Book 6: Chapter 19: Who did it!?

Book 6: Chapter 19: Who did it!?

At night, in a remote location in the backyard of the Imperial Chancellor’s residence, Fujiