Book 4: Chapter 5: Traps Everywhere

What?! Lily noticed that the middle-aged stall owner was looking at her with a benign expression, so she returned his gaze with a smile while holding up the ramen bowl.

At the same time, she communicated with Kagura via voice transmission, Whats going on, Kagura?

Theres a highly toxic, colorless and tasteless poison mixed in the noodle broth, Master! Even though Ive lost most of my strength, I was able to detect the danger coming from the toxicity within the noodle broth because of my former realm and experiences!

So that was the case!

Lily placed the ramen bowl in her hands down while still maintaining a smile.

The red-lit stall owner called out to her when he saw this, Whats up, young lady? Why arent you drinking it? This ramen is one of Kiyosus famous specialties.

Is that so? However, I dont feel like having it suddenly for some reason, owner, Lily fetched a few copper coins and left them on the counter. She had obtained these by exchanging money with the inns lady owner today morning since it was too high-profile to use gold each time.

Is the ramen not to your tastes, young lady? How about I make a new bowl for you?

No, you neednt. I have something to deal with, so Ill be leaving first.

Lily chuckled and got up in an attempt to move away from the counter a little.

However, the red-lit middle-aged stall owner drew out a sharp poisoned dagger suddenly and lunged towards Lily regardless of the ramen stalls scorching ramen broth scalding his body.

Lily leaned backward immediately, causing the dagger to lunge past her from above, and kicked the incoming stall owners chin with her slender foot, sending him back cras.h.i.+ng into the alley.

Lily pushed her palms against the ground and got up while spinning her split legs, kicking the ramen stall stand and drawing out her katana towards the stall owner at the same time. However, she discovered that she had snapped the stall owners neck by using excessive power in her kick just prior.

The ramen stall owner, a swordmaster in disguise, threw up blood from his mouth, being unable to breathe properly.

Why did you try to poison me? Who sent you?! Lily questioned mercilessly.

Urgh You think Ill tell you that when Im moments away from dying? Even though Im going to die, its still too early for you to rejoice. Youll never be able to reach Heian-kyo alive, never! Hahahahahaurgh!

The middle-aged man twitched a few times while coughing out blood continuously and died with his eyes turning white.

The person who tried to poison you is too vicious, Master. He used a pretty rare poison, just a drop of which would cost a whole magatama. Even someone with your level of strength wouldve been severely injured if they were given small amounts of this poison and wouldve died for sure if they were given a considerable amount of it, Kagura explained.

The fear struck Lily after the event as even she was powerless against the bizarre and vicious poisons of this alternate Heian world no matter how strong she was.

However, you neednt worry about the poisons of the Heian Empire as long as you have me with you, Master. Nothing can hide from my eyes as long as its a life-threatening element! You can just have anything you wish to without worries since Ill warn you when theres an abnormality.

However, my recognition of poisons is limited to only the harmful kind of poisons that harm the body, spirit power and the spirit jade since they emit a distinct fluctuation regardless of whether they are colorless or tasteless. However, I cant promise that Ill be able to detect some of the poisons that target women specifically, such as aphrodisiacs and the like that aim to confuse the body or the mind as I didnt research them much in the past. You need to be particularly wary of such poisons, Master, Kagura warned.

Alright, Lily checked the surroundings and decided to inspect the stall owners belongings since he was dead already and couldnt explain anything. She found the bottle containing the poison under Kaguras guidance, but it was just a normal mini-sized grade 3 porcelain bottle without any special marks or signs that told the poisoners ident.i.ty. After all, a murderer wouldnt necessarily store poison in a bottle that has a marker pointing to the murderers faction.

However, a patrol squad of soldiers just happened to pa.s.s by the lanes entrance at this time and dispersed immediately to surround Lily after seeing the scene.

Dont move! The soldiers thundered at Lily while pointing their spears at her and one of the soldiers stepped forward to inspect the stall owners body, Hes dead, Lord Oda.

The samurai who led this squad of soldiers was known as Oda n.o.butora and was an early-stage sword saint level expert. He had his hair combed into a high bun with a hairpin and seemed to be in his twenties with a thin pencil-mustache and a tachi at his waist. The red- and black-dressed n.o.butora, who was over 170 cm tall and almost the same height as Lily, a fairly tall height for a man in these times, stepped forward and sized her up.

Was it you that killed him?

Lily inspected the group with a spirit probe and discovered that they were all just ordinary samurai or soldiers, and not monsters. Therefore, even though she could escape quite easily, she didnt want to take the blame for the murder of an innocent and explained the situation, The ramen stall owner died after cras.h.i.+ng against the wall from my kick when he tried to hara.s.s me.

He died from just a kick, huh? Youre pretty tall and tough for a woman, Oda n.o.butora looked quite wise, and Lily also felt an all-cheris.h.i.+ng aura from within him, but it was clear that he was just a small-time samurai official.

I am a samurai, Lily explained.

Oda n.o.butoras gaze fell on Lilys katana, Can you let me see your katana?

Lily paused for a moment, but she decided to take off her katana and hand it over to Oda even though he seemed vigilant of her since she didnt sense killing intent from him.

Lily could kill an early-stage sword saint with just a single thought using her domain, so she didnt really care much about handing Crescent Moon to him.

