“I-Is cleaning up really that hard? I feel wronged to be put in this position, but I am clearly very lacking1!”
Lily felt really helpless, “Let’s start by mopping first, nothing should go wrong with simply mopping the floor.”
Lily felt the shape of the mop was a little strange, but she disregarded it and soak the mop head in the water.
The water in the bucket boiled up all of a sudden and blew up in an instant, causing a strong jet of water to rush towards the two sides and topple the shelves.
“Goodness!”
Lily grabbed the shelf on one side with her hand, then used her foot to hook the one on the other side, barely in time to prevent the two shelves from falling over.
However, as the shelves were already tilting towards the side, the flower vases, antiques, and other valuables slid down from the shelves one after another.
And then…
A devastating scene occurred along with the sound of shattering glasses!
“What’s going on inside?!” One of the onmyoji came over from the yard.
Lily blocked the door in a panic, “N-Nothing.”
“What were those shattering sounds just now?” Questioned the onmyoji as he tried to peek inside.
“Hallucinations… that must be it!” Lily blocked his line of sight as if her life depended on it2. That onmyoji only reached up to Lily’s chest due to her tall height. He also began to feel a little embarrassed and backed away with a blush after staring at her chest for a while, “I-If it’s nothing, it’s fine then. But I must warn you to be careful, all the items in there are precious cultural relics from the previous dynasty, they represent the Heian Dynasty’s tradition and spirit!”
“Yes, of course, leave it to me,” Lily smiled awkwardly.
As she reentered the artifact hall and saw the huge mess, Lily sat down helplessly.
That was no mopping tool at all, in fact, no such tools exist in this era. Only now did Lily recall the people of this Heian world used their hands to mop the floor.
The tool Lily was holding was actually an onmyoji’s wooden wand. It only looked like a mop because it was well-worn and very old.
Lily pushed the now-empty shelves to the deepest recesses of the room and swept all the broken pieces to the back. Then she readjusted the other shelves to block them from plain sight.
“I think… I better just leave for now…”
Lily gave up on the idea of cleaning the artifact hall and took her broom with her towards the prized hall.
The door to the prized hall was locked.
“Are you going to clean the prized hall?” The guard asked.
“Yes.”
“Then please get the key from Lord Sukeya,” said the guard.
Lily returned to the guard’s quarter to ask for Sukeya. The guard pointed her in the right direction, “Lord Sukeya is at the innermost room.”
Thus, Lily followed the path and reached the room at the end of the corridor.
Lily knocked on the door softly.
“Come in.”
Lily opened the door and entered to see the block-clothed Sukeya reading a book in the room.
“Ah, it’s Miss Kagami, come in and sit.”
And so, Lily sat down and got straight to the point, “Lord Sukeya, I want to clean the prized hall.”
“Hm, you are quite diligent. The prized hall is indeed in need of some cleaning. Although I have the key, I can’t enter after all,” Sukeya said.
Sukeya got up from his chair to close the door before turning back to sit beside Lily. His eyes were glued to Lily’s body all along.
However, he acted as if he didn’t care the moment he sat beside Lily. He picked up the book and pretended to read as he posed a question, “Miss Kagami, are you getting used to your new post yet?”
Lily felt a chill runs up her spine as she recalled the shattered vase and the soaked scrolls, “I-It’s fine.”
“I saw you were carrying a sword with you, what did you do before coming to the bureau?”
“I am a samurai from Kamakura.”
“Really, why would a samurai come here to work in such a poor condition?” Sukeya asked.
Lily could only sigh at that, “How do I know? I was acting under orders to come here to get an assignment, but they set me up in this post and said it was some important job.”
“Hahahaha, Miss Kagami, I bet you were tricked by that b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲ Kujo. Cleaning the treasury houses might be an important job, but wouldn’t that bury your youthfulness and beauty instead?”
Saying that, Sukeya leaned closer and placed one of his hands atop Lily’s hands that were on her thighs.
Lily became alert and immediately shook off Sukeya’s hand. She felt that Sukeya clearly had malicious intent when he closed the door.
Rather than getting angry at Lily’s resistance, Sukeya poured a cup of tea for himself and her, “Here, Miss Kagami, have some tea.”
Lily wouldn’t drink this tea of unknown origin, but Sukeya didn’t seem to mind it as though it was really just an ordinary tea. He chuckled by himself and put down the teacup before continuing, “I do wonder, what is Miss Kagami’s specialty?”
Why was he asking this? It was hard to imagine Sukeya would help her out of goodwill.
“I am a samurai, so I am naturally specialized in slaying demons. I heard that the monsters are left unchecked in Heian-kyo so I thought I’d contribute my meager strength to the effort.” Lily answered.
“Hahaha, even as a woman, Miss Kagami is quite valorous! I respect that, I really do. There is indeed a department in the bureau that specialized in slaying demons and protecting the VIPs. So Miss Kagami’s original intent was to join such a department?” Sukeya was now staying at Lily’s breast without the slightest scruple.
Lily reflexively pulled her front piece tighter and said, “Naturally.”
