<h4>Volume 12 - Yomi-no-kuni: Chapter 24 – Heading To The Female Kingdom</h4>


    In the vast Land of Yomi, along a long, windy, and dusty road.


    A group of earth dragons traveled tens of thousands of kilometers each day. Despite dys due to the harsh environment, it took just over two days to bring the hundred maidens to the edge of the Abyss of Parting Sorrow.


    “Everyone, the Abyss of Parting Sorrow, where the Yomi female kingdom is located, is just ahead. Beforeing here, Her Highness instructed me to convey a message to you all,” Tokuan said. “It’s rumored that there’s a plot against the Yomi female kingdom from within. If you discover anything during the test, report it to the Rakshasa Dojo for additional rewards.”


    The hundred maidens nodded.


    “Everyone, you’ll enter in batches ording to your respective identities. Wait here for now and depart gradually,” Tokuan ordered.


    The hundred maidens rested here for a while, then set off in batches as arranged by the Rakshasa leadership. Lily had to wait two days before it was her turn to depart.


    “Kagami Lily.” Isshiki called out Lily’s name. Lily and Hyozuhi stood and walked over to Isshiki. A guard brought two sets of clothes.


    “Change into these,” Isshiki said. “These are your ve clothes.”


    Lily looked at the ve clothes and noticed they were rtively thin, which she expected. She asked, “Where can I change?”


    Isshiki stared at Lily as if she were strange. “Shameless! When changing clothes, of course, you find a secluded ce. Why do you even need to ask?”


    “…” Lily felt like crying. She’d spent too much time in the Rakshasa Dojo, and her thoughts were skewed by Rakshasa-Onna. She even asked a question like that.


    “Master, I’ll keep watch for you,” Hyozuhi said.


    Lily and Hyozuhi went to change behind a boulder at the foot of a mountain.


    Lily’s clothes consisted of a crop top withrge openings on both sides, and below it, there were two pieces of fabric at her front and rear, leaving the sides exposed. She also had a coarse ck cloth tied around her waist, with the knot fastened at the back.


    Hyozuhi’s clothes were simr to Lily’s, except they were pink.


    After changing, the two came out, and two guards approached them.


    “Come with us, and be sure to follow our instructions carefully. We’ve already arranged for your reception. If you’re exposed, it’s your responsibility. If you can’t infiltrate sessfully, you’ll be punished for failure,” one of the guards warned.


    “Yes.” Lily nodded.


    Lily and Hyozuhi followed the two guards through the vast wilderness. Lily noticed that these guards wore different clothes from the other Rakshasa guards.


    After walking for about an hour, they stopped. By then, they were far from the earth dragons’ gathering ce.


    They waited for a while, and soon, a group of people approached from a distance.


    “They’re here; get ready,” the two female guards said. They tied Lily and Hyozuhi’s hands behind their backs and covered their mouths with white cloth, making them look like ves.


    The approaching group consisted of women riding spectral horses or walking on foot. Some of the spectral horses were pulling wagons.


    These female tengu were all tall and muscr, wearing short animal-skin clothing or attire simr to that of indigenous people from the Jōmon period. Each one wore a mask resembling a bull’s head, a horse’s head, or a foreign beast’s skull, decorated with animal bones and feathers. Even though their faces couldn’t be seen, their figures looked good.


    They held sickles, spears, whips, and other weapons in their hands. When they reached Lily and the others, they stopped.


    Among them, a woman with a mask resembling the skull of a strange giant beast rode over on a majestic spectral horse. Her voice had a mature tone. “Are these the goods for today?”


    A Rakshasa guard stepped forward and said, “Indeed. These two are the eldestdy of a recently exterminated n and her maid. They are rare and valuable goods.”


    “Is that so?” The woman with the beast skull mask pressed the handle of a bone spear—primitive but exuding an extraordinary aura—against Lily’s chin. “This tall one is the eldestdy, right? Raise your head so I can take a look.”


    Lily let the spear lift her chin without resistance.


    “Oh!” The woman with the beast skull mask was surprised and said to herself, “I’ve been doing this for thousands of years, but I’ve never seen such a stunning beauty.”


    However, she quickly adjusted her emotions and lowered her voice in a deliberate manner. “The goods aren’t bad. What’s the price?”


    If she praised them too much, the other party might ask for an exorbitant price.


    “The maides as a gift with the eldestdy. 150 Blood Spirit Magatama.”


    “Really?” The woman with the beast skull mask trembled with excitement. She was a ve trader who had been doing business in the female kingdom for a long time, so she knew that this was a rare and precious treasure—something you’d find once every ten thousand years. Getting her for just 150 Blood Spirit Magatama was a tremendous bargain!


    “We’re serious, but there’s a catch. This youngdy’s identity is a bit special, so she can’t be recorded in a ve contract and can only be traded on the ck market. Otherwise, it could cause some trouble,” the guard said. Since Lily wasn’t a real ve, having a recorded ve contract, while not a major issue, might make it hard for her to establish herself in Yomiter on.


    “I see.” Such an exceptional beauty would naturally have the backing of powerful forces. That meant she couldn’t be openly traded, which exined the low price. It made sense. Although dealing with these kinds of trades was risky, people like this woman, who lived off the ve trade, were willing to take the risk.


    “Deal!”


    The woman threw out a bag of Blood Spirit Magatama.


    “We’ll take them; the money is yours.”


