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Lily, who was eavesdropping on the conversation, was shocked right now. That kunoichi is Madam Yukiko’s little sister? Wasn’t she someone from the Hundred Demons?
Lily felt puzzled and thus continued eavesdropping.
Yukiko wavered at this moment, making it evident that she wasn’t as indifferent and pragmatic as she acted in front of Mayumi.
She almost revealed the secret in that split second but changed her plans after seemingly recalling something.
“Hmph,” Yukiko sneered suddenly, “I nearly got fooled by you! Tokugawa Shigemori, you killed my husband and chased my son and daughter to their deaths, so do you think I’ll still believe you, that you would let Yumi go after achieving your purpose? I won’t tell you where it is, just kill me right now if you have a problem with that.”
“Hon’ami Yukiko. It’s true that I killed your husband, but the other two are his and his ex-wife’s children. Is there a need for you to feel so grieved about them? If you’re truly determined to remain silent, I can only give your little sister to Takeda! As someone from the Hundred Demons, it’s possible that she may become a demon samurai willingly,” Tokugawa stated calmly with no hints of threat in his voice, but Lily knew that this man would definitely deliver on his words.
“Hmph. If you do that, you’ll never really be able to obtain the treasure as the treasure’s whereabouts will forever be lost to this world,” Although Yukiko was being stepped on, it seemed like she had the upper hand.
“B̲i̲t̲c̲h̲!” Tokugawa smashed Yukiko’s face to the ground and was about to punch her face, but he paused after raising his fist, “Hold on… heh. So, it was like that! You have my gratitude, Madam, for telling me such crucial and joyous information.”
“What?!” Yukiko felt perplexed.
“You better stay within this room tonight until I return, don’t go anywhere else,” Saying so, Tokugawa picked up his sash from the floor and tied up Yukiko’s hands and feet from the back into a very shameful posture and blocked her mouth with a hand towel. He then simply ignored Yukiko’s distressed struggling cries and left the room.
Lily felt baffled after seeing this as she couldn’t understand the meaning behind tying up his own wife and wondered what exactly he had realized1.
In any case, even though Lily sympathized with this beautiful woman who was the subject of the despicable Tokugawa’s torment, she was in a crucial stage of absorbing the magatama’s essence, so she couldn’t act freely.
Thus, Lily could only let the bound Yukiko lie on the floor of the adjoining room sob intermittently in agony and shame.
It was possible for her to escape from Tokugawa and Honda’s clutches somehow if it were just her alone, but she couldn’t achieve the same while carrying another person. At the very least, the current Lily was truly incapable of helping her.
Although absorbing the essence of a complete magatama was highly efficient, it took about 2-3 hours to refine one of them.
As for where Tokugawa had gone, Lily didn’t know. After all, she had her hands full with hiding, so it was impossible for her to employ a spirit probe.
If she stopped the process of absorption in the middle, it would greatly diminish the effects, so Lily didn’t want to do that.
However, Lily had guessed that Tokugawa was most likely going to that kunoichi’s room. Lily smiled faintly after speculating until this point, as it was of no consequence to her. One was a demon kunoichi who attempted to kill her while the other was the father of Tokugawa Shigetsugu, the man who tried to harm her and Nanako once, and as his father, Shigemori wasn’t the incarnation of goodness either. Thus, even though Lily pitied Yukiko, she wasn’t as forgiving in the kunoichi’s case and simply watched them have internal strife from the sidelines.
…
At this moment, Tokugawa had indeed gone to Mayumi’s room that was located in the northwest corner of the building’s second story.
He was as rude as earlier and pulled the sliding door open directly.
Although Mayumi was a demon kunoichi, she was a normal woman who was working for the Hundred Demons, and similar to Haihime, she was in the end, a female human powerhouse.
As she was just about to change her clothes, she pulled up her untied blouse to cover her chest immediately and glared at Tokugawa in a vigilant yet irate manner, “What are you doing?!”
“Haha. It’s a misunderstanding. I’m not here for what you are imagining and am actually here to discuss something you, Miss Yumi.”
