul Reaper.

"Of course not."

Duan Mu shook his head while organizing his thoughts in his mind. Facing the questioning gazes around him, he said, "Konai is a customer at my Yorozuya. She studied with me for a while before graduating from the Soul Reaper Academy, which is why she habitually calls me teacher."

Strictly speaking, his words weren't a lie. He had simply omitted what he taught. Since many people present knew Duan Mu's background, it was better to give a vague answer and let them guess rather than tell a clumsy lie that would arouse suspicion.

Besides, he had never hidden the fact that he ran a 'Soul Reaper Cram School.' It wouldn't matter even if it was exposed, only the timing of the exposure was a bit off.

"I see."

President Shinno and the others nodded. Duan Mu was so versatile; it wasn't surprising that a former student of the Soul Reaper Academy would seek him out to learn something.

"Yorozuya!?"

However, what caught Duan Mu off guard was that the Fourth Division members reacted even more strongly upon hearing the words 'Yorozuya.'

A young girl, around Konai's age, quietly asked, "Is he the Yorozuya owner you were talking about... who is skilled in both medicine preparation and Kido?"

"So it's him."

"He looks so young. I thought he was an old man with white hair."

"Maybe his actual age is an old man with white hair."

"..."

Duan Mu was taken aback by the Fourth Division's reaction.

What was going on now?

Duan Mu didn't know that Konai, due to her excellent results in the entrance examination, had been assigned to the '14th Advanced Medical Unit' immediately upon joining the Fourth Division, instead of slowly progressing from the 'Junior Medical Unit' like her peers.

To be honest, Konai's achievement wasn't entirely due to Duan Mu's teaching. It was more because she possessed great talent in Kido, and even without Duan Mu, her performance would have been outstanding.

What Duan Mu had done initially was simply to teach Konai the knowledge of Hakuda, such as detailed human anatomy, Kido, herb identification, and medicine compounding, in a step-by-step manner. How much she understood relied entirely on Konai's personal effort and talent.

It was all basic knowledge, and in Duan Mu's opinion, there was no need to be selective about what he taught. However, he overlooked one point: the comprehensiveness of the knowledge granted by the system!

Although learning 'Kido' was the most basic requirement for members of the Fourth Division, their specializations varied. Some excelled at treating fractures, some at compounding medicines, and others at new techniques like surgery... It could be said that each had their own area of expertise.

Therefore, the Fourth Division's entry assessment was more of a screening process. In simple terms, it was to see what the newly joined members were good at through the examination content, and then assign them to suitable medical units.

Konai, who had studied under Duan Mu for a long time and often interacted with him privately, displayed a comprehensive skill set. In addition to her mastery of 'Kido' being comparable to that of veteran members, her knowledge related to treatment was extremely thorough in all aspects.

This was why she stood out among her peers and was directly admitted to the Advanced Medical Unit.

Of course, it only caused a minor stir among her contemporaries.

Konai did not hide anything when asked by her peers. Most of the people around her knew about Duan Mu's existence.