<h4>Volume 3, Chapter 15 - Lily’s Forgiveness</h4>


    Trantor: Aoi


    “I’m from the Daidouji family! I have enough strength to hold my weight in a fight. As long as you pay me a wage, I’m willing to do anything…” Daidouji Taro yelled while limping inside with an unkempt appearance, yet he turned dumbfounded momentarily when he saw Lily sitting on the entranceway steps.


    Lily also looked at the beggar-like stout man for a while and remarked suddenly, “Taro?”


    “Ka… Kagami Lily?!” Taro was dazed momentarily and the cane in his hand fell down to the ground with a thud.


    The Daidouji family also experienced a coup d’état after the fall of the Hojo family. Matsuno Kei’ami drove Daidouji Hiroko with the support of the martial monks and ever since then, the aunt and nephew drifted from one ce to the other. Taro had attempted to rob a merchant along with his aunt by relying on his strength, but his leg had been chopped off by a ronin samurai working for the merchant. After that, during his travel with Hiroko, they had spent all the money they had on them and almost fallen to begging because of the desperate straits they were in.


    The samurai ns that were oppressed by the Daidouji family previously refused to shelter them and Hiroko had also be seriously illter on.


    They had drifted near to Takesh*ta Town somehow and after hearing that samurai and vassals were being recruited, Taro rushed over, but he never expected to run into Lily.


    “W-Why are you here, Kagami Lily?”


    “How dare you!” Kimura scolded him, “Taro, Miss Kagami is our current liege. Treat her with proper respect.”


    “What?!” Taro’s filth covered face was dyed in shock, “Y-You are the liege, Lily? How is that…”


    Just six months ago, Taro was living his days out in glory while learning the sword under the instruction of Lord Matsuda and possessed the apex strength among his peers with the prospects to be a samurai. He also came from an illustrious family. Meanwhile, Lily was just a weak homeless woman who had no one to rely on and even Taro could have bullied her with ease.


    But now…


    Lily had actually be a liege, her name resounding in all of East, while he, Taro, had be destitute and homeless, and had almost fallen to the level of begging.


    “Hmph! Kagami Lily. Although I don’t know what methods you used to be a liege, since matters have already reached this stage where my and my uncle’s family have been destroyed by you, just kill me and be done with it if you want to!” Taro sat down on the ground with a crazed despair-filled look, feeling that there was no meaning in living further in such a chaotic world.


    Lily just gazed at Taro without the slightest killing intent.


    Although Taro wanted to bully her once and had even bribed bandits to hurt her, the difference between their strengths was too vast now, so Lily conversely couldn’t find it in herself to hate him anymore. No matter what, he was one of the first people she had met after arriving in this world of Heian, and she cherished the memories of her time in the Matsuda family’s care.


    “Taro, where’s Madam Hiroko?”


    “Hmph! Are you nning to exterminate the women of the Daidouji family as well? She’s ridden with illness and lying down underneath the shade of a tree at the entrance of the vige. Once you kill me, she too will die not long after! Are you satisfied?! My Daidouji family will perish at your hands at this moment!” Taro howled at Lily.


    “Someone! Come throw this bbermouth out!” Kimura yelled.


    “Wait,” Lily stopped him and shook her head sadly, “Taro, you may me me or others for the destruction of the Hojo and Daidouji families, but they wrought it upon themselves. You, however, are different from them. You are just a spoiled kid, who at the very least, hasn’t abandoned your aunt even though you are in such desperate straits, and this proves that you are not a bad person.”


    “Hah? What are you saying, Kagami Lily? Are you nning to let me leave alive?”


    “No matter what, Madam Hiroko is Lord Matsuda’s wife, and you, Taro, are her only remaining rtive, so, I won’t kill you. Lord Kimura, please arrange amodations for them, as well as a post for Taro befitting the wage of an early-stage samurai,” Lily said.


    Lily had inquired Kimura about Taro previously and learned that he had lost his mother when he was young and had been raised up by his aunt, Hiroko.


    “Understood!” Kimura didn’t call Lily’s decision into question and bowed deeply towards Lily with a moved expression on his face.


    “She’s so forgiving towards someone who conspired to kill her in the past. You are really worthy of my admiration, Miss Kagami. A kindhearted and beautiful woman, my goddess!” Kimura exalted Lily internally.


    “Taro! Why haven’t you thanked Lady Kagami yet?!” Kimura berated him, “Do you have no honor left as a man?”


    “Hmph! I have no need for your hypocrisy!” Taro stood up with the support of the cane and made for the exit.


    “Taro…” A sickly olddy with messy grey-hair dressed in tattered upper-ss garments crawled her way to the entrance and gazed inside while leaning on the gate, “I heard it all. Don’t make the same mistake your uncle did, Taro. Our Daidouji family is done for, but I don’t want you to end up like it as well. You are still quite young! Miss Kagami has already forgiven us, so you should just admit your crime to her…”


    “Don’t act like a blockhead, Taro!” Kimura also yelled at him, “Who will take care of your aunt if you die?”


    Taro wished to rush outside and return, but when he saw his aunt, a once vibrant woman, crawling beside the entrance in a destitute state, his heart softened…


    He turned around and knelt down towards Lily.


    “L-Lady Kagami… please forgive us for what we did to you.”


