Book 3: Chapter 33: Lily the Adaptive Maid

None of the meeting members thought that the arrival of a maid would break the balance of the meeting.

s.h.i.+gemori maintained his grip on Lilys hand and continued with the interrogation, If you are a maid, why did you hesitate when kneeling towards me and Lord Takeda?

Lily felt wholly shocked that this old foxs observation skills were this meticulous even when all the others were focused on the meeting.

Even Lily hadnt expected that it would turn out like this.

Lily definitely wasnt the match of two Furinkazan powerhouses as well as that unfathomable, black-armored samurai, yet the current Lily wasnt the same as before. Even if she wasnt their match, the chances of her escaping after creating an opening were pretty high as her realm had the ability to suppress and hinder her enemies and was pretty useful for escaping.

As she had decided to undertake Lord Kamakuras order, she couldnt return empty-handed. Furthermore, she was pretty concerned about the party that had leaked information about her arrival to this city. Unless she solved the mystery behind why the overlord of this castle was trying to kill her, the Mirror Girl, even if she returned to her territory, she and her sisters would be at the mercy of unpredictable danger. Although a clear enemy was pretty dreadful, a hidden enemy was much deadlier.

At this moment, however, Lily didnt provide an explanation and revealed a pitiful expression on her distressed, pretty face. It seemed as if the pain from s.h.i.+gemoris grip had frightened her senseless as she turned her face aside to cover her mouth.

Forgive me Lord I Lily feigned an incoherent, terrified conduct.

The incapacity to provide a rational explanation instead made her act look realistic.

Takeda Tsunen.o.bu finally interjected at this moment, Lord Tokugawa, theres no need to make things hard on a maid. A good number of the Takeda clans maids are captives that hail from territories I have conquered. This maid possesses exceptional looks and manners, so shes probably a n.o.blewoman and is thus still unfamiliar with serving others. Ive seen this kind of maid several times already.

Although s.h.i.+gemori still held some doubts, he released his grip after hearing Tsunen.o.bus words.

Tsunen.o.bus interjection, however, perplexed Lily even further. His words sounded pretty steady, so she couldnt figure out where exactly the issue lied.

Lily bowed towards Tsunen.o.bu and continued serving the sake to the people at the back.

I created the demon samurai using the arcane spells used to train demon spirit arts that I obtained from vanquis.h.i.+ng the monsters to use the enemys power against them. The existence of the demon samurai legion allows us to fight the Hundred Demons with equal powerthere was no other choice. Lord Kamakura wouldnt have accepted it if he knew about it, but if we didnt do it, the Kai Province would have depleted its entire strength. The only way we can resist the forces of the Hundred Demons invading from the Endless Demon Mountains and s.h.i.+nano1 is by sending the dead samurai and soldiers back into the battlefield once again.

Although Itagaki donned a worried and unconvinced expression after hearing the reasoning of his lord, he was incapable of changing his lords decision.

The final guest on Tokugawas side was the exceptionally tall samurai, Honda Yahatarou. Lily noticed that this handsome and gallant mans sight had never left her.

The moment Lily laid down the shch, her hand was grabbed by Honda, which made her wonder if the people from the Tokugawa clan all liked grabbing the hands of maids.

You have my apologies for the scare you went through, girl. May I know your sweet name?

Lilys existence interrupted the strategy meeting relating to provincial matters yet again.

Lord, thats Lily a.s.sumed a shy appearance.

Hahaha! Tsunen.o.bu chuckled at this moment, Lord Honda, you are a rare and eccentric talent among the Mikawa samurai who appears only once every millennium. It is indeed a better thing to see you in the flesh than to know you by fame. It is truly enviable that Lord Tokugawa possesses such a general on his side. How about it, Lord Honda, do you like this maid of mine?

Eh? Well Honda was taken aback, but he still answered the question, I do. This woman was born into beauty, so theres no way I wouldnt like her.

Should you really be acting so forthright in someone elses home? This Honda looks pretty dignified, but is he thick-skinned or lacking brain cells?

Since you like her, I shall send her to you, Lord Honda. Consider it a greeting gift from me. Ill arrange for her to serve you tonight, is it fine?

You have my utmost grat.i.tude, Lord Takeda! Honda felt pleased by the development and bowed towards Tsunen.o.bu.

Lily, on the other hand, was left dumbfounded.

Oh, yes. What are you called? Tsunen.o.bu questioned. Im called Lynne, my lord, Lily replied. All right. Attendants!

Two obviously normal human samurai entered the room.

Take this Lynne down and ensure that she is well bathed and dressed to serve Lord Honda tonight, Tsunen.o.bu commanded.

Please hold on, my lord, Lily interjected at this moment.

The others were all taken aback as it wasnt a maids place to speak up even if she were sent to serve an allys va.s.sal by the lord.

However, as she had dared to speak up, even Tsunen.o.bu took interest in her and actually wanted to know what she had to say.

What is it? Tsunen.o.bus eyebrows locked up in a calm yet solemn fas.h.i.+on.

My lord, please allow me to finish serving this sake.

Tsunen.o.bu eyed Lily for a moment and nodded, Fine.

Tsunen.o.bu then resumed his conversation with s.h.i.+gemori, In short, I hope we can come to a common understanding, Lord Tokugawa. It isnt a matter of who will move under whose command. Under the watch of Lord Kamakura, the only thing we can do is maintain our current conduct.

