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Kotoka had already left by the time Nanako returned.

On the other hand, Shiu returned along with Nanako.

“Master!” Shiu jumped into Lily’s arms immediately, “Thank goodness that you returned alive, Master! I never believed the nonsense everyone was talking about. It really is you, Master, even the scent of your bosom is the same…”

“Ahem!” Nanako coughed in a displeased tone.

Before Lily left, she had instructed Shiu to stay put in Kamakura, so even though Shiu felt worried about her, she could only ask the ninja organizations within Kamakura about the latest information regarding Lily and return back at noon. She spent the nights at Sakiko’s place during these days as she would often get worried about the danger Lily was in whenever she was alone.

“Where’s my mother?” Nanako actually had a lot of things to tell Kotoka which related to her origin.

Lily ignored Shiu who had buried her face into her breasts and answered Nanako, “Madam Kotoka received a report that some matter needs to be handled in Port Izu, so she left for there first.”

“Is that so?” Nanako experienced an indescribable feeling after hearing this. She had also survived a calamity yet Kotoka’s utter indifference towards it made her wonder if Kotoka didn’t care about it because she wasn’t her own child.

“Nanako, Instructor Sakiko told me to remain in the dojo for the time being and wait for Lord Kamakura to deal with the matter regarding Nagasaki Takaki. That old man must’ve definitely gone to complain to Lord Kamakura,” Lily stated.

“Mhm. I’ll accompany you at home then, Sis,” Nanako continued, “How long are you planning to hug Sister Lily’s bosom now, Shiu?”

Nothing happened over the next few days, so Lily spent the time training at home obediently while Nanako either trained within the mirror space or along with Lily.

Lily told Shiu about the relationship between Nanako and Sakura, as well as some of the secrets regarding the mirror, but she felt that it wasn’t the right time to bring Shiu’s soul into the mirror space.

Lily also used all the magatama fragments she had obtained from Dijon and Genja to increase her strength greatly and had now become a 6th-Stage Awakened.

She also retrieved the gold, iron seal and Lady Shizuka’s armor that she had left with Sakiko. Most of these could be stored within the mirror space, so they were clearly of extraordinary value.

As for the normal treasures that didn’t possess any special qualities, Lily told Shiu to call for a trader and exchanged them for a few dozen gold coins which she deposited within the mirror space.

And on the 5th day, Lord Kamakura had finally passed judgment on Lily for the massacre during the training excursion as well as the matter of her hitting an Inspector.

The one who had arrived to read the punishment decree was the bald youth at Lord Kamakura’s side, “Kagami Lily, you shall be fined a year worth of wages and are to hereby undergo punishment from Madam Ashikaga Makoto, who shall act in accordance with the laws and principles of Kamakura and issue a suitable punishment for the matter.”

“Do you accept this punishment, Kagami Lily?” The youth inquired.

“I do,” Lily knelt towards the decree that Lord Kamakura had passed down and replied in an honest tone.

“However, I’m perplexed about one thing.”
“Feel free to inquire about it.”
“I have a wage?”
“…Since you were appointed as a lord by Lord Kamakura personally, you naturally have a wage. Incidentally, your annual wage is 200 kan.”

A fine of 200 kan?

Lily didn’t really lack this bit of money.

On the next day, dressed in red, Lily made for Ashikaga Makoto’s residence to undergo the punishment.

Since Lord Kamakura had already ordered Ashikaga Makoto to punish Lily, his intentions were pretty clear. Just as Kotoka had said, this was equivalent to settling the matter without actually dealing with it.

Lord Kamakura naturally knew about the relationship between Lily and the Ashikaga clan, but it was hard for Nagasaki and the others to object to his decision as he had stated that only Ashikaga possessed the ability to subdue Lily currently within Kamakura City and that sending anyone else would only worsen the situation beyond repair.

In short, this was what he meant—If I don’t send Ashikaga Makoto, do I send you instead? Can you even punish Lily?

The other three members of the Furinkazan are all too far away from the city as well.

After arriving at the Ashikaga Hall and entering the quiet courtyard, Lily was led to a room within the inner courtyard by a maid.

For some reason, Lily began to feel nervous at this moment.

Ashikaga Makoto’s room was dimly illuminated by lamps and she was dressed in white garments with a yellow folding screen behind her.

“Mother Makoto,” Lily knelt courteously.

“It’s good that you were able to return to Heian safely, Lily. Kiyoshi isn’t present in the house today, so it’s just us two, mother and daughter here,” Ashikaga Makoto stated.

“Oh… I see…” Lily felt that the mood wasn’t as relaxed as she had imagined it would be.

“You’re in serious trouble this time, Lily. You actually knocked out Lord Nagasaki Takaki. Do you know that you are currently the center of the focus of the Taira clan as well as the prominent clans whose children were killed by monsters during the excursion?”

