Lily returned to the cleaning department, but the same people were there and the pretty boy didn’t seem to be around.
Whether he came or not, she didn’t care too much.
Old man Kumachu took the initiative to report, “Mistress Kagami, because that Saburo lives outside the Bureau of Divination, ordinary people like him don’t dare to go out on this extended night so he didn’t come. Please don’t blame him.”
“Oh, it’s okay, it’s okay,” Lily smiled softly, “This extended night really messes with people’s perception of time. I think you should all go back to rest if you feel uncomfortable cleaning up.”
“Huh?” The old man was taken aback.
Aunt Ofuku got up and said, “Mistress Kagami, there is an important person from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who is coming over today. May I ask how this cleaning matter will be arranged?”
“Ah? It’s dark and windy this month. No matter what kind of lord comes, I guess it’s hard to see anything even if it’s clean or not. You can figure it out yourselves and arrange it how you want; there is no need to ask me,” Lily casually said and walked into the lounge inside, “I’ve been busy all night so I’ll have a rest first.”
“Ah… Mistress Kagami…” Ofuku was left bewildered, “This, who made her the Onmyo no Jojo?! Although we are all idle here, we can’t really do nothing, right? The Ministry of Internal Affairs is nominally the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Divination. If the blame falls on us…alas!”
Lily was thinking about using those Emishi spirits to help Kagura and the others improve their strength. Where would she find time to care about cleaning arrangements much less conduct herself as Onmyo no Jojo?
“Even if the Lord comes and you get scolded, it is well deserved. Who told you to deliberately exclude me and place me in this kind of position?”
Lily entered her simple but clean lounge. After closing the door, she shut her eyes and delved her consciousness into the mirror space.
Kagura and Yuki-Onna had been waiting for a while already.
It’s been a long time since I manifested in my male spirit body form, Lily felt a little strange.
Was he still a man…?
It’s hard to tell anymore. Anyways, now is not the time to wander. Let’s deal with important matters.
“Kagura, all these Emishi spirits will be left to you to manage. You should know how to use them better than me, right?”
“Of course, Suzuhiko-hime and I had practiced together for many years. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to use a lot of this ancient spirit anima. It is a pity that I had missed the initial training period when I was with my former master, resulting in a big loss in my progress. But now that I’m starting from scratch, I can maximize the power of these Emishi Spirits,” Kagura replied.
“Then what about me?” Yuki-Onna floated over to Lily, “I also helped you a lot along the way. Do you…not intend to share a little with me too?”
As she spoke, she rested a hand on Lily’s shoulder.
“No, don’t do that!” Lily’s boy spirit body was very afraid of contact with women so he couldn’t help getting nervous when Yuki-Onna touched him. He was even more reluctant to do so since the soul of his senior sister was lying inside the next room.
“Yuki-Onna, I have traveled all the way across Lake Biwa to get here; of course I couldn’t do it without you. You becoming stronger is also beneficial to me, is it not?”
“That’s more like it. Lily, you really are a kind and righteous person, but unfortunately, I am not interested in a girly boy like you. My ideal type is either a powerful and handsome man like Yoshitsune or simply a beautiful and feminine woman— I like both, hehehe.”
“Don’t say that! Kagura, Yuki-Onna, how do you plan to use these Emishi spirits?” Lily asked.
Kagura took the sakura parasol and voiced her estimates, “There are 3,235 Emishi spirits1, each of which has similar efficacy. It would be a waste to use all the Emishi spirits as they are. Instead, they can be used together with magatama and other animas to achieve maximum effect and efficiency.”
“To reach the peak of the Permanence Stage, I would need around two thousand. After that, if I want to reach the Throne Stage, quantity alone won’t suffice. The remaining more than one thousand will be given to Yuki-Onna which is enough for her to scrape the peak of the Permanence Stage.”
Lily looked at Yuki-Onna, “How do you feel about this?”
“You’ll give me so much? I’m really touched by your generosity. Whenever Lily needs my help, I’ll make sure to treat you well…” Yuki-Onna’s face was flushed in joy.
Kagura said again, “Using Emishi spirits to improve one’s realm basically multiplies their strength by three times. If I follow my arrangements, my strength will be nearly ten times greater than normal when I advance to the peak Permanence Stage! At that time, I would be able to easily kill someone like the carp spirit alone. Although I’ll need more Emishi spirits since I practice both swordsmanship and arcane arts, my spells will be able to reach a very terrifying point. I’m more proficient in supportive and defensive spells than offensive ones, though. However, when that time comes, my assistance can greatly augment Master’s and Yuki-Onna’s attack power!”
“That’s great!” Lily laughed and opened the box containing the eighth-grade spell talisman, “I’ll also give this spell talisman to you.”
“Okay…Master…”
“What’s wrong?”
“Uhm, Master, isn’t this a little too much? This is from the treasury of the entire Heian Dynasty Bureau of Divination. We took so many precious things from them; will it be okay?”
