The sun didn’t rise on the next day and the snowy night continued.

Since Yuki-Onna knew Lily wouldn’t leave for a while, she went off somewhere in the woods to have fun while Lily and Yumi remained behind to guard the temple.

The snowstorm turned harsher again and Lily also began to feel a bit nervous as it was her first time guarding a place.

The temple was, in fact, located in a secluded region, so the possibility of someone coming here was actually pretty low. However, there was still a chance for some wandering monster to reach it. Lily also had a feeling that the entrance opened by the two mountain deity statues couldn’t be closed again.

Lily was pretty excited by the fact that the treasure set aside for the mirror girl was actually such a startling reserve of ore, but she became worried again as this signified the difficulty of the mirror girl’s mission.

Even though her senior sister was paramount for Lily, as the legacy holder of the mirror girls and the owner of the treasure the Midō clan had guarded with their near extinction, it was fundamentally impossible for Lily to ignore the mirror girl’s mission.

Lily also sensed vaguely that it was impossible for her to escape from this mission.

Even if she escaped, the forces hunting the mirror girl still wouldn’t let her off, so the only solution was to uncover everything and rescue herself in the process.

Yumi kindled the bonfire again and felt some complex emotions while spending time alone with Lily.

It was quite unanticipated even for her to become companions with someone who was her enemy until a few days ago.

Although Lily had sensed that Yumi had accepted the Midō clan’s fate to protect the mirror girl from a moral perspective, she still felt a little complicated.

Midō Yumi was once the woman second only to Haihime in the Land of Hundred Demons, and thus a very prideful human. However, Yumi had suffered one defeat after the other because of her, so she feared that Yumi’s will had taken a hit.

However, Yumi had risked her life to protect her in her battle with Tokugawa!

Thus, it was impossible for Lily to distrust the bond formed between life and death amidst the battle!

Yet, at the same time, Lily harboured a few doubts internally. She knew the current Yumi absolutely wouldn’t do something that would harm her, and the reason she was so worried was actually the woman that Yumi had mentioned before.

“Yumi. Can you tell me just what kind of woman Haihime is?” Lily questioned while fiddling with the firewood.

Yumi gazed at Lily and her limpid eyes turned blurry again after Lily brought up Haihime. She shook her head and said, “What’s the point in bringing her up now… I’ve already betrayed her. I betrayed humans for her in the past, yet I got betrayed by her because of the Midō clan’s fate and you. I really don’t know how to face this world from now on, Master…”

“If Lady Haihime is sincere towards you, she will definitely understand you once she learns about everything,” Lily stated.

“Yes… you’re right, if it’s Lady Haihime,” Yumi lowered her head.

“Yumi, you’ve experienced a lot of emotions while growing up to this point and aren’t the same as Yukiko who’s determined to shoulder the fate of the Midō clan. Since she isn’t here now, I won’t stop or resent you if you want to return to the Land of Hundred Demons even now,” Lily stated.

“Huh? Aren’t you afraid that I’ll divulge the secret of this treasure land, Master?”

Lily showed some hesitation and looked at Yumi solemnly, “To be honest, I’m actually afraid, but we did our best to protect each other as sisters during the battle. Thus, even though I’m afraid, I still choose to trust in such a sister rather than pressure or constrict your freedom because of my anxiety.”

“Haha. I have nowhere to go even if you don’t constrict my freedom, Master. Even if Lady Haihime tolerates me after returning to the Land of Hundred Demons, the other powerful demons wouldn’t let me off. Also, it’s possible Lady Haihime might even kill me with her own hands.”

“Huh? That contradicts what you said just before.”

“Is that so? Indeed, Lady Haihime is such a contradictory woman,” Yumi shook her head.

“Haihime is also a human, right? Why does she rely on the Hundred Demons?” Lily inquired.

“Haihime is Amanojaku’s wife,” Even though Yumi was together with Lily in such a secluded valley, she still showed fear when mentioning Amanojaku.

“Amanojaku? What kind of demon is that?” Lily asked tensely.

“Amanojaku is a pretty powerful and fearsome demon who leads the demons affiliated to the Hundred Demons in the Endless Demon Mountains. I’m afraid the only one capable of stopping Amanojaku in all of East is Lord Kamakura,” Yumi shuddered while saying this.

She raised her head and looked at Lily, but she lowered it again and remained silent.

“Come,” Lily said.

“Huh?”

“Come, I’m feeling cold. Let’s face it together, all right?” Lily smiled warmly.

“Understood, Master,” Yumi shifted to Lily’s side and the two girls leaned against the thick pillar with their shoulders touching each other.

“Yumi, what I don’t get is why Haihime married Amanojaku even though she’s a human.”

Yumi also shook her head, “I have a lot of speculations in my mind, but even I’m unaware of the real reason. However, I swear on my womanly intuition that Haihime might actually detest Amanojaku a lot internally.”

“Why though? Isn’t she Amanojaku’s wife? Was she forced to become his wife? But doesn’t she have a lot of influence in the Land of Hundred Demons?”

