At Mount Daidouji, somewhere several hundred miles from Takes.h.i.ta, there was a mountain town in the flat area near the foot of a towering mountain. With the mountain ridge serving as perimeter walls, a few temples were raised halfway up the mountains.

Right now, at the main temple that was built along the cliff, a fat and muscular middle-aged monk was angrily pacing back and forth outside the temple with a worried frown.

This man was the lord of this mountain town and the second seat elder of the Hojo Clan, Daidouji Akira.

"Elder brother!" A fat woman with luxurious clothes ran towards him from the temple, "Taro, he is but your blood-related nephew! That ⓢⓛⓤⓣ is so ruthless! That was merely a compet.i.tion for formality"s sake, and Taro was even going easy on her, and yet she… she actually beat Taro until this state! We have to spend so much money to invite an onmyoji to heal him, but he still has to lie down for at least half a year! Just a little longer and he will have been disabled for life!"1

"Bang!" Daidouji Akira smashed the pillar beside him with his big palm, "Unforgivable! How dare she bullies the people of my Daidouji Clan! Don"t you worry, Hiroko, I will definitely deal with her!"

Akira and Hiroko entered the temple, only to see Taro lying on the bed with bandages wrapped around his chest. Cursing remarks came out from his mouth unceasingly.

"Kagami Lily! This great me will kill you! Just you wait! Cough, cough, cough……"

"Oh Taro… cool your temper, your wound will split open again if you stay like this!" Hiroko stepped forward to pacify him.

"Aunt! I… I will not let it end like this! To be incapacitated like this by a gal, how am I supposed to show my face in the future!"

Just at this time, a two-meter tall Martial Monk with a decorative motif on his face rushed into the temple aggressively. That was without a doubt, the monk who took the examination along with Lily, Daidouji Takano.

"Cousin! Oh cousin!" Takano was also burning with anger upon seeing Taro"s current state.

"Ⓑⓐⓢⓣⓐⓡⓓ!" Takano stamped his foot and caused the whole room to shake, "Dad! Count me in if you"re going to take revenge on Kagami Lily!"

"Takano!" Hiroko"s eyes brightened. She believed that Lily would be in for it if they send Takano along.

"Dad! Did you know it"s because of that Lily gal"s interference that I was unable to perform well in the archery test?! It"s her fault that I didn"t pa.s.s the samurai"s qualification test! This woman is indeed our clan"s sworn enemy!" said Takano furiously.2

"Kagami Lily…" Akira"s fierce-looking face twitched, but he still managed to calm down his emotion and said, "I heard that she performed excellently in the samurai"s qualification test, and even joined the Genji Dojo."

"So what! There"s nothing special about the Genji Dojo! Aren"t our Daidouji Clan also under the protection of Taira Dojo?! Who"s afraid of them!" said Takano in a fit of anger.

Akira said, "Don"t be impatient. We will definitely need to deal with that Kagami Lily woman, it"s just that she is hiding in Takes.h.i.ta. That"s the territory of the Genjo Dojo, we must not go and cause a disturbance."

"Dad, don"t worry! Starting today, I suspect Lily will be leaving Takes.h.i.ta and enter the mountains to conduct the combat examination!" Takano clapped his hands excitedly.

"Oh?" Akira"s small eyes had an ominous glint, "That"s right, if she wanted to take part in the test, she will need to enter the mountain alone for monster extermination. Even if they formed a party, it will be nothing more than some quasi-samurais. Takano, we will leave the mountain and take a trip to Takes.h.i.ta!"

"Dad!"

"Big brother!"

Right now, in the northwest mountain woods of Takes.h.i.ta.

Saikanji Nanako brought along the Taihara duo and more than ten foot-soldiers as they advanced on the narrow animal trail.

"If we encountered a Mountain Child, you guys are not allowed to make a move. I will be able to deal with those monkeys by myself! Do you understand?" said Nanako on the horseback.

"I hold absolute confidence in the young lady"s strength," said Taihara Yukimichi, "We will not make a move as long as we are not besieged by a big group of Mountain Childs, but even if we do run into one, with so many elite soldiers from the Saikanji House, there"s nothing to fear at all!"

"Un," Nanako nodded, "I wonder if that big-breasted woman will be able to pa.s.s the final test. Women like her are so condescending just because they have big b.r.e.a.s.t.s and high penetration force. I bet that pair of b.r.e.a.s.t.s will become a burden for her in actual combat! Hmph!"

"Young lady… I doubt there"s any connection between the size of one"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s and battle prowess…" said Taihara Sugiyama with a bitter smile.

"Hmph, I hope we can run into her in the mountains. This place is not the Genji Dojo, I will definitely make her comply with the promise and become my slave if we run into her! We have so many people here, let"s see how long she can keep up with the bravado, hahahahahaha!"

The more Nanako thought about it, the more contented she felt. Even to the point of laughing out loud.

The father and son duo only followed her in silence and shook their head helplessly.

And finally, Lily had completed her preparations to enter the mountains.

She figured the round trip would take at least five to six days, so she brought along the yukata and panties.

The mirror and parasol were compulsory by default. When her katana —Seiwa Tamashi— was matched with her newly bought red kimono, they gave off a bit of a valiant aura.

The Anima Container used to gather and store the Anima was also among her inventory.

Sakiko was not available in Chrysanthemum Inn, so Lily left after bidding farewell to the granny.

It was already the evening at this time.

She needed to spend a few nights in the mountains anyway, so it didn"t matter even if she left at night. If not, she"d have to wait till tomorrow morning and it was really rare to encounter monsters in the daytime. Lily didn"t want to waste time.

Lily"s destination was the mountain range located at the northwest of Takes.h.i.ta. That place was known as Mount Ise and the area where the Mountain Childs were spotted. The pa.s.sers-by who crossed Mount Ise recently had encountered a raid and there were cases with casualties from time to time.

Mount Ise was relatively close to Takes.h.i.ta. The plains all around the town were comparatively isolated, mostly due to the influence of Genji the Ninth, Ieyoshi"s shrine. Contrary to popular belief, monsters that were too powerful didn"t dare to approach carelessly and the surrounding areas had turned into the territory of the weak monsters. In other words, it was much safer compared to the deep mountains. It was a good place for new samurais to train and earn some capital. Lily didn"t have experience, so it was only natural that she didn"t dare to take too many risks and selected the Mount Ise as her destination like many other examinees. Needless to say, there were powerful demons residing in the deepest part of Mount Ise, but it should be fine if she didn"t go too deep into the mountain.

"Senior sister, Lily is finally taking the first step towards this dangerous path," Lily felt a little emotional.

The young girl in red kimono finally set forth on her path as a samurai. It hadn"t even been a month yet since this ignorant and powerless girl first arrived in this parallel world.

And yet, she was already strong enough to set out for monster extermination!