My Gang of Swordsmen

Chapter 476: Chapter 167: Oh! Miss Elodie, Are You Blushing?

After expressing his thanks to Anthony, Aoto turned his gaze back to the pastry shop outside the window.

At this moment, Aoto suddenly heard Fujimura’s surprised exclamation from behind him:

"Hmm? There’s actually a piece of Ukiyo-e hanging here."

Attracted by Fujimura’s remark, Aoto and his companions turned around.

They saw a piece of A4-sized Ukiyo-e hanging on the east wall of the study.

This Ukiyo-e depicted a landscape.

The background was the night scene of Edo City Town.

Amidst the tightly packed buildings, two black-clad figures, one tall and one short, were sprinting across them.

The shorter figure wore a face towel, exposing only a pair of eyes, while the taller one donned a black fox mask.

Seeing these two black-clad figures in the painting, Aoto’s expression instantly became rather odd.

"Oh, this one." Anthony glanced at the painting on the wall and smiled wryly, "Elodie bought this painting a few days ago."

Aoto stepped closer to the Ukiyo-e, examining the two figures depicted: "The two in the painting... Are they Cat Monk and Fox Monk?"

Just as Aoto spoke, Elodie quickened her steps and stood beside him.

"Yes! They are Cat Monk and Fox Monk!"

With that, Elodie raised her head, her excited gaze fixed on the painting on the wall. Her delicate cheeks flushed with a rosy glow, her skin appearing white with a hint of red.

Aoto’s expression grew more peculiar, but he quickly relied on his self-control to contain his facial reactions.

"Miss Elodie." Aoto shifted his gaze from the painting of Fox Monk and Cat Monk... which was actually a depiction of him and Mukiwa, to Elodie standing beside him, "Do you... really like Cat Monk and Fox Monk?"

"Yes!" Elodie nodded vigorously, her eyes sparkling like little stars, her cheeks reddening further, "I admire them a lot! I think they are truly amazing! To dare to confront those villains and uphold the peace of this city!"

Admire... Hearing this word made Aoto’s expression turn odd again. He couldn’t help but twitch his lips, quickly raising his hand to pretend to wipe sweat from his lips, essentially recomposing a near uncontrollable expression.

About a few days ago, Aoto had just learned that merchandise featuring him and Mukiwa was beginning to circulate in the streets of Edo...

With Aoto and Mukiwa resembling Batman from Gotham City, continuously striking against the villains in Edo, building upon Mukiwa’s existing popularity, the current fame of "Cat Monk and Fox Monk" had soared, prompting many savvy individuals to start creating related merchandise...

The masks, Ukiyo-e depicting him and Mukiwa... Aoto knew that these items were selling well.

Originally, Aoto didn’t pay much attention to these matters.

He couldn’t possibly march boldly to those merchants saying, "I am Fox Monk, give me the royalty fees."

Apart from feeling displeased with those unscrupulous merchants profiting off his and Mukiwa’s name, Aoto lacked the ability to manage the market situation of merchandise featuring him and Mukiwa.

Aoto never imagined... In Elodie’s home, who is Mukiwa’s close friend, he’d find images of merchandise featuring him and Mukiwa, and he’d hear Elodie say she greatly admires them...

At this moment, Aoto didn’t know how to express himself.

Suddenly, Aoto found himself wondering whether Mukiwa knew about this, and what expression did she show upon first hearing about it...

"Sorry, Mr. Tachibana, for making you laugh."

Perhaps out of concern for expressing admiration towards two highly spotlighted Phantom Thieves in Edo in front of an Edo sheriff like Aoto, Anthony quickly laughed apologetically, walking over to Aoto’s side.

"Not sure if it’s due to reading too much of ’Robin Hood,’ Elodie especially likes these two Phantom Thieves."

"Although the recent deeds of Cat Monk and Fox Monk are indeed commendable, however..."

After pausing to think about his wording, Anthony continued:

"Cat Monk has quite detailed records of thefts; he’s a notorious burglar who robbed many people’s money, definitely not an admirable figure."

"Fox Monk, though just recently came to prominence, doesn’t yet have ’records of participating in thefts along with Cat Monk,’ but ultimately as Cat Monk’s companion, I guess in the series of Cat Monk’s previous thefts, Fox Monk must have provided many support activities behind the scenes."

Just as Anthony finished speaking, Elodie’s eyes, which were sparkling with little stars, immediately showed an annoyed expression.

And upon hearing Anthony label Mukiwa as a "notorious burglar," a barely noticeable hint of displeasure flashed through Aoto’s eyes, something even he didn’t realize, let alone those around him.

Aoto pursed his lips, then they slightly parted, ready to say something to Anthony when Elodie spoke ahead of him:

"Grandpa, what Cat Monk steals are from the villains!"

Perhaps considering speaking French when Aoto and the others couldn’t understand would be impolite, Elodie chose to converse not by using French with her grandfather, but using Japanese, which was impeccable in both standard and fluency.