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“By the way, Master. I also heard that the painted incarnation can’t be summoned if the main body of the monster painted on the scroll is nearby,” Kagura added.

“Mhm,” Lily nodded and rolled the scroll back up before touching the wide roll gently, simply refusing to put it down.

“Although this ‘Record of One Hundred Demons’ holds an incredibly bizarre power, it’s also a money-squandering item. It takes four magatama to summon the monster cat once, and even though one hundred monsters can be drawn on this ancient scroll, just how many magatama would be lost to summon a true night parade of one hundred demons?” Lily wondered internally.

“You’ve worked hard, Kagura. Put these treasures away properly and rest well after that, all right?” Lily said.

“Yes, Master.”

Lily’s consciousness returned to the outside world and saw that Yumi was actually holding up the parasol for her now.

She had switched with Yuki-Onna at some point in time.

As for Haihime, she was standing within the snow with hands folded to the front and seemed to have changed into a new dress already, actually wearing a decent, light purple kimono this time.

She then bowed to Lily deeply.

Lily and Haihime walked through the corridors of the temple as snow fell from the skies.

“I’ll have to request Lady Haihime to guide me with regards to collecting the flames,” Lily stated.

“P-Please don’t use the appellation of ‘lady,’ I don’t have the qualifications to have it in front of you, Miss Lily. If you wish to collect the flames of Mt. Fuji, I can guide you to the spot anytime you want.”

Lily and Haihime arrived at the latter’s bedroom after that. The snow-capped courtyard was visible from outside the room’s door since it hadn’t suffered much damage from the battle.

“I’ve arranged for my clansmen to live inside the temple for the time being, so please don’t worry too much, Miss Lily. I’ll send them to the provinces of Kanto and do my best to look for a region where they can live once the weather turns for the better. Although the monsters of these Endless Demon Mountains serve me now, I believe that my clansmen can’t survive in these monster-infested mountains,” Haihime stated.

Lily nodded faintly.

Yoriko came into the room at this moment while holding ancient martial arts’ books in her hands, and Haihime presented them to Lily.

“Aren’t these… your clan’s legacy? I’ve gone through them already, so I’m pretty grateful for that. However, why are you giving these to me?” Lily questioned.

Haihime looked at Yoriko, “Yoriko, why don’t you return first and rest together with the clansmen?”

“All right,” Yoriko gave Lily a somewhat longing glance and retired from the room.

Haihime closed the door after seeing Yoriko leave and turned around to kneel before Lily suddenly, “Miss Lily. I said that I’ll give my everything to you if you help me kill that demon.”

“Eh?”

Haihime bowed her head so low that her forehead was almost in contact with the tatami floor and even though her cheeks were just slightly flushed, her tone was far from playful, “I am just a useless woman who made the wrong choice. In the end, I was neither able to obtain vengeance nor protect my clansmen, and it nearly ended up with me and my mother’s hope getting tarnished. If it weren’t for you, Miss Lily, I would’ve been living a life worse than death for sure. Moreover, I even treated you like that previously. I know a woman like me is unqualified to serve you, but since I have some of the Endless Demon Mountains’ monsters under my control now, I believe that I still have some value to you.”

“Haihime. Please don’t mention things like value and such to me. I only acted because Amanojaku’s brutal and evil deeds pushed my patience to the limit. It wasn’t to demand anything from you.”

“A promise is a promise, Miss Lily. Furthermore, now that my mother has been avenged and my clansmen are safe, I… am actually lost about how to live from now on. I feel like I’m utterly empty, so please let me follow you. If you’re worried that my position as a former loyal aide to the monsters would affect your reputation, I can just serve you in the dark,” Haihime stated unhesitantly in a seemingly imploring tone.

“I’ve never cared about reputation and such things. As long as you’re willing, I’ll treat you like a sister of mine from now on,” Lily stated politely.

“No, I don’t have such qualifications. Please let me act as your retainer. I-I want you to become my master…”

“Well…”

“Miss Lily, I-I really don’t know what to do from now on. I’ve gone against the Land of East and can’t return to it along with my clansmen with all the crimes I’ve committed. Furthermore, even if we live together, we’ll still be somewhat estranged because of the misunderstanding between us in the past, and I’ve also become accustomed to living on this mountain.”

Lily recalled something suddenly, “Haihime, I get what you mean. However, I obtained a pretty incredible treasure from Amanojaku after killing him. It’s an item that far exceeds his abilities, so even though this spot seems safe for now, I’m worried that his backer might come to avenge him if you continue living in this temple. What would you do then?”

“Well…” Lily’s words made sense and Haihime also began to worry. If the adults of the Golden-Horned Tribe and Amanojaku’s father were to really arrive at the surface, they would undoubtedly catch and torture her. Just the thought of it made Haihime shiver.

“Haihime, I actually have a proposal for you. Just set the monsters free and move to my territory along with your trusted kunoichi and clansmen,” Lily suggested.

“Eh? But wouldn’t that end up implicating you? After all, Lord Kamakura won’t…”

Lily shook her head, “Lord Kamakura won’t know about it. I own a valley between the Kai and Shinano provinces. Its environment is quite beautiful, and it’s also hidden pretty well. It’s called Cherry Blossom Valley, and it’s divided into the inner valley and the outer valley. You can just let the clansmen live in the outer valley where they can engage in farming. I’ll ask Madam Kotoka to prepare the seeds and equipment required for that. As for you, you can just live in the inner valley. How about it? Yumi will also accompany us. She doesn’t want to part from you as well, doesn’t she?”