Before Lily could speak, Yuki-Onna chipped in, “Kagura, you claimed to have traveled with your former master. I didn’t imagine that you would be so inflexible!”
“You, why do you say I am inflexible? Isn’t it bad to take other people’s belongings? Although, they were wrong for making things difficult and threatening Master in the first place…”
“How naive!” Yuki-Onna scoffed, “Before I became a shikigami, I had to absorb the soul of a man who was obsessed with me. There were many infatuated men whom I have killed and we demons are often hunted by humans. Is the reasoning behind this still not clear? If you don’t seize all opportunities to improve your own strength, you and your family will die when danger befalls. Have you not experienced the pain of not being able to protect those close to you?
“Kagura, come out for me!” Lily ordered and returned to the outside world with Kagura.
She faced kagura in her female body.
“Look at me,” Lily’s face was stone cold, “Do you see me as a person who lusts after wealth? If it’s to save your life or any of my sister’s lives, I will abandon all my treasures without hesitation. I will never allow you guys to get hurt. However, these are only empty words if I ever encounter an enemy with absolute strength. For the sake of strength, I will do whatever it takes!”
“Master…”
“I was born with an ancient mirror and regarded as a mirror girl, a member of a clan that brings misfortune. What harm did I or the other mirror girls inflict on heaven and earth? Why were we born to be maimed and hunted down?!”
“Have I, Lily, ever killed someone I shouldn’t have? Why is it that since I came to Kamakura, I have been coveted by people for all sorts of purposes and put in harm’s way countless times because of my identity as a mirror girl or my beauty?! What did I do wrong? Should I be captured and enslaved by humans and demons alike because of my attractive body? Do I deserve to be killed and brutally prosecuted because I was born a mirror girl? Do I have the right to choose? Haihime and the other sisters who were persecuted by demons, do they have the right to choose?”
“Do they have a place to reason?”
“Kagura, have you forgotten your master’s hatred? I, Lily, have been greatly favored by Suzuhiko-hime’s gift of mirror space, and I still remember it! Did your master commit any crime? Did she deserve to be killed in that ancient war? What about you? If you didn’t get reincarnated, you would have died at the hands of those people!”
“Master…”
“Kagura, listen, in my heart, there is no such thing as good and evil. I don’t care about any justice; I only care about you, my sisters, and the woman whose fate I must bear! For you; for her, as long as it doesn’t hurt innocent people, I will do anything! If this is what the world calls sin, then I’ll continue to sin; I don’t care at all! If I have to suffer notoriety because of it, I won’t regret it!”
For the sake of her senior sister, Lily wouldn’t hesitate to do whatever she could. Her words were also to reinforce her own determination.
“Sorry, Master, I was so blinded by what was in front of me that I even forgot Suzuhiko-hime’s hatred for a while. Master, I was wrong; I was not firm enough. Please punish me.” Kagura realized and kneeled in front of Lily.
“Perhaps for the goal of being strong and protecting my companions, I still can’t fully agree, but when I think that my master, such a carefree goddess, died tragically on that ancient battlefield, I can finally understand Master’s current feelings and determination. Master, please punish me; I was so stupid! As an ancient shikigami, I was so compelled by the world that I couldn’t see the burden my master was really carrying!”
Lily, however, bent down and hugged Kagura into her bosom as soon as she could.
“Master…” Kagura blushed.
“Ah, Kagura, among us women, which one was not born good? Unfortunately, the chaotic heavens and dark world do not allow us to be weak. We cannot rely on gentleness and beauty to gain the protection of tyrants, especially for those beautiful women who do not want to submit to powerful overlords and archdemons. Like them, we may climb up by any means necessary, but at least we challenge the powerful and never bully the weak— this is the essential difference between us and those monsters!”
Kagura’s face was buried between Lily’s full breasts, almost rendering her breathless. Yet, she didn’t want to be released at all even if she suffocated. Perhaps she was even willing?
“No, what’s wrong with me? Why am I so nervous? Master’s body smells so good…2” “Come one, let’s go back.” “Mhm.”
Lily and Kagura returned to the mirror space. Lily was about to hand over the box containing the eight-grade spell talisman to Kagura, but she suddenly did not let go.
“What’s the matter, Master?” “Wait, this box seems a bit weird.” “Eh?”
Lily carefully examined the box and took out the talisman, giving it to Kagura. She noticed that the thickness inside and outside of the box seemed to be inconsistent, hinting at an interlayer at the bottom of the box.
Lily gently opened the compartment and found a very beautiful old scroll inside, about as small as her thumb.
She carefully unrolled it and scanned over the densely written words inside.
“This is…”
Kagura and Yuki-Onna also came forward to look. They all had eyesight far beyond that of ordinary people so they could clearly read the small words.
“Master! This, this seems to be a blueprint for the creation of domain treasures!” Kagura exclaimed.
“Domain treasures3?” Lily was startled.
