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“Miss Kagami…” Takeda, hoisted by a few of his retainers, voiced out weakly, “I know you are kind by nature and killed my soldiers purely because you were forced to do so. If anything, me losing my mind is to blame for it, so this blood debt ought to fall on my head. I shall leave the family and become a Buddhist monk after returning to Tsutsujigasaki Castle then strive to release these souls from their suffering. Thus, please don’t blame yourself, Miss Kagami, please don’t… it’s all my fault… It’s hard for me to stay for long because of my grievous injuries, so I shall come to express my gratitude again in the future. Hereafter, you are free to enter and leave the Kai Province as you wish, Miss Kagami.”
“Lord Tsunenobu…” Lily had finally glimpsed the true heart of Lord Tsunenobu, the apex of the Furinkazan. If it weren’t for the fact that he was bewitched by the path of evil and hadn’t used a majority of his comprehension with respect to the power of a mountain deity, even Lily might’ve lost in a one versus one battle against him.
“Oh, yes. I shall send a gift to offer my gratitude later on, Miss Kagami. As for this valley and the treasure inside it, since you were the one who found them, I shall give both to you.”
“H-Huh? But this land belongs to the Takeda clan.”
“Hahaha. Kai and Shinano are pretty huge and since you’ve saved my reputation from getting stained, giving a valley or two to you is nothing at all. Alright, then. Let’s return first, Amari.”
“We shall leave first then, Miss Kagami,” Amari bowed.
The retainers helped Takeda get on the horse and Lily’s group then watched the Takeda leave with the surviving retainers and horses.
“How do you feel, Master?” Yukiko questioned.
“I’m fine. I just overexerted myself and didn’t really suffer any huge injuries,” Lily answered as she got up from Yukiko’s thighs1 and then looked towards Yumi, “What about you, Yumi? Are you all right?”
“My condition isn’t that bad as I’ve already taken the ninja recovery medicine, so don’t mind it that much. Please take some too, Master…”
“Oh! Even you are calling me ‘Master,’ Yumi…”
Yumi flushed up, “I’m willing to submit to a person who can battle three Furinkazan-grade powerhouses alone. I shall devote my life to you and offer you my loyalty from now on, Master.”
“Is that really fine? Weren’t you serving Haihime?”
“That’s because I had abandoned myself to despair from the shock of Sis’ elopement. Since I know that she suffered in silence all this time to achieve the real mission of the Midō clan, I have no intention of serving the Hundred Demons again. Although Haihime is a woman worthy of respect, since you possess such strength, maybe you can save her too, Master…”
“Huh? Save her?”
“Master’s body is quite weakened because of the long battle she experienced just now, Yumi, so let’s leave this discussion for later. She needs rest right now,” Yukiko interjected.
“I’ve brought some of the Tokugawa and Takeda’s clan’s horses that fled previously, Master,” Shiu walked over while pulling the horses2, “Let’s use them to leave this place.”
“Mhm,” Lily nodded.
“Can you ride a horse as you are now, Master?” Yukiko asked concernedly. After all, as a married woman, everything she did was with utmost care.
“Haha, I haven’t weakened that much, Yukiko. Lord Tsunenobu’s group must’ve left the valley by now, so let’s leave and return to Kamakura. Kai Province should be safe right now,” Lily got up while saying this, but she almost slipped and fell down to the ground, causing Yukiko to hug her waist and help her stand up hurriedly.
Shiu, on the other hand, lent an arm to Yumi, which showed how weakened they truly were right now.
The intensity of the snowstorm increased suddenly at this moment.
The squall of snow whistled across the valley and the skies turned dark in the next moment as dense clouds loomed over their heads.
The violent snowstorm gave rise to ear-piercing whistles and the view in front of them was dyed in white instantly.
The sudden decline in temperature and the abnormal chillness wrought by the snowstorm burdened the body with unprecedented pain, causing the girls to circulate their spirit power to resist the chill as the snowstorm was intense enough to freeze a normal human to death instantly.
“What’s going on?” Lily was stunned, “T-This isn’t a normal snowstorm!”
Shiu practically couldn’t remain standing within the snowstorm, so the girls lent arms to support each other.
“The snowstorm is coming from the front. It’ll be quite difficult for us to wade through it in our current states,” Yukiko looked at Lily and Yumi worriedly.
“It’s too risky to wade through such a snowstorm even with the support of spirit power!” Lily added, “Let’s retreat back into the temple for now!”
The girls retreated inside the temple while lending arms to each other. Even though the temple was dilapidated, it was still able to withstand a majority of the snowstorm with only a little of the chilly wind blowing inside, which was much better than standing outside.
The snowstorm also seemed to turn fiercer after the girls entered the temple.
“Thank goodness we took shelter in time,” Yukiko sighed.
Shiu picked up some of the broken wooden pieces from within the temple and raised a fire at a spot behind the wall where the wind didn’t reach so that they could warm themselves. Thus, the girls all gathered behind this wall.
Yukiko and Shiu also fetched some hay and laid it down at the corner.
“Although this place looks terribly ruined, it’s good enough to shelter us from the wind. Let’s hide here and wait for this incredible snowstorm to pass,” Yukiko stated.
“I hope Lord Tsunenobu and the others are fine,” Lily voiced out her anxiety, oblivious to the fact that this abnormal snowstorm was only wreaking havoc around this valley. Takeda’s group, on the other hand, wasn’t affected by it all. Although they also ran into a snowstorm of considerable intensity on their way back, it was still within the limits of normalcy.
