Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 13 - Takamagahara: Chapter 61 - Beacon Fires Ablaze, Heian’s Ancient Capital

As Herikaku City slowly advanced toward its new destination. Lily arrived at Izanami’s grand hall.

“Oh? My daughter, dressed so lightly today?” Izanami wore a red haori. Seeing Lily in the rare outfit of hot pants, which made her long legs appear even more slender, she seemed intrigued and rose to walk toward her.

Lily felt extremely awkward. “That’s not it at all. I was just… I had just finished sword practice, and Mother suddenly summoned me.”

Izanami stopped beside Lily, gently sensing the lingering aura that clung to her after exertion. She lifted Lily’s hair, let it slip slowly through her fingers, then allowed it to fall back into place.

“Didn’t I tell you to call me ‘Mom’?” Izanami said, giving Lily’s hips a light, unhurried pat.

“Mom…”

“My goodness. Have you grown again?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Izanami’s gaze swept up and down Lily’s body without saying it aloud. She then turned away, returned to her couch, picked up her smoking pipe, and asked, “This trip to Takamagahara must have been quite perilous, wasn’t it?”

“Yes,” Lily replied as she knelt and bowed.

“No one bullied you, did they?” Izanami asked, idly toying with her pipe.

“Huh?”

“Tch. Don’t play dumb. My daughter is far too clever. I’ll ask you plainly. I heard you were captured twice in Takamagahara. Who captured you, and what did they do to you?”

“Well… it was nothing.”

“Nothing? Don’t lie to me. Come here.”

“Eh?”

“Mom told you to come here.”

Left with no choice, Lily approached her. She was about to kneel, but Izanami stopped her. “No. Just stand there. Let Mom take a look.”

As she spoke, Izanami set aside the pipe, wrapped one arm around Lily’s waist, and pulled her closer, admiring her pale, flat midriff from up close. “Hehe. It’s rare to see you wear something that shows your waist. It actually suits you quite well.”

Izanami pressed her face lightly against Lily’s lower abdomen, breathing in her scent. Without realizing it, her hand wandered, tracing from Lily’s waist down to her thighs and back again.

“My precious daughter… Mom loves you, dotes on you. You know that, don’t you?”

“Mom…” Since it was her mother’s affection, what could Lily possibly say in refusal?

“Come. Lie across Mommy’s lap.”

“Huh?”

Just moments ago she had been so gentle, yet in the blink of an eye, Izanami’s tone shifted. She grabbed Lily’s hand and pressed her down across her long legs.

“Mom? Why all of a sudden? What are you doing?” Lily asked, her face burning red.

“A daughter who isn’t well-behaved and goes around causing trouble outside. Shouldn’t Mom discipline her?”

“Mom!” Lily felt unbearably ashamed, and a little angry as well. “I didn’t go around causing trouble!”

“Speak. Why did you lie to Mom?”

With that, Izanami showed no mercy and brought her palm down on Lily’s shapely backside.

“I didn’t lie to you…”

“Still not admitting it? Do you want Mom to hit you harder? Speak. How many people captured you, and what did they do to you? Confess everything!” Izanami said sternly.

Lily had no choice but to tell the truth, explaining how she had been captured by Furaku and how she had been treated, including what happened afterward when she fell into the hands of Ame-no-Tajikarao.

“What? You really were captured by the Heroic God? You… they didn’t bully you, did they?”

“That didn’t happen. Ame-no-Tajikarao followed the code, and besides, I had my own safeguards. There was no way I would let them take advantage of me.”

“That’s more like it. Otherwise, Mom would have stormed into Takamagahara to demand justice for you!”

Though she said so, it was clearly spoken in anger. Izanami had no real way to personally charge into Takamagahara. Likewise, if the Great Imperial Gods of Takamagahara wanted to descend and trouble Izanami, it would not be easy for them either.

“Very well. Mom will believe you this time.”

Lily finally let out a sigh of relief and was just about to get up, when Izanami suddenly grabbed her arm, twisted it behind her back, and pressed her firmly down across her knee.

“Mom will ask you one more thing. How did you and Bishamonten return from Takamagahara to the Hekiraku Realm?”

“Huh?” The moment Lily heard this, her heart began pounding violently, and she had no idea how to answer.

“It wasn’t… it wasn’t anything special. We just used some secret technique and happened to make it back.”

“At this point, you still want to hide things from Mom? You little brat. If Mom doesn’t properly dote on you today, you’ll only grow more and more unruly, won’t you?”

Whether it was anger or affection, even Izanami herself could not say. Perhaps it was both. But regardless, her severity made Lily feel it all too clearly.

Trying to keep her shorts on under her mother’s watchful eyes was likely impossible…

‘Senior Sister… please save me…’ Lily felt that being disciplined over something like this at her age was simply too humiliating, and she instinctively sought help from Rinne.

“Hmph. I may not approve of that old woman’s methods, but this time, I’ll say she did well.”

Lily knew that Izanami was not truly punishing her. If she were, with Izanami’s strength, the consequences would be terrifying. Yet sometimes Lily would rather Izanami truly strike her, as that would be easier to bear than such mortifying discipline.

“Let’s see if you dare go out and fool around again.”

Smack. Smack. Smack…

Lily squeezed her eyes shut, her face flushed deep red. She did not want to explain herself. No matter the reason, she deserved the punishment. Gradually, as her mother’s discipline grew harsher, Lily instead felt herself calming down. The guilt faded, and her heart felt lighter.