“I don’t know. As I said, my intuition told me that. However, Haihime never lets it surface when facing Amanojaku…”

“This is really quite a riddle…” Lily stated, “Yumi, I plan to visit Mt. Fuji in order to obtain its flames once the things here are settled. I wonder if you’re willing to come along with me. After all, you’re the only one familiar with that place.”

“I’ll accompany you there, Master,” Yumi stated.

The two girls relied on each other’s warmth to resist the outside chill on this extended night.

Lily felt anxious and worried all this time as she didn’t know whether Shiu and Yukiko had reached Izu Port safely. Yuki-Onna, on the other hand, returned and stated that it was pretty boring as there was no handsome man outside.

Lily shook her head after hearing this as it was impossible to find a man in the wilderness during such a heavy snowstorm. Although she wasn’t worried about Yuki-Onna getting harmed by a man, she was afraid that an innocent man would end up losing his life to this monstress.

“Yuki-Onna. Although I cannot order you, I still advise you to refrain from harming innocent and kindhearted men,” Lily stated.

“All right. Also, I’ve never turned a man into a block of ice after meeting Yoshitsune. However, I was abandoned by the only man who I ever treated sincerely while the men bewitched by my charm are dead set on pursuing me. Don’t you find this quite ironic?” Yuki-Onna questioned.

“Now that you mention it… indeed,” Lily nodded, “Oftentimes, the person you love very much doesn’t love you back. The world is precisely so unfair, because it doesn’t let you have what you want the most, yet it’s also fair. Thus, if mutual love really does exist in this world, it must be treasured with one’s life.”

“Hehehehe. You’re really quite an infatuated woman, Lily,” Yuki-Onna came over to hug Lily.

“Kyah! It feels so cold, Yuki-Onna…”

The strides of horse hoofs echoed through the valley a few days later.

Lily and Yumi raised their guard up and prepared to face whoever was coming their way while Yuki-Onna was together with Kagura inside the mirror space. If required, Lily planned to allow her to partake in the battle as well, but the prerequisite for that was her willingness to fight.

“It’s Yukiko, Kotoka and the cavalrywomen!” Lily sighed relievedly after confirming their identities with a spirit probe.

A dozen or so horses appeared from within the snowstorm moments later.

Donned in a snug, white-furred winter cloak, Kotoka rode a horse instead of a carriage on this hectic occasion and arrived in front of the temple.

Lily and Yumi were already waiting for her at the entrance.

“Lily!” Kotoka dismounted from the horse and rushed over immediately before grabbing Lily’s hand, “Thank goodness you are unharmed. I heard you fought with Tokugawa?”

“Yes, but I’ve deterred him already, so there’s no need to worry about him for now,” Lily replied.

“I see… I really couldn’t believe what Shiu told me. In just a few months, you’ve actually become capable enough to deter someone like Tokugawa, one of the Furinkazan,” Kotoka really found this hard to believe, “Oh, yes. Something big must’ve happened for you to summon me with all the cavalrywomen so hastily, right? I only came along with twelve cavalrywomen to avoid any suspicions and left the rest behind to take care of things in Izu Port.”

“Ah!” Lily exclaimed, “You did well, Madam Kotoka. I actually overlooked that.”

At the same time, Nanako, Shiu and Yukiko who were at the back also dismounted and came over.

“Let’s go in and talk,” Lily then faced the cavalrywomen and said, “I’ll have to trouble you sisters to guard this temple and prevent any human or thing from approaching it.”

The cavalrywomen were well-trained, so they nodded affirmingly and scattered around to form a defensive battle array.

Lily spoke up after entering the temple with the others, “It’ll take a long time to explain things, so follow me first, Madam Kotoka.”

The girls then went through the tunnel, climbed up the clearing via the rocks and arrived inside the secluded valley.

Lily explained the matter regarding the ore to Kotoka in simple terms and arrived in front of it along with everyone.

“This is the… magatama ore?” Kotoka took off her red agate framed southern spectacles whose lens had moistened because of the snowflakes and gazed at the distant ore, “Lily, a magatama ore is a pretty frightening resource. Although I have never seen an ore vein personally, I’ve heard about it before. It’s said that the prince instigated a rebellion and assassinated the then emperor in the faraway Heian-kyo a few centuries ago because of a magatama ore and caused great unrest. The ore vein back then was pretty small and seemed to only have a reserve of a few thousand cubic meters. Lady Lyn-hime, although this wealth is enough to overturn the whole world, it might also bring about a catastrophe.”

“I know that, Madam Kotoka. However, I won’t cower in fear just because of that. I’m determined to subsume this whole ore vein!” Lily stated firmly while hugging her chest.

The girls also felt pleased after seeing Lily so determined. After all, a person who was ever fearful and nervous yet greedy and a coward was no good a leader.

“In that case, I’ll also give it my whole to help you subsume it!” Kotoka also revealed a spirited expression and smirked to express the reckless courage specific to merchants when faced with profit¹.

“I invested all my wealth to help her begin her samurai clan a few months ago, yet who could’ve imagined that just a small chunk of this ore vein would surpass all that wealth!” Kotoka couldn’t help but feel like laughing.