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Lily bowed her head to dissect Lord Kamakura’s words.
Could it be that Lord Kamakura has a better understanding of Sister Uesugi’s thoughts than I?
Lord Kamakura was definitely better at understanding the minds of others, but Lily didn’t want to admit that she failed to understand Rei1.
“Sis is quite brave and even I know how terrible Shuten Doji is, so there’s no way she wouldn’t know about it. Did she go to subjugate Shuten Doji because it will affect her reputation? Sister Uesugi is a valiant free spirit who’s true to her desires and not someone who cares about false reputation. Contrary to her careless demeanor, she’s actually quite reliable and pragmatic, or else I wouldn’t have felt safe whenever I’m next to her!”
“Did Sister Uesugi really go to subjugate Shuten Doji? Also, why is she moving together with those ostentatious youths?”
Lily didn’t believe that Lord Kamakura was capable of stating this with utmost certainty while sitting in this palace. However, it would be too bold of her to argue over this matter and she also had no need to challenge Lord Kamakura’s prestige.
Lily bowed to him, “I’m grateful for the advice, Lord Kamakura. I’ve also been planning to leave for Kansai in order to explore and train recently.”
However, Lord Kamakura remained silent for a good while. When Lily raised her head, she saw that gigantic, meek yet unwavering man look at her intensely with his tiny eyes.
“I see. Are you going to leave the East in the end as well?” Lord Kamakura’s voice sounded somewhat regretful.
“I’ve received a lot of care from Lord Kamakura and the Genji and have yet to repay it, but I have my own path to tread, which is the path in a samurai’s heart that you emphasized earlier, Also, it’s not as if I won’t return, so I’m willing to offer my meager strength to the Genji at any time just like before.”
“Mhm,” Lord Kamakura nodded slightly, “Go, then. Follow the path in your samurai heart and just turn back whenever you feel lost. The Land of East will always support you.”
“Understood. I won’t forget my roots.”
Lord Kamakura wore a complicated expression yet nodded somewhat approvingly a moment later.
Lily also bowed to him once again and withdrew from the main hall.
Lily walked through the streets of Kamakura City under the dark skies after leaving Hachiman Palace. Even though it was daytime, there were few passersby on the streets.
Lord Kamakura is a really unfathomable person.
The last words he offered were reassuring, but Lily was still perplexed about Rei’s matter and hadn’t decided whether to hold back from getting involved in it and abide by the samurai code of chivalry yet.
Lily wanted to ask him about something, but she refrained from doing so in the end.
Back when she had gone to investigate the Takeda clan secretly, the information had gotten leaked in advance. However, she felt that there was no point in asking about this.
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If the incident was really unrelated to Lord Kamakura, she had nothing to fear at present and she also didn’t have the time to get involved in these trivial matters again.
However, if it was actually related to him, Lily thought that it would strain the situation even further if she asked such a question.
Lily didn’t really find her meeting with Lord Kamakura this time to be that pleasant. Although she had made a great achievement, he hadn’t actually rewarded her anything. Lily didn’t really care about the reward, but this was enough to feel how subtle the mood was.
“Mmh? A demon?”
Lily sensed a powerful eldritch energy from ahead while walking.
A nearly 5 m tall bare-chested blue demon with sharp, protruding teeth and a thick black mane was approaching her from nearby.
Lily realized it only then that she was actually on the wide street that she walked through back when she had first arrived in Kamakura.
Although it was the winter season now, it hadn’t snowed yet in Kamakura, and the blue moon was visible high in the sky behind her. The situation actually held some resemblance to back then.
Lily was just a weak girl who didn’t even have a katana on her as she walked through this street back then after arriving in this alternate Heian world. This location was where she had witnessed Uesugi Rei kill the blue demon valiantly with a single strike from her katana and also where she acquired the initial resolution to walk the path of a samurai woman.
This was just a while ago, but the current Lily stood where Rei was back then and faced the vicious blue demon fearlessly.
“It’s just a high-ranked monster,” A monster of such level was of no threat to Lily.
Lily could even see a few samurai holding up blankets to hide themselves in the dark corner of the street, utterly afraid of getting found by the blue demon. All of them directed looks of incredulity towards Lily since she hadn’t fled even when faced with such a massive blue demon.
The blue demon dashed towards Lily with a roar.
Lily just had Spring Soul in her hand at this moment.
However, even so, killing this blue demon was as simple as crushing an ant for her.
A powerful shroud of blade maiden spirit power blossomed outwards from Lily and caused her hair to dance in the air of the night sky and her eyes glimmered with a detached and beautiful crimson tint.
Lily hadn’t made a move yet, but it was as if her eyes had long seen the amaryllis of the blue demon’s life.
“Scram!” Lily yelled in a charming voice with her eyes filled with terrible killing intent!
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Boom!
A powerful shockwave from the spirit power traveled towards the massive blue demon and actually caused it to stumble because of its hair getting blown upside down. The blue demon came to a sudden stop and glided across the wide street because of the inertia, giving rise to a cloud of dust that reached past its head.
It had stopped just 2 meters away from Lily. The blue demon’s gaze locked with Lily’s for a few moments before it began to quiver suddenly, showing a frightened expression on its vicious face as it kneeled down with a thud and then turned around to flee in a panic.
Lily’s gaze shifted to the side and looked at the samurai hidden in the dark corner.
However, she found them so scared that they had actually fallen to their butts one after the other.
Lily turned around and left silently.
She arrived in front of the Genji Dojo, but the gate was closed right now.
Lily knocked on the gate and it was opened subsequently by a male and female attendant who consequently revealed astonished expressions.
“M-Miss Kagami?!” The male attendant cried out.