This was not because Lily had any strange inclinations. She did not enjoy being treated this way. Yet this form of discipline brought her inner self back into balance.

After it was over, Lily lay in Izanami’s embrace. Izanami looked at her with tender affection and said, “It’s not that Mom wanted to punish you. It’s because I love you, worry about you, and want what’s best for you. Do you understand?”

“I understand…” Lily replied. It was not entirely against her heart, but at this point, having already been punished and thoroughly seen, what else could she say?

“Lily, you’re not angry with Mom, are you?”

Lily shook her head. “I just ask that Mom not use that kind of position to punish Lily in the future. I’m not a little girl anymore…”

“Tch. And who says you’re not a little girl? Prove it to Mom.” Izanami deliberately let her gaze drift toward Lily’s full chest and lower down.

“That’s not what I meant…”

“Isn’t it? So which is it, then? Are you a little girl or not? Mom will personally check and find out.”

“Huh? N-no, don’t!”

…

Even if it was only an inspection, it was far too thorough. Lily pulled her shorts back into place and stood obediently to the side, helpless and flushed.

“Lily, Mom will give you her full support. Mom disciplines you and checks on you because she loves you and worries about you. You understand that, don’t you?”

“Lily understands.” Lily answered with a red face.

“Lily…”

“Mom?”

“It’s nothing… come, kneel down and light Mom’s pipe.”

Izanami crossed her long legs. Lily knelt, and Izanami extended the pipe toward her.

Heian-kyo. That night, smoke and embers filled the sky, tangled with endless dark clouds.

Near the imperial palace of Heian-kyo, inside a secluded, ruined, and icy manor.

A beautiful boy, so lovely that one might mistake him for a girl at first glance, sat before an open sliding door. Borrowing the moonlight that occasionally slipped through the clouds into the courtyard, he applied makeup before a mirror, painting his lips even more vividly than a woman’s.

“They say this is an ancient mirror, the most precious treasure of the Mirror Girls. If only I were a girl.” The former emperor, the deposed Prince Narinaga, had been overthrown just a month ago. Lily had once rallied forces to restore him to the throne, but before long, the Cloistered Emperor returned with the armies of Kyushu and deposed him once again.

The youth had given up on himself and could only drown in adorning his appearance.

“If I were a girl, I could join the Mirror Girls and fight alongside Sister Lily, couldn’t I? Even if I lacked talent or made mistakes, at worst I’d just be punished by Sister Lily.” Prince Narinaga shook his head, his face pale beneath the moonlight.

This so-called ancient mirror of the Mirror Girls was merely a counterfeit. He had obtained it during his brief reign, driven by longing for Lily. Now the courtyard was cold and desolate, without even a brazier. Poorly clothed and half-starved, a former emperor had been reduced to such misery. Of all his possessions, only this mirror had been preserved at the cost of his very life.

During his short time as emperor, many ministers had urged him to take a consort. Yet Emperor Narinaga had no interest in women. If he were to speak of affection toward a woman, the only one he had ever loved was Lily, who had saved him more than once.

He had believed that becoming emperor meant he could do as he pleased, that he could take Lily as his empress. But that had always been an impossible dream. Now, he did not even possess the right to step outside this courtyard.

“Oh ho ho ho ho!” A group of fallen court nobles entered the manor. When they saw the former emperor dressed as a woman, they covered their mouths and laughed at him.

“No wonder he couldn’t last even a few months on the throne. To think he’s such a pervert.”

“Absolutely disgraceful. Truly disgraceful.”

“Has the Heian Dynasty really come to its end?”

“Vile! Shameless! A former emperor who has no will to reclaim the realm, hiding here cross-dressing. This is the very root of chaos in the world!”

“The root of chaos!”

“The root of chaos! Die!”

One court noble after another flung accusations with sweeping sleeves. Suddenly, one of them took off his shoe and hurled it at the emperor’s head.

“Hit him!”

“Hit him!”

A group of nobles closed in, their expressions twisted like specters.

“Stop! I, I am the emperor! How dare you be so insolent!”

“Hehehe! Wearing the garb of a wanton woman and still calling yourself emperor? You shame the imperial bloodline!”

“Cut off his hair! Let’s see how he plays at being a woman then, this freak!”

The nobles surged forward all at once.

“No, no! Stop! Please stop!” Prince Narinaga was terrified, crying out. His soft arms could not possibly fend off those useless nobles.

Suddenly, a thunderous crash erupted from the dilapidated roof. Tiles rained down in a shower, sending the nobles sprawling in all directions, screaming.

A young girl in a revealing female ninja outfit leapt down from the roof, a kunai flashing in her hand.

“Your Majesty! Hoshi Murasaki has come to your rescue!”

“Ah!” At the sight of the kunoichi, and the spirit power radiating from her body that stirred fallen leaves within the room, the nobles were terrified. Like wandering ghosts, they fled in all directions.

“H-Hoshi Murasaki?” Prince Narinaga pulled his robe closed to cover his pale shoulders, trembling as he stared at her with a finger pressed to his lips.

“…Yes. Your Majesty, please depart. Murasaki will escort you away from this place.” In her heart, Murasaki felt no affection at all for this cowardly, girl-like former emperor. If anything, she looked down on him.

‘Lady Ayaka, where exactly are you now? Even if Murasaki is not certain that such an imperial house is worth saving, I am still your servant. If you are absent, then I will offer my loyalty in your stead.’