I Enslaved The Goddess Who Summoned Me

Chapter 787: Staying The Night at the Death God Valley

After watching Shigeru and his group get cheered on by the people of Death God Valley as if they were heroes from some old tale, Nathan stayed where he was and waited for the noise to settle.

The whole square had come alive. People who only hours ago had looked hollow with fear were now shouting, crying, laughing, and crowding around Shigeru’s group with open gratitude. Some clasped their hands. Others bowed again and again. Children stared at them with bright eyes as though trying to remember their faces forever.

Nathan only watched in silence.

Eventually, Shigeru stepped away from the crowd and made his way toward him, leaving the others to bask in the praise.

“Aren’t they overreacting a little?” Nathan asked. “All you did was kill some soldiers.”

Shigeru laughed. “We killed soldiers, broke open the prison, and freed every miserable soul they had locked inside. Trust me, those soldiers were not exactly loved.”

Nathan glanced toward the square again. “So this is because you freed prisoners.”

“Not just that,” Shigeru replied. “I also told them Mitsuhide would not be a problem anymore. That is what really sent them into a frenzy.”

Nathan turned back to him at once. “You told them Mitsuhide was dead before even knowing whether we would succeed?”

“Come on,” Shigeru said with a grin. “After seeing you fight, I already knew you would make quick work of him. Was I wrong?”

His eyes drifted past Nathan then, and the grin widened.

Shiina stepped forward with a smirk, the body on her shoulder covered with cloth but still unmistakably the shape of a man. She shifted slightly, enough to show the edge of Mitsuhide’s clothes beneath the covering.

“Not wrong at all,” she said. “Mitsuhide is dead.”

Shigeru stared for a moment.

Even after boasting so confidently to the crowd, hearing it spoken out loud still carried weight.

“So you really killed the daimyo,” he murmured.

“Easy work,” Shiina said with shameless confidence. “No one was going to stop the three of us.”

Only then did Shigeru’s attention shift to Yukihime.

“Oh, Yukihime. You came back?” he said with a smile, lifting a hand in greeting.

Yukihime answered him with a cold stare that could have frozen fire itself.

Shigeru let out an amused breath. “As icy as ever, I see.”

Then his expression softened a little as he looked back at Nathan more carefully.

“What about you?” he asked. “You look terrible.”

There was no point pretending otherwise. Nathan’s face had gone pale, sweat still clung to his skin, and there was a strain in the way he held himself that would have been obvious even to a fool.

“I just need rest,” Nathan said.

Shigeru studied him for another second, then nodded. “I figured the fight up there was rougher than what we faced down here. You had the worse part of the job, no question. Still, we did help the way we promised, right?” He smiled faintly. “Though maybe we should have come with you after all.”

“No,” Nathan said. “It was fine.”

He had never intended to liberate Death God Valley. That had only happened as a consequence of everything else. Still, now that Mitsuhide was dead, the valley would finally be rid of his rule and the corruption tied to his power would fade with him. That much, at least, was worth something.

“Good,” Shigeru said. “In that case, everyone is exhausted. We should stay here for the night and head back to Minami Kyoto tomorrow. We left in the middle of the Shogun Festival, after all. I think everyone is already excited to return.”

Nathan nodded. He wanted the same. He needed rest before moving again, and Genzo looked half broken. Pushing forward now would be pointless.

“Do you know anyone who can treat him?” Nathan asked, turning slightly to indicate Genzo, who was seated nearby.

Shigeru looked over. “So that is the old man you mentioned.”

“It is.”

Shigeru gave a short nod. “Yes. I can find someone.”

Nathan glanced at Genzo. The old shinobi understood at once and pushed himself to his feet before following after Shigeru, though not without a visible stiffness in every movement.

Once they were gone, Nathan turned toward Shiina.

“We still need an inn,” she said.

“Hide that body first,” Nathan replied, glancing at the shape draped over her shoulder. “Though if you told Norihiro Mitsuhide was dead, would he not believe you?”

Shiina smiled in that easy, unreadable way of hers. “Just to be safe.”

With that, she walked off through the thinning crowd, clearly intending to dispose of Mitsuhide’s corpse somewhere out of sight.

Nathan watched her go for a moment, then began walking with Yukihime beside him.

They had barely taken a few steps before Yuwa and Sana intercepted them.

“Oh, Yukihime, you are back,” Sana said with a warm smile.

Yuwa nodded as well, her expression easing a little at the sight of her.

Yukihime rarely spoke to any of them and almost never went out of her way to be friendly, yet somehow they still seemed genuinely glad to see her. Perhaps it was simply hard not to be drawn to her. There was something quietly captivating about her, even when she stood in silence with that same cool, distant air wrapped around her like winter itself.

“Are there any inns nearby?” Nathan asked at last.

“Oh, yes,” Yuwa replied. “We found a few. We are staying here for the night, right?”

Nathan gave a small nod.

“Then come with us,” she said, turning at once.

Sana walked beside them, though her eyes stayed on Nathan longer than the others’.

“Are you really all right?” she asked. “You look awful. Were you hurt somewhere?”

“The fight was worse than I expected,” Nathan replied. “I am just exhausted.”

That was only part of the truth.

Yorimasa’s bite was becoming harder to endure with each passing day. The poison was no longer something he could simply ignore and force down through will alone. He could feel it wearing at him from the inside, patient and cruel. He needed to deal with Norihiro soon, and after that, head north of the capital to settle matters with the samurai and obtain the antidote to the replicated poison of Yamata no Orochi.

After a few minutes, they were led to an inn near the center of town.

The woman who owned it brightened the moment she saw Yuwa and Sana, as though word of what had happened had already spread through half the valley. Gratitude seemed to shine from every face now. The old woman welcomed them warmly and, before anyone could even ask properly, offered them rooms for the night without charging a thing.

Nathan was too tired to argue.

He went upstairs with Yukihime, and the two of them entered one of the larger rooms near the end of the corridor.

Yuwa glanced inside and lifted her brows. “This one is spacious.”

“You can leave now,” Yukihime said at once, her voice cool as she looked at Yuwa and Sana.

Sana smiled, clearly entertained, then turned to Nathan.

“Rest well,” she said. “And if you need comfort again, you know you can call for me and Yuwa. We had a very good time in the bath. I am sure you enjoyed it.”

Yuwa looked at her in disbelief. “I never said I agreed to being invited like that. And it was only one night.”

Sana laughed softly. “Please. I know very well you enjoyed yourself too.”

Before Yuwa could answer, Sana was already walking away, dragging her with her. The door slid shut behind them, leaving the room quiet.

For a few moments, silence settled between Nathan and Yukihime.

Then the temperature in the room dropped.

Not enough to freeze anything, but enough for Nathan to feel the shift in the air at once.

“Nathan sama?” Yukihime asked, turning toward him slowly, as if hoping she had misunderstood.

Nathan looked at her and gave a faint, tired smile. “It was just one night while you were away.”

Yukihime lowered her eyes and sat beside him. “I should have been the one there to comfort Nathan sama.”

“You had other things to do,” he said, easing himself down onto the mat with a quiet breath.

The moment he lay back, the strain in his body became even more obvious. Every muscle felt heavy. The poison burned beneath his skin. Even resting hurt.

Still, he looked at her and asked, “Did you get what you wanted?”

Yukihime nodded. “Yes. It was an artifact from my family.”

Her hand rested lightly on the lance she had brought with her, as though even now she could still feel the meaning of it.

“If I want to follow Nathan sama and support him properly, then I need every advantage I can have.”

Nathan’s expression softened. “You are already more than useful by my side.”

Yukihime’s gaze dropped. When she spoke again, her voice was much smaller.

“I do not want to be left behind.”

Nathan understood immediately what lay beneath those words.

It was not really about the battle today. Not fully.

Some wounds did not belong to the present. Some had remained buried for a thousand years, shaping every fear that came after them. He knew she still carried the memory of being abandoned, of standing alone before death while the man who should have stayed at her side had run instead.

Nathan pushed himself up slightly despite the ache in his body and reached out to cup her cheek.

Yukihime looked at him, her dark eyes trembling faintly.

“Once we are done in Kastoria,” he said quietly, “I will take you with me. And we will build a family together.”

For a moment, she only stared at him.

Then her eyes shone with tears, not from weakness, but from how deeply and sincerely the words had reached her. There was no doubt in Nathan’s face, no hesitation, no empty comfort spoken for the sake of easing her mood.

He meant it.

Yukihime leaned forward and let herself fall gently against his chest.

Nathan wrapped an arm around her without another word and eased back down onto the mat, holding her close. She fit against him in a way that felt both soft and fragile, though he knew very well how strong she truly was.

For the first time since the battle, some of the tension left his body.

He closed his eyes with Yukihime in his arms, the room quiet around them, the distant sounds of celebration fading beyond the walls as exhaustion finally began to pull him under.

Tonight, at least, he would allow himself to rest.