Demon Sword MaidenDemon Sword Maiden
“……Sister Uesugi cut through the suspension bridge to cut off any pursuit, but she also cut off her own escape.” Hatano spoke of their trip from Mino, through Heian-kyo, all the way into Tanba, before finally getting lost within the maze of trees. Comrade after comrade died, and their desperate struggle to find an exit.
“What…” For a while Lily was overwhelmed, tightly clenching Hatano’s hand, “What happened, what happened to sister Uesugi?”
“Sister Uesugi suffered an ambush from Minamoto no Kenki and his blade was covered in a strong knockout drug. Despite being surrounded by demons, she still created a path of escape for us!”
“What!? Minamoto no Kenki? What are you talking about? Isn’t he your captain?” Makoto asked.
Hatano spoke about Kenki’s betrayal, afraid that Makoto would not believe, Nakajou also spoke of what he saw.
“Kenki is a traitor? This, how could this be…” Makoto really couldn’t believe it.
“No, it’s very possible!” Lily spoke up, “This is what I’ve always been worried about, to think it really happened. At the bottom of Mount Fuji, I encountered a mirror girl village and there, I found the tomb of Minamoto no Kenki. According to the villagers, several years ago Kenki fled there seriously injured, but he never recovered and died there.”
“Several years ago…” Makoto mused, “If I remember correctly, Kenki led his men into the Endless Demon Mountains before losing contact, but in the end he came back alive!”
“No, he had already died then.” Lily coldly denied.
“Miss Kagami might be right! When Kenki revealed his true identity, his body became corrupt and ugly, truly an undead demon!” Hatano said.
Shaking her head, Makoto stuttered, “This isn’t possible…Kenki…I treated him as an elder brother of the Seiwa branch and asked him to give you tips, I never imagined that he would…”
“Mother Makoto, it’s highly likely that Kenki has long become a shell for those hidden demons.”
Hatano continued, “If it weren’t for Kenki’s betrayal how could sister Uesugi fall into that desperate situation! That thing hid so deeply, it was an abomination! Miss Kagami, we wanted to help sister Uesugi back then but with our little bit of power… it would be nothing but a meaningless death, all we could do was flee and hope to beg the imperial court for aid. The last we saw of sister Uesugi was of her desperately slaying groups of demons before we fled, but who knew we would be caught and imprisoned by the Akai family. I thought everything was over…but the imperial army arrived.”
Hatano pleaded to Makoto, “Lord Ashikaga, I beg you, send troops to aid sister Uesugi!”
“I will immediately dispatch ninjas to investigate but as you said, this was twenty days ago, even if we find traces, it’s probably…” Makoto warned.
“Sister Uesugi won’t be captured!” Lily declared, “She’s the type who would rather die than be captured1! I’m going to cross the river and look for her!” Lily grabbed her blade and prepared to depart.
“Lily, don’t be impulsive. If you go now, which direction will you look? Follow me!” Makoto grabbed Lily’s hand, preventing her from running out.
Though Lily was far stronger than Makoto, the other person was not only the commander but also her adoptive mother. Though she was impatient, she couldn’t ignore her.
Makoto kept a grip on Lily’s hand to prevent her from messing around. To think that the usually icy calm Lily would become another person the moment one of her sisters was endangered. The more Lily was like this, the more she could not let her take the risk.
“Madam Ashikaga!” Hatano stood up, “I may be injured but I want to join the army and rescue sister Uesugi!”
“Me too!” Nakajou sat up, “I may want to go home but as a man, I can’t just go home after being rescued by Miss Uesugi, I might as well just die. I still have to settle scores with that traitor, I may only have one hand left, but I’m still stronger than regular soldiers. Even if I can only guard the fodder, let me do it!”
Makoto nodded, “Your courage and loyalty are commendable, I shall have Shizuru arrange your positions.”
With that, Makoto led Lily back into the commander’s assigned room and shut the door.
“Mother Makoto, I…”
“Lily, calm yourself!” Makoto seriously ordered.
“How am I supposed to calm myself!? Sister is surrounded by hundreds, thousands of enemies. I don’t know if she’s dead or alive, how am I supposed to calm myself!” Lily shouted anxiously.
