Lily found Minamoto no Sakiko leading a search for her as she walked toward Chrysanthemum Inn. There were several samurais from the dojo with her.
“Miss Kagami! Are you okay?” Sakiko ran toward Lily and pulled on her hand, checking her from head to toe for any injuries.
“Thank you for worrying about me. I’m okay… ” Seeing Lady Sakiko worried about her that much, Lily felt warm inside. “But I did this to the Chrysanthemum Inn. I’m really sorry.”
“What are you talking about? You’re safe; that’s the most important thing. You’re staying in my Chrysanthemum Inn and you’ve encountered such danger. If something happened to you, how could I ease my mind! Starting tomorrow you will come and live in the dojo. It’s absolutely safe,” Sakiko was really stirred up.
“Ah? Really?” Lily was happy. Of course she would be happy; with a place she could train without interference, she would naturally agree.
“Who did this!? Why did they raid my Chrysanthemum Inn!?” Sakiko questioned angrily.
“Lady Sakiko, I’m their target. They are possibly ninjas from Fuma Clan,” explained Lily. “Ah? How do you know that? We checked those dead ninjas and found no clues… Wait a minute, did you kill them all by yourself?” Sakiko was startled, and studied Lily one more time. She knew that Lily had outstanding talent, however she didn’t expect to see the other’s power develop so rapidly after just a short period of absence. Not only her power, but her practical fighting skill was also intimidating. She wondered if the girl had some form of hidden secret. However, Sakiko stopped at appraising Lily’s power level and didn’t dig any deeper for the truth.
Lily nodded obediently. “Lady Sakiko, I got their identity from a female ninja I captured.”
“A captive?” Sakiko’s eyes flashed coldly. “Good! Take me there. I wish to interrogate her personally!”
Looking hesitant, Lily spoke. “That’s…” It seemed she wanted to stop Sakiko. “Lady Sakiko, that ninja… can you trust me to handle her? I restrained her and took all of her gear1. She shouldn’t pose a threat to us anymore.”
“Ah?” Sakiko looked skeptically at Lily, surprised, but didn’t want to ask further. “Alright. As you have captured her, it’s your right to do whatever you want with her. No matter what, tomorrow, you’ll be appointed as a real samurai anyway. Do you need me to send someone to assist you in watching over her?”
“No need, Lady Sakiko, I can deal with her myself.”
“Alright…” Sakiko nodded, “Tonight, I’ll send my men to guard the entire Chrysanthemum Inn2. It should be safe.”
Before Sakiko could finish talking, more samurais entered the courtyard. They began to check the area and stand in guard, easily identifiable as being from the dojo.
Among those samurai, Lily noticed some wearing black clothes with white prints. Not only were they especially sturdy and muscular, but their auras were also intimidating. They were all junior-level Sword Masters! That put them much higher above Akira in strength. Even if Lily tried her best to cope with one of them, she wasn’t sure if she could win.
The Genji Dojo was really formidable to be able to dispatch some simple reinforcements with such terrifying strength!
Although Sakiko looked like an ordinary person, Lily now knew she couldn’t see through the other.
“Lady Sakiko, since it’s past midnight already and I have to go to the dojo early in the morning tomorrow, I doubt I will be able to fall asleep tonight. There’s also something I need to attend to right now,” said Lily.
Sakiko followed Lily’s look, gazing at the wood storage, then she nodded and said, “Seems you don’t want to bring that female ninja to the official’s place. Alright… I can understand you to a certain extent. However, Miss Kagami, you’re much too kind. That kindness can bring dangers to yourself in this world.”3
“Thank you for reminding me, Madam, I have my own reasoning,” Lily respectfully lowered her body to give a curtsy.4
“Hmph! Fuma Clan, they actually dare to attempt an assassination against Genji Dojo’s disciple within our territory! Miss Kagami, just leave this matter to us, we will deal with them appropriately!” Sakiko’s eyes shivered from rage.5
Sakiko took her men to check around and guard the courtyard. And two ninjas were found alive since Lily had only knocked them out with the parasol. They could be considered the most tragic ones of all the would-be assassins, as they had to endure Sakiko’s personal interrogation.
Perhaps oblivious to what was unfolding in her wake, Lily returned to the log storage house.
Shiu was still hung there, her tears rolling like rain. As she refined her ninjutsu and spirit power, all of her senses had been heightened above a normal person, so she more or less understood what had happened outside.6
Her purple hair fell as she helplessly swayed in midair. She lifted her embarrassed face, her eyes holding no resentment for her captor, “Thank you, Master… If it weren’t for you, Shiu would have fallen into an end that would be even more horrible and humiliating than death7. And yet, Shiu wanted to kill a kind, beautiful, and powerful master like you. Shiu doesn’t have any face to look at you. Please, Master, please punish Shiu ruthlessly. Only then will my conscience feel a little better! Besides, this is Master’s fetish right… Master Sakura has told me that.”