Mayumi fixed her clothes and looked at Tokugawa who had come into her room in casual innerwear. It didn’t seem like he was here to discuss any proper matters, so she got up vigilantly and retreated to a corner a little. She was under great pressure as he was much stronger than her.
“What exactly is it that you want to discuss?”
“Miss Yumi, you don’t need to feel so tense. Although I’ve made a visit in improper attire, it’s because I just came out from your sister’s room. I have no other intentions and also don’t plan to do anything to you,” Tokugawa stated.
“Hmph! I was sent by Haihime of the Hundred Demons. If you really dare to do something to me, Lady Haihime definitely won’t let you get away with it!”
“Hahaha. You don’t need to emphasize that so much, Miss Yumi. Lady Haihime doesn’t trust you any longer, just look at this if you don’t believe me.”
Tokugawa fished out a letter from his garments.
Mayumi received it and shuddered after looking through it, “What?! This isn’t possible! Lady Haihime, she actually…”
“Indeed, it is as you’ve surmised. As Lady Haihime decreed, you were sent to me with the intentions of accepting me as your lord and obeying all my orders! You cannot refuse me even if I command you to serve me as a woman,” Tokugawa stated coldly.
“Hmph. Keep dreaming! Even if Lady Haihime has acquiesced, I will never agree to such a vulgar request even if I end up dead!” Mayumi picked up the straight sword at the corner of the room and got ready to unsheathe it at any given moment.
Tokugawa, however, remained silent and didn’t even show any signs of attacking, “Miss Yumi. As I’ve mentioned previously, please don’t misconstrue my intentions and panic. I really have no intentions of having you serve me as a woman. There’s only one thing that I desire!”
Mayumi’s expression hardened at this moment.
Tokugawa continued with a morose look, “The treasure hidden in the depths of the Kai Province’s mountains that are rumored to be guarded by the Midō clan.”
The Midō clan had been guarding a treasure under the lead of the Mimori, their overseer, for many generations.
It was a matter from the past that Mayumi had almost forgotten, yet she had been forced to recall this unavoidable matter once again.
Mayumi shuddered all over and avoided Tokugawa’s gaze by lowering her head, “I-I don’t know where you heard about that… b-but the Midō clan possesses no such treasure. Even if it exists, it is gone along with the decimation of the Midō clan, and I left the Midō clan long ago, so there’s no way I would know about it.”
Tokugawa shook his head faintly, “Your eyes tell me a different tale, Miss Yumi. They tell me that the treasure exists for sure and that you know the location of the treasure map. Isn’t that so?”
“How do you know about the treasure map?!” Mayumi questioned impulsively yet regretted it immediately and felt her head spin while experiencing a chill invade her body.
“Hahaha. And you say you know nothing about the treasure? Didn’t you just admit the existence of the treasure map?” The astute Tokugawa pressed her for answers.
“Hmph! Whether it exists or not, I’m not telling you where it is!”
“You’re really making things hard on me now. Isn’t this equivalent to disobeying Lady Haihime’s order?”
“Hmph. Tokugawa, do you believe I am a fool?” Mayumi retorted, “Lady Haihime saved my life, so all of it belongs to her. Even if I get punished by her by disobeying her order, it’s still a hundred times better than allowing someone like you to see the treasure map!”
“Hahaha. Miss Yumi, do you think I have no means to make you talk if you refuse to give in?” Tokugawa revealed a menacing gaze.
Mayumi experienced a chill and forced herself to calm down, “You need to calm down, Mayumi! After all, you are a 7th-stage Awakened kunoichi!”
She recovered some of her confidence and stated, “Hmph. Don’t go too overboard, Tokugawa. Although you are much stronger than me, don’t you forget that I am kunoichi. You won’t necessarily be able to stop me from leaving if I am determined enough to go against Lady Haihime’s order.”
Tokugawa feigned helplessness as he replied, “Hahaha. It seems you’ve misunderstood something again, Miss Yumi. It’s true that my huge fists might be incapable of stopping you from leaving, but do you believe you will be able to escape along with your sister?”