    “Pleasure doing business with you. Until the next time,” the guards said, epting the money.


    “Put them on a spectral horse.”


    Several masked women came over and pushed Lily and Hyozuhi onto a spectral horse.


    Lily rode in front, while Hyozuhi leaned on her from behind. However, the ropes binding them were not untied. Riding a bumpy spectral horse like this would usually be tough, but Lily and Hyozuhi were both skilled enough not to fall off.


    The group traveled along with Lily and Hyozuhi, as well as the wagon containing unknown goods. They soon entered a steep, dark valley ahead.


    Passing through the valley, the mountains resembled a wall that pierced the sky. On the other side of this “wall” was an endless basin, as if an ocean had been drained countless years ago.


    Inside the basin, there were vast mountains and forests.


    This was the Abyss of Parting Sorrow.


    As the group continued to descend along the mountain road, they gradually entered an area filled with ancient trees that covered the sky. Mist lingered in the air between the ancient trees, and mournful cries could sometimes be heard.


    ‘What strong resentment,’ Lily thought with a sigh.


    Among the giant trees she passed by, Lily saw numerous tombstones hanging from vines. She didn’t have time to read what was written, but most bore the tragic stories of deceased women, the words reflecting bitter sadness.


    Lily even saw pairs of resentful eyes watching her from the forest. They belonged to dry and withered female vengeful spirits with ferocious faces.


    They were full of jealousy toward Lily, but they also had mocking expressions. Lily wasn’t sure why they were mocking her, but it was likely because she looked like a ve.


    However, these vengeful spirits only observed and sometimes followed, but they never attacked.


    “The Abyss of Parting Sorrow is filled with miserable women who have wandered for countless ages. Only the spirits of women who died at the hands of men in Yomi-no-kuni or Takamagaharae here. So these women intensely hate men. If a man tries to enter the Abyss of Parting Sorrow, only death awaits him,” the ve trader with the beast skull mask said.


    Lily suddenly understood why a kingdom of women could exist in Yomi, where females were typically scarce. It was because men couldn’t enter this ce.


    “Even though you’ve be ves, being sold to the female kingdom by me can be considered a blessing. The ruler of the female kingdom is said to be an unparalleled beauty in Yomi,” the ve trader continued.


    Lily couldn’t help but ask, “Who are you selling us to?”


    “How would I know? I’ll sell to whoever offers the highest price. A beauty like you isn’t someone ordinary female warriors can afford. It would either be nobles, generals, or high-ranking officials. Keep in mind, I bought you for 150 Blood Spirit Magatama! That’s a lot of money. All the other goods I have, including some rare items, are worth less than ten Blood Spirit Magatamabined,” the female ve trader said


    ¹.


    The Abyss of Parting Sorrow was vast. Lily and the group of female ve traders traveled for several days before finally reaching an ancient city gate in the forest.


    The city gate looked somewhat like the one in Nara’s ancient capital, but it was predominantly purple, with shades of light red, white, and other colors that exuded a feminine charm. The surroundings were illuminated by purple and light gold crystals.


    “Halt! Who are you people?” Several female archers in purple armor on the city gate raised their bows and arrows. The weakest among them had the strength of a Throned Monarch.


    “We’re here to do business in the city. I have a jade token to enter,” the female ve trader said, holding up a jade token.


    After a while, the city gate opened slightly, allowing several female foot soldiers to emerge. Their attire resembled the Heian Dynasty’s foot soldiers, but their colors were more vibrant, and they didn’t wear helmets. The female foot soldiers mostly had medium-short hair or ponytails, and they quickly surrounded the group.


    “I’ve seen you people before,” a female foot soldier said. She then pointed at Lily and Hyozuhi, who were riding on a spectral horse. “What about them?”


    “Oh, them? They’re part of the merchandise too.”


    “You mean they’re both ves?”


    “That’s right. In this Yomi female kingdom, the ruler allows the sale of female ves, right? I haven’t been here for a few years, but this rule hasn’t changed, has it?”


    “This hasn’t changed, but we have to check them to make sure they’re really women!” The leader of the female foot soldiers approached Lily and Hyozuhi.


    “Pfft,” the female ve trader couldn’t help butugh. “Mydy, look at their appearance, especially the girl in white at the front. If she’s not a woman, who else in this world could be?”


    Upon hearing those words, the leader of the female foot soldiers scanned Lily’s body and felt they were true.


    Lily lowered her head in embarrassment. Although she was pretending, she still felt humiliated by the scrutiny.


    Even though the leader of the female foot soldiers agreed with the ve trader’s words, her eyes couldn’t help but wander across Lily’s fair and rounded thighs, causing some sinister thoughts to sprout in her mind.


    <i>What a stunning, lovely woman. Even as a ve, she’s not someone a mere foot soldier like me will meet in the future. I might as well take advantage of this opportunity while I can,</i> the female foot soldier thought to herself.


    So she said, “Although she looks very feminine, the current Yomi is different from the past. Demons and ghosts are running rampant, and many strange things are happening. Recently, many strange incidents have urred in the female kingdom, so we can’t afford to be careless!”


    She ced her slender hand on Lily’s thigh, who was mounted on the spectral horse, and said, “Take her to the city tower for a thorough inspection! I want to… examine her and make sure she’s a real woman


    ².” <h4>Footnotes:</h4>


    LazyButAmibtious: What a peculiar sight. The ve and ve trader having a cordial chat.


    Robinxen: Wow…