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Tenba Goro returned the emblem to Lily with boisterous laughter, “Hahahahahaha! How unexpected that you have such a character to you as well, Lady Kagami! Alright! I intended to check out the underwater palace anyway and since you, my sworn sister, has presented me with a chance, this sworn brother shall come along with you! Fate allowed us to become sworn siblings, so I don’t need the treasure from our trip to the palace in case it really does open. I shall give all of them to you in order to repay you for the drinks!

“Brother…¹” Lily also wished to experience the wonders of Biwa Palace on this occasion and seek its treasure, “I cannot let you take such risks with no rewards. If we obtain any treasure, let’s split it equally.²”

“No!” Tenba Goro stated magnanimously, “Although I value treasures, traveling the world is one of my delights, and meeting a woman like you has already widened my horizons, Lady Kagami! I must repay you for the goodwill you’ve shown me by treating me to drinks! I will give the treasure to you since I never made this trip for them. I’m fine with just having the chance to experience the palace’s wonders! As my little sister, you must listen to me with regards to this matter. There’s no room for discussion, alright?”

The fact that he had suggested an exchange of participating in a deadly treasure hunt for a round of drinks showed what a brave man he was.

Lily also knew that what Tenba Goro truly valued was the sibling bond between them.

While Lily and Tenba Goro were having drinks, a trio of samurai nearby showed irritated expressions after hearing Tenba Goro’s loud voice. A bald, gloomy and brown-vested samurai among them slammed the sake cup on the table, “You two will take Lake Biwa’s treasure, you say? Do you think you own Biwa Palace or what?”

The other baldhead to the side with a ring pierced into his nose looked at Tenba Goro with contempt and then fixed his gaze at Lily, “It seems like this woman has an emblem, Brother.”

“So what? She’s bound to die without the strength to back up her fantasies!”

The fierce-looking samurai got up with a stagger. It was clear that he had drunk too much.

He arrived beside Lily and raised his sake cup, “What’s the sense in drinking with a muscle-head like him, lady? It’s better to drink with me instead if you wish to drink with someone.”

Lily’s expression turned downcast, Do you think I’m a woman who would drink with any random stranger?

“Sorry. I’m not interested,” Lily declined.

“You drank with him, but you refuse to drink with me. Why is it? Are you looking down on me, huh? Do you know who the hell I am?!”

Bam!

The fierce-looking samurai stomped down on Lily and Tenba Goro’s table.

This made Tenba Goro direct a sharp gaze at the man.

On the other hand, Lily remained mum.

The nose-ringed samurai as well as the other tall and pudgy samurai also came over now.

The nose-ringed samurai eyed the emblem that Lily had placed on the table, “Where did you pick this emblem up, girl? How about going underwater with us instead? The treasure of Biwa Palace is easy pickings with us Yamato Hero Triumvirate beside you!”

The fierce-looking man pushed his sake cup closer to Lily’s lips and swayed it, “Drink this cup of sake and come with us, girl. Let’s have some fun first and go take the Biwa Palace’s treasure when it opens!”

“We shall safekeep this emblem for you. As you know, there’s a lot of baddies in Omi,” the nose-ringed samurai hunched forward to pick up the emblem.

However, Tenba Goro slammed down the massive and heavy sake bowl on the back of the nose-ringed samurai’s hand at this moment.

The nose-ringed samurai’s lips twitched slightly since he couldn’t bear to scream. He even tried to pull his hand back but failed to do so.

“Let’s continue drinking, Lady Kagami.”

Lily smiled softly, “Let me fill the bowl for you, Brother.”

Lily ignored the samurai and picked up the huge wine caddy with her slender fingers to fill Tenba Goro’s bowl with sake.

The nose-ringed samurai’s expression turned unsightly and the fierce-looking samurai’s eyes also turned hostile.

The fierce-looking samurai raised his leg to kick the wine caddy suddenly at this moment.

However, Tenba Goro picked up the wine caddy immediately, which made the samurai miskick, and Lily released the caddy’s neck. Following which Tenba Goro smashed the caddy at the samurai’s face and blown it into pieces as a result. Consequently, the immense spirit power in play vaporized most of the sake in it.

The fierce-looking samurai was thus blown away with a bloodied face.

The other two samurai were long accustomed to battling and killing, so they showed no hesitation to attack. The nose-ringed samurai pulled out the wakizashi at his waist and stabbed it towards Tenba while the pudgy samurai, who was relatively farther, pulled out his uchigatana and stepped forward to slash at the same time.

The two of them acted with swift and vicious movements, unleashing their 6th-Stage Awakened strength instantly!

The fierce-looking samurai was still in midair after being smashed away by the wine caddy.

Tenba Goro raised one of his feet from a cross-legged position and kicked the table up towards the incoming blades of the men. Although the collision between spirit powers shattered the table, it still worked to interfere with the two men’s attacks momentarily.

On the other side, Lily was still seated as before and drank sake from the bowl in silence.

