Book 2: Chapter 62: Cowardly Chicken

As the door was pushed open, the wind blew the raindrops into the dojo.

Tokugawa s.h.i.+getsugu noticed the silent anger in Lilys eyes and muttered to himself:

Did Kas.h.i.+ma mess up?

1

Everyone else was also quite surprised to see Lily like this.

Say, Miss Kagami was it? Did you just return from the Odawara campaign? What did you do to end up looking as such? The elderly swordsmans.h.i.+p instructor appeared behind Lily, he just so happened to come over to take a look at the afternoon session, only to see the dripping-wet Lily standing at the entrance.

Instructor Terasou, please dont say another word for now, Lilys head was hanging down and spoke with a gentle yet chilling tone.

What?! Kagami Lily, what kind of att.i.tude is that? How can you be so insufferably arrogant after one victorious battle? Is that how you should be speaking to your instructor? Oh, I understand now, no wonder your attendant yesterday was also that disrespectful. The elder continued to criticize.

What did you say? Lilys black hair scattered as she flipped her head to glare at the instructor.

Eeek! The instructor was frightened by the killing intent and instinctively stepped back for a few meters, then he pointed at Lily and stammered, Y-you better wa-watch your att.i.tude, how can you be this rude! Since youve just returned from the campaign, I-Ill let you off with this today! Theres no next time!2

The instructor shouted as he got further and further away from the dojo.

Lily ignored him and directly made her way towards Tokugawa after slamming the door close with a loud bang!

Hey, Kagami Lily, how can you be this rude. Look, the floor is wet, how are we supposed to explain this to the instructor? Just what do you want?! One of the Mikawa Three Tigers, the tall and stalwart Tsunemoto Torayasu with slightly tanned skin got in front of Lily and blocked her path.

Tsunemoto Torayasu, ranked 12 in the dojo, was a really powerful man.

However, Lily didnt remember his name, she only vaguely recalled that he was Tokugawas companion.

Step aside, Lilys scattered wet hair almost blocked her eyes from view and her drenched kimono had a deeper shade of red as it stuck to her body, outlining her s.e.xy figure and made it even more prominent.

What? Tsunemoto Torayasu was also quite a conceited and headstrong samurai, he frowned upon hearing those two words and immediately got defensive. He grabbed Lilys collar with his thick arm and warned, How dare you say that to3

Before he was able to finish his words, Lily had already grabbed Tsunemotos wrist and collar. She immediately exploded with strength one wouldnt expect from her curvaceous figure and slender arms.

Whoos.h.!.+ The ma.s.sive Tsunemoto was lifted off the ground and his body was left at the mercy of gravity.

Bang! The entire dojo shook as Lily flung Tsunemoto into the floor with a shoulder throw. A few planks were broken and Tsunemotos upper body was buried under that huge hole.

Whaaaaaat?! Without a doubt, everyone was shocked.

A surprise attack it may be, but Lily was still a newcomer and ranked fifty. They had only seen her a few times in cla.s.ses for basic forms and unarmed combat. Yet she was able to overpower Tsunemoto, who secured his position at rank 12 with brute power!

Moreover

Lily had used too much strength and smashed Tsunemoto through the floor, rendering him completely out cold.

Even Tokugawa felt that Lily was a little too savage:

For her to actually knock out Tsunemoto in one hit, just how much strength did she have?

Even he himself wouldnt necessarily be able to take out Tsunemoto that straightforwardly.

However, that sly bastard still didnt bat an eyelid and acted like a nice guy, Miss Kagami, I heard that youve made great achievement at the war of Odawara, I should have come to greet you personally and give you a reception, its just that there are still so many brothers and sisters in the dojo I have to look after, I couldnt find the time to go and meet you. I do wonder though, what did my good brother Tsunemoto do to make you so angry and knock him out with such a brutal move?

Lily stopped in front of the 1.9 meters tall Tokugawa, she looked a little small in front of him, but she didnt show any fear and raised her head to glare at him, Tokugawa s.h.i.+getsugu, you call extorting fellow disciples as looking after them?4

Soon as she said that, Tokugawa choked on his words. Although Lily didnt raise her voice, it caused some of the surrounding disciples to raise a cry.

Thats right, although they were half voluntary, who in their right mind would willingly give what little valuable magatama fragments they had to Tokugawa. They were resentful but didnt dare to voice it out, they could only comfort themselves by making themselves believe that Tokugawa was looking after them. After all, it was quite a humiliating thing to admit that they had been extorted.5

Tokugawas complexion became ugly, Miss Kagami, I have no idea what youre saying.

Lily stretched her hand towards a male disciple, who had stopped practicing with his wooden sword midway, and said, Hand that over.

Huh? You mean the wooden sword? He glanced at the wooden sword in his hands and pa.s.sed it to Lily. He also had no idea why he listened to Lilys command at that time.

Lily received the wooden sword and swung it at a vacant s.p.a.ce to create a sudden gust

Whoos.h.!.+

That gust caused Tokugawa and the other disciples clothes to flap.

Tokugawa s.h.i.+getsugu! Not only did you send your underlings to humiliate and bully my sister, you even attempted to poison me with such a despicable method, you shameless degenerate! Rather than reporting this to the higher-ups, today, Im going to challenge you to a duel! Lets settle our grudges with the way of the sword!

Saying that, Lily pulled out the packet in front of everyone.

Whats inside this packet, you should be clearer than anyone here, Tokugawa! You pretentious bastard! Lily was usually modest, but now the words that left her mouth were unsparing.

