Demon Sword Maiden

“The mirror is real for sure, but the real mirror has appeared too many times over the course of history. Yet almost all of those mirror girls have suffered miserable ends once discovered by the world… I really wonder just what special abilities this real mirror of hers possesses that it has enabled her to become so formidable. It actually makes me want to get that mirror, no, that woman, even more, so that I can interrogate her.”

“I shall dispatch monsters to investigate from all sides.”

“Mhm. Oh, yes. Has there been any information about Yumi recently?”

“…No. She arrived in Tsutsujigasaki Castle along with Tokugawa for the meeting with Takeda, but she seemed to have vanished after that. There’s also yet another strange thing. Although Tokugawa’s party fled back to Mikawa, his wife didn’t return with him and is also missing.”

“Oh, Yukiko?”

“That seems to be her name.”

“Hmph! That woman was the overseer of the Midō clan originally and faded from the sight of the world after eloping with a man. I thought she was a profane woman who succumbed to lust and got entrapped in its poison but going missing at this time really raises some doubts. Could it be that she had bet a decade of her life’s youth all to trick the world?”

Haihime waved the kunoichi away and continued smoking leisurely, “Interesting. It seems like things are getting more and more interesting.”

…

At this moment, the house meant for the girls to live in, and the mining facilities had just begun constructing in Cherry Valley.

Lily went to oversee the construction and saw the burly miners and woodworkers working happily.

“Lady Lyn-hime,” The workers kneeled down consequently after seeing Lily arrive with Kotoka.

“You’ve all worked hard. This mine is extremely important to me, so I hope that you can put in extra work time to finish the work as soon as possible. Naturally, you must ensure that there’s no drop in quality. As for the wages… I will double it for everyone,” Lily gave an absolute yet gentle smile.

“Worry not, Lady Lyn-hime! The wages you give us are many times the amount other liege lords give us, and you’ve even given us more than enough rice to feed our stomachs that we don’t need to limit our food. We’ll definitely work as hard as we can!”

“Mhm. Thank you for the trouble, everyone,” Lily smiled.

“Lady Lyn-hime shall dance for you all and reward you with a feast once you’ve finished the work,” Kotoka stated.

“Really?!” The workers’ fighting spirit seemed to have rekindled and each one of them seemed ready to give their work their all.

“Stop messing around, Madam Kotoka!” Lily pressed her.

“Things are progressing according to our estimates, Lily. I reckon that we’ll be able to begin extraction next week and will need at least four months to produce the magatamas you require,” Kotoka stated.

“Mhm. I know that. You’ve worked hard, Madam Kotoka. I have an urgent need for those magatamas, so we can divide the produce later once I have them,” Lily replied.

“Lily, magatamas are strategic-grade items, so you mustn’t give them out casually and need to draw up a strict wage system instead.”

“Eh? Well, let me ponder about this further then,” Lily stated.

It seems like nothing will come out of waiting here for the next few days, so I might as well set off towards the Endless Demon Mountains.

Lily arrived inside the temple which now had curtains drawn up on both sides that acted as Kotoka’s workspace and the temporary living quarters for Shiu and the Midō sisters.

Lily pulled open the curtain leading to Yumi’s living quarters as she planned to talk about some matters with her.

However, she found Yukiko within as well.

Yumi, on the other hand, lied on the cotton-padded mattress and breathed quickly with a flushed face. Although her cheeks had a healthy flush, her condition didn’t seem that well.

“Are you all right, Yumi?” Lily rushed in anxiously and knelt beside Yumi.

However, Yumi had her eyes closed and moaned in pain underneath the thin blanket on top of her.

Yukiko stated in deep worry, “Yumi’s been like this since yesterday. I don’t know what illness she has caught. It’s really worrying me.”

“Illness?” Lily also became worried. A 7th-stage Awakened practitioner possessed excellent bodily functions and rarely caught ordinary illnesses. They also had a longer lifespan than mortals and were completely fine even in this cold snow-capped region, so it wasn’t that easy for someone like that to catch an illness.

“I’ll go call Madam Kotoka so that she can take a look,” Lily stated.