“What? Sakura, don’t talk nonsense! I’m not like that!” Lily rolled her eyes at Sakura, that was standing in the corner and pretending to be a normal umbrella. She walked forward, tilting her head at Shiu and gently combed Shiu’s silky hair8, then she said, “Shiu, I understand well how it is when you were born in the wrong time, with no control over your fate. As you are from the Fuma Clan, it’s not wrong that you followed your Chief’s order to do the mission. But since you’ve pledged your loyalty to me, don’t think about anything strange. From now on, you have to be faithful to me from the bottom of your heart9. It’s the biggest appreciation to your Master. Do you understand?”
“I understand.” Shiu raised her head and beheld Lily with eyes glittering like hearts.
Lily suddenly remembered something, and said gently, “Ah right, Shiu, since you’re not a member of the Fuma Clan anymore, why don’t we restore your family name and call you Yagyuu Shiu from now on? That way, you can throw away the bygone enmities and begin your life anew.”
Shiu was so touched that, as she nodded her head, she burst out crying, “M- Master, are you giving your slave a name?”
“Ah? I just want to restore your family name… If you are not used to it, just forget it…”
“Master, please don’t say that! As a master, if you changed your decision due to a few words from the slave, then you are not qualified to be a master! A master needs to be beautiful10, powerful, and dogmatic! Shiu will accept everything! No matter what master wants to give me, I will appreciate them all!”
‘Eh?’ Lily felt ashamed that she needed Shiu to teach her how to fulfill her role as the master. It seemed Lily had many things to improve on if she wished to fit into her role.
Right at the moment that Lily started to contemplate, the door of the storage house was pushed open.
“Are you okay!?” Nanako stood panting at the door, she had been so worried as she hastily rushed to the door. “Eh?”
Then, she took in the horrible scene in the room. Except for Lily with her blushing face, there was also a female ninja with ragged clothes, being hung under a beam. Her expression was perplexed.
“Err, what are you guys playing at?” A layer of darkness shadowed Nanako’s eyes.
“Eh? No no, Nanako. I… It’s not what you thought…” Lily didn’t expect that Nanako would return at this moment. Perhaps it was the Genji Dojo’s samurai who told her where to find Lily.
“Hehehe… Sorry, I disturbed you guys,” Nanako smiled with glum and dark eyes, stiffly moving out of the wood storage.
“Nanako, listen to me…” A flame of rage arose in Lily’s heart. How did these two little girls misunderstand her!? Did they really think she was some perverted, S&Mhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S%26M_(disambiguation)”>11 older sister?!
“Saionji Nanako! You come back here at once!”
Lily rarely said something that overbearing, besides when she was in combat. Nanako was halted.
Half an hour later. . .
Nanako and Shiu were sitting in seiza position inside the wood storage. Lily also sat in seiza position in front of them.
“Ahem!” Lily had the aura of an older sister lecturing her two unruly younger sisters. She said seriously, “So, that’s what happened. Do you understand now?”
Nanako turned to look at Shiu, then cocked her head. Patting her chest, as she was overcome with depression, “So, this girl is a senior genin. Indeed, my power is the weakest here.”
Shiu’s eyes brightened in excitement, looking at Nanako, “Senior, I- I’ve just become a slave. I don’t know how to serve our master. Please show me the ropes.”12
“Don’t call me senior! There’s nothing honorable about being called senior in such a job!” Nanako yelled at Shiu.
Lily felt helpless13 as she held her forehead, “Did you guys understand my words or not…”
At this moment, cold wind blew from the outside, shaking the oil lamp from time to time.
Lily looked through the window, and said, “It isn’t safe here. Shiu, it’s only a matter of time before they come after you, since you have betrayed the Fuma Clan. From tomorrow onwards, we’ll move to the Dojo.”
Although Lily had said she wouldn’t sleep tonight, she still ended up drifting off.
Her head was placed on Shiu’s thighs14. Of course, Shiu did that after she fell asleep.
If Lily knew that Nanako stayed awake just to keep an eye on Shiu, suspicious of any ulterior motives, Lily would feel touched. However, Nanako’s worries were unfounded.
‘Hmph! That big-breasted woman belongs to Nanako, me. Although I’m in her service for now, one day, I will take everything back, every bit of pride I’ve lost. I will make her endure ten times worse! That’s why I can’t let Shiu hurt her. Otherwise, to whom should I find to exact my vengeance?’
Nobody knew Nanako had such thoughts in her head. But even Nanako didn’t know if it were true.
