Book 5: Chapter 42: Yuuta
Before Lily bid farewell to Hiromasa, she inquired as to where she could find the reward notice.
Hiromasa told Lily that for general tasks, she would need to check the external premises of various dojos and public halls, but for urgent events, she could find many notice boards along Suzaku Avenue.
When Lily returned, she indeed found many notices on the street that were flocked by many people. She went over to take a look and saw that, in addition to the Genji, Taira, and Fujiwara clan, many other n.o.ble houses such as the Haiji and Tachibanaya clan, were fixated on this incident. This highlighted just how urgent the matter was.
The Genji’s reward was just as Hiromasa said.
The Taira Clan’s rewards were almost equal to the Genji, offering the right for one to worship the Taira Clan’s guardian deity as well as five merit points or five magatama fragments.
Lily turned her attention to the Fujiwara Can’s reward which was to observe the Twelve Moon Phase Instrument for one night in addition to five merit points or five magatama fragments.
It seemed that the Fujiwara Clan was indeed very rich as they were willing to offer magatama and merit points to whoever solved the case.
However, the key reward was observing the lunar phase instrument.
Although Lily wasn’t sure about the nature of this sacred relic owned by the Fujiwara Clan, from its name, it seemed to have some relation with the moon. So, maybe it would be able to help her perceive the power of the moon?
Even though Lily was considered a member of the Genji Clan back in Eastern land, she was more interested in the Fujiwara Clan’s reward this time, especially since she had to find a way to meet Lady Ayaka.
Lily asked the guard patrolling the area where she should go if she wanted to claim the reward.
The guard informed her that she only needed to visit the Fujiwara Clan’s main building in Heian-kyō or one of several public halls.
After receiving this information, she returned to the night market.
To understand the demon culprit behind this case, perhaps it would be beneficial to request Kimiko’s help. However, Lily was a little embarra.s.sed to bother her with everything and she wanted to investigate this matter on her own.
Let’s go find Yuuta, Lily thought, He has been a little weird lately so I need to check on him anyway. Now is a good time to go see him.
Lily left a strand of her spiritual energy on the tree by the river as was previously agreed upon.
But the following night when Lily went there, she didn’t see Yuuta, nor did she see him on the third day.
She felt strange. Yuuta was very clever so it was impossible that he didn’t notice her looking for him.
“Yuuta, what the h.e.l.l is going on…?”
Lily summoned the demon hound and had him smell the letter that Yuuta had handed to her.
“Do you smell any traces of Yuuta?”
“Of course, the racc.o.o.n’s scent is very heavy and distinct.” The big white dog nodded and said.
“Take me to him.” “He doesn’t seem to be nearby.”
Lily followed the big dog and came to the night market. Yuuta was either lounging near the demon tavern or milling around in the night market.
Lily, who was wearing her red yukata, and the big dog traversed the night market. A demon shuttling through the night market was not too strange but the pair formed an eye-catching combination that attracted a lot of attention.
“Look, that elder sister has a shikigami. Hachiro, you also have to work hard so you can own your own shikigami when you grow up.” A mother said to her young onmyoji son.
“Tch, that elder sister is a beauty. She probably sold her body for a shikigami. I don’t care!” The buck-toothed young onmyoji sniffled his runny nose and said with disdain.
“Watch how you speak!” His mother got furious and started to berate him.
Lily was too lazy to mind a rotten kid.
“Master, I can smell the racc.o.o.n,” The demon hound suddenly said.
“Really? Great, take me there!” Lily exclaimed. This Yuuta didn’t come to see her at the night market and ignored her looking for him. She would definitely step on his s.h.a.ggy body when she saw him!
Lily followed the demon hound into the depths of the night market and turned into a remote alleyway.
Ahead, at a shady corner of the alleyway, a few demons of unknown origins were cursing and stirring up trouble.
“What’s wrong, Yuuta? This uncle ran out of money; I just want to borrow some!”
A huge, shabbily clothed rat that stood 1.4 meters tall was stepping on the head of a small racc.o.o.n.
The small racc.o.o.n had a bruised and swollen face, obviously having just suffered a beating.
“You, you guys, the money you borrowed last time has not been returned to me…” Yuuta’s voice was a little hoa.r.s.e as he reluctantly tried to speak with a foot on his face.
“Yuuta?!” Lily witnessed this scene from the entrance of the alley.
“Guys, did you see me borrow money from this racc.o.o.n?” The old rat demon asked. “No!” “No!” “No!”
A small boar, a monster with an ugly stork head, and a green-faced kid replied.
“You…guys like you…never keep your word…”
Bam The small boar, who was also wearing common clothes, kicked Yuuta in the belly, “Stop spouting f̲u̲c̲k̲i̲n̲g nonsense! Hurry and cough up the money! If you don’t, I’ll beat you up every time I see you so you can’t live in this night market!”
“Clack! Can’t live!” The stork echoed.
Yuuta’s eyes were so swollen that he couldn’t open them. He gritted his teeth and said, “I, I have no money…”
“Nonsense!” The rat demon bellowed, “Of course we know that you have no money, but don’t you still have that beautiful human sister? Go ask her for money. That woman goes in and out of the night market and is generous with her spending. Ask her to spare you some money so you can give my brothers to spend, how about it?”
“Shut up! My business has nothing to do with her!” Yuuta suddenly shouted. “Nothing to do with her? Hmph, I think we’ll just go to her directly and say you owe us money!” The rat demon said. “Yes, we’ll say that you lost a lot of money to us while gambling and ask her to pay it back!” The green-faced kid added with a sinister expression. “Yeah, we’ll ask her to pay it back.” “No, you can’t!”