Oda n.o.butora didnt draw the blade out after receiving the katana and drew in a cold breath after seeing the dark gold stars on the blades hilt, Crescent Moon Munechika?!

Hmm? You know this blade, mister?

Hah! My Owari is also a part of the East, so Ive braved through the Owari wasteland and gone to Mikawa once as a samurai of the East. I heard a lot of tales when I was there and one of them mentioned a mysterious woman who killed the transcendent Hojo Dijon after his fall into a demon with the 120 cm long blade she wields. This incident is quite well-known in the East the form of the blade has been described by a few people as well and also that it was created by the master bladesmith Uehara Munechika Ehiro from Suruga and is called Crescent Moon Munechika!

Oda looked at Lily with astonishment, C-Could it be that youre that Kagami Lily?! The legendary samurai woman who went deep into the Endless Demon Mountains alone and killed Hojo Dijon?

Although it was quite dangerous to cross the Endless Wastelands without transcendent strength, it was still possible to cross the path from Kiyosu Castle to Mikawa alone if one werent too unlucky. Hence, even Lily wasnt expecting to get recognized by a samurai who knew of her rumors in this city.

Yes, I am that Kagami Lily, Lily affirmed.

Oda n.o.butoras eyes lit up and he returned Crescent Moon to Lily hurriedly, So it was you, Lady Lyn-hime! Please allow this humble one to greet you!

Saying so, Oda kowtowed to Lily immediately, which left her quite embarra.s.sed.

Lord Oda, about the ramen stall owners death

He deserves it! Oda fumed out, How dare he hara.s.s Lady Lyn-hime, the best samurai woman of the East! I wouldve killed him personally if you hadnt, Lady Lyn-hime! Hes the disgrace of our Owari province! Hes just dug his own grave!

Yes

Oda n.o.butora seemed to revere Lily a lot, which originated from heartfelt veneration instead of deliberate ingratiation, May I ask why youve come to Kiyosu Castle alone in such a covert manner, Lady Lyn-hime? The guardian of Owari, Lord s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge, would definitely hold a banquet in honor of you if I were to report it to him.

U-Uh Lily hesitated, Im just pa.s.sing by this city for a private matter, theres no need to disturb Lord s.h.i.+ba for it.

Oda seemed quite clever, so his eyes lit up as he whispered beside Lily, Could it be that youre in the middle of a secret mission?

Hehe you could say thats the case, Lily smiled wryly.

Lady Lyn-hime! Oda kneeled down again.

Why are you kneeling again, Lord Oda?

Although it would be a little too shameless of me to request this, I believe its the will of the Heavens for us to have met in such a location. I am aware that you possess transcendent strength and hope to borrow your help for a certain matter, Lady Lyn-hime!

Eh? Well

I ask this not for myself, but for the thousands of surviving commoners of Kiyosu Castle, Lady Lyn-hime! I hope you can help me for the sake of the commoners lives! I shall keep kowtowing like this until you decide to do so! Oda began to kowtow continuously after saying this even though the floor was made of stone slabs.

You neednt do this, Lord Oda! Lily was thus forced to help Oda stand up, Im willing to help you once no matter what it is as long as its under my capabilities. Please tell me what it is first.

Lady Lyn-hime! Odas eyes filled with tears as he held Lilys hands firmly, feeling extremely moved.

Lily felt helpless regarding this as she wouldve just killed the other party if they were a monster, but even she had no means to deal with an honest and righteous man whos devoted to the betterment of the commoners.

Oda guided Lily to the west side of Kiyosu Castle with the soldiers following behind them. This side also had a wooden wall constructed to defend the city and had a gate and tower guarded by soldiers as well.

I really cannot continue guarding this west gate dutifully like usual, Lady Lyn-hime! Oda kneeled down yet again.

Just what happened, Lord Oda? Calm down and tell me the details.

Sigh! Oda slammed his head down in frustration helplessly, A powerful monster arrived at this west gate recently and he comes to attack us every night. He killed about a dozen of our brothers, but we werent able to stop him as he was too strong. He even said that hell attack the city and kill all the commoners in it unless we provide him with a young woman each day!

What? Why didnt you request reinforcements from Lord s.h.i.+ba then?

The monster was too strong. Lord s.h.i.+ba sent two powerful generals to deal with him, but it resulted in one of them dying and the other getting wounded. Lord s.h.i.+ba dismissed the matter after that told me to handle it by myself, but how exactly am I supposed to handle it? The dozen of us Oda brothers are no match for that monster, so we would be just throwing our lives away in vain even if we went all out against him. We were thus forced to accept the monsters proposition and send a woman to him each day. However, I felt my heart bleed whenever I saw the scared sight of the innocent women being sent to him each night! I really cant take it anymore! I wouldve gone all out at the risk of my life against that monster if I werent afraid of him killing too many people because of it!

It was evident that the merits and demerits between the monster causing carnage within the city and sacrificing a woman each night really weighed on Oda quite heavily, forcing him to make a helpless choice. However, this seemingly rational choice ended up tormenting his conscience like a nightmare every day.

Lily was able to feel how heavy the weight of the burden shouldered by this man called Oda was.

Lord Oda, is the woman meant to be sent out tonight ready?

Where would I find one when it brings me great suffering to find such a woman every day?! Sigh! Odas lips twitched in agony.

Lord Oda, how about you send me to him when that monster comes tonight? Lily stated calmly.