“I understand your feelings! I understand! But the army just captured Port Ayabe, our foothold here isn’t stable, we can’t afford to act rashly! You should understand that though I gave the top merit to the Taira clan, it was only to appease and recompense them for the loss of Shigemori, we ended up relying on you in the last battle! You have to give me some time to make arrangements and adjust, otherwise how many tens of thousands of lives are going to be lost?
“It’s still all reliant on me! Just rest here! I’ll go find sister Uesugi myself!”
Slap! Lily received a heavy slap to the face.
“Don’t overestimate yourself! Do you think you’re invincible or something? You still haven’t seen the true terror and horror of a real arch-demon2! You’re strong, you may even reach the top 30 powerhouses within Heian-kyo but there are still humans who can easily defeat you and even more among the monsters! Wake up! I value Uesugi Rei greatly and now her life and death is unknown, I can’t lose you too!”
Lily was anxious for her sisters, but was Makoto not worried for her?
“Then…mother, do you plan on watching sister Uesugi land in Shuten Doji’s grasp?”
“That’s why I said calm down! Shut up and listen!” Makoto shouted, “If what Hatano said was true, then no matter how dangerous it is I will send you to rescue Uesugi Rei immediately, but twenty days have already passed. If Uesugi Rei has been caught, then she will have already been sent to Mount Ooe, if she has not been caught then she will not have remained in this place to be besieged, she would have fled from this place. So tell me, where will you go to search for her? Tell me, where will you look? If you run off and my ninja discover her location, who will I send to rescue her then?”
“But…” Lily couldn’t deny the logic in Makoto’s words.
“Lily, you might be strong, but can your strength match the scouting abilities of a hundred of my ninja? I’ve already dispatched them, so calm down and wait here with me for news, ok?”
Lily took a deep breath as her rationality started to recover, her mother’s words were reasonable, but it might also just be comforting words said out of worry…
“Mother Makoto’s words are reasonable, I was impulsive.” Lily bowed and apologized, “In that case, please let me go to the spot where sister Uesugi was ambushed and investigate.”
“Exploration and pursuit are not your strengths, let the ninjas do their job.”
“But I’m very worried!”
“Even if you’re worried, you will stay right here! This is my, the commander, and your adoptive mother’s command! Do you understand?”
“I…but…”
“Airi!” Makoto called.
Soon, Shiina Airi walked in with a few Uesugi female calvary soldiers in tow.
In this crusade, Shiina Airi had brought six hundred female cavalry soldiers from the Uesugi family to participate.
“Airi, take Lily to her room3, guard her strictly, without my order, she is not allowed to take a single step out. If she dares disobey, then she shall be charged with the crime of escaping!” Makoto ordered strictly.
“Mother!”
“Enough, I have many important military matters to deal with. I have no time to waste with a foolish little girl! Don’t think you can do whatever you want after beheading that demon! If you still treat me as your adoptive mother and know what filial piety and morality means, then you’ll obediently stay here! Take her away!”
Lily still had so many worries, but she couldn’t harden her heart to turn against Makoto right there. Not knowing what to do, she could only go with Airi and the several female cavalry soldiers.
Behind the Akai mansion, was a block that the female cavalry soldiers and the Taira female soldiers had occupied, there were also a few kunoichis and female onmyoji. This block was guarded and occupied by female soldiers.
As the army moves and battles, male soldiers facing life and death may lose control over their emotions. A mixed gender group of soldiers are prone to accidents, therefore only women could enter this block.
Without an emergency military situation, if any male soldier dared to enter this block, they would be dealt with by military law.
Airi explained the reasons why this female only block was established, while escorting her to a small dark house.
“Miss Kagami, pardon my disrespect but this is the commander’s order, I can only execute it.”
“I understand and don’t blame you, besides, if I really wanted to leave, there may not be any who could stop me.”
“Thank you for your cooperation. Right, bring it up.” Airi ordered.
Several soldiers brought up plates one by one. On those plates were a set of female armor made of black leather. It was decorated by a small number of copper ornaments and carved with ancient golden inscriptions.
“This is…”
“This is a grade 8 set of armor passed down through the ages in my Shiina family. The ancestors have declared that the wearer must be one of the best female samurai in the world. Since I am not qualified to wear this, Miss Kagami, please wear it4.”
“Eh…?” Lily looked over the armor, indeed it was a top grade armor and had an incredible aura… but this armor was too revealing5!
It was the exact same revealing style that Airi was wearing!