Inside a dimly lit room situated by the foothills beneath the mountains north of Takeshita, a dozen flickering, partially shining, candles were lit within the cold wind.
More than half of Dadouji Akiraâs gruesome face was hidden in the darkness, radiating more maliciousness than normal. The senile onmyoji was sitting on the floor, meditating. Sometimes, he would dryly cough.
A martial monk pushed open the door to report, âMaster Akira, we have thoroughly checked. Kagami Lilyâs staying in Chrysanthemum Inn on the western side of the Dojo.â
Listening to him, Akira furrowed his brows. âItâs pretty close to Genji Dojo. Moreover, I heard the Chrysanthemum Inn and the Genji Clan are related. If we take action there, itâs no different from courting death! Damn, that evil womanâs there. What a foul, cunning woman!â
From the darkness behind the bamboo curtain, an obese woman emerged. She was Hiroko who had just arrived.
âBrother, what about hiring the Wind Demon Clan to assassinate Lily and take back our family heirloom!â Hirokoâs fat face showed her evilness.
âWind Demon Clan?â Akiraâs brows, which didnât have any hair, also slammed together. âExactly, if we want to remain anonymous and erase Lily in the Genjiâs territory without making much of a fuss, we could only hire the ninjas. However, the Wind Demon Clan has high service fees.â
âBig brother! What time do you think is it now? Taro was wounded by that woman. He could recover, but your only son Takano will be a disabled person for the rest of his life! And, the family heirloom, how could we not take it back, brother!â Hirokoâs resentment towards Lily, compared to Akiraâs, it was added onto the cunning ruthlessness between women.
âOf course! Why would I care much about money! Itâs just that we canât hire the Wind Demon Clan with only money. The price we have to pay⌠Anyway, no matter what, I have to take that womanâs life in exchange for my sonâs arm!â Akiraâs eyes sparkled maliciously as he made up his mind.
âHurry, contact that Wind Demon Clan!â
âYes, Master!â The martial monk received his order.
Hirokoâs face wore an evil smile.
âHm hm hm⌠Lily, you little â˘ââ¤âŁ, as soon as the Wind Demon Clan takes action, even if youâre in the Genjiâs territory, you must die!â
Meanwhile, Lily had already brought Nanako to Chrysanthemum Inn.
She hired a small and cheap room for Nanako, which was at the end of the corridor and opposite to her own room. The room was pretty small and had no view, but it was cheap.
There was only one dim oil lamp and a low table in the corner of the room, and nothing else besides the outmoded wooden partition and the mottled wallpaper.
âTh- this room is so smallâŚâ Nanako couldnât get used to it.
âDonât complain, Miss. You are lodging under someone elseâs roof. Moreover, your master is in financial straits,â said Lily, rubbing her money bag.
âI, I have money,â Nanako took out a small, green frog-shaped embroidered pouch.
âGive it to me,â Lily ordered without thinking much.
âWhat? Master, you, you want to take my money?â
âDonât worry. Even if I will be poorer, I wonât use your money. Itâs you who is a slave now. You donât have the right to use money. Didnât you know that? I will help you keep your money first.â Lily said.
âEr?â Nanako wasnât willing at all, but she still handed over her pouch. âI just have some pocket money. My expenses are kept by Uncle Taihara.â
Lily opened the pouch to check. It had three silver ingots at the size of a rice cake flake and some silver fragments.
Silver? As expected of a young lady, even her pocket money was silver ingots!
The three silver ingots weighed around 540 grams, which was equivalent to thirty kwan! This little pouch had more than thirty kwan! Its value was even higher than when Lily was at her richest.
However, Lily wasnât going to defraud the little girlâs money. She just helped her keep it.
âYou give it a go here, sort things out and then go to the backyard to serve me: washing my feet,â said Lily casually.
âWhat?!â Nanako was startled, âWashing your feet? I donât want to do that. I have never served anybody before!â1
However, looking at Lilyâs big breasts, which were at the same level with her eyes, and taking in the otherâs scent, Nanako felt a little frustrated.
Nanakoâs line of sight moved downward, looking at Lilyâs fair, beautiful feet.
âHmm, if she asked me to help her shower, perhaps our relationship would reverse. I would see her body, and this big-breasted woman would die of shame. Letâs see if she still dares to order me like that? Perhaps she would revise the contract and become Nanakoâs slave instead!â
âAlright, I should be subtle and patient now⌠If itâs the slaveâs duty, I will serve her first until sheâs pleased. Perhaps, she would ask me to bathe her⌠Then, when she doesnât have the strength to resist, I will force her to revise the contract! Hmph!â
Half an hour later, it was already late at night.