When Lily served the sake to the Takeda va.s.sals, she intentionally left Itagaki out as there were only six cups of wine. In any case, she didnt know how a normal maid would handle such a situation.

Itagaki, however, looked at Lily with worry and perplexment, almost as if he were questioning why she hadnt heeded his warning and even came running to such a place.

Lily warned him with her eyes as she lifted her head, and hinted to him to act as if he didnt know anything at all as she served a cup of sake to the next va.s.sal.

After the sake was served, Sakai and Amari began discussing matters while Lily performed a silent bow before leaving alongside the two samurai.

In the corridor, the two samurai who were castle attendants, gazed at Lily with doubt as they had never seen her before. They were planning to inquire about it, but Lord Takeda had commanded them to bestow her to one of the Tokugawa generals. They had to ensure nothing went wrong in such a sensitive period of time.

Thus, one of them questioned Lily while leading the way, Girl, weve never seen you before. When exactly did you enter this place?

Lily had already prepared an answer for them and stated that instantly, I came here tonight.

Tonight, you say? The samurai duos vigilance shot up.

Lily fished out two gold coins and placed them in their palms each, To be quite honest, this little girl was arranged inside the castle by Lord Itagaki. I am actually a distant relative of his, and requested him to entrust me with the job of serving sake for Lord Tokugawa, whom I admire and desired to see after learning he would visit soon.

The two samurai seemed to have a flash of realization after hearing this.

In such dark and chaotic times, it was pretty common for a woman of status who wasnt exactly a true n.o.blewoman to use all possible means in her a.r.s.enal to cling on to an overlord. Lilys method was just a considerably smarter one in their opinion, so they felt that it was quite normal for an intelligent woman like her to take such action.

However, you probably werent expecting the lord to give you to Tokugawas va.s.sal, right? One of them teased.

Lily bowed her head in response and said, My only choice is to obey the lords command gratefully.

The two samurai helped explain Lilys history after arriving at the maids room at the lower story as thanks for the gold they received. The old maid in the room also didnt dare to express her doubts after hearing the names of Lord Takeda and Lord Itagaki and arranged for Lily to get bathed and dressed in haste.

Lily insisted on bathing and dressing alone, and believing her to be shy, the old maids also didnt insist on helping her with it.

In fact, the formal dresses of Kai were really subpar, and as a maid, the dress Lily was given was a short-sleeved kimono, and that too of the substandard kind lacking in elegance.

The pink kimono with leafed daylily-patterned short-sleeves really looked a little inelegant, but no matter what kind of clothes they were, they were elevated to a higher level by her exceptional beauty when she wore them with the impression of a sincere girl yearning for love oozing off from her.

The two samurai waited for Lily to get dressed appropriately, and when night arrived, even they were left a bit agape when they saw her again, feeling a bit unwilling to guide her downstairs to the side tower.

Thank you for guiding me until here, big brothers. I can go by myself from here on.

This entire area was part of the Takeda clan castle, so it was pretty safe. As the two had received a huge amount of money from her, which likely crossed several years of their wages, they agreed with Lilys proposal and left after seeing her approach the region guarded by the Tokugawa troops.

Although the Tokugawa troops were guarding the premises, the Takeda clans maids went in and out often, so they didnt question her much and let her pa.s.s through.

It was pretty easy for Lily to make an escape from here, but she still wanted to investigate a little further, so she entered the building.

At the same time, s.h.i.+u, who had snuck into the attic of the ceiling, was in a state of deep shock. She could see two women seated in the room below through the gaps of the ceiling boards, one being Tokugawas wife, Yukiko, and the other being Mayumi, who was dressed in snug kunoichi attire.

Eight years had pa.s.sed by now, and both Mayumi and s.h.i.+u had grown up, but s.h.i.+u had never forgotten her mistress countenance, temperament and aura!

Lady Mimori s.h.i.+u leaned against the attics boards and quivered with a slacked gaze, How is she still alive? Is it really her? Lady Mimori my idol and goal, Mid Yumi

The door of the room below slid open at that moment and s.h.i.+gemori entered inside.

It was already night now, so s.h.i.+gemori allowed Yukiko to undress him without the slightest scruple. This, however, caused Mayumi to don an awkward look, Lord Tokugawa, allow me to withdraw for the night first.

s.h.i.+gemori revealed a depraved smile on his aged face, It doesnt matter. You may remain as well.

Mayumi s.h.i.+vered all over and felt a bit nauseous, I dont dare to disturb your rest time. Please allow me to withdraw!

Saying so, she exited the room and closed the sliding door.

It was at this moment that Lily had walked into the corridor outside while a.s.suming the look of a shy and nave maid and was just about to look for s.h.i.+gemoris room to eavesdrop on him, yet she saw a kunoichi dressed in revealing lavender-blue garments exit a room ahead of her suddenly.

Mayumi!?

In a moment of desperation, Lily opened the sliding door beside her slightly and sidestepped inside before closing it in the next moment. Fortunately, the room was dark and unoccupied.

It also seemed that Mayumis attention was centered within that room at that moment, so it looked like she hadnt seen Lily. Nevertheless, it still caused Lilys heart to pound hard.

Silva: hmmm? s.h.i.+nano? Isnt that the name mentioned by that old woman in the lodge a few chapters back? Hes NOT human?!