“Mother Makoto, you must be already aware of the whole story by now. That abominable Nagasaki Takaki colluded with Tokugawa and his lackeys to harm me by using this matter as an excuse. How could I have allowed them to dishonor me? If I see someone like that Nagasaki again in the future, I’ll definitely kick them for sure! Hmph!” Lily stated honestly. After all, Madam Makoto was someone on her side as well.

“Oh my! I never thought you were actually so vicious, Lily. However, how could I not know about their crafty schemes? Don’t worry. As your mother, I’m on your side, Lily,” Ashikaga Makoto stated gently.

Hearing the word, ‘mother,’ made Lily feel some warmth in this dark world where she dithered all alone.

“However…” Ashikaga Makoto’s tone made a reversal at this point, “Lord Kamakura had ordered me to punish you in accordance with the laws of the Genji and you must have also realized his intentions behind it. It’s just a formality to give some face to the Taira clan and the prominent clans. Although Lord Kamakura has ordered me to punish you, he actually endeavored to protect you. Do you understand that?”

“I do,” Lily bowed her head down.

“As it was ordered by Lord Kamakura, even though it’s just a formality, it must still be done. I hope you can understand that although the punishment won’t really be that strict, as the adoptive mother, I’m obliged to discipline my daughter for her mistakes. Isn’t that right, Lily?”

For some reason, Ashikaga Makoto’s voice made Lily feel a bit terrified and her smiling eyes felt even more unfathomable.

“Yes…” If it were someone else, Lily would have resisted it even though Lord Kamakura had ordered it. The Heian Empire was chaos incarnate, so she wasn’t afraid of anyone at all. However… Madam Ashikaga was in the end, her adoptive mother. Thus, it wasn’t proper for her to act too stubborn.

“Follow me then, Lily,” Ashikaga Makoto got up and walked over towards the inner room while dragging her long and elegant garments.

“Eh?” Lily quivered. I thought it was just a formality, but am I really going to get punished?

But I did nothing wrong! Why do I need to get punished?

Seeing Lily just stand there in a displeased manner, Ashikaga Makoto said the following words, “Lily, I know you feel aggrieved about the matter, but don’t treat this as a punishment from the Genji towards you and think of it as me, your adoptive mother, discipling you, my daughter, for your mistake instead. Or do you reject your mother’s authority as well?”

Madam Ashikaga had shown tremendous kindness to Lily, so she found it hard to disregard her will.

“In that case, I shall gladly accept the punishment,” Lily refused to comply with the so-called high officials, authorities and magnates of Kamakura, but she was deferential and obedient towards her adoptive mother to a certain extent.

Thus, Lily followed Ashikaga Makoto into the inner room, which was actually Makoto’s bedroom. It was a bright and clean room illuminated by lamps and the musky scent of a mature woman that filled it made Lily tense up.

Lily noticed a short-legged table with a long and sturdy scarlet top in the center of the room that had a wooden slab set up at the front on it. The slab also had a circular hole the width of an arm in the middle whose purpose confounded Lily.

“I’ve prepared the item already, Lily. This is the instrument that I’ll be using to discipline you.”

“Eh?” Although she didn’t know what this item was used for, a strange feeling flooded Lily. Her face flushed up and her heart also thumped wildly.

“Come on, Lily. Kneel on this table and put your hands behind you,” Ashikaga Makoto stated in a gentle yet slightly absolute tone with smiling eyes.

“W-What is this for?” Lily felt so nervous that she didn’t dare to follow Makoto’s instructions.

“Didn’t I say it already? This is an instrument for mothers to discipline their daughters. However, I won’t force you. If you are unwilling to accept the authority of your adoptive mother and don’t care about the motherly concern that I have for you, feel free to return right away. Naturally, I’ll inform Lord Kamakura that I’ve already disciplined you,” Madam Ashikaga said smilingly.

Hearing this actually made Lily feel ashamed as it was her mother’s will. She had been alone when she arrived in this world and had only felt even more lonely since then, so even if she were to be disciplined, she needed a mother’s…

“I understand,” Lily replied with her face flushing red and then knelt down on the wooden table.

On the other hand, Ashikaga Makoto seemed to have prepared long ago, so she fetched a big box next. However, Lily didn’t dare to peek towards her as she felt a bit nervous.

The first item Makoto fetched from the box was actually a black blindfold patterned with bamboo, flowers and birds.

Before Lily could even react, Makoto covered Lily’s eyes firmly with them.

“Mm…” Losing her sight suddenly made Lily feel like she had become defenseless towards this world and made her tense up even further.

“Mother Makoto, this is…”

“Hehe. It’s nothing. As a mother, I naturally won’t bully my daughter. This is for your own good, all right?” Makoto breathed softly beside Lily’s ears.

The soft breath brushed past Lily’s earlobes, and as they were one of her most sensitive spots, she ended up blushing immediately… At the same time, she felt body weaken a little as if it was mellowing out.

Lily’s hands were still behind her back right now. Makoto then took out something else from the box, which was followed by a taut noise.

