In the eerie dark, a beautiful shape, not so tall nor so short, hung from a beam. A single flame flickering inside a dim oil lamp light up the wood storage, revealing Shiu.
The light partially reflected in her eyes. While her jade-like body dripped with beads of sweat from time to time, both in part because of her tense nerves, and the drugâs effects.
With dreamy eyes looking at Lily glumly and fearfully, Shiu looked so mournful.
In this otherworld Heian Empire, women always had low positions. In a world controlled by strength and supernatural power, vulnerable women who were always calm and tender naturally became the victims of the era. They were punished, often beaten by their husbands. There was no concept of human rights here. Many women were forced to become slaves after their clans were defeated. Such treatment as being tied and hung on the beam was hardly rare.
However, this time, Shiu was tied because she had been defeated. And, it was another woman who had tied her there.
âTurns out your name is Shiu⊠Itâs a nice name, and you look like a rather elegant and pure little girl. Why did you want to harm me?â Not trying to be polite, Lilyâs interrogation had already moved to search through the scrapped remains of what was once the ninjasâ clothes.
âAh! You, what are you doing!?â Shiu grew nervous, writhing helplessly in the air under Lilyâs scrutiny.
âDoing what? You donât need to ask. As⊠as youâre my captive, I have to search your body!â Lily replied, stammering a little.
Since she had come here from the modern world she found it harder to accept the straightforward rules of this world. As Shiu had been defeated, she belonged to Lily. No need to mention her belongings, which had all become Lilyâs spoils of war. Everything was right and just.
Lily blushed as she felt rather apologetic, however, she had steeled her resolve. âA weak woman like me, who was unfortunately gifted with beauty, will always be the subject of peopleâs lust and desire. If I canât at least protect or defend myself then I will have no way to find the secret to releasing my senior sister! As my vision is enlarging, I have a feeling that the truth behind this would be profound and somehow frightening.â
âIf I want to increase my strength, I need money! As a woman I also need to buy more clothes, which needs money! There are so many things I need to spend money on!â
Unfortunately, currently, Lily was penniless. She had even borrowed her slaveâs money to buy these clothes. If Nanako wanted to use this to threaten her, she wouldnât be able to do anything about it.
Moreover, the âGenji Swordstyleâ wasnât cheap at all. No, it was a total rip-off with the sky-high price.
âAlthough it lacks all honor, begrudgingly, I have to use this female captive. I am all alone in this otherworld, do I have a choice? Isnât it true you canât control your will sometimes? At the very least, when thereâs no one around, I will punish myself once to redeem my sin.â
Although Lily was embarrassed with a red face, her voice was unwavering. She commanded the full power of a victorious older sister.
âWhy are you so flustered? Big sister here just wishes to borrow some of your money. Weâre both women, thereâs nothing else I can snatch from you!â
Checking Shiuâs coin purse first and foremost, Lily found five silver ingots and more than one kwan of change.
She completely forgot about her current embarrassment after seeing so much money. Prompting her to smile happily towards Shiu, âSo you have a lot of money. â
It totaled more than fifty-one kwans. She really was rich.
Lily then had an epiphany. Should she go and collect things from the ninjas she had killed?
âHey, your other henchmen, did they have money?â1
Shiu shook her head. âNo money. They didnât even have a mon. We are all poor people. All the traveling expenses and other expenses of my ninja troop is here. And, most of it isnât my money. Itâs the money the Chief paid me. Ninjas are pretty poor.â
âOkay, then I can take them without remorse. Hmph, your Wind Demon Clan wanted to kill me for money. Should I be polite to them?â Saying so, Lily put all the money into her pocket.
Shiu could only be upset and depressed about her inability to retain her own assets. It was simply impossible as she was at Lilyâs mercy.
Lily wasnât afraid of searching Shiuâs body entirely as, no matter what, they were both women. Shiu felt itchy but was powerless to resist, leaving her to wiggle and pants.
Except for the money, the only other valuable thing was Shiuâs Shiroi Fugu. A medium-quality Grade Three, precious, ninja sword. Lily hesitated for a while then kept the sword at her belt. However, Lily didnât intend to make use of the sword in that way. Tomorrow, she would go to the dojo to pawn it.
Shiu wanted to cry after seeing Lily take her last, and crucial, weapon. If she had known the target was a Demon Sword Maiden she would never have taken the mission. Even if she had got three more senior genins to support she still wouldnât have dared to fight against her.
And now, she could only pray that this money-hungry sister didnât have any strange interests.
Except for the sword, Lily found some shurikens. Though they didnât look too valuable, she still took them all. There was also a book where she found the description of her assassination mission. However, this book was highly confidential. She couldnât figure out its origin, or the information of the clients, only her own information.
Finally, Lily came upon a wooden tag around Shiuâs belt.
It read âRyumori.â
âRyumori? Is this your family name?â asked Lily.
âNo, no! Female ninjas arenât allowed to keep such a common name,â Shiu hastily denied.
âOh? So itâs your common family name?â
âEh? H- how did you know that?â2
Lily shook her head and wondered just what the Wind Demon Clanâs Chief was thinking when he assigned Shiu this mission. Though she was talented in martial arts, her intelligence left much to be desired. Later she would interrogate Shiu, and her red mouth would sell that entire clan down the river.
With all those items set aside, the rest didnât look valuable.
âYour stocking garters donât look bad. Where did you buy them?â
Lily wasnât joking as she asked so. She had wanted to try short skirts, but felt it was inappropriate to display her slender thighs. With black stocking garters however, she would appear more ladylike. Moreover it would permit her to be more confident when walking on the streets. She desired a pair a lot, but couldnât afford them. Of course, she couldnât rob Shiuâs to wear since, not only would it be embarrassing, they were already torn.
Sakura returned as Lily was collecting things to her heartâs content. Even the parasolâs canopy turned redder as it pushed open the door to the scene. âAh, s- seems like I saw what I shouldnât. Master, sorry, I disturbed you. Iâll be back in two hours ~ â
âWhat?â Lily blushed, screaming softly. âYou, what did you say!? No, itâs not what you think! I- I am only interrogating and checking her body!â
âHehe, really,â Sakura Parasol chuckled as she re-entered the warehouse.
Shiu screamed in terror seeing the talking umbrella, âAhâŠ! A monster umbrella!â
âShut up! Who are you calling a monster!? I am a shikigami! A stately shikigami!â Sakura Parasol jumped up, whipping Shiuâs butt.3
âAh, it hurts. Sorry, sorry Master Shikigami. M- my bad⊠I wonât do it ever againâŠâ
After just a single sentence, Shiu could only apologize continuously. Lily was startled. She felt like Sakura could be a better master than her.
It also made Lily a little frustrated as she was still childish in that aspect. To stop thinking about it she shook her head, asking the parasol, âSakura, howâs it going out there?â