On the backyard of Chrysanthemum Inn, the open-air bath was fenced in with woods surrounding it, where white mist hovered.
Lily had only an upper garment shrouding her body. The tunic of the shirt covered her creamy bottom as she was sitting on a chair made of ancient wood. Her slender, straight legs were put into a big wooden basin.
Nanako kneeled by her, blushing.
She lifted one of Lilyâs small feet. Using a small, wooden bucket to scoop the water from the pond next to them, she gently washed her foot.
âTurns out her feet are so small. She looks so tall; how come her feet are just a little bigger than mine? And, why donât I feel the lumps of bone? These curves are so soft and smooth. And, it looks so tender.â
âWhy this footâs so soft, fair, and smooth? Is she really some low-echelon, poor person? Could she be some Princess that the royal familyâs trying to conceal? If so, Iâm willing to serve her.â
Nanako used a piece of soft cloth to gently wipe Lilyâs foot. Unknowingly, she had brought Lilyâs foot pretty close to her small face, to the point that Lily could feel Nanakoâs breath on her foot.
âUmmâŚâ Lilyâs foot had never been touched by any other person before, and now her sensitive foot was lifted, rubbed and wiped. It made her blush. Indeed, having a slave, she could enjoy such things?
Looking at Lilyâs enjoying face, Nanako put more efforts.
âThings like this, even if you give me a compliment, Master, I- I donât feel happy about it. I only feel ashamed. Iâm a samurai, the oldest daughter of the Saikanji House, and Iâm washing some ordinary womanâs feet. I, Iâm ashamed to the generations of female heads of the Saikanji House!â Nanako blushed, complaining in a low tone. However, her hands were still working.
âEhem⌠H- hurry up, finish washing. I have something to do laterâŚâ Lily hid half of her face as she was unable to bear the feelings of her petite feet being taken care of. She urged Nanako to get the job done.
Indeed, if she asked Nanako to bathe her, it would be a littleâŚ
Letâs just take it slowly.
Lily now understood the benefits of having a female slave. Although she wanted to live a self-restrained life with religious practice, whenever she bathed, she saw and touched the provocative body of senior sister, although she could control it, her heart would somewhat beat erratically. If she blindfolded herself, it would be even more inconvenient.
Thus, having this little Lolita to help her shower, she didnât need to look at her body and profane this pure and holy body.
However, letting this cute but cunning little girl see and wash her from head to toe wasnât something she could accept easily.
âIâm the master but if I show shyness when Nanako bathes me, it, of course, will affect my masterâs prestige.â
âSeems I need to prepare my mind carefully. I need to improve the level of my mental state too!â
âIf I got busted by my own slave who was serving me, it would be a big case of face-losing.â
Lily suddenly felt that it wasnât easy to be a master. However, as she had to shoulder her senior sisterâs responsibility, she must become a master. How could she be subdued by those beautiful and powerful women?
Lily made Nanako wash her clothes and returned to her room.
Sometimes, it felt good to order a lady with a noble identity to do chores.
At this moment, Lilyâs mood was good. Returning to her room, she closed the door and took out the Sakura Parasol, opening the anima container.
This Sakura Parasol was a shikigami. Since her spirit power was lost, she couldnât show herself and she could only stay in her original form. Perhaps feeding her with those demon souls would help her recover her original power and shape.
It should be very beneficial to Lilyâs training and her adventure going forward!
Lily opened the anima container, releasing ten animas.
As soon as the Sakura Parasol sensed the animaâs aura, it woke up, hovering and spinning in the air. A chain of faintly glowing pink runes emerged under the parasol.
It generated a magical energy, sucking those animas into the canopy, swallowing them.
Ten animas cost five kwans! Lily felt a little hurt. She spent them all!
âHey, Sakura, can you show yourself now?â
Sakura glowed tenderly, slightly shaking as if it was a person who was stretching her body, pleased with herself and not in the least bit concerned. She said, âMaster, are you kidding me? You fed me with these cheap demon souls and you asked me to show myself? Itâs not enough to restore bits of my memory. At most, it can supply some spirit energy so I can stay awake for a longer time.â
âWhat?!â Lily was so surprised. She didnât expect to see the other disdain the Mountain Imp animas she had risked her life to get! She looked depressed and thought to herself that Sakuraâs bad habit was kicking in again. Why didnât she say it earlier! Those animas cost five strings of coins! How could she spend them to get nothing in return like this! Lily fumed inwardly!
âBut my Master, itâs not that the animas you fed me have all gone in vain. I remembered some powers I got in the past. Perhaps I can help you,â said Sakura all of a sudden.