21st Century Necromancer

Kojo Kyoko, or rather, the Chen Yu behind her, prepared so-called enchanted wooden swords for Nanami and the other two young girls. These swords could harm ghosts and offered self-protection in the presence of such entities.

It wasn't that true swords couldn't be prepared, as Japan's laws regarding this matter weren't particularly stringent, but after all, those were true swords, and for three young girls, they were somewhat inappropriate.

So even though the plan was set for Kojo Kyoko to teach them swordsmanship, Chen Yu still didn't prepare true swords for them, but rather three wooden ones with special enchantments.

Of course, another reason for preparing wooden swords was that true swords were too heavy, and for young girls, they might not even be able to lift them. In contrast, wooden swords made of wood were much lighter and less cumbersome to use.

The three wooden swords, after being engraved, blessed, and enchanted, might just appear to have a few more patterns than ordinary wooden swords. However, the enchantment skills on them came from the Tsuchimikado Family's most guarded secrets, originally used to craft weapons for combating demons. These three wooden swords were also personally made by Tsuchimikado Yoshiharu.

Therefore, although these three wooden swords looked ordinary, in reality, if used against ghosts and monsters, they could be even more powerful than true swords.

Naturally, Nanami and the others cherished their wooden swords and took their learning of swordsmanship under Kojo Kyoko especially seriously.

Kojo Kyoko didn't teach the three girls any overly complicated or flashy moves. The techniques of Muso Itto-ryu were more focused on practical combat, simple and efficient, yet lacked any visual spectacle. This was one of the reasons for the decline of the style—during turbulent times, practicality was valued more, while in peaceful eras, the focus shifted to how aesthetically pleasing the practices were.

However, for Nanami and the others, efficiency and practicality were most important. The three young girls, who had just witnessed the existence of ghosts, now thought about how not to run away when facing ghosts, rather than whether the moves looked good—they had no idle time to consider such things.

Among them, Nanami was the most earnest learner. Due to her previous experience of paralysis, she developed a rather lively and active personality. She had a desire to try various sports, and naturally, she took her study of swordsmanship, which allowed her to move her body and improve her self-defense, very seriously.

Megumi Nakamoto, who had been the captain of the Kendo Club, grasped the content taught by Kojo Kyoko quickly due to her solid foundation. However, because the swordsmanship she had previously learned was mostly for performance and competition, it wasn't suitable for real combat, so she had to correct some habits she had long since acquired, which was the most difficult part. As a result, although she had the best foundation among the three, her progress was also the slowest.

As for Junko Kamikawa, the most timid of the trio, she surprisingly learned the quickest.

Chen Yu watched the girls practice, nodding with satisfaction. Although each had their little issues, overall, for self-defense, there was no problem at all. Whether they needed to confront people or ghosts, the methods taught by Kojo Kyoko were more than sufficient for them to use.

Since it was Chen Yu who had personally requested it, Kojo Kyoko, besides teaching them the moves, also taught the three young girls the basic breathing techniques of Muso Itto-ryu. Although basic, this was at the core of the style, secrets not to be learned without truly being accepted as a disciple.

And with the breathing technique, as long as one perseveres in training, unless one's natural talent is too mediocre, they could reach the level of an entry-level samurai after a year and a half and step into the threshold of the transcendents. Of course, this entry level is just a bit stronger than an ordinary person, but it indeed is the first step into transcendence, and countless people are precisely blocked by this step, unable to cross the threshold into the realm of the transcendents.

"Big brother doctor, how did you and Sister Kyoko become acquainted? She seems to respect you a lot?" During a break in their practice, Nanami sat beside Chen Yu, sipping water and chatting with him.

The Kendo hall where Kojo Kyoko taught Nanami and the others was actually a property owned by the Mingyue Society, so naturally, when the head of the house was there teaching students, the instructors of the hall willingly put up a sign outside that read 'Temporarily Closed for Business.' Thus, the entire hall was just occupied by the few of them.

Hearing Nanami's question, Chen Yu smiled and said, "It's because I've helped Sister Kyoko with a big favor, so she respects me a lot."

"Is it like how big brother doctor helped Nanami?" Nanami asked curiously. In front of Chen Yu, she always acted like a child, far from behaving like a middle-schooler who would venture to a cemetery with her friends in the dead of night.

Chen Yu smiled, nodded, and did not delve deeper, instead shifting the topic to her encounter with ghosts, "I only heard a brief account from your dad before, so how did you encounter ghosts, Nanami?"

At Chen Yu's question, Nanami's face turned slightly red with embarrassment, but she explained to him, "It was like this, because Kei-chan, Chun Jiang and I formed an Urban Ghost Stories Research Club, mainly to study and explore some of the urban legends circulating in Tokyo. A few days ago, Kei-chan heard from someone that there was a cemetery in Tokyo where strange bell sounds could be heard at night, so after discussing it, we decided to make it a club activity, and that's why we went on an adventure to the cemetery at night..."

Nanami said up to this point, feeling embarrassed, she lowered her head. She knew very well that the reason Chen Yu hired someone to teach her swordsmanship was due to her rash desire to go on adventures. This made Nanami, who always wanted to maintain her image in front of Chen Yu, feel quite embarrassed, as she felt she was causing him trouble.

"Strange bell sounds in the cemetery?" Upon hearing Nanami's words, Chen Yu did not mind the trouble she had caused but was more interested in what she said, "The cemetery you guys went to, isn't it called Kawakami Cemetery?"

"Big brother doctor, how do you know? Have you also heard about this?" Nanami looked at Chen Yu in surprise, wondering how he knew the name of that cemetery.

Chen Yu nodded and replied to Nanami, "Yeah, I've heard about it indeed, and I even lived there before."

"You lived next to a cemetery before, big brother doctor?" Nanami looked at Chen Yu with astonishment. Although living next to a cemetery wasn't something unusual, since she had encountered a ghost in the cemetery, residing beside one certainly didn't seem like a reassuring matter.

"Yeah, when I first came to Tokyo, I was quite poor, and the rent was relatively cheap there, so I rented a haunted house to live in." Chen Yu explained with a smile, also feeling somewhat nostalgic, "However, there were no haunted incidents while I was living there."