“Let’s go find that woman. She seems to be in the night market!” Seeing that Yuuta got anxious, the rat demon deliberately spoke in an arrogant tone. “What if she doesn’t give it? She carries a sword and seems to be very powerful.” The small boar asked. “If she won’t give it, we’ll tell her that we are going to beat Yuuta to death. But if that doesn’t work, we’ll just drag her into the woods and rob her of all her money! There are so many of us, are you still afraid of that b̲i̲t̲c̲h̲?” The rat demon’s tone became more evil and rampant.
“Hahahaha, that is a good idea! That big sister is very pretty! Let’s screw her too1!” “Follow me; let’s go find that sister.” The rat demon also smiled l.u.s.tfully.
The group of demons was about to leave.
“Stop!” “Huh?” A few demons swaggered to a halt.
Behind them, Yuuta, who was beaten to the ground, actually moved and stood up again. His face was shrouded in the shadows and one couldn’t see his expression.
“I…I, Yuuta, forbid you to go!” “Eh?!” Several demons turned their heads, “What? What did you say?” “I forbid you from hurting the samurai sister! If you want something, come at me!” “Hahahahahahahahaha!” “Hohohohohohoho!” “Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!”
The demons burst into uncontrollable laughter.
“What? Our little sandbag racc.o.o.n, Yuuta, from the night market, wants to play the hero?” “You alone dare to threaten us?”
The rat demon grabbed the fur on Yuuta’s neck and threatened, “I am going to trouble that woman, what can you do about it?”
“I…I…I won’t allow you to!” Yuuta gritted his teeth.
“F̲u̲c̲k̲ you!” The rat kneed Yuuta hard in the stomach.
“Ah, cough…” Yuuta covered his stomach and spat bile from his mouth.
“You are just a stupid punk and you dare to threaten our bother?! Kill him!”
A group of demons swarmed forward, punching and kicking Yuuta who was already hurting all over. The kid also viciously picked up a stone to smash at Yuuta.
“Stop!”
At the backlit alley entrance of the valley, a tall and s.e.xy female samurai stood, her long hair flowing.
Several small demons looked back and saw that it was the same female samurai they were just talking about.
The strongest of the several small demons were only middle-ranked monsters. Such small fry was not worth mentioning, but even so, they were a vicious bunch. Lily’s anger hardened her face into a cold expression.
She leisurely walked towards the small demons. They originally wanted to seek her out but she came to them instead. This figure, this aura… Although the small demons didn’t know how to gauge someone’s strength, they were still momentarily stunned.
“Boss, this, this woman really came. What should we do? Do we make a move now?” The small boar demon looked at the rat demon beside him.
“This, this…” Facing Lily’s burning gaze, the rat demon instinctively had a bad feeling.
“Who was planning to look for me just now? This sister is right here. if you want anything, just come at me.” Lily’s eyes glinted with a dangerous light as she spoke softly. She slowly drew her sixth-grade katana which shone coldly in the dark night.
Once they saw the sharp light of a real sword, several small demons were instantly frightened.
For a time, no one dared to speak.
“Why haven’t you released him yet?!” Lily shouted.
The small demons were cowed by her voice and immediately released Yuuta.
Lily’s blade reflected her cold and murderous aura as it swayed in front of the small demons, scaring a few of them into stiffness.
Looking at Yuuta’s bruised body and messy appearance, Lily’s heart couldn’t help but ache, “If I don’t teach you a lesson today, I’m afraid you won’t learn in the future!”
Lily put down her katana and took out the long scabbard instead, holding it up high. The dew demons who were arrogant and brutal in front of Yuuta were completely terrified when facing the strong. They didn’t even try to resist or run away, only trembling in place.
“Wait!” Yuuta suddenly shouted with his head hung low.
“Eh?” Lily stopped just as the scabbard was about to hit the rat demon.
“Sister samurai, please…please turn around now! Get out of here!” Yuuta shouted in a slightly hoa.r.s.e voice.
“Yuuta?” Lily was taken aback, “What do you mean? Haven’t these guys been bullying and extorting you? Let this sister help you out.”
“It’s none of your business!2” Yuuta yelled, stunning the few small demons who were also listening.
“Yuuta?” Lily looked at him in disbelief.
“Sister, just go! I’m the one who is mixed up in this night market. You have nothing to do with it so please leave here immediately and forget about me.” One of Yuuta’s eyes was swollen shut but he gave her a firm look with the other eye, though it was partly swollen as well.
“Yuuta, if I really leave, they’ll bully you even more, you know?”
“That’s my own business too!” Yuuta shouted again, “My sister is a samurai who is appreciated by even Taira generals. If I wanted your help, I would have said so! I told you, this is where I’m mixed. Elder Sister has her own enemies, and I, Yuuta, have my own enemies to fight!”
“Yuuta…”
Yuuta trembled, blood flowing from the corners of his mouth. His swollen face was full of bruises which made his overly serious expression a bit funny. He once again spoke in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “This night market…is my battlefield! If I, Yuuta, can’t solve my own problems, then I am not worthy to come and see Sister again!”
“I…I…I’m a man3! I must defeat these b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲ with my own strength! I will one day become a real strong man to protect my sister4!!!” Yuuta’s face was swollen and stained with tears after taking a heavy beating, but his voice was extremely powerful as he shoutedafter you achieve the power to follow through on it.’>5!