Demon Sword Maiden

Inside the dim, candle-lit, luxurious room, Shimizu showed no reaction to Onigumo’s intimidation. She casually poured sake into her cup and downed it, a glistening drop sliding down from her lips. Although this way of drinking seemed elegant, it didn’t appear manly.1

Shimizu’s exceptional calmness curbed Onigumo from making a move rashly. Something Onigumo carried on his person quivered at this moment. It crawled outwards, and through Onigumo’s cuffs, a pair of undetectable crimson eyes inspected the human before it.

“Hmm?” Onigumo felt shocked, “This thing showed a reaction? T-this is a sign of the mirror girl’s presence! And such an extreme reaction too. The mirror girl must be nearby!”2

Onigumo had come here with his subordinates just to negotiate some affairs and have some fun. He never expected that creature would show a reaction here.

“Is the mirror girl in this room?” Onigumo conspired internally as he took those geisha, Shimizu, and Lily into his view.

Shimizu began speaking then, “This room is so big. You can just take a seat if you wish to, Lord. Why must you drive me out? Aren’t you making things difficult for the owner?”

“Yes, of course!” The owner forced a smile and tried to smooth things over, “This is Lord Kitabatake from Mutsu province, and this is Lord Onigumo from Sagami province. I can’t afford to offend both of you, and since you haven’t taken offense, please show some leniency. Please take a seat and have sake.”

With his fiery temper, Onigumo would have thrown this thin samurai out the window already, but today was an exception. It was likely that the mirror girl was among these humans! The reason they had come to Kamakura was none other than to hunt for the mirror girl. This was the mission handed to them by a certain someone!

“Fine! Since it’s a gentleman from Mutsu, I was too disrespectful just now. I shall have a few cups then! Sit down, you all!” Onigumo’s dark-skinned group of six samurai all sat down on the other side of the room, and the geishas poured sake for them at once.

Onigumo drank sake, and simultaneously, he raised his sleeve to inspect each geisha. None of them showed an intense reaction, but when his sleeve faced Lily and Shimizu, the response turned strong right away!

“The mirror girl is probably one of them!” Onigumo considered both of them because he had a rich experience and had already made out that Shimizu was possibly cross-dressing.

But then again, from the calmness Shimizu displayed after seeing a man with an appearance like his, he speculated that she might not be the one he was seeking. Hence, he asked her, “Lord Kitabatake, who is that woman beside you?”

Lily endured the shame to cover up her face and stared right at him.

Shimizu stated, “She is Lynne, my geisha, and lover.”

Lily blushed. Although she wasn’t fond of it when Shimizu said Lily was her lover, she felt elated at present, making her wonder if it was because of the intoxication.3

“Geisha?” Onigumo and the other five hulky men looked at Lily all together as he commented, “Since she’s a geisha, what talent does she have?”

“Tell the lords what talent you possess.” Shimizu didn’t know of Lily’s artistic skills, so she asked in a roundabout way.

Lily would have panicked a little ordinarily as she had no artistic skills that she had practiced. However, she still answered, “This little girl is good at dancing, and also somewhat proficient in playing the flute.”

“Hoh!?” Onigumo’s thick brows arched up with vigor, “You can even play the flute? Play it then.”

Although Lily had never practiced playing the flute, she knew her senior sister could do it. Hence, she thought her body must have remembered playing the flute. As Lily was drunk, she held the utmost confidence towards this kind of risky action.4

“All right. Ladies, could one of you lend me a flute?”

The owner commented, “How can I allow a goddess such as Lady Lynne to play a common instrument used by our geishas here? I actually have a grade four flute that I got coincidentally. It is a well-preserved antique that never got used till now. How about you use that flute, Lady Lynne?”

Although the owner was a dishonest merchant, Lily’s beauty had also moved the sincerity in him. Also, he knew he couldn’t act stingy with Lord Kitabatake’s terrific deal as the stakes.

A geisha brought a paper box and opened it. A long, lustrous, emerald green flute, a ryūteki, laid within it.

“Please, Lady Lynne.”

Lily picked up the flute and felt a pleasant, cold sensation in her hands. It was almost if her hands refused to let this sensation escape them.5

It seemed like something had awoken in the intoxicated Lily, making her place the flute beside her lips with utmost grace.

She softly blew into the embouchure hole at the head joint, and that made her bosom swell and fall slowly as she had to control her breathing.

“Toot—”6

In a split second, the temperature dropped, and a sad tune that matched with the candle-lit dimness began echoing in the room.

Shimizu placed down the cup of sake in her hand. She then gazed at the fit, womanly girl beside her that was playing such a melancholic tune that penetrated the soul and felt dumbfounded.

“Lil’ Lily. You are so perfect, yet why is your heart filled with so much grief? Just what kind of fate are you bearing?”

Even Onigumo felt shocked, “I-is this woman a human or a monster? Even the fabled night parade’s legendary mourning woman’s flute melody might not be this sad.”

Lily’s heart couldn’t experience genuine happiness. Because she felt her senior sister’s soul resting in that gloomy space would feel too lonely if she did.

Even if she couldn’t reduce her pain, Lily could empathize with her. With her lover’s life on the verge of death and soul close to dissipating, it was impossible for Lily to not feel grieved.