The surrounding disciples started to make noise and whisper to one another.

Tokugawas face paled immediately, he definitely wouldnt be able to worm his way out of this through words, so was taking up the challenge his only choice? That throw from Lily earlier showed everyone just how resolute and daring she was. Moreover, her killing intent and sword aura made him a little uncertain of his odds. Tokugawa was confident that he

should

be stronger than Lily and felt that he had a higher chance of winning, but despite being so gentle and beautiful, Lily could actually pull her own weight in a fight, so he couldnt be sure. If he really lost, there was no way he could recover from this!

Tokugawa swallowed his anger and forced a smile, Hehe, Miss Kagami, I really have no idea what youre saying. If you think that I have done something, you can go report it to the dojo. What does a tea packet that Ive never seen before had anything to do with me anyway?

Oh? Tokugawa s.h.i.+getsugu, if youve never seen it before, how would you know that its a tea? Ive only said that its a packet.6

Blood immediately drained from Tokugawas face as he mused:

c.r.a.p! That was careless of me, I accidentally let it slip!

Everyone gradually started to harbor doubt.

Hmph! Tokugawa broke out in cold sweat and forced out barely believable lies, That was a slip of tongue.7 Anyway, I am completely unrelated to this case. Miss Kagami, you didnt see it with your own eyes, could it be that your attendant was lying to you?

Hmph, I knew you would say that, Tokugawa, thats why I wont waste my breath arguing with you. Regardless of who is right or wrong, I am definitely going to challenge you today! Arent you giving swordsmans.h.i.+p advice to many disciples here? That means you should have some confidence in your skill no? Or are you telling me that you didnt dare to face me? Your fame is undeserved! Lily didnt bother to quibble with Tokugawa who tried every possible way to talk his way out. Whether he admitted it or not, Lily didnt care. She didnt trust the rules and regulations of the dojo nor did she care about bad rumors spreading, all she trusted was the sword in her hands!

Hahahahahaha! Tokugawa suddenly laughed, Miss Kagami, no need to get violent on me. Do I look like a man who would lose his reasons just because of a few words? You are a woman, so Ill look the other way regarding your rude remarks, but as for the challenge, dont forget about the rules Miss Kagami, you are ranked around fifty while I am the ranked third, you have no qualification to challenge me with your rank.

Then you can be the one to challenge me instead, Lily replied with a sneer, however.

Hehe, Miss Kagami, what do you take me for, stupid? I am rank 3, what benefits will I gain to challenge a rank 50s? Forgive me for being unable to grant your request.

I didnt expect the magnificent Tokugawa s.h.i.+getsugu to be so gutless. I bet youre scared, right? How did your Furinkazan daddy raise such a cowardly son like you? You didnt even dare to challenge a woman who is so ranked so much lower than you, how do you have the face to continue staying in this dojo like this? Rather than having others make way as you brazenly ride through the Kamakura street, you should be making way for me instead, you cowardly chicken!

Tokugawas little eyes shone with an ominous glint as the urge to kill welled up. Blue veins popped on his forehead and he was so angry that his entire body shuddered, however, he quickly subsided his anger and endured it silently. He would definitely take revenge on Lily with the cruelest possible method, but now wasnt the time, he couldnt rely on something as unreliable as having a match with her.

Tokugawa spoke with an extremely unsightly look on his face, Miss Kagami, watch what youre saying. You actually dare to sully the name of my father, Lord s.h.i.+gemori of the Furinkazan, you better be prepared to face the punishment from the dojo. This fight, however, I cannot accept, stop wasting your breath. I have other things to do, excuse me.

Tokugawa didnt care to defend himself and tried to leave the hall as soon as possible.

s.h.i.+ng! The metallic sound caused Tokugawa to halt his step.

Lily tossed the wooden sword back to the male disciple and pointed at Tokugawas back with her three feet nine inches blade.

With a blood-laced tone, Lily said, If you dont dare to challenge me under the rule of the dojo, then I will challenge you to a duel with real swords in the name of a Genji samurai!8

Tokugawas face immediately darkened and the entire hall became eerily quiet.

Duel with real swords, as the name implied, it was a fight to the death with real swords!

In such a duel, it was very common to kill or be killed. Once the duel has been initiated, one couldnt complain even if they end up dead.

The people of the Land of East viewed the military might in high esteem. As such, duelling with real swords was a tradition of the brave samurai. If they had a valid reason to issue the duel, then the other party could not refuse. Otherwise, theyd be laughed at and be looked down upon. Since everyone was betting their life equally, refusing would mean that they were scared for dear life and even to be thought of as a misfit.

Even if Lord Kamakura was challenged by a vagrant, he wouldnt be able to refuse if the other party had a valid reason. In the odd chance that Lord Kamakura was killed in the duel, they couldnt push the blame onto the challenger. On the contrary, he would become respected instead.

And that, in essence, was a duel with real swords.

That was a duel every samurai, even those as tolerant as Tokugawa, couldnt s.h.i.+rk from, as the consequences would be too heavy.9

Robinxen: Well yes but actually no?

Robinxen: This guywhy do they pay him?

Silva: Alright, my good impression on him was misplaced, gimme back my respect!! Robinxen: Well I mean the only thing he didnt like was ganging up on a girl, he might not have even blinked if it was a guy.

Robinxen: LET EM HAVE IT!

Robinxen: REBELLION!

Robinxen: GOTCHA!

Robinxen: Wowthat was the most pathetic cover up ever.

Robinxen: Yes! Show him real metal!

Robinxen: Find out what happens next week!