Book 4: Chapter 9: Banquet in Kiyosu

s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge felt his heart bleed!

After all, 25 kgs of gold was a ma.s.sive amount of wealth in these dark and chaotic times.

There was only a single city left under s.h.i.+bas control right now and it didnt bring in much revenue for him as there was little to no money within the city. The 25 kgs of gold was practically all the money the city had.

He had just intended to bring it out to distract Lily and let her guard down so that he could retrieve it back after killing her.

However, he never imagined that Lily would actually make the gold disappear suddenly.

Just what kind of witchery or illusion is this?

s.h.i.+ba had never seen such a method until now and sweated from his forehead, worried that he would be unable to retrieve the gold back from Lily even if he managed to kill her.

Moreover, he also began to worry whether his plan would succeed after learning that Lily had such magical abilities within her a.r.s.enal.

Are you fine, Lord s.h.i.+ba?

Ah! s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge felt a s.h.i.+ver pa.s.s through his spine and finally noticed that he had panicked. He forced out a smile quickly and raised his cup towards Lily, Allow me to offer you a cup of sake to express our grat.i.tude for killing that Great Demon, Lady Lyn-hime!

Lily found s.h.i.+bas reaction to be a little strange, so she remained motionless after receiving the cup of sake.

Theres no problem with the sake and the food, Master. You can rest a.s.sured, probably Kagura stated via voice transmission.

Probably, huh Lily felt a little speechless. Although she was positive there wasnt any poison in them, even Kagura couldnt detect whether that type of concoction was mixed into the sake and the food. However, Lily couldnt just think of all strangers as evil since most of the Heian Empires samurai were frank and upright in nature.

Lily drank the Kiyosu sake, which actually had a pretty distinctive flavor possibly because of the regional climate, and the flavor of the local food specialties showed the beauty of nature, which was a rare sight in the outside world.

Lilys keen senses allowed her to sample these items on a deep level.

Lily laid down the cup and used this chance to take out the message slip from prior under the table and read it, finding the wordsthere are a.s.sa.s.sins in the towerwritten in blood.

Lily looked at Oda immediately and found him looking at s.h.i.+ba and his men with worry and anger for their despicable behavior. Lily understood that Oda was actually a frank and righteous samurai immediately and that he had pa.s.sed on this message slip to her in spite of the danger after finding some definitive clue.

Although Lily had long raised her guard even without such a warning, she still appreciated Odas actions. At least, there was still such a righteous man in this world even in such chaotic times, which proved that the world might not necessarily be completely dark1.

Uhm Forgive me for saying this, Lady Lyn-hime, but the method you just showcased has really widened my horizons. How did you make the two boxes of gold disappear with just a single wave of the hand?

Lily snorted coldly in her heart.

As expected, he really couldnt refrain from asking about it. It looks like he wont act rashly until he clarifies the location of the gold.

Lily smiled faintly, I naturally received the gold since you gifted them to me. Could it be that you wish to take them back now, Lord s.h.i.+ba?

How could I?! A layer of sweat formed on s.h.i.+bas forehead as he waved his hand, Its just a humble gift and a t-token of my respect.

Lily saw s.h.i.+bas face spasm as he uttered those words.

Its just that the method you showcased was really too magical. I wonder if you can show it to us once again? the priest sitting on the opposite side chimed in.

Of course, Lily smiled.

I wonder if its possible to make this little table disappear then, and make the gold appear again after that? The priest suggested epiphanically.

Yes! We residents of Owari live at the Easts border, so please allow us to witness the magical methods of Kamakura once again, Lady Lyn-hime, s.h.i.+ba also spoke in agreement.

Im afraid thats not possible as its only possible to transfer grade 6 treasures and above, answered Lily.

What?! s.h.i.+bas lips twitched in response. He wondered whether Lily really wasnt kidding with him and from the sincere look in Lilys eyes, it seemed that she wasnt lying to him, which meant that she had spoken the truth just now.

It wasnt like s.h.i.+ba didnt have any grade 6 or higher items with him, but they numbered quite low, and he was afraid that Lily would make them disappear as well

s.h.i.+ba gritted his teeth and decided to make a move the instant Lily made the gold reappear.

Bring my tea caddy, Tsuk.u.mo-Kaminasu, out for me! s.h.i.+ba seemed to have thrown caution to the wind at this point in time.

A box was brought over from the back room by two of the samurai attendants and even though the box looked quite plain and unremarkable, Lily drew in a cold breath after sensing the s.h.i.+ne coming off from the little dark purple tea caddy inside the box the instant it was opened. However, she masked her expression immediately even though it was hard to hide the clear heaving of her chest.

This Tsuk.u.mo-Kaminasu was bought by a legendary tea master using 99 kan in the past, but I acquired it into my collection at the price of 1,999 kan centuries later. Its a genuine grade 6 tea caddy of the highest quality. How about it, Lady Lyn-hime? Are you willing to demonstrate that magical method for us once again with this item?

Lilys heart hadnt stopped fluttering even now as she remarked internally.

Hmph! Youre a really inferior cultural sn.o.b, s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge. Although you have some understanding of the way of tea, your understanding clearly isnt deep enough. Although Im unable to ascertain the history of this tea caddy and its workmans.h.i.+p even with my knowledge, its clear that its natural but free form and distinct style thats capable of setting even my heart flutter and the s.h.i.+ne that makes me irrepressibly excited, places it far above Fuji-san. Its a grade 8 item at the very least and even possibly a grade 9 tea caddy! Im afraid that even you didnt know that you actually housed such an extraordinary heaven-bestowed treasure in this desolate and ruined Kiyosu Castle of yours, s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge!