    Lily said, “You have witnessed me go from a weak woman into an influential person in Kamakura. When I turn back to look at the path I’ve tread, I don’t want to see all my old acquaintances end up dead. The arrangements I made for you won’t change, Taro. Let me give you a piece of advice. From now on, do you best to live an honest life with Madam Hiroko…”


    “…Yes,” Although Taro felt unreconciled, Lily was someone out of his reach already. Even someone as intelligent as him knew that he would probably never meet with Lily again in the future.


    One of the chiefs led Taro and Hiroko away. Lily pitied their miserable circumstances a bit. The fact that they had fallen from a prestigious family of Kanto into such desperate straits was already a serious punishment for them, so there was no need to punish them any further.


    “Lord Kimura, I shall be leaving for Izu tonight. I shall leave the matters of Takesh*ta Town in your hands,” Lily said while getting up.


    “Understood!” Kimura responded while bowing deeply. He felt utmost devotion and admiration for Lily and was ready to die happy for obtaining the chance to work under such a beautiful, sexy, kindhearted and tolerant liege.


    As the sun set down in the west, dressed in red, Lily made for Izu on foot with Crescent Moon at her waist, her hair and sleeves fluttering in the wind.


    Although she had recruited a lot of samurai and ronin, Lily didn’t take any of them along with her as they were unqualified to act as her bodyguards. No one except Lord Kamakura and the Furinkazan possessed a threat to her currently within the Land of East, so she could go anywhere she wished.


    …


    As the curtain of night descended, the moon climbed up in the skies.


    Tokugawa Shigemori was one of the four renowned powerhouses of the East, the Furinkazan, and the leader of the samurai in Mikawa Province, and right now, he was standing in the castle tower of Okazaki Castle.


    Tokugawa Shigemori possessed a squared face and narrow eyes. Although he had thin eyebrows, the arcs of the brows were pretty thick and made his rugged face look overpowering. Even though he looked stout, he was pretty well-built.


    Tokugawa Shigemori was only 1.55 m tall, but he had a really broad build with arms wider than a women’s waist, just like the powerful hands of 3 m tall demon. He weighed 200 kg, yet he wasn’t obese at all and possessed a muscr build. He stood within the castle tower like a rod of iron and surveyed the night scenery of Okazaki Castle.


    In the spacious tatami-covered room at the highest level of the castle tower where Tokugawa Shigemori stood currently, the beautiful figure of an alluring woman revealed itself from the shadows. It was none other than Yuki Mayumi.


    Although Yuki Mayumi felt a bit terrified by the tyrannical aura exuded by Tokugawa Shigemori, she greeted him formally, “Lord Tokugawa. The Hundred Demons send you a greeting. I am Yuki Mayumi, a personal kunoichi under Lady Haihime’smand.”


    Tokugawa Shigemori turned and parted the thick lips on his beardless and rugged face, “What business do the Hundred Demons have with me?”


    Yuki Mayumi was taken aback by his response. Is he actually ying stupid?


    He’s an old fox, indeed.


    “Lord Tokugawa, there’s only the two of us here, so can you not say such distant words? Lord Tokugawa’s Demon Samurai Legion is proof of the friendship between you and the Hundred Demons.”


    Tokugawa Shigemori gazed at Yuki and said, “You refer to me as lord, but why haven’t you knelt down yet? This old man cannot tolerate looking up at a woman, what more a humble kunoichi.”


    Yuki Mayumi knew that he was just testing her, so she knelt down on one knee and said, “Yuki Mayumi greets you, my lord.”


    Tokugawa Shigemori’s gaze ran across Yuki before he said, “How do I know that you were sent by the Hundred Demons and not by Minamoto no Yoritomo to test me? If it’s thetter, don’t even think of leaving the castle alive tonight.”


    Yuki was taken aback. How does he want me to prove my identity?


    Lady Haihime never mentioned this issue. This old fox is really quite difficult to deal with.


    “Hahaha. Lord Tokugawa, you are really as cautious as they say you are. Mizuki Tsue, who was in touch with you before, is my colleague. We just haven’t been able to get any information from her in a long time. She’ll be able to prove my identity as long as we find her,” Yuki stated.


    “Are you referring to the brte-haired kunoichi?” Tokugawa Shigemori stated calmly, “I suspected that she was working for another faction secretly in addition to the Hundred Demons, and discovered something she shouldn’t have, so I had her dumped into depths of the river after having her spirit power deprived. Are you nning to go ask her?”


    Yuki Mayumi shivered in trepidation and a look of disbelief appeared on her face.


    Tokugawa Shigemori stepped forward and looked down towards Yuki Mayumi while blocking the moonlight with his body, “Yuki Mayumi, formerly known as Midō Yumi, the overseer of the ancient kunoichi n, the Midō n, and the true inheritor of the Midō n, the eldestdy of the n. Your n was subjected to torment, ckmail and ughter by the Fūma n and eight years ago, you lost your footing and fall into a ravine in the cave within the Fūma Vige and were rescued by the Itsura who are subordinate to Haihime of the Hundred Demons. From then on, you served Haihime with utmost devotion. I am quite familiar with your history. Isn’t that right?”


    Yuki Mayumi shuddered in fear and pursed her lips together as she inquired in a low voice, “Why do you know this?”


    “Hahaha. A person who is going to act as the liaison between me and the Hundred Demons clearly knows my information well, so how could I meet with you so leisurely without investigating you well beforehand? Yumi, your elder sister, who lost the qualifications of the Midō n’s overseer because she married a monk, Midō Yukiko, is my fifth wife right now. Why wouldn’t I know about your circumstances then, huh?” Tokugawa Shigemori’s rugged facial features glimmered with a cold light under the cover of the night.