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Lily had visited the side tower adjacent to the castle tower just last night, so she was obviously quite familiar with it.
She circled over to Yukiko and Tokugawa’s room from the roof and entered it via the spacious open veranda.
Within the room sat a calm-looking, white-dressed Yukiko who still had a slightly ruddy face.
“You are…” Yukiko didn’t look particularly surprised after seeing enter from the veranda, yet she also didn’t show the most plausible reaction.
“I’m the one who came along with your sister to save you,” Lily leaned back against the pillar after entering the room.
Based on Yukiko’s reaction, it was obvious that she knew about this matter, “Save me… that’s perhaps just Yumi’s wishful thinking. Where will I go even if you save me? Miss, aren’t you pretty strong? Take Yumi along with you and leave this place.”
Lily was taken aback as Yukiko’s unwillingness to be saved by her was slightly out of her expectations. But why does she know I’m strong? Is it just a guess? This meek and submissive wife who’s at the mercy of her lord feels much more unfathomable than her little sister.
Maybe it’s still quite difficult for me to understand the mind of a married woman.
“Yukiko, why do you wish to remain here when Tokugawa treats you like this?”
A slight helplessness appeared in Yukiko’s eyes, “Although Lord Tokugawa is a cruel man who beats and scolds me often, do I really have a better life waiting for me after leaving this place? Moreover, if he were to capture me again… At the very least, I still have the dignified identity of Tokugawa’s wife at present and can stand in front of others with dignity.”
“What dignity do you have left after being tied up in that manner? Weren’t you the overseer of the Midō clan once? Why have you become so timid?”
“Eh? H-How do you know that…” Even the mature Yukiko felt a little ashamed, but she lowered her head again immediately and caressed her hair while stating in a forlorn voice, “All women change with time. I was unwilling to give up once as well, but I came to accept it gradually1.”
Lily shook her head, “Perhaps you are right. After all, women are fickle creatures and married women are even more unfathomable. But whatever may be the case, I must take you away from this place today.”
“Eh?”
They were under the roofs of Takeda and Tokugawa right now, so Lily didn’t have the leeway to care about the fussy and complicated changes of this married ‘maritally obedient’ woman’s mentality. She had to take her away from here so that she could obtain the treasure.
“Sister Yukiko,” Yumi’s nervous voice arrived from outside the door.
She slid the door open and entered inside after checking the corridor then closed it right after.
At about the same time, a section of the ceiling slid aside and Shiu dropped down lithely as well.
“Sis!” Shiu turned jubilant after seeing Lily.
“Shiu,” Shiu looked totally fine, so it seemed that Yumi had really abided by her words.
Yumi spoke up at this moment, “Sis, let’s leave quickly!”
“Eh, but…”
“But what, Sis?! Didn’t we talk it out already last night?!” Yumi stated anxiously.
“What if we are caught by Tokugawa…” Yukiko seemed to have various incomprehensible apprehensions common to a married woman.
“Do you believe Tokugawa will let you both off if you remain here?” Lily questioned coldly.
“I know what Tokugawa wants,” Yukiko continued, “Leave with this girl, Yumi. Tokugawa will be unable to obtain the treasure as long as you escape successfully, and we will be able to protect the Midō clan’s secret as well.”
Lily stepped forth helplessly at this instant, “Just call me Lily from hereon, Yumi’s elder sister. We’ll have a lot of time to interact during the journey.”
“Eh?”
Lily said nothing more and pulled Yukiko after grabbing her underarm, “Let’s go!”
“H-Hold on… You’re taking too much of a big risk like this. You don’t know how fearsome Tokugawa is… Miss Lily. Please leave along with Lil’ Sis Yumi! Why do you want to take me along with you?! I’ve already become like this and my body has been sullied by that demon… no matter where we go, it won’t make any difference,” Yukiko struggled in a sad and weak manner.
Lily turned Yukiko’s face towards herself. Yukiko was pretty tall, and her features also contained a tint of nobility within them, so Lily couldn’t understand why such a woman acted so weak and timid.
“Yukiko, do you believe your little sister will leave without you?” Lily pressed her.
“Eh?”
“Yukiko, didn’t you attach yourself to an overlord because you wished to live without worries? Let me tell you this, I’m much more overbearing than that cruel husband of yours! Are you satisfied now? If Tokugawa dares to stop us, all that awaits is a battle! Let’s go now!” Lily had confidence while saying these words.
“Eh?”
It didn’t matter what Yukiko thought and although she was a tall and slender woman, it was too easy for Lily to forcefully pull this married woman who had long lost her edge.
Yumi looked at her sister with worry, but she knew that Lily was justified in using force.
If they delayed any further because of Yukiko, it would ruin their chances of escape.
“Prepare the rope, Shiu!” Lily commanded.
“Rope?” Yukiko asked in alarm.
Lily really couldn’t stand this woman, so she grabbed her arm firmly and pulled her to the veranda, “Weren’t you the overseer of kunoichi once? Don’t tell you’ve forgotten how to use a rope now!”
Lily dragged Yukiko directly to the roof forcefully. Although Yukiko showed a hesitant expression, she stepped across the smooth tiles lithely in concord with Lily’s footsteps. As Lily had suspected, her body still remembered the fundamentals of her craft that she had honed as the exceptionally talented girl of the Midō clan in the past.
This, in turn, made Lily feel relieved, “Shiu, go down to scout.”
Shiu descended to the backyard via the rope and signaled to Lily that there weren’t any sentinels nearby.
Lily didn’t say anything and just pushed Yukiko down the roof.
“What have you done, Lily?!” Yumi panicked.
However, at the moment Yukiko was about to fall down the roof, she adjusted her posture swiftly to maintain her balance and grabbed the rope.
Lily had already predicted this would happen. It was obvious that Yukiko still possessed the proper foundation of a kunoichi and that it was just her will that had been extinguished while her body was still honest.
The women slid down the rope gracefully and fled from the garden cautiously with Yukiko in between them. The sole sentinel protecting the backyard appeared to be a pike-wielding soldier who got taken out silently by Yumi’s throwing knife, after which she climbed up the castle wall from the back hill and took out two Takeda soldiers patrolling the wall with throwing knives as well, resulting in them tumbling down the hill after falling from the wall.
The group then climbed up the wall via the rope and now that they had come this far, even Yukiko knew that she couldn’t turn back anymore, so she didn’t hesitate any longer and jumped onto an old and tall pine tree on the hillside along with Lily and the rest and followed the pine trees down into the woods.
“We were able to escape just like that?” Lily turned back to look at the towering castle wall and felt that their escape was a bit rather too smooth. The defense of the Tsutsujigasaki Castle’s backyard was indeed weak, but the most plausible reason for it was that it wasn’t wartime right now. Furthermore, the reason they were able to escape so smoothly was because it was a cooperative effort between an insider and an outsider who were very familiar with the circumstances of the castle2.
“Go! Let’s leave this place first!” Yumi stated.
“Hold on. Where are we going?” Lily inquired.
“Let’s escape into the mountains on the northeastern side of Kai Province first and decide what to do later!” Yumi stated.
The northeastern direction was where the Endless Demon Mountains lied, so Lily hesitated a bit, but she didn’t say anything in the end because she believed Yumi’s judgment was correct. They needed to escape from the threat of Tokugawa and Takeda first, so no matter where they fled to in the end, the optimal choice was to flee into the depths of the mountains covertly and discuss what to do later on.