“Eh, is that true? Is there really such a location in this world?” Haihime gave Lily a somewhat excited and longing look.

“It’s true,” Lily nodded wistfully.

Haihime’s eyes glistened after finally seeing a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel and her mental and physical vitality also recovered because of this glimmer of hope.

She seemed to regain that charming look of hers gradually and leaned aside, undoing the front of her kimono subconsciously while exposing her slim and pretty legs out of the kimono by stretching them to the side, her nebulous aquamarine hair cascading down to one side in the process.

“I’ll trouble you from now on then, Master.”

“Huh? You’re much older than me, Haihime, so there’s no need to call me master.”

Haihime, however, leaned forward meekly and lied down on Lily’s thighs directly, “Is my age not to your preference, Master? I’m not just older, but also a virgin… isn’t that quite the loss…”

“D-Don’t say such a thing. By the way, are you not going to take the name ‘Keiko’ back?”

“No, I always want to remember that I’m the loser in front of you, Master, while you are the victor,” Haihime hugged Lily’s waist and pressed her cheek against Lily’s underbody.

It was impossible for Lily to feel nothing after such intimate contact and her breathing turned a little rough as well.

“Fine, then, so be it. Just get up now, alright?”

Lily yielded with a show of reluctance and helped Haihime up.

“I have something to ask you, Master.”
“What is it?”
“Uhm. Did you see a key among the treasures you obtained from Amanojaku, Master?”
“A key?”
“Yes, it’s a little brass key.”

Lily didn’t pay much attention to the items, so she couldn’t recall it, “Which treasury’s key is it?”

“A treasury’s key, you say. In a certain sense, you could call it one, I guess,” Haihime replied charmingly.

Thus, Lily asked Kagura about it.

“There’s really such a key, Master. I planned to throw it away tomorrow since I found nothing special about it after appraising it,” Kagura replied from the mirror space.

“Eh? Don’t throw it away. Give it to me instead,” Lily stated.

The key naturally wasn’t a grade 6 treasure or anything and was just a tough key made from grade 4 brass, that’s all. However, Lily had found a way to allow an item lower than grade 6 inside the mirror space, which was to let her shikigami carry it on them. Kagura’s dress, undergarments and underwear, for example, weren’t grade 6 treasures for certain, but they weren’t ejected out from the mirror space, so Lily took advantage of this loophole.

There was also no obstruction at all when taking it out from inside.

Hence, Lily took the key out and waved it in front of Haihime, “Is it this?”

“Kyah. I hate you, Master… How could you… ask me such a thing intentionally?” Haihime turned her head away and covered her blushing cheeks with her hands.

“Eh, it’s just a key, isn’t it? What’s so embarrassing about it?” Lily asked puzzledly.

Haihime then got up and raised the bottom of her kimono towards Lily, exposing her fair and warm underbody as well as the humiliating T-shaped black strap fastened to it.

“P-Please help me unlock it, then, Master… Or do you want to keep the key with you and make me continue wearing this contraption…” Haihime stated in a deep, mature, and submissive tone.

A feminine scent so intoxicating that it could even bewitch Lily a little was mixed in with the odor of leather emanating from the contraption.

Lily noticed a lock at the center of the contraption.

“O-Of course not. I don’t have such strange hobbies. But can’t you unlock it yourself?”

Haihime flexed her hips in front of Lily, “Don’t you feel that it’s more meaningful to have you unlock it for me, Master?”

“Fine, I got it. I’ll unlock it for you, then.”

Lily also planned to remove Haihime’s fetters originally, so she stopped acting shy and held Haihime’s hip with her fingers while the key-holding hand pushed the key into the keyhole on the leather belt.

“Ngh… It’s inside… Master…” Haihime blushed wholly and quivered all over, producing a gleeful voice from the excitement of obtaining freedom.

“I really don’t get it. Does obtaining freedom really please you that much, Sister Haihime?” Lily’s hip-holding hand circled to the back and held Haihime’s plump and warm buttocks as the whole key went in and rotated inside the keyhole.

“Ngh… Freedom feels the best. After all, it’s the freedom that you’ve given me, Master…Kyah!”

Haihime let out a high-pitched squeal as the lock unlocked with a click.

Lily turned her head away and helped Haihime take off that humiliating contraption with one hand while supporting her body with the other. Haihime had gained freedom at this moment.

Her body lost strength and fell towards Lily who was forced to accept her into her embrace as she was seated in seiza.

“Thank you, Master,” Haihime held the front edge of Lily’s kimono, brimming with the charm of a mature woman post-submission as that hand of hers reached into Lily’s cleavage in a probe.

“Y-You don’t need to thank me like this,” Lily was also pretty tensed up, so she ended up grabbing Haihime’s hand to stop her, “Sister Haihime. All of you have gone through a lot today, so why don’t you rest a bit earlier? You can guide me to fetch the flames of Mt. Fuji tomorrow, alright?”

“Mhm… Alright, Lil’ Master,” Haihime answered in a lonely and empty tone with glistening eyes.