My Gang of Swordsmen

Edo, Thousand Affairs House—

“…”

Mr. Kiryu, sitting seriously behind the counter, was intently studying a letter in his hands.

This letter was penned in graceful calligraphy, with the single signature “Lin” at the end.

“Oh… this is truly…”

After reading the last word of the letter, Mr. Kiryu, who usually maintained a calm demeanor, rarely raised his eyebrows, showing an intriguing expression of surprise.

Suddenly—

Thump, thump…

There was a sound like something heavy falling to the ground from the second floor.

Drawn by this strange noise, Kiryu put away the letter in his hand and looked up at the ceiling above him.

“What’s that noise…? What’s the Young Master up to…”

Muttering softly, Kiryu rose and turned into the hallway of the Thousand Affairs House, climbing the stairs to the second floor.

Mukiwa’s boudoir was not closed.

So, when Kiryu reached Mukiwa’s wide-open room, he could take in the scene inside entirely.

The usually spotless room, where everything was in its place, had now become a complete mess.

Clothes, toys, and strange items that couldn’t be named—big and small—were scattered everywhere.

The tatami mats, cluttered with all sorts of jumbled things, hardly had any space left for footfall.

In this space resembling a “junkyard,” Kiryu found his Young Master—Mukiwa, as usual, wearing her favored red clothes, kneeling with her tiny feet crossed under her, before a palm-sized Western glass mirror.

She was fully tensed, concentrating on the mirror in front of her, as she gingerly moved her right hand, holding a small makeup brush, cautiously applying a vivid “red” to her lips.

So focused that she almost forgot to breathe, and her eyes almost forgot to blink.

Beside Mukiwa’s knee was an open jar of lip rouge, about the size of an adult’s thumb.

What’s called “lip rouge” can be understood as lipstick from the Edo era.

The lip rouge Mukiwa was applying to her lips was the trendiest style, adored by young girls: “Bamboo Red.”

Kiryu took a closer look and found, besides this jar of lip rouge, various other cosmetics by Mukiwa’s knees, including facial powder and eye colors.

These cosmetics, Kiryu recognized—they were gifts from Mukiwa’s grandmother before she left Osaka for Edo to practice in the Thousand Affairs House he managed.

As a farewell gift for her granddaughter, it wasn’t possible to scrimp with cheap goods.

Take that jar of lip color for example—it was a priceless treasure commissioned by Mukiwa’s grandmother.

Kiryu estimated that taking this jar of lip rouge, no bigger than his thumb, to market could easily fetch 10 gold coins.

10 gold coins… a sky-high price that would make anyone aware of lip rouge prices gasp.

Even the expensive lip rouge used by the courtesans of Yoshiwara only cost about 1 gold coin.

Despite Mukiwa’s focused attempt at applying makeup, her serious effort and her makeup result were in stark contrast…

Her hand holding the brush kept trembling as if shivering.

Her lips were as bumpy as mud puddles after the rain.

Either the color was too heavy in some places; or too light in others; or she’d accidentally smeared rouge outside her lips…

The unimaginably expensive lip rouge, pricier than the products used by the courtesans of Yoshiwara, was now used by a “Shodai from the employment agency” as if it were cheap paint… such a sight, if seen, could likely leave many stunned.

Mukiwa’s makeup skills were deplorable to this extent… which was to be expected.

Because she wasn’t fond of makeup, she usually stayed bare-faced.

Lacking the relevant experience, it was impossible to create a beautiful makeup look.

The room in disarray, using the lip rouge given by her grandmother that she hadn’t much opportunity to use… integrating all the information observed, Kiryu understood what was happening.

“…Young Master.”

“Hmm?”

It wasn’t until Kiryu spoke that Mukiwa realized Kiryu was standing outside her room.

She instinctively turned her face… her face turned, but her hand holding the makeup brush remained still.

Her face moved, but the brush didn’t… thus—a straight red line was drawn starting from her mouth corner across Mukiwa’s tender right cheek.

An already comical face due to poor makeup skills became even more amusing.

Having made a big gaffe, Mukiwa’s face turned the same shade as the “Bamboo Red” smeared on her lips and face.

“Mr. Kiryu, what brings you here?”

While hurriedly grabbing some pocket papers beside her knee to clean her right cheek and lips, Mukiwa tried using a calm tone to talk with Kiryu, attempting to mask her embarrassment.

“I heard strange noises from upstairs, so I came to see.”

Kiryu, moving gracefully as if stepping over stones protruding from a river, swiftly reached Mukiwa’s side, then knelt down.

“Young Master, you really are putting in a lot of effort to present your best face for the outing with Mr. Tachibana tonight.”