“How rude. She’s to be referred to as Lady Lyn-hime now,” the female attendant reminded him.
The duo kneeled towards Lily, “Greetings, Lady Lyn-hime.”
This made Lily feel quite uncomfortable as she had become a disciple of this dojo just a few months ago.
The gossip about Lily becoming a liege lord, killing Hojo Dijon and coming to a draw against 3 Furinkazan-level powerhouses alone had long spread in the East, making her a living legend.
“You needn’t act like this. I’m still a dojo disciple when we’re here,” Lily helped them stand up a little embarrassedly.
“Could you tell me whether Lady Sakiko is present?”
“Yes, she is. She ought to be teaching the disciples in the dojo hall. Allow us to guide you, Lady Lyn-hime.”
“There’s no need for that. I can go by myself just fine,” Lily smiled courteously.
Lily felt quite reminiscent as she walked through the quiet, pristine and lush courtyard and recalled how she first met with Shimizu in this dojo. This made her wonder where Shimizu was right now.
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Lily arrived outside the dojo hall and saw that the interior was brightly lit. As she hadn’t seen Sakiko in a long time, she walked over gleefully.
However, she heard the sharp voice of a middle-aged man from inside when she arrived at the doors of the dojo hall.
“How did the East’s Genji Main Dojo under Lord Kamakura end up nurturing such a worthless instructor like you?!”
“Mhm?” Lily approached the doors and looked inside from the half-closed doors.
An obese, carp-bearded official dressed in lavish noble garments was in the middle of scolding a black-dressed bun-haired woman condescendingly with a pointed finger while she kneeled on the dojo’s floor and the students were surrounding her in a semicircle.
The woman kneeling on the floor was none other than Sakiko.
The obese official pointed his finger at Sakiko and continued lashing out with saliva flying out from his mouth, “Minamoto no Sakiko. Just take a look at how you’re dressed. What’s the time right now? It’s no wonder that the students are all a bunch of spineless cowards when even you’re at such a level! The best two disciples went to protect that dojo excursion or whatever, but the group got completely wiped out in the end! On the other hand, you’ve not made any progress at all! You actually suffered a crushing defeat in the competition with the Taira clan this year! You will have to bear all responsibility for it as the sword instructor!”
Sakiko just remained silent and kept kneeling there with her head lowered.
“Do you think there’s any meaning in remaining silent, huh? You’ve tarnished the reputation of the Genji. We’ve never lost to the Taira clan over the past years, yet we’ve actually lost seven of the eight matches scheduled this year! Are you hoping for the captain to turn the situation around? Do you think it’s possible? Will Kondo do it, huh? I’m afraid he won’t even last a single match!”
The more the obese man scolded the angrier he got. He even poked Sakiko’s head with his stout finger and made her head sway front and back. It was really quite humiliating for Sakiko to bear such verbal and physical abuse in front of the disciples.
“Forgive me, Lord Inspector. It’s all my fault… I have no excuse to give,” Sakiko bowed deferentially even after her forehead was poked by the man.
An inspector was a long-standing official who was second only to Lord Kamakura in Kamakura City and third of the current Furinkazan were practically unassociated with Kamakura, which gave the inspectors access to even higher power.
“Forgive me, you say?! What good will that do? The Genji’s reputation is long lost and even Lord Kamakura’s prestige will get tarnished because of you! What good will you kneeling down and apologizing do, huh? Our dojo has become the laughingstock of the Taira clan, you know! Raise your head!” The inspector stamped his foot in fury.
“In my opinion, your level is too low as a sword instructor, making you unqualified for the position! I’ll have you out of this dojo if the Genji lose the competition this time, got it?! You’ll be sentenced by the Genji after that! I’ll have these disciples of yours stop their studies as well since there’s nothing they will be able to learn from an incompetent woman like you. The situation is pretty strained right now because of the demons rampaging everywhere. Kamakura City doesn’t have extra capital to support you. I’ll report to Lord Kamakura tomorrow and have the dojo disbanded immediately then have all of you join the army to subjugate monsters. They won’t progress even if they study the sword in this dojo and will just sponge off the dojo, so it’s just a waste of the dojo’s resources!”
“Lord Inspector. Feel free to scold me if my teaching is at fault. However, this dojo doesn’t just teach martial arts, it’s also a place that spreads the spirit of Lord Yoshitsune. How could it be disbanded so lightly just because of a single year’s outcome? I request you to refrain from proposing such a thing to Lord Kamakura,” Sakiko raised her head, her eyes flashing with devotion.
“Yoshitsune, my foot! How come he hasn’t come out to protect the East when the monsters are rampaging everywhere right now? Do you think you can scare me with the name of a man who’s been dead for a long time? You’ve nothing to show for it even though you’re receiving a generous wage by borrowing Yoshitsune’s name! In my opinion, you’re just a worthless woman who’s eating wages from Lord Kamakura’s treasury with no achievements to show for it! A woman like you should just get out of the dojo!2”
The inspector raised his stout head and slapped at Sakiko’s delicate cheeks mercilessly with a whoosh.
Sakiko could see the movements, but she didn’t evade it and just closed her eyes silently while gritting her teeth.
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“Slap!” However, the stout hand ended up slapping the long and firm sheath of a katana3.
“Argh!” The stout inspector jumped about while clutching his swollen hand, “Damn it! Who is it? Do you want to die, huh?!”
The surrounding disciples sent looks of astonishment towards the woman with waist-length hair who wielded a katana’s sheath in her raised hand as she stood in front of Sakiko and the inspector.
“M-Miss Kagami?!” Kondo Naotaka, who was standing among the disciples, was shocked as well.