And under the intoxication, Lily expressed all this sorrow through the ancient flute. No one had taken notice of it since it was late into the night, or they would have exclaimed at the scenery outside the geisha house on this midsummer night where, just like snow, sakura petals were falling gently.

“Miss Kagami…” After listening to the flute’s melody, Shimizu suddenly felt like embracing this woman, feeling the urge to protect and comfort her. She almost felt as if she had become an earnest, heroic, and handsome noble who wished to safeguard his ill-fated woman.

However, she could only hold back her current feelings since Onigumo, and his group of crooks was present here.

Once Lily finished playing, silence reigned within the room.

The geisha sitting to the side started crying, one after another. It seemed like Lily’s playing had evoked their bitter memories of the past.

Even that dishonest merchant began crying, “Your Ladyship Lynne. I will present you this ancient flute even if you don’t end up purchasing my geisha house. Only you can let it produce such soulful music.”7

Lily laid the flute down even though she felt like continuing. The intoxication blurred her sight, her movements turning seductive subconsciously. Her eyes rippled with emotions as she looked at Minamoto no Shimizu beside her, “Since I’m done playing the flute, I shall dance to a song now.”

Lily got up, her divine, otherworldly beauty leading all the geisha to pick up their musical instruments in tandem. The head geisha asked, “Your Ladyship Lynne, which song do you want as an accompaniment?”

“Anything will do,” Lily replied casually, yet it seemed to contain endless sentiments.

“Let’s go with the song, ‘The Prayer of a Thousand Years, Ballad of the Gods’ then,” the geishas nodded at each other.

A tale that seemed to exist since eternity, pure and serene, yet also possessing a sorrowful take to its merriness, such was this melody. It seemed to reflect the Age of the Gods…

As Lily danced, it appeared as if the flowers on that luxurious attire had come to life, blooming and withering in tandem occasionally. The melody brought about the fusion of sorrow and bliss from the eternal past, depicting a tale inexplicable by words.

The red silk fluttered in the room, rising and falling, blooming, just like the drifting dusk clouds.

Lily’s pale face, her slightly black purple eyes, and crimson lips, showed no change. No matter the posture or tune, only that sorrow from her heart reflected on it.

But it also seemed to express myriad feelings.

It had also bewitched a crook like Onigumo. He even reached out to grab Lily impulsively when she spun closer to him.

As the master of this realm of dance, Lily could feel the changes in the surroundings without even looking. So she ingeniously evaded it with quick and firm movements, yet somehow lost her balance while spinning and gently fell into Shimizu’s embrace.8

Accompanied by a scent of intoxication, Lily rested in Shimizu’s embrace. Her neck arched, chin pointing upwards, followed by her beautiful black hair spilling down, just like water, to the floor.

At this moment, Lily appeared aloof and inviolable, yet also defenseless.

Shimizu’s hand supported her neck, while the other held her slender, pliant waistline. Shimizu’s gaze interlocked with Lily’s, and in that split second, she felt like kissing her.

And it seemed like the slightly intoxicated Lily also showed no resistance.

Just when this illusionary dream was about to reach the climax, a pair of scarlet eyes interrupted them!

From Lily’s point-of-view, she noticed eight spooky red eyes inside Onigumo’s sleeve.

This alarmed Lily and also awakened Shimizu from her love-struck stupor. She raised her head and saw the spooky, big-mouthed, hairy spider crawl out of Onigumo’s sleeve!

“Hiss—Creak—” The spider hissed, its limbs creaking as it crawled towards Lily and Shimizu.

The hulky man behind the spider also revealed a vicious expression, “Mirror girl! You really are the mirror girl!”

“What!?” Lying in Shimizu’s embrace, Lily felt shocked, “Was my identity discovered? Is it because of this spider?”

What to do now? Even if I joined hands with Shimizu, we might not defeat these guys. But my identity got exposed in front of so many people. So I would be in trouble if the mirror’s secret leaked to the outside world! Even if I heartlessly kill all the people present here, would Sister Shimizu understand it? Would she keep this secret for me? Just what should I do?

Lily was at her wit’s end.

“Surround her!” Onigumo commanded.

Enormous spiders crawled out from his and his men’s sleeves. These spiders gathered around Lily and Shimizu in a semi-circle and spewed white silk threads towards the duo.

“Hyaaa!!!” The geishas screamed in utter fear after seeing this scene.

Shimizu remained calm even now. She pulled Lily behind her with the hand embracing her and grabbed a pair of chopsticks with her other hand.

“Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!” Shimizu snapped the chopsticks and shot them towards these spiders, accompanied by a series of aquamarine spirit waves.

“Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!” Spurts of green fluids oozed out as four spiders got impaled to the floor by the chopsticks, tried as they to crawl with their eight limbs in vain. The other spiders got frightened by this and scattered to the side, scaring those geishas into screaming again.

Shimizu then grabbed the handle of her sword with one hand while holding onto the scabbard with the other. She kneeled on one knee, slightly exposed the sharp edge of the blade, and looked at Onigumo and his group with a piercing gaze.

“Since you’ve found out, don’t even dream of leaving this place alive now,” Shimizu stated icily.9