“Alas, in that case, why didn’t Miss Kagami let me know earlier? I am on friendly terms with the chief, Kamo Tadayuki, and the School of Onmyo is under his son’s jurisdiction. If Miss Kagami really wants to join them, I can put in some good words for you. How about it?”
“Will Lord Sukeya really be willing to help me out of goodwill?”
“Haha, what’re you saying now, Miss Kagami? I also don’t have to heart to watch you do this kind of rough work with these smooth little hands3, it’s a waste of your maidenhood!”
“At what price?” Lily asked.
Sukeya blurred for a moment and laughed, “Hahaha, Miss Kagami is indeed an intelligent woman. I’ve fancied your looks and conduct since I first laid eyes on you. To be honest with you, I can be considered one of the senior figures here at the bureau. Let me tell you that, it’s pointless to go and beg that old-fashioned chief directly, you have to find the right person to endorse you.”
While speaking, Sukeya stood up and directly placed his hands on Lily’s shoulders.
“Miss Kagami, since you’re a smart woman, you should understand my meaning right?” His hands were rubbing Lily’s shoulders in a vulgar way4.
“Whoosh!” Lily’s face turned ice-cold and immediately waved her sleeve to flip Sukeya onto the ground.
“Show some respect!” Lily got up and glared at Sukeya, “Don’t try to take advantage of me! I am different from those women who sell out their body to curry favor with the higher-ups!”
Lily said as she left through the door.
Sukeya then roared in anger, “Kagami Lily! You boorish b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲! Do you really think the Onmyo no Jojo is some governmental official? So be it, go and clean the treasury houses for life! See if I care!”
Lily felt disgusted, not only was the Bureau of Divination sloppy but it was also corrupted and full of such dirty businesses. She really would have washed her hands clean and gotten out of the bureau if she wasn’t sent here by Lady Ayaka.
Perhaps others would attempt to get into the bureau through various schemes or sell out their bodies to get a promotion, but who was Lily? She was a lord with a territory in the East, owned a magatama mine, and had lots of powerful sisters, why would she care about working as some rotten officials in Heian-kyo?
However, if she gave up before finding out out the real reason Ayaka sent her here, she doubted the result would be any different if she met Ayaka again.
To Lily, Ayaka was an important figure that held the secrets in regards to the mirror girl and perhaps could even point out the mystery behind her senior sister’s slumber. However, what was Lily to Ayaka? Nothing, that’s what. Ayaka had no reason to meet and help her resolve her woes.
Lily suddenly recalled something and returned to Sukeya’s room.
“What do you want now?” Sukeya growled. It wasn’t strange that a powerful samurai could easily flip him onto the ground, but since he did request Lily to do those things with him, he didn’t dare to make a scene. That was why he didn’t throw a spell at Lily. He didn’t have enough strength to force Lily into submission without attracting public eyes. Thus, there was really nothing he could do to Lily while they were in the bureau.
“Give me the key, I need to clean.” “Hmph, what an attitude. Do you think I’ll open the door for you just because you asked?” “Cleaning the treasury houses is my responsibility, please maintain your professionalism in a businesslike manner. Otherwise, I have no choice but to report directly to Lord Chief Advisor.”
“What?!” Sukeya’s entire body stiffened, “L-Lord Chief Advisor? Are you kidding me? How can you report directly to the chief advisor?”
“Oh my, don’t you know? I was sent here by the chief advisor,” Lily put on a smug act.
“W-Why didn’t you say so earlier?!” Sukeya’s attitude took a one-eighty change. He got up and straightened his clothes, “Cough, Miss Kagami, I was only testing you just now to confirm if you are one of those dishonorable women. If you really are, I absolutely cannot let you enter the prized hall. However, you proved yourself to have a righteous heart, and since you are sent here by the chief advisor, you naturally can be trusted. Don’t worry, I always treat my work with professionalism. In accordance with the rules, I cannot give you the key, but I can open the door for you. Since I cannot go in, you will have to enter by yourself. I will be locking the door while you clean so just let the guard knows when you are done.”
“Since that is the case, we’ll do as you say,” Lily replied.
“I told you I do things in a strictly business-like manner. That’s why don’t say anything unnecessary when you meet with the chief advisor. We shouldn’t distract the chief advisor due to some small misunderstanding. Little people like us should help the higher-ups with their worries rather than creating inconveniences for them, do you understand?” Sukeya kept admonishing Lily on the way to the prized hall.
As a matter of fact, Sukeya did not act self-righteous like this because he was scared that Lily would go complaint to the chief advisor. After all, if Lily could conveniently meet up with the chief advisor, why would she keep staying here?
“Don’t worry, Lord Sukeya, I understand. We are all professionals here. Besides, I didn’t really lose anything from your test earlier, didn’t I?”
“Of course, you are indeed a wise and logical woman. Let’s get along from now on.”
As they arrived before the door leading into the prized hall, Sukeya took out a gold key and opened the lock. That lock was naturally not any ordinary but, Lily guessed it was at least made from a grade 7 alloy of some sort.
“Then please go in,” Sukeya opened the door for Lily.
As soon as the door was opened, a wave of mighty aura originated from the treasures within burst out of the prized hall5.