…
As for Tokugawa’s group, the Tokugawa retainers attempted to reconnect his arms, but he prevented them from doing so, “It’s useless. My arms were cut off by that b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲’s cursed katana, so the wounds are stepped with a deep grudge. It’s impossible to reconnect them. That woman is really vicious… Sigh!”
“Please don’t feel so discouraged, my lord. We shall rally the army once we return and avenge you by subjugating her with the army!” Sakai stated.
“D-Don’t act rashly! It’s clear that Kagami Lily’s strength and fame have surpassed mine after this battle. I heard that she’s on good terms with the inheritor of the Uesugi clan and her adoptive mother is Ashikaga Makoto. She’s on good terms with Takeda Tsunenobu as well now and even Lord Kamakura seems to value her… she already has a solid foundation in the Land of East now, so we can’t take any further risks to retaliate against her after the disastrous losses we had in this battle as it might lead to the annihilation of the whole clan. What we need to do right now is to defend ourselves well and focus mainly on defense. We can’t risk attacking her prior to new developments in the world…” Although Tokugawa had lost this badly and brimmed with resentment, his retainers were impressed by the fact that he was able to endure it all.
“My lord,” Sakai looked into the distant snowstorm behind them while supporting Tokugawa, “Honda was behind us until a moment ago, but he’s gone now. I wonder if he has gotten lost or has fled?”
“Leave him be. He doesn’t have the nerve to see me, so he probably won’t return again,” The armless Tokugawa felt pained from the loss of a trusted general and became downhearted again, “Let’s return to Mikawa. It’s good enough that we can return with our lives intact…”
“Your tolerance knows no limits, my lord. You’ll definitely make a comeback one day!” Sakai stated excitedly.
…
Takeda’s group didn’t run into any troubles on their way back and the troops came to their rescue once they arrived close to a beacon tower.
On the other hand, the mountain temple where Lily and the others were situated had turned abnormally cold as it was nighttime already.
As such, Yukiko untied the front of her top and pressed Lily’s face into her bosom to warm her up.
Shiu added wood to the fire intermittently while Yumi laid close to Lily.
The girls leaned on each other like this to maintain a warm body temperature.
Lily fetched a few silk cloths from the mirror and blanketed them.
“Unfortunately, there’s only sexy and flimsy garments and silk cloths inside the mirror. There are no thick winter garments in it…” Even Lily felt a bit helpless in this situation.
The Midō sisters had already become Lily’s loyal servants by now, so Lily explained the mirror’s secret to them briefly. However, as they were stuck in the snowstorm right now, she didn’t explain everything to them.
Although Lily was their master, she was under their care right now because she was in a weakened state.
At present, she leaned into Yukiko’s bosom from the side with Yumi hugging her snugly from behind and Shiu behind Yumi. The girls squeezed underneath the cover of the silk cloth while the bonfire crackled.
Lily was in a good condition as her blade maiden spirit power had already healed her injuries, so she just needed some rest now.
The temperature kept declining along with the passage of time, and though it was late night, the girls had recovered a little by now. Their bodies also warmed up as a result, so they were still able to withstand the cold because of the warmth they shared.
“Master…” Yukiko voiced out somewhat worriedly with a lonely expression, “Will you return to your territory along with us?”
Lily laid on Yukiko’s thighs and pressed her face against Yukiko’s underbelly, “Of course, I will. Didn’t I say so already? I will keep my promise.”
“Good, then. All that remains of the Midō clan is us sisters now. We really don’t have any other place to go to,” Yukiko stated gloomily.
“We are family from now on, so my home is your home as well,” Lily stated gently, “I have a house in Izu Port. Let’s all live together there.”
“Really? That sounds nice,” Yukiko finally felt a little eased as she feared that Lily didn’t need them. Yukiko was determined to serve this formidable and beautiful master of hers and she was willing to fulfill any and all demands of Lily with delight3.
“I’m feeling a little thirsty, Shiu. Fetch some snow to make some hot water,” Lily commanded.
“Yes,” Shiu got up.
“Hold on,” Yukiko interjected, “With her strength, Shiu might get harmed by the chill outside, so let me do it instead. Yumi, let master lay on your thighs.”
“Eh? There’s no need for that…” Lily continued, “My injuries are almost healed now.”
“That won’t do, Master. The ground is cold and hard, so you have to lie down on Yumi’s thighs,” Yukiko was quite insistent, and it seemed as if Lily herself didn’t have any say in her treatment.
“Eh? But I…” Yumi was dressed in a snug amethyst-colored kunoichi outfit, so her thighs underneath the miniskirt were bare4.
“What? Are you unwilling to let master feel a bit better, Yumi?” Yukiko pressed her.
“T-That’s not it!” Yumi’s face blushed hard, “Fine, I got it.”
Thus, the girls swapped their positions. Lily now laid on top of Yumi’s thighs and felt the touch of her skin directly, which didn’t seem that different from touching skin through clothes.
A few moments later, Lily actually closed her eyes and fell asleep under the comfort of Yumi’s thighs5.
This, in turn, made Yumi feel quite embarrassed and caused her face to flush further, but she gradually came to accept the reality of the situation and combed Lily’s hair gently with an affectionate smile on her face.
Yukiko also chuckled lovingly after discovering Lily asleep when she returned with the snow.
“Let’s prepare hot water for master and allow it to cool down first,” Yukiko smiled.
“Well, we can also take a sip anyways,” Yumi added.
“But master would feel thirsty even though she’s asleep, right?” Shiu stated worriedly.
“Someone just needs to feed her the water mouth-to-mouth then,” Yukiko chuckled charmingly.
“Eh?” The two younger girls yelped in astonishment.
On the other hand, while the girls spent time with each other in smiles, the snowstorm outside kept turning harsher with the temperature dropping to an incredulous level.6