A sworn brother of Lily’s naturally possessed the means to handle a bunch of Awakened nobodies. Therefore, she just intended to sit back and experience Tenba Goro’s strength.

However, Lily still failed to see the depths of the immense and majestic power coming from Tenba Goro’s body.

This made her wonder whether he was holding back in such a deadly battle and whether his power level far exceeded the levels she could sense.

Just how strong are you, Brother?

Nevertheless, Lily could also feel that Tenba’s aura was still a huge gap between him and supreme archdemons like Michizane or Shuten Doji who she had come across during a demon parade. Although she wasn’t sure how wide this gap was, she was still able to vaguely sense its existence.

Tenba Goro grabbed his black broadsword and clashed with the two samurai for the second time, but he didn’t pull out his sword even now.

He blocked the opponents’ blades with his sheathed broadsword and pushed the duo back with his muscular arms, making them land on the table behind them and causing the samurai dining there to avoid them in a rush.

Tenba Goro’s rough and powerful hand gripped the hilt of the broadsword and Lily noted that the black wooden hilt had just gained a faint scratch despite the opponents possessing grade 4 katanas, which showed that this hilt was no ordinary one.

Although Tenba’s blade looked crude, the fact that its hilt was so durable suggested that the blade was at least grade 8 or higher in rank.

Tenba Goro finally stood up. He was 180 cm tall and quite buffed with a body width that matched his muscular build. He was pretty tall for a man in the Heian period, but this wasn’t that eye-catching when compared to the people with truly exceptional heights.

However, the immense power coming off from Tenba Goro made her feel that even the 3 m tall Hojo wouldn’t have been a match for him.

The trio of samurai also got back on their feet and though one of them had a bloodied head, they were all men who had been tested by the viciousness of life from early ages, so they just raised battle cries and came slashing towards Tenba.

Tenba slapped the fierce-looking samurai’s blade with his bare palm and actually shattered it. He then raised his broad leg and kicked the samurai’s stomach with a mountainous momentum.

Lily’s heart palpitated when she saw this as the kick had shattered most of the samurai’s ribs and had sent him flying outside the pub by breaking through the wall.

The nose-ringed samurai stabbed at Tenba’s arm, but it just managed to penetrate it a little as his stone-hard muscles prevented the blade from inching any further into his arm.

Tenba Goro’s eyes gained an animalistic glow!

The black hilt of his broadsword smashed on the nose-ringed samurai’s head in the next moment and sent him smashing through the wooden floor underneath while blowing up a gust of wood dust.

The pudgy samurai’s blade closed in towards Tenba’s head at this moment, but he actually caught the blade with his teeth and shattered the grade 4 katana with raw strength from his jaws.

The pudgy samurai looked at the shattered katana in his hand dumbfoundedly and turned around to flee when he regained his senses.

Tenba Goro glared at the fleeing samurai, “I hate men who chicken out of battles the most.”

He picked up one of the huge wine caddies and shot it towards the distance through the hole in the pub’s wall.

It struck the pudgy samurai’s back accurately with a loud bang and made him crash to the ground along with the shattered wine caddy.

Tenba Goro had defeated the 6th-Stage Awakened trio frontally with his blade still sheathed.

The pub was also in a mess now.

The pub hostess’ irate gaze also tamed down a lot when Tenba Goro took out a magatama fragment to recompense her.

Lily also finished drinking at the same moment and stood up gracefully after putting the bowl down on the windowsill.

“You’re so cold, Lady Kagami. I was besieged by three samurai nobodies, yet you still continued drinking leisurely to the side instead of assisting this brother,” Tenba Goro joked.

“If a sister makes a move when her sworn brother is present, wouldn’t it disrespect him?” Lily questioned back³.

“Hahahahahaha! That is true, that is true. However, I hope you will assist me when we run across powerful monsters, say for example, in the Biwa Palace! I don’t really consider such things as affronts!” Tenba Goro laughed boisterously.

“Don’t you feel there are a little too many powerful samurai in this secluded village, Brother?” Lily questioned.

“It’s no wonder at all as most of them have come over because of that rumor!”

“I see,” Lily nodded, “It’s quite late, Brother, so I shall excuse myself first.”

“Alright, let’s meet again later! Wait for me at the entrance on the day Biwa Palace opens and I’ll show up for sure!”

“Mhm. I’ll thank you in advance then, Brother.”

Lily and Tenba Goro went their own ways after exiting the pub. Tenba Goro carried the broadsword he owned on his shoulder and strode outside the village dauntlessly with a wine gourd on his back despite the fact that it was night right now.

1. Robinxen: Why do I feel like it’s just wrong to have Lily refer to a guy positively?
2. Silva: If this Tenba is to be trusted and if he is as strong as Lily made him out to be, I’m sure he’ll be a great benefit to the team and save Lily from the perils she’s going to face.
3. Robinxen: This dynamic feels wrong!
4. Footnote content.