“What?!” Yukiko shuddered and her face flushed up in panic along with her anxiously throbbing heart, “Tokugawa, you despicable b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲! How could you use your wife to threaten me? Are you still a man?!”
“She’s my fifth wife, and as for how each one of my previous wives has ended up, it would take an entire night to recount the tale, do you want to hear it? It’s just that you probably won’t believe I’m that kind of a man even if I recount it to you, and you won’t be able to verify the truth because they are all buried on the back mountain of Okazaki Castle. By the way, that region is pretty spacious and has enough space to bury yet another young beauty without any issues.”
“Tokugawa Shigemori!” Mayumi drew her blade and struck at Tokugawa suddenly.
“Clunk!” Tokugawa was on guard long ago and grabbed Mayumi’s blade bare-handedly, rendering her powerless from advancing or retreating.
Tokugawa then pulled Mayumi towards him and slapped her to the floor with his steel-like robust palm, snatching her straight sword away in the process.
Tokugawa stepped on Mayumi’s head and stated in a deep voice, “Is this all there is to the topmost vice-general under Haihime? If I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have worried about you escaping at all. It seems like Haihime also possesses subpar strength and obtained her current status by serving Amanojaku. Hahahaha.”
“D-Don’t you dare insult Lady Haihime! U-Ugly men like you will never be capable of understanding her!”
“Forget it. I have no interest in talking about Haihime anyways. She’s Amanojaku’s woman and I don’t dare to aim at her. However, will you really be able to escape from me with the pitiful strength you possess if I were to use force? I’m not a brute who likes using violence against women, so I hope you won’t force me to do so. I’ll give you some time to ponder about it, so better use your time well!”
Tokugawa let Mayumi go after saying those words. Her hair was disheveled right now, and she gasped for huge mouthfuls of air in shame and pain while Tokugawa strutted towards the door, leaving behind a warning, “Your sister’s life is in your hands now. Hahahahahaha!”
He then left the room and closed the door while Mayumi lay down on the floor weakly, unable to get up momentarily after experiencing a physical and mental blow.
“Tokugawa Shigemori. You are even more vicious than a demon! I finally know why humans have gradually become the prey of humans, there’s no one else to blame but themselves for it for possessing such vicious hearts!”
Mayumi felt lost. Lady Haihime, who she had offered her wholehearted loyalty and devotion to, no longer trusted her, and had even tossed her to Tokugawa like abandoned goods. Although she had been fortunate enough to meet her sister again, she was being used by Tokugawa to threaten her!
If she didn’t give in to Tokugawa’s demands, her sister was bound to die, as Mayumi knew a man like Tokugawa always followed up on his words. Just as he had killed Mizuki Tsue silently, her sister would get killed by Tokugawa unless she complied as well. As for her, even if she were to escape successfully, she had no place to return to. She couldn’t return to the Hundred Demons as she had disobeyed Lady Haihime’s orders, and with the huge number of crimes that she had committed against humans, they too wouldn’t forgive her.
However, no matter what happens, she couldn’t allow Tokugawa to see the Midō clan’s treasure map!
“What should I do now… Just what should I do… Sis will die unless I give in and I have nowhere to hide too… Just what am I supposed to do now…”
A section of the ceiling moved noiselessly at this moment and a petite figure dropped down2.
“Who is it?”
Mayumi picked up the sword from the floor and turned around in a battle-ready stance, but she saw a worried Shiu looking at her with tear-filled eyes.
“Lady Mimori…” Shiu called out to Mayumi.
Mayumi failed to react momentarily. Although she was someone who Shiu once idolized, Shiu was a nobody in Mayumi’s eyes. Furthermore, Shiu looked very different from the little girl she once was, so Mayumi couldn’t recall her immediately.
After discovering that Shiu was pretty weak, she blitzed forward without allowing her to explain anything and arrived behind Shiu in the next moment, grabbing Shiu from behind and pressing the sword against her neck as she was in a bad mood, “Who are you?”
Shiu sensed the cold touch of the blade on her neck and stated in a sad and despondent tone, “Have you forgotten about me already, Lady Mimori? It’s me, Shiu…”