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Lily sneaked a peek from the corner of her eyes towards Uesugi Rei. For a moment, Uesugi Rei showed no change in expression, almost as if she had become a statue. This made it hard for Lily to determine Rei’s frame of mind as there weren’t any visible telltales to base that on.
After that, Uesugi Rei closed her eyes and smiled faintly, “Oh.”
“Oh, right,” Uesugi Rei seemed to have recalled something, so she questioned, “Miss Shimizu, what are your opinions about Lord Kamakura mustering such large forces of Genji clansmen to exterminate the Fuma clan?”
“Hmm?” Her question had stunned Shimizu, so after a moment of blankness, she answered, “The Fuma clan’s base is in a strategic location that’s easy to defend yet hard to attack. They also have a considerable size of forces numbering over a thousand, and even possess some unique ninja arts as well as demon and insect control methods in their arsenal. Perhaps Lord Kamakura’s intentions are to crush the foes with overwhelming numbers to minimize the losses as much as possible.”
“Oh? Do you really believe that’s the case?” Uesugi Rei’s eyes twinkled with wit as her lips curled into a smile.
“Hehe. I have dedicated my entire life to learning the way of the sword, so I’m not that well versed in the military strategies. I hope you aren’t too bothered by it if I’ve said something wrong, Lady Uesugi. Oh, yes. My training sister and I will be returning to our tent now. Do you wish to come along with us to chat over there or
?”
“I’ll have to turn down that offer. I still need to discuss some military matters with the cavalrywomen at their barracks,” saying so, Uesugi Rei turned around and left without even giving Lily another glance.
Lily still stood there with a dazed expression, and as she looked at Uesugi Rei’s bootylicious posterior clad under the skin-tight, black battle armor as well as Rei’s fragrant, lustrous, fluttering silver hair as Rei left, she felt emptiness fill her heart.
“She left just like that?”1 Lily’s mood turned a bit complicated. Lily was still considering how to answer that difficult question from Rei, but before she could do that, Shimizu had suddenly revealed that they had become training sisters. Rei acted as if she hadn’t even heard this, so it made Lily wonder if Rei was a whimsical woman and had already lost interest in her.
Right! It must be that second-in-command who had most of her butt exposed! For some reason, Lily’s heart actually filled up with jealousy and suspicion, Since they are together most of the time, something might have happened between them.
Lily pondered, feeling discomfort in her heart.
Hold on! Why am I even thinking about this when it has nothing to do with me?! If it’s really as I suspect, Sister Uesugi probably won’t bother me again, and isn’t that just what I want? Humph! This is perfect! Who cares what she does anyway!
“Lily? Are you all right, Lily?”
“Ehhh?”
“What’s wrong with you? You kept staring at that woman’s butt absent-mindedly! She’s long gone now, so what are you looking at now?” Shimizu questioned in a seemingly bitter tone.
“Ehhh? I-I wasn’t staring at her
 that place! I was just
 thinking about something,” Lily refuted while blushing.
However, astute as she was, Shimizu had realized that Lily still cared about that woman. And the fact that Uesugi Rei hadn’t shown any reaction to her revealing they had become training sisters also made Shimizu feel a bit tired.
Lily’s expression, however, had inadvertently hurt Shimizu’s heart, Humph! Are you really that fascinated with her bountiful and womanly figure? Lily, you ????????????????????!
Shimizu scolded Lily in her heart.
“Let’s return to our quarters as well!” Shimizu stated.
On the way back to their quarters in the cold wind, perhaps because she felt unwell or because she was in a dampened mood, Shimizu began coughing again. This prompted Lily to rush beside her and support her back to their quarters.
After reaching their quarters, Yoshiko prepared a medicinal concoction for Shimizu. Then, she stripped Shimizu of her armor and helped her lie down to get some rest in her white yukata.
Lily came to a sudden realization at this moment, “Others have a very conservative white yukata under their armor, so why do I have only underwear
 Won’t my scent seep into the armor this way? But, Sister Uesugi’s dress was even skimpier than me. Perhaps Shimizu wore the yukata because of her ill-health?”
