Book 5: Chapter 176: Court Declares War! (2)

Book 5: Chapter 176: Court Declares War! (2)

The councilors looked at Lily simultaneously.

“It’s Ms. Kagami, who has been awarded the lower-grade junior fifth rank of an imperial inspector as a reward for winning the Yoshitsune Memorial Tournament.” Taira no Mori, the Left Imperial Guards’ Commander, revealed her identity. He had few military officials sitting beside him on the Taira faction’s side at the moment because the Taira clan had lost its influence in the court. He was also one of the very few councilors who had a clear position on the military actions of the empire.

“Hahaha!” A high-ranked official from the Kujou clan with pointed brows chuckled when he heard Mori’s words. “How dare a mere lower-grade fifth rank official like her speak such nonsense in the court!”

The Chancellor of the Realm also chided her, “Do you believe a mere imperial inspector like you has the right to speak on the first day of court? I request you to dismiss this foolish woman from the court right away, Your Majesty!” Expplôre uptodate stories at no/vel//bin(.)com

Ayaka countered, “Ms. Kagami is my direct subordinate, Chancellor. Do you think you can just dismiss her for no reason?”

“Well...” The Chancellor of the Realm withdrew his neck in fear when he heard Ayaka’s words and said, “She’s just a lower-grade fifth rank court official, Ms. Ayaka, and doesn’t have the right to comment on military matters of the empire. She’s also pretty vicious tongued. We must make an example out of her or else it will cause disorder in the court.”

“No. There’s no need for that.” The Cloistered Emperor spoke up at this moment, “Since all the officials are present here in court today, we might as well let her say her piece, Chancellor. I’m curious about what opinions she has. It wouldn’t hurt anyone to hear her out now.”

The councilors turned silent after the Cloistered Emperor expressed his opinion, and all of them directed their attention towards Lily simultaneously.

Lily remained bold despite gathering so much attention and said with clarity, “Greed has caused the councilors to lose sight of the correct solution to a simple issue like this in my opinion. It’s not as if Settsu’s situation will get resolved if we dispatch troops to subjugate Tamamo-no-Mae. Am I right?”

“Well...” The councilors looked at each other in dismay.

“That’s quite a condescending statement now, Kagami Lily. Do you believe we’re foolish enough to not realize that? It’s not like we really want to dispatch troops to subjugate Tamamo-no-Mae in such a crucial time, but we’ll be left at her mercy if she takes advantage of our weak defense and attacks the court after we’ve dispatched troops to the Tanba province.” Minamoto no Hirohikari denounced her.

“I wonder why you believe that she will take advantage of our weak defense and attack us. Shuten Doji has cut off the Settsu trade route and isolated us from the other side of the empire now. How long do you believe we will last if we just gather our military forces in Heian-kyo and barricade ourselves here? How do you plan to sustain the army with supplies? If I were Tamamo-no-Mae and really wanted to take over Heian-kyo, I would just bide my time and wait for the army to disband after the court runs out of money and food to keep sustaining it. This would make it much easier for me to take over the empire’s capital.”

The councilors failed to find any words to refute Lily’s claims.

Lily continued, “If we make a move against Tamamo-no-Mae now, we will have to battle against both her and Shuten Doji at the same time with inadequate military forces and supplies.”

“That’s...” The councilors looked at each other apprehensively as this beautiful official’s words sounded reasonable.

Lily continued further, “Tamamo-no-Mae has been in Heian-kyo for years now, but she never made a move until now even though there were chances for her to do so at times when the capital was left unguarded. How high are the chances that she would do so now? I don’t dare say that she wouldn’t make a move, but I’m sure that Heian-kyo would fall into a huge crisis if we just barricade ourselves here or dispatch troops against her. Nothing is certain in war, and each decision carries its own advantages and disadvantages, but it’s just nonsensical to place ourselves in an unfavorable position just because of some groundless possibility. This is what you councilors have been trying to suggest all this while. Although I’m not well-versed in military and political matters, it still wasn’t that hard for an ordinary girl like me to realize this truth. I just don’t get why all of you councilors have failed to realize it.”

“How dare you mock the court councilors so brazenly!” Fujiwara no Arima thundered at Lily.

“Hahahaha!” The Cloistered Emperor’s high-pitched laughter interrupted Arima’s words though. “Although Ms. Kagami’s words are quite simple, I find them reasonable enough!”

“Tamamo-no-Mae is a pretty cunning thousand-year-old fox demon, Your Majesty. We must not drop our guard against her!” The Chancellor of the Realm advised in a rush.

However, the Cloistered Emperor just brushed his suggestion away with a wave of his hand. “Your intentions are clear to me, my dear councilors. However, I’m wondering why the Shogun, who is in charge of mobilizing troops to subjugate archdemons, has remained so silent until now. I’d like to hear your opinion as well, Yoritomo.”

Yoritomo pondered for a while when he heard the Cloistered Emperor’s words and narrowed his eyes before he answered him in a steady voice, “It’s not the right time to subjugate Tamamo-no-Mae. Based on what I know about her, I don’t believe she will attack Heian-kyo after we dispatch troops to the Tanba province. Shuten Doji, on the other hand, will surely attack us if we try to subjugate Tamamo-no-Mae. This will place us in an unfavorable situation where we will be forced to fight on two ends, just as Ms. Kagami claimed.”

“Hahahahaha!” The Cloistered Emperor laughed heartily. “That’s just what I wanted to hear, Shogun Yoritomo! As expected of you, I suppose!”

Lily left the court along with Ayaka under the praise of several high-ranked court officials, but there were also several officials who directed hostile, lustful and conspiring gazes towards her.

This was the court.

...

At a long distance away from Heian-kyo, Mt. Ooe.

The terrain here was steep and filled with lush forests, and the mountains were shrouded in black miasma all year round.

An old and dark cave rested deep within these towering dark mountains, and a terrifying eldritch aura could be seen oozing out of it from the distance.

A series of huge stone pillars supported the ceiling of this deep and dark cave, and it had an old flame-spewing demon statute within it that illuminated the interior of this fearsome demon abode.

The demon abode had all kinds of demons within it and was shrouded in dark purple mist that pervaded all its corners. One could also hear the despair-filled screams of girls and the guttural roars of demons coming from deep within it.

A 7 meter tall, slender, well-built and bare-chested red-haired demonic man who had donned an old armor sat on the huge throne at the summit of this cave and drank delicious wine from the huge wine gourd in his hand.

The man had a few pretty girls who were practically naked serving him at his feet right now.

Shuten Doji had received the news of the Heian Empire’s secret war declaration on the evening of the very day they had made it.

However, he remained calm in front of the upcoming crisis and continued to drink wine as always. He indulged in the pleasures of the flesh with young women and simply did not care about the Heian court’s decision.

A tall, handsome, one-armed and purple-haired man arrived underneath the throne at this moment. “The human court is about to dispatch an army to attack Tanba, Lord Shuten Doji. Shouldn’t we prepare to face them?”

“Hahaha. Tell me what you have in mind, Ibaraki.” Shuten Doji’s voice had an irresistible charm that most young women were helpless against.

“Although the human court is powerful, they are not united at all. I believe that it would be easy for us to defend against their attack if we use our strategic terrain to our advantage. However, I believe it’s possible to destroy the human forces from the inside with the least amount of effort by instigating conflict between their factions.” Ibaraki Doji’s demonic purple eyes flashed with an ominous light.

Shuten Doji nodded and stretched one of his hands down to caress the head of one of the girls who was serving him with his sharp claws, which made the woman shudder and moan ecstatically.

He then said, “As expected of my wise advisor. It’s a waste of your talents to have you go out and catch women. Tell me about your plan.”

Ibaraki Doji continued, “The human court is full of greedy b?a?s?t?a?r?d?s? and few among them truly care about the world. The others don’t matter much, but there’s one human that we must eliminate at all costs as she’ll definitely become our nemesis!”

“Who is it?” Shuten Doji revealed an insidious gaze.

“It’s Fujiwara no Ayaka, the Chief Advisor of the Heian Empire1.”

Shuten Doji’s claws pierced into the girl’s body at the moment and caused her blood and organs to spill out as she died at his feet miserably. A vicious look appeared on Shuten Doji’s demonic face the next moment.

Silva: So... they’re planning to drag down Ayaka? Is Lily’s vision going to come true?