Fujiwara no Saibin’s voice contained a profound intent that exceeded Lily’s level of comprehension, but she was still able to sense the weakness and sadness in his voice.
Although he died an unknown time ago, the water humanoids he had created with water streams still possessed the ability to instakill powerhouses at the Spirit Jade level. However, an ancient noble and practitioner like him who possessed incredible means still failed to cross the Heavenly Gate and died helplessly after reaching the end of his lifespan.
Lily felt both admiration and sorrow for his feelings that remained constant even in death.
However, it was questionable whether his feelings would have remained the same even if he had succeeded in crossing the Heavenly Gate at an old age as the celestial maiden that he sought would’ve still remained young in Takamagahara, which was sadder than anything else.
Lily believed that Fujiwara no Saibin might’ve abandoned his pursuit of ascension after coming to this realization.
Saibin continued, “The fact that you were able to obtain my treasure proves that you’re a woman with outstanding talent. I hope that you can return this chest undergarment to that celestial maiden when you ascend to Takamagahara. The women who pass the test of Biwa Palace are all in the prime of their youths, and you won’t go unrewarded for the efforts you’ve made. This chest undergarment belongs to a celestial battle maiden and is an unfathomable treasure that can boost the spirit defense of its wearer by 100 times! It provides its wearer with the defense of a heavy armor even if they wear revealing or flimsy garments. It can only be worn by chosen celestial battle maidens, so you can wear it before you return since it will bolster the survival skills you have and also increase your chances of ascending to Takamagahara.”
“The chest undergarment can boost spirit defense by 100 times?1” Lily felt astonished when she heard this.
“Lord Fujiwara’s words are true, Master. The celestial battle maidens in Takamagahara really have defensive armaments like this. Master Suzuhiko-hime also possessed such an item, but it was better than this one. It’s possible that this one is the standard chest undergarment of the Celestial Battle Maidens Legion, which is just a common treasure in Takamagahara. However, it’s still considered a treasure that boosts defense power along with the advancement of the wearer’s spirit defense in the Heian Empire. Based on your current level of spirit defense, it’s equivalent to a grade 9 heavy armor,” Kagura explained.
“A grade 9 heavy armor?” Lily was stunned as an item like that was rarer than a grade 9 katana and numbered quite a few in the Heian Empire. At least, Lily had never heard about someone owning such an item and even Tokugawa’s fortified defense was all thanks to a grade 7 heavy armor.
A real grade 9 heavy armor packed quite the weight, so none of them existed for women. It was also impossible for Lily to fight while wearing one even if it existed as it would diminish her strength.
“However, even though this chest undergarment can boost spirit defense, it’s not a genuine metal armor in the end, so it still has one weakness, Master.”
“Oh? What is it?”
“Well… it’s nothing much. Let’s talk about it later. Just keep in mind that this chest undergarment’s defense is comparable to a grade 9 heavy armor without influencing its wearer’s speed or charm. You can also wear heavy armor on top of it to reach a monstrous level of defense. You best take it, Master. It’s rarer than actual armor!”
Saibin continued, “I don’t know what this chest undergarment is called, so I took it upon myself to name it as consolation for my unrequited love for that mysterious celestial maiden. I call it Amethyst.”
“Amethyst…” Lily got lost in thoughts after hearing this name.
“An earthquake occurred at Lake Biwa during the reign of Emperor Ojin and caused Biwa Palace to sink underwater, but I didn’t escape with the servants and chose to embrace eternal rest in the lake water where the celestial maiden who I loved once bathed and made it my resting place… You can take the chest undergarment, but I’ve long given my other treasures, except for the ones protecting Biwa Palace and the irremovable mechanisms, to my retainers and descendants, so you needn’t spend time looking for them. Takamagahara is the unattainable dream of all practitioners, so I won’t blame a beautiful mortal woman like you even if you fail to achieve my wish…”
Lily bowed to the voice in the void, “I will accept this treasure for now, Senior, and make the best use of it by wearing it. I vow that I will return it to its original owner one day and convey your feelings to her.”
“Thank you…2”
A relieved whisper echoed near Lily’s ear, but she didn’t know that it was only audible to her.
The cascading water reduced gradually, and the barrier was now moments away from disappearing, so a fierce battle was bound to unfold the moment it vanished.
“It’s a women’s undergarment, but so what? Although it’s not for men, it’s still the treasure of a celestial maiden. We’ve come all the way from Kansai, so we can’t just return empty-handed. Let’s snatch it from her!”
Almost all the samurai harbored similar thoughts, so it was no easy feat for Lily to escape with the treasure.
Lily opened the brocade box and unveiled the bewitching silver-embroidered purple undergarment crowned on the velvet cushion that had retained its pure whiteness even after all this time. The hollow-cut purple undergarment with gossamer-thin shoulder straps was made of swallowtail chiffon and had its back tied together with fine strings.
Lily felt the soft touch of the chiffon with her hand and also sensed a pristine, ethereal, feathery and transcendent mystic power that was akin to the clouds drifting in the skies from within it.
“Sakura Blizzard!3” Lily put away her blade and raised her arm up towards the disappearing barrier to hide her body by manifesting a storm of sakura around her. Lily then undid her sash and tossed it outside the blizzard on the platform under the gazes of the samurai.
However, the samurai could only imagine Lily’s body since they were unable to see through the storm of the sakura petals.
Lily’s kimono fell to her heels as she picked up the undergarment slowly and leaned forward graciously to wear it with utmost care even though the barrier was moments away from vanishing.
The sensation of the silky undergarment securing her bosom felt as snug as women’s skinship to Lily.
Lily then flung her kimono up and spun her body to wear it on before stretching her leg out to hook the sash back inside the curtain of petals with her dainty little foot.
“I-Is she changing?” The samurai wished to plunder the treasure, but the movements of the silhouette inside the curtain of petals made their imagination run wild.
The petals scattered to reveal the red-dressed Lily with Evil Slayer Yasutsuna in hand. If Fujiwara no Saibin’s spirit were to see that a woman looked even prettier than a goddess when wearing the celestial maiden’s garment that he cherished, he might’ve fulfilled the regrets he had. Lily was that beautiful.
The barrier vanished entirely at this moment, but the samurai still guarded the chains and showed no signs of moving.
A dark-skinned samurai stepped forward and stood on the other end of the chain in front of Lily.
“Kagami Lily! Do you know many powerhouses are out to kill you in these lands? You have some guts to show up in this treasure hunt!” The samurai screamed at Lily with a pointed finger while shrouded in the aura of an early-stage Spirit Jade level powerhouse, “I’m Okado Yuzo of Echizen, Echizen’s best samurai. Although we didn’t come to hunt you, you’ve claimed the treasure as yours and have even worn it on. Tell me. Do you intend to hog the treasure?”
The other samurai also chimed in, “Indeed! If it weren’t for our combined efforts to cut out a bloody path under the assault of kappas, it would’ve been impossible for you to obtain the treasure alone!”
“Hand over the treasure!” “Take it off!” “You must take it off if you want to leave the platform!”
The samurai eyed Lily with greed.
“Hold on,” Okado Yuzo raised his hand, “Let’s not use force first, gentlemen. Kagami Lily, I admit that you played a major role in this treasure hunt by beating back Kyūbōzu, and it’s not like we can ask you to share the women’s undergarment with us by splitting it into pieces. As such, I have a fair trade in mind for you. I wonder if you’re willing to lend me an ear.”
Lily looked at the samurai with icy eyes and remarked internally, How come you all didn’t step forward to reason it out when Kyūbōzu killed a Spirit Jade powerhouse with one strike?
However, she still replied with decorum, “I’m willing to do that, Mister Okado.”
Okado nodded, “I believe that the undergarment should be yours, Kagami Lily, but we samurai need to keep up appearances and cannot return empty-handed. We also need to account for the dead to their families. Let’s do it like this. We’ll let you leave if you give us the blades, familiars, and some of the treasures in your possession that are worth 80% of the undergarment’s value. There’s a lot of us, so you can say that allowing you to have the remaining 20% is quite a benevolent act from us. What do you say, Kagami Lily?”
Lily smiled grimly, “How selfish and calculating you are, Mister Okado. You don’t intend to let me leave unless I hand over my blades and treasures, do you?”
“We don’t mean to make it hard for you intentionally, but don’t you need to give an account to all of us?”
Lily’s bosom heaved deeply, and a faint smile rose up on her lips at the discovery of such a shameless man in this world, “I’m fine with accounting for the treasure I’ve obtained.”
Lily pulled out a string of copper coins from her kimono top and tossed it down.
“Here’s ten copper coins for each person. You can consider it the wages you’ve earned for the hard work of cheering for me4, but that’s all you are going to get and not a coin more,” Lily declared calmly.
“What?!”
The samurai raised a commotion.
“Just give it to us straight if you’re unwilling to share the treasure with us, Kagami Lily! How dare you humiliate us like this!” “Do you think you can do whatever you want just because you have some treasures and familiars?! Even if you’re strong, do you think you can handle all of us at once?! There are at least three Spirit Jade powerhouses among us, you know!”
The samurai criticized and cursed Lily, which made Tamurakonoe blush with shame, “If it weren’t for our mission to kill her, I would’ve really wanted to help her out. These men are the shame of us Kansai samurai!”
“If you’re unwilling to do this the easy way, you leave us no choice but to do it the hard way, Kagami Lily. It’s not like we’re trying to cheat you. We just want justice for all of us!” Okado threatened Lily.
“Why don’t you try getting some of that justice, then?” Lily countered haughtily.
“Enough of the taunts, Kagami Lily. We won’t let you cross the chains unless you hand over enough treasures to us!”
The two sides remained in a stalemate for a while since the samurai were still guarding the chains.
“Ui. Tesshin. If she’s bold enough to force her way through one of the chains, we’ll take action and kill her while she’s in battle with the samurai!” Tamurakonoe whispered to Ui and Tesshin.
Although Lily couldn’t hear Tamurakonoe, she knew very well what he had in mind and though she didn’t fear the subpar samurai, she worried that the trio from the West might take this chance to catch her off guard in battle and attack her.
Just as Lily hesitated on what to do next, a bold and cheerful laughter resounded throughout the cavern5.
