Book 4: Chapter 46: Towards Imahama

In the early morning of the next day, Lily narrowed her eyes slightly as the fresh wind from the lake brushed past her, bringing along a dewy mist with it.

Goro and Lilys group stood opposite each other on Lake Biwas bank.

We part ways here, then, Brother.

Take care, Sister. I hope we can meet again in Heian-kyo, Goro said downheartedly, feeling a tad bit reluctant to part ways.

Lily nodded, You, too, Brother. Take care.

Hahaha! Worry not, Sister! Its not like Ive just begun traveling our Empire!

Mizue stood far from the two as she still felt embarra.s.sed from yesterdays events. As for Goro, upright as he was, he didnt even give her a single look and had almost forgotten about the whole incident.

Goro waved his hand and strutted off with his broadsword on his shoulder, a wine pot hanging from its handguard.

Lily watched him leave, just as a sister would.

Lets go, s.h.i.+muzu said.

Yeah, Lily nodded, and then asked, What are you going to do now, Miss Mizue?

I-I have no idea, Mizue answered despondently, I wish to travel the world carefreely like you, but my family is still waiting for my return. I also need to do something about the citys finances

Lily pulled out a pouch of magatama fragments and tossed it to Mizue, There are 500 grams of magatama fragments inside it. Its fate that we met, so exchange them for money when you return. You stayed with us over the course of the treasure hunt and regardless of whether you were of help, you deserve this remuneration for partnering with us this time.

T-Thanks a lot, Miss Lily. I plan to go back to Ise via Imahamas southern land route, which I had taken to come here. How about we go to Imahama together? We can part ways when we reach there Mizue suggested with misty eyes, feeling sorrow well up inside her.

Although they were strangers that fate had brought together, Lily still felt a bit sad when it was time to part ways even though she didnt approve of Mizues personality or conduct much. Unlike her brother, Goro, Mizue was just an average samurai woman, so the chances of them meeting again were close to nil.

Although you might find me unqualified to give such advice because of my age, I believe that our destinies arent fixed at birth. In the end, its up to you to decide whether you want to seek the life you wish to live and aim for higher heights of strength or act out the good woman and wife to fulfill the duties you have to your family. The two choices are equally respectable in my opinion and will lead you to a splendid life as long as you come to terms with the choice you take.

Thanks for the advice, Miss Lily, Mizues eyes glistened. Although her wavering mind had yet to come to a decision, she felt like she had finally seen a ray of light in the darkness that the future held, Ill ponder on what I wish to do with my life seriously. Even if Ive been married for years, I-Ill try to discover my true self.

Good. Lets head to Imahama, then, Lily nodded.

The rain shower seemed to hint at springs arrival as Lilys group traversed the muddy trail alongside the lake.

However, a group of cloaked men who wore bamboo hats eyed the group from nearby on the same path.

Lord Tamurakonoe ordered us to attack them once were 10km away from the village.

Why not now, though?

You fool. The mirror girl and Tenba Goro have just parted ways, so hes probably still close. If he were to turn back after noticing the commotion, it would ruin our plan.

Lily opened her parasol, which caused Mizue to look at her sheepishly, I dont have a parasol. Can we share the

Here, take mine, s.h.i.+mizu handed her parasol to Mizue and linked arms with Lily before the latter could answer, Lets go, Lil Sis.

In fact, Mizue felt a lot perplexed. She had faintly sensed that the relations.h.i.+p between Lily and s.h.i.+mizu had long surpa.s.sed that of simple sisterhood, especially because of how jumpy and protective the latter was about the former. A relations.h.i.+p like this was punished pretty severely in her homeland, Ise, but she had also heard that romance between women was common in Heian-kyo.

However, Mizue was still unsure whether she belonged to this kind of crowd and just idolized powerful heroes. Her paralyzed husbands incompetence had forced her to partic.i.p.ate in the treasure hunt while risking her chast.i.ty and life to maintain her citys finances, but she was actually a weak and indecisive person. The counterparts gender didnt matter to her as long as she could depend on them and feel safe.

Lily knew there were pursuers following them, but these pursuers were pretty clever and maintained enough distance from them. Although this prevented her from figuring out their ident.i.ty, Lily supposed that they were either the trio from Kansai or the trios subordinates.

Whats coming will come, and Ill meet it when it does.

Lily knew that her journey to power and unraveling the enigma behind her senior sisters dormant soul would be a long one rife with encounters with the bizarre. It wasnt like she could always rely on her sworn brother as a hero like him had his own journey. Tsukuyomis Six Paths and the Dance of the Bell Maiden, which Lily had obtained from the mirror s.p.a.ce, had made it clear where her future lied.

Lily looked at the dusky skies. The two power arts were transcendental in nature, which meant that even her sworn brother was just a pa.s.serby in her arduous journey.

However, no matter how long or lonely the journey was, Lily was resolved to see it through.

Lily admitted that, as a woman, there may be times when she might cry, lose sight of her objective because of love, or show her weak side, but she didnt intend to give up her quest to awaken her senior sister even then.