Makoto then proceeded to tie up Lily’s slender wrists with a cord. She had tied them up quite gently, yet they were also pretty tight and hard to break free from.

“Mother Makoto…”
“Hold your tongue, my dear daughter! Or are you planning to resist your mother?”
“No…”
“Just follow your mother’s orders obediently then. A daughter must be punished for her mistakes, isn’t that right?”
“Mhm…”

Makoto then fetched a candy-scented item from the box and inserted it into the circular hole of the slab that was almost adjacent to Lily’s face.

None of the two spoke anything after that and after a long period of silence, although Lily could feel that the candy-scented item was just a hair’s breadth away from the tip of her nose, she didn’t know what it was and could only wait in trepidation.

Makoto then fetched another thing and then grabbed Lily’s skirt, pulling it up in one go.

“Kyah!” Lily cried out alarmingly.

However, it wasn’t raised too high and only exposed her calves, so Lily relaxed in the next moment. It’s just the calves. It seems like Mother Makoto won’t actually deliver an overly embarrassing punishment to me.

Makoto then grabbed Lily’s feet and stripped her stockings.

“Eh? W-Why are you stripping my stockings, Mother Makoto?”
“Hehe. To punish you, why else.”

Makoto then grabbed Lily’s foot and lifted it up, exposing her rarely seen pink bottom of her foot, which made Lily blush harder.

Lily then felt an intense tickly feeling from the bottom of her foot. It seemed like Makoto was using some kind of feather to tickle the bottom of Lily’s foot.

“Kyah! Hahahaha! Hahahaha!” Lily felt like crying after being played to such an embarrassing extent and couldn’t hold back from laughing hard. Although Lily really hated laughing like this, she was unable to control it.

“Stop! Mother Makoto! Please stop it… Hahahahahaha!”
“I… can’t take it anymore… Hahahaha!”

Makoto simply ignored Lily’s pleas and continued with the ticking. She switched to the other foot when she was done with one of them and after that, she grabbed both of them together and tickled them back and forth using the feather.

“Mo… Hahaha… Mother Makoto… I… can’t take it anymore…”
“Do you know your mistake now?”
“Hahaha. I do, Mother Makoto. Please spare me now… I know my mistake… Hahahahahaha!”

Lily really couldn’t bear the tickling and began to squirm with a flushed face. As she was deprived of her sight, her sense of touch was further enhanced, so she was forced to plead for forgiveness repeatedly after acknowledging her mistake.

“Call me mother!”
“Eh? That’s…”
“Are you unwilling? It seems like you need more punishment then!”
“Hahahaha… d-don’t… Mother… Please spare me, Mother…” Lily felt unbearably ashamed when said ‘Mother.’
“It’s good that you know it now, but you talk too much, my dear daughter, so can you keep your mouth shut?”
“Eh?”

Makoto pushed Lily’s head forwards gently and her lips touched a soft rounded item.

“This is… Mmf…” Lily opened her mouth to speak, but she was forced to swallow that item as Makoto was pushing her head forward.

The item possessed a sweetness to it along with the flexibility of a gelatinous matter.

“This is a gummy candy from Kansai that’s specially used to punish girls. The girls of Kansai value their figures greatly, so they are unwilling to eat candies for the fear of getting fat. Thus, candies created in such a shape are fed to them forcefully as punishment. You are not allowed to bite it and can only suck it slowly, got it?”

Saying so, Makoto continued tickling the bottoms of Lily’s feet while guiding Lily’s head to suck that candy in and out of her mouth slowly. Lily found the tickling unbearable, but her mouth was choked full of the candy stick, so she could only issue ambiguous muffled breaths. Her face burned red hot from the embarrassment as she found it hard to prevent her saliva from flowing down her choked mouth and this almost made her break into tears. The simultaneous punishment from the front and back really left Lily at the mercy of Makoto’s hands and made her truly experience the depths of her adoptive mother’s authority and ferocity for the first time ever.

Power Ranking:

—Mortal World—

Samurai (Middle-Stage and Late-Stage Samurai approximately rank as a 1st-Stage Awakened)
Early to Middle Stage Sword Master (2nd-Stage Awakened)
Late-Stage Sword Master (3rd-Stage Awakened)
Early-Stage Sword Saint (4th-Stage Awakened)
Middle-Stage Sword Saint (5th-Stage Awakened)
Late-Stage Sword Saint (6th-Stage Awakened)
* Representative Individuals—Hojo Dijon (Pre-Demonization), Taira no Hachiro.
Transcendent Sword Saint (7th-Stage Awakened)
* Above the Sword Saint level yet under the level of the Furinkazan.
* Representative Individuals—Demonized Hojo Dijon, Yuki Mayumi, Blade Maiden Shimizu.

—Heavenly Gate Ascension Path—

Awakened
Spirit Jade
Permanence
Throne
Big Dipper
Celestial