Lily lifted her head and allowed the deep cleavage of her fair bosom to rise and fall before everyones eyes as she narrowed her eyes and smiled, I shall perform it again then.

s.h.i.+ba and the others were overjoyed by this as it seemed like Lily had been hooked by the bait offered by him. He had designated her time of death to the moment she made the gold reappear and decided to act swiftly in order to prevent her from transferring it back again.

As for the tea caddy, it was a necessary loss for him if it really goes missing and he could just look for it slowly after killing her. In any case, a tea caddy wasnt as precious as gold in such chaotic times.

Lily tried hard to hold back the glee and the desire to laugh as she looked at the tea caddy and waved her hand.

The tea caddy, Tsuk.u.mo-Kaminasu, a really rare treasure in all of Heian, and the apex of ancient tea caddies, fell into Lilys hands just like that.

Silence filled the hall once the tea caddy disappeared, and no one reacted for a good while.

s.h.i.+ba started turning anxious at this moment, T-The tea caddy is gone, right, Lady Lyn-hime?

Its gone, Lily stated softly.

What about the gold then?

The gold? Its also gone, Lily stated calmly2.

What?! s.h.i.+ba nearly lost control after hearing this and realized that it was highly likely he had been tricked. He thus restrained his anxiety and questioned Lily in rage, Didnt you just say that you would be able to bring the gold back as long as theres a grade 6 treasure, Lady Lyn-hime?

Eh? Lily asked puzzledly, I never said that. It was you who said that. Lord s.h.i.+ba requested me to perform once again, and I said that its only possible to transfer grade 6 treasures and above. I never said anything about bringing anything back.

What do you mean by this, Lady Lyn-hime? Please stop joking and bring back the tea caddy and the gold quickly! The priest urged.

Lily, however, blushed and used her long sleeves to hide her lowered head, Im sorry. I cannot bring them back.

Huh?! Everyone was left dumbfounded.

Hmph! I can see that you are playing with us, Kagami Lily, and intend to steal my tea caddy and gold! s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge got up suddenly and raised his cup up high.

I dont understand what youre saying, Lord s.h.i.+ba. You were the one who invited me to the banquet, and it was you who gifted the gold to me personally. You also never requested me to bring the tea caddy back and I also never said that it was possible to do so, Lily explained innocently.

Can you bring them back or not? Youre a n.o.ble liege lord of the East as well, so dont force us to fall out with you now! s.h.i.+ba glowered at Lily with twitching lips.

A layer of sweat formed on the thin samurais forehead as s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge had lost his calm because of the lost tea caddy and the gold. He had said that they needed to catch Lily off guard previously without wasting much time for words, but here he was warning the other party with plenty of words right now.

Lily spread her hands wide and stated apologetically, Im sorry, Lord s.h.i.+ba, but its really impossible to bring them back.

Smas.h.!.+ s.h.i.+ba smashed the cup in his fingers, Ill find them from your corpse slowly once youre dead!

Watch out, Lady Lyn-hime! Oda, who was seated at the corner, yelled out.

The wooden doors on both sides of the hall got pushed over at this time and revealed a large number of katana-wielding samurai behind them.

The bearded Tanaka and the thin samurai kicked the table over at the same time and lunged towards Lily with the daggers from their dress.

Although this murder attempt seemed sudden, swift and decisive, it actually played out in slow motion within Lilys vision. The Tanaka reflected in her vision was just a 7th-stage Awakened, and the most standard 7th-stage Awakened at that. The reason for this was that he didnt have access to an esoteric power augmentation technique and was an utterly plain 7th-stage Awakened with no power boost.

Lily pushed the table in front of her immediately and caused it to slide across the floor rapidly like a crossbow-shot arrow streaking across the sky, knocking into the foot of the thin samurai with a bam and causing him to tumble down.

Tanaka had long dashed towards Lily and her Crescent Moon was outside the room right now. She thus reached out towards it and employed a small-scale domain to swirl up Crescent Moon in a stream of sakura. It then broke through the wooden wall and flew into the hall, its hilt hitting exactly at Tanakas temple, causing him to widen his eyes and tumble towards Lily with a woozy head. Lilys sandal-less bare foot stepped on top of Tanakas forehead as she caught Crescent Moon in her hand and faced the tens of screaming samurai lunging towards her. Lily didnt draw her blade out as it was but a simple matter for her to kill these sword saints and sword masters. It would also result in the downfall of Kiyosu Castle if she were to kill these retainers and samurai of s.h.i.+ba and result in the imminent death of the tens of thousands of commoners living in the city under the hands of the monsters. Lily had the strength to kill all the samurai within the city but she didnt have the time to step back and protect the citys commoners, which was equivalent to sending the citys commoners to their deaths.

Lily moved suddenly and phased through all the samurai like a crimson phantom with elusive movements, appearing behind the dazed s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge instantly, and drew her Crescent Moon out before pressing its edge against his neck from behind.

Dont move! Lily yelled, Your lord will lose his life if anyone moves even a single step forward.

s.h.i.+ba was a hereditary n.o.ble and had never actually trained. He had managed to obtain the physique of a sword master somehow by using some of the inheritances left behind by his ancestors, but all of this was utterly useless in front of Lily. s.h.i.+ba could feel the threat of death approach him as the cold edge of the blade pressed against his neck and wouldve been paralyzed by fear undoubtedly if it werent for Lily supporting his body weight from behind.

D-Dont come over and lay down your hands immediately! s.h.i.+ba Yos.h.i.+s.h.i.+ge shouted with haste.

Silva: And its a shame that those righteous men are always weak and powerless, only to be abused by those in power

Silva: You evil xD