Lily’s soul was, after all, not that of a real girl. She had assumed that a real girl would want to reveal as much of their beauty if they were healthy and pretty. On the other hand, Shimizu had a frail and weak body and also had an almost flat chest with slight bumps. Of course, as she was together with Shimizu a lot, Lily was aware that Shimizu’s had a considerably plump butt. However, this didn’t explain anything at all.
“Miss Kagami
 Milady has finished taking medicine, so she needs to rest now.” Yoshiko stated.
Lily looked at Shimizu with worry. However, Shimizu’s illness was long rooted in her life, and it was hard to recover in a short period. If it were curable, with Shimizu’s current position in the Genji, she would have long been cured as the Genji didn’t lack physicians or medicinal herbs. So, the only thing that Lily could do was feel worried for her.
“Sister Shimizu, please rest properly. I’ll be returning first then.”
“Mhm, all right. I’m fine, so don’t worry. I’ve long become accustomed to it,” Shimizu smiled at her with a flushed face.
Lily then got up to leave.
“Lily.”
“Yes?”
“You’ll be going straight back, right?”
“Hm? Yes.”
“Mhm
 go, then. It’s pretty late, so don’t dither outside for too long,” Shimizu advised.
“Ehhh? Of course, I won’t,” Lily also had no intentions of doing that.
After Lily left Shimizu’s tent, she walked over towards her and Shiu’s tent that was just a few meters away.
“Master!” Shiu greeted Lily when she saw her return and had already prepared the bed for her.
Lily took off her footwear and entered the tent.
“Phew
” Lily gasped silently, then sat down to rest with her eyes closed.
For some reason, the moment she closed her eyes, Uesugi Rei’s expressionless face appeared before her.
“Does it really not bother her?”
“This won’t do. I have to explain things to her clearly!”
“It doesn’t matter whether it bothered her or not, I did reject her back then, after all. And now, Shimizu’s words almost implied that I casually agreed to become training sisters with Shimizu, but that’s not the truth. Shimizu and I are just simple training sisters and common friends, that’s all!”
“Even if I don’t have a special relationship with Sister Uesugi, I have to explain things properly to her. I cannot let her think of me as a causal woman who rejected her impulsive words back then, and in a flash, became sisters with someone else!”
Lily just didn’t wish for Rei to treat her this way, that’s all.
Hence, she got up all of a sudden and told Shiu somewhat inattentively, “Shiu, I
 I have something to do, so I’m going out for a moment. You can sleep in early, okay?”
“Eh? Master, it’s so late now, so where are you heading?”
“It’s just something I need to do. I
 I’ll return a bit late,” saying so, Lily left the tent, put on her wooden sandals, and sashayed into the night still dressed in her revealing full-body black and red armor.
Lily’s eyes were full of determination, and she had resolved her heart, but she seemed to be in an absent-minded state of mind because of the night. As she wandered across the camp, she drew a lot of gazes from the soldiers.
“Excuse me, could you tell me where the Uesugi clan’s barracks is?”
“Oh, the cavalrywomen’s barracks, huh? It’s over there to that corner. Men aren’t allowed to go near it,” A patrolling foot soldier answered her.
Lily walked before the row of tents that had the insignia of the Uesugi clan. She was able to figure which tent belonged to Rei with just a single glance with ease as it was the biggest one.
Lily sprinted over there and stood before the entrance of the tent, but she hesitated again.
She turned her back towards the tent and took a deep breath. Her face also become a bit flushed as she chided herself, “Just what am I doing here? What will I even be able to explain to her in the middle of the night? It will just make things worse! Why should I even care what she thinks about me
 Never mind, I should just return.”
Just when she was planning to return quietly, a poignant yet ecstatic moan reached her ears from within the tent. She could make out some resemblance to Rei’s voice from this moan, and for some reason, this hurt Lily’s heart2.