My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 474: Chapter 167: Oh My! Miss Elodie, Are You Blushing?

A charming figure instantly caught Aoto’s eye.

"Miss Angoulême?" Aoto instinctively murmured the name of the figure.

After a long absence, Elodie de Angoulême, the little girl, held a white parasol in her left hand and was lifting her white dress with her right, joyfully skipping straight towards Aoto.

The parasol Elodie held in her left hand was too small for an adult, serving no practical purpose other than as an ornament, but for the petite 12-year-old Elodie, it was just right.

Elodie leaned the parasol’s shaft against her left shoulder. With her waist as the dividing line, her upper body was hidden in the parasol’s shadow, while her lower body was exposed to the light.

Half of her body in shadow, half in sunlight, the stark contrast, combined with Elodie’s extremely cute face, enveloped her silhouette in a hazy hue.

Elodie had the same hairstyle, with her long, golden hair braided neatly into a three-strand plait, draping over her right shoulder, and her thin, slightly inward-curled bangs resembled the popular "air bangs," lying smoothly against her alabaster-like forehead.

The braid, which hung in front of her chest, bounced gracefully up and down as she ran.

Compared to this unchanged hairstyle, Elodie had changed into a white dress Aoto hadn’t seen her wear before.

Aoto knew nothing about Western fashion of this era, only that the dress Elodie wore, with its hem reaching down to her feet, was a pouf style.

From the fabric, which looked very high-end, and the extremely fine stitching details, Aoto could tell that the price of Elodie’s white dress would be so high it made him subconsciously hold his breath.

The early summer sun hung right in the sky above Elodie.

In the bright sunlight and set against the vast sky as a backdrop, Elodie’s petite silhouette seemed to possess a magic power that naturally drew one’s eyes to her.

After noticing Elodie, Aoto subsequently spotted two familiar figures he almost always saw accompanying her.

Elodie’s brown-haired maid, Leroy, was hurrying behind her, shouting something in French that Aoto couldn’t understand.

From Leroy’s expression, Aoto guessed she was probably telling Elodie not to run too fast.

Behind Leroy was the chubby Colonel Sanders... ah no, it was Elodie’s grandfather, Anthony.

Anthony was panting as he hurriedly followed Elodie and Leroy, casting a surprised look toward Aoto.

Saito, who had first fought alongside Aoto, knew Elodie and her companions, but it was the first time for Nagakura, Harada, and Fujimura to see them.

"Mr. Tachibana," Nagakura turned to Aoto and asked, "do you know this pretty little girl?"

Elodie’s appearance differed significantly from a typical Western girl.

She had the deep-set features typical of Caucasians, but her features were much softer, and her frame was much more petite than most Western girls.

This blend of Western and Eastern beauty made even Nagakura, not used to Western faces, admit that the little girl who called Aoto "Mr. Tachibana" was exceptionally beautiful.

"Yes," Aoto nodded, "these are all people I know."

At this moment, Elodie finally reached Aoto.

"Mr. Tachibana, long time no see!" Elodie tilted her little head, her beautiful sky-blue eyes blinking at Aoto, "What are you doing here?"

Aoto hadn’t had time to answer Elodie’s question when Anthony and Leroy arrived at Elodie’s sides.

"Long time no see, Mr. Tachibana. What a coincidence to meet you here. What are you doing here?" Anthony asked the same question as his granddaughter.

Aoto smiled slightly and politely chatted with them, "Mr. Angoulême, Miss Angoulême, Miss Leroy, long time no see."

"I’m here with my companions for some official business."

After briefly glossing over the reason for his presence, Aoto asked in return:

"Mr. Angoulême, are you... out for a walk nearby?"

Aoto had intended to ask "what are you doing here," but just as he was about to say it, he realized it was a foolish question, so he swallowed the words that had reached his mouth and changed it to asking if they were out for a walk.

Elodie and her family were French and lived in this foreign settlement area, so there was nothing surprising about meeting them here.

Anthony laughed "hahaha," "Yes, I finally have some free time today, so I’m out for a walk with Elodie."

"What a coincidence to meet you just when we were about to finish our walk and head home at our doorstep."

"Doorstep?" Aoto keenly caught the words from Anthony’s speech that he couldn’t ignore, "Mr. Angoulême, do you live nearby?"