Lily looked at Shimizu, a little nervous. She was acute in keeping her Senior Sister’s situation a secret. Nothing would change if she told Shimizu anyway. Instead, it may bring hidden dangers to both her seniors.
However, it was still hard to justify lying, even if they were white lies.
Lily’s head began to ache, realizing that she might’ve made a mistake in handling this matter.
She donned a serious face and met Shimizu’s eyes directly. After taking a deep breath to compose herself, she spoke, “I’m sorry, Sister Shimizu. I lied just now. I have my reasons but there are some things I can’t tell you right now.”
Without waiting for a response, Lily turned and bent her waist, supporting her upper body against the swaying wall. After surrendering her ample buttocks to Shimizu, she added, “But in any case, I already lied to sister. Lily knows her wrongs so please punish me, Sister Shimizu.”
Shimizu dawned a soft smile. Although she liked teasing Lily, any such thoughts were shelved upon seeing her sincere apology and willingness to accept punishment. Shimizu didn’t have it in her to spank Lily at the moment.
“Make a note of this punishment. Since Sis Lily has willingly admitted her wrongs, I will make an exception and spare your punishment for later. “
In fact, Lily would rather receive punishment now when her mind was firm and resolved. Later when her heart was less guarded, the looming punishment would only make her uneasy1.
“Okay, it’s getting late and the sky is darkening. Let’s bathe now while it’s possible. It’ll be inconvenient when the storm starts since the ship will shake a lot,” Shimizu suggested.
Lily wore an inexplicable expression but eventually straightened and nodded.
At this time, the ship’s attendant was running between cabins to notify everyone of the upcoming storm. The passageways were clear since everyone huddled inside their cabins, making his task a bit easier. Of course, only cabins on the third deck were divided by passageways. The other cabins were all open rooms crowded with many passengers. Many people could only settle for these packed rooms as the private cabins were too expensive.
To get to the lowermost area of the ship, Lily had to walk through the large passageway which comparted most of the samurai and merchants. They sat at various corners of the wooden floor while casting unkind looks in her direction— but that was all they did.
Lily also pretended not to care. With proud steps, she ignored all the stares and made her way down the cabin.
She seemed to be in luck today as she encountered no harassment or inconveniences along the way.
Lily descended to the lower compartment which was made of yellow wood. This area was already partially below the waterline and was dimly lit
The surroundings were tightly packed with wine barrels, cargo boxes, ore crates, and other loaded goods which were fixed by thick robes. At some places, one would have to walk sideways to squeeze through.
Lily took the most convenient path. She entered the wooden partition at the stern of the ship and traversed the nearby cargo before arriving at the specially enclosed compartment in the middle. There were two bathing rooms here which she could freely use since the fee was already paid. The only problem that discomforted her was that the patrolling guard was male. However, this couldn’t be helped since there weren’t any female sailors among the crew.
Just as Lily approached, she heard the sound of splashing water from one of the two bathing rooms. Based on the soft sounds, she determined the other occupant to be a female. Since this was the case, Lily didn’t care and went to the other one.
The ship’s bathroom was barely big enough for her to turn around in it. This solidified Lily’s guess. Bulky male samurai like Hojo or Honda wouldn’t bother using this kind of small bathroom, especially since it wasn’t unusual for men from the Heian Dynasty to go without a bath for several days.
The structure of the bathroom was fitted with a small wooden basin and an overhead bamboo pipe. When the cork covering the bamboo pipe was removed, warm water would gush out.
No wonder the price of this bath is so expensive.
It didn’t matter much to Lily. She took off her clothes and hung them behind the door so she could start washing. Only then did she notice that the two bathrooms were separated by a wooden board. Fortunately, there should be a girl on the other side, otherwise, it would be really embarrassing.
…
Night fell quickly, hastened by the overshadowing dark clouds in the sky. At this time, Lily was unaware that a larger ship was approaching her position at an abnormally high speed2.
Lily’s ship was built by the boathouse in Sakai and was capable of such high speeds that it took twenty samurai to power it.
However, the samurai weren’t very strong so their spiritual energy was limited and hard to replenish. Because of this, such intensive paddling couldn’t be sustained for long, allowing the suspicious ship to close the distance.
Tamurakonoe and Kiuchidera, as well as a large number of powerful samurai from the Maro clan, stood on the deck as their ship quietly approached
…
Lily coiled her hair and carefully wiped her naked body with a small wet towel. She then poured the comfortably warm water over her body and legs, oblivious to the nearing behemoth. Her defenseless and leisurely self was wholly unprepared to combat any danger.
The reason for this was Lily’s overconfidence in the ship’s speed. There were no boats on the vast Lake Biwa that could compare with it. Naturally, she didn’t think that any pursuers could pose a threat so she didn’t bother using her spiritual awareness. Even if she did, it was impossible for her to maintain it for extended periods.
The small bathroom sparked Lily’s longing for steamy hot springs in elegant courtyards, where she could properly relax and clean her body. Since there was little space to maneuver, she wasn’t interested in washing for too long. Just as Lily dried her body and was about to put on her clothes, soft knocks rang from the wooden board.
A young girl’s silvery but slightly muffled voice echoed from the other side, “Young lady over there, I forgot to bring a bath towel. Can you lend me one so I can wipe?”
“What?”
Based on the girl’s voice, she seemed two years younger than Lily. Who would go to a bath without a towel? Lily was speechless.
Normally, Lily wasn’t a stingy person but she only had this one. It was a towel taken from the mirror space which was made from extraordinary materials. She was afraid that the other party wouldn’t return it. Plus, she just wiped with it, leaving traces of her body scent. Lending a towel that previously wiped every part of her body was an embarrassing endeavor.
However, Lily’s kindness trumped her worries in the end.
With a flushed face, she passed the bath towel over the wooden board.
“Thank you…ehm…aha, it smells so good. I can tell where every part of your body was rubbed. You must be a young and beautiful noble lady, right?” The girl next door said3.
“Please, please don’t smell it. Hurry and use it as soon as possible…” Lily blushed. Was that girl a pervert? What strange things was she doing with her bath towel?
…
Around this time, the suspicious ship was only tens of meters away. There was only a single sailor keeping watch in the cold and foggy night. He mainly scouted ahead, paying no attention to the rear. No one was aware of the stalking predator-like ship, waiting quietly to pounce on its prey.
“Prepare for action!” A cold light flashed in Kiuchidera’s eyes, “After boarding the ship, kill everyone you encounter, whether they be young or old. But if you encounter the mirror girl, don’t approach, only encircle her. I’ll ambush her when she’s distracted.”
The swords of dozens of samurai glinted sharply, exuding a gloomy and murderous aura.
…
“All right, I’m finished with it. Thank you.” The girl in the other bathroom finally returned Lily’s bath towel. Lily put on her clothes before wrapping her underwear inside the towel. She retraced her steps out of the bathroom and walked up to the cabin. The guard who patrolled the area stared and inhaled a deep breath when she passed by. Lily felt a little cramped and sped up her ascent, soon reaching the middle deck. Though she ignored them, the eyes of everyone scoured her body.
Vaguely, she heard the impertinent comment of one particular samurai, “Look, the big beauty has finished her shower. Do you smell it? There’s a fragrant smell wafting about this stinking cabin.”
Lily finally reached the third deck where the private cabins were situated, free from all the many stares. Although the passengers behaved rudely, they didn’t commit any serious crimes. What could Lily do? Kill them? Fight them? People would always watch and talk secretly so she could only continue to ignore them. However, Lily was unaware that a purple band of her underwear was exposed through the corner of the towel.
Rumble—
Suddenly, there was a streak of lightning followed by a thunderous roar. The brief flash shone through the portholes and painted the passageway a bright shade of white.
Lily jolted and started shaking.
A woman like Lily, who could stand fearlessly in front of a menacing demon, was afraid of thunder?
The situation seemed preposterous, but Lily knew the vastness and powerful might of heaven and earth and was awed by the overwhelming thunder from the high heavens.
The more one practiced, the deeper their senses became, and the more they would feel the vastness of the sky and the fierceness of thunder.
The Goddess of Lightning, Raijin4, was not as strong as Amaterasu-Ōmikami who could control the cycle of day and night, but was still powerful enough to rend the sky and scorch the earth. How could Lily not be afraid?
Bang—!
There was another thunderous sound, but this time, the ship shook unnaturally. Something didn’t feel right— this definitely wasn’t thunder!
Lily felt a reverberating tremor as if something had hit the stern of the ship.
A strong killing intent tingled her senses.
“Whaaa—” A sudden scream resounded, followed by the breaking of wooden planks.
Several screams echoed in succession, only to stop seconds later. Whoever the attackers were, they showed no mercy and gave little time to react.
“How is this possible? Is it an enemy invasion?” Judging from the tremendous impacts, Lily concluded that the attacker was an outside force. Were they rogue samurai, bandits, or demons?”
Schwing—! Lily unsheathed her Crescent Moon and extended her spiritual awareness.
“Uh?” Lily was surprised. Not only was the hull made of sturdy grade three or four lumber, but it was resistant to her spirit probes which lessened its penetration power. The ship also seemed to be suppressed by some powerful spell.
“Sister Shimizu!” Lily shouted.
At that call, the door at the end of the passageway flew open, revealing Shimizu who stood holding her Unsmiling Blade, “Lil’ Lily? What’s going on?”
Lily used this time to carefully expand her domain but was disturbed by the high-grade lumber, greatly affecting her probes of the outside. A sakura petal surfed the wind and scouted the front of the deck. So far, nothing strange was discovered.
Shimizu stepped in front, wanting to climb up first to check the situation.
The two exchanged a wink and cautiously sneaked to the front of the deck.