Just come at me, a.s.sa.s.sins and demons. Ill kill you all the same no matter how many of you are out there! Lily steeled her resolve to fight.

The pursuers closed the distance with Lilys group as the latter stepped into the forests depths, so much that even s.h.i.+mizu had sensed them now.

Uncanny rustling sounds arrived from the trees above Lilys group amidst the drizzling rain, and a bunch of chained hooks launched at the group suddenly.

Lily turned back swiftly and warded off the chained hooks by spinning the Sakura Parasol in her hand.

Argh! Mizue screamed in pain as one of the hooks scratched her shoulder, leaving behind a wound on it.

Lily switched the Sakura Parasol with Crescent Moon and unleashed three crescent sword beams towards the treetops, which opened up gaps in the trees that were hiding the sky.

A cloaked samurai fell into the mud in the next moment, following which three other cloaked samurai jumped down towards Lilys group with an uchigatana each in one hand.

Protect Mizue, Sister s.h.i.+mizu! Lily yelled as she jumped up from the muddy ground. She was so fast that she reached one of the enemies almost instantly and executed a horizontal slash, leaving him with no time to react and fall down in a bisected state.

Although they were 6th-stage Awakened, they were just a bit stronger than the average eastern samurai at the same level.

The remaining two samurai attacked Lily with the chained hooks again after landing down, but she dodged aside and allowed the chains to wind around Crescent Moons blade. Lily then caught the two samurai off guard by pulling hard and sent them cras.h.i.+ng into a boulder, causing it to crumble into pieces.

s.h.i.+mizu then approached the duo swiftly and dealt the final blow to them before they could stand.

Meanwhile, the stupefied Mizue watched the two samurai women take their enemies lives decisively while leaning back against a trees trunk.

Lily neared the samurais bodies and pushed their cloak aside with her blade, only to see the character for the word, Maro, written in black on the back of their coats.

Maro? What does this mean? Lily wondered.

s.h.i.+mizu also shook her head in puzzlement.

The character gives me an eerie feeling, Lily commented.

The four cloaked samurai who tried to a.s.sa.s.sinate Lilys group all had the character for the word, Maro, on their backs.

It might be some faction, Lily inferred.

Is that the Annihilation Dojos symbol? Mizue stepped forward to ask.

The Annihilation Dojo? Lily was taken aback.

Back when I was in Ise, my sword instructor, a swordsman from Yamas.h.i.+ro, told me that its a Kansai dojo that trains disciples with real blades and tempers them through deadly battles! Unlike the orthodox dojos of the Genji and the Taira that use wooden swords for training, the Annihilation Dojo uses cruel means to train their disciples into fierce samurai.

The Maro Dojo is an infamous branch of the Annihilation Dojo and its said that its founder was a master swordsman named Maro, and that the characters of his name were used to form this symbol.

Mizues explanation matched what Lily had overheard from the mens bath while bathing in the womens bath, so she was now certain that it was one of the powers from Kansai that intended to kill her while she journeyed to Heian-kyo.

Hahahahahaha

A girls melodious and lively laughter echoed through the woods and caused both Lily and s.h.i.+mizu to check their surroundings vigilantly.

A silver ray shot through the dusky rainforest swiftly all of a sudden at this moment.

Watch out! Lily and s.h.i.+mizu dive rolled to dodge it.

Boom! The silver ray struck the land where they were standing previously and blew open a crater.

Lily checked the surroundings after landing on her feet yet still failed to find the silver rays source.

The silver ray shot out again at this moment.

Lily noticed that the silver ray traveled through the gaps of the trees weirdly and changed directions to strike her from behind, so she spun sideways to dodge it and drew her blade out to cut the silver ray. However, Lily didnt feel any resistance and saw her blade pa.s.s through the silver thread without harming it.

This is Lilys eyes narrowed, This is a thread formed from fusing spirit power and water! Its impossible to cut it!

We must find its master! s.h.i.+mizu looked up tensely.

However, the leaves of the rainforests trees swayed in the wind like usual as that silver thread shuttled past the trees with straight and curved movements. There was no sign of the silver threads master anywhere.

Lily checked her surroundings with a spirit probe, but the silver thread flying everywhere interfered with it, which made her attempt to locate the enemys position by sensing their killing intent.

However, Mizue, who was hiding beside the tree trunk and had a different perspective from Lily and s.h.i.+mizu, was able to see the lithe shadow circling past the trees behind Lily thanks to her location.

Shes over there, Miss Lily! Mizues eyes shone as she pointed towards the trees behind Lily.

Huh?! Lily looked in that direction the moment Mizue yelled out the enemys location to her, and also sensed an intense killing intent from that direction at the same time.

The silver thread shot out again at this moment, but Lily didnt dodge it this time since she swiftly judged that it would miss her by a little.

The silver thread flitted past Lilys eyes, and the puzzled Lily turned back after coming to a realization.

The silver thread had shot into Mizues chest.

Eh? Mizues pupils contracted, and she stood there dazedly as a huge bloodstain formed on her kimonos top.

Silva: RIP Mizue, I knew she would die in this encounter, though I was half expecting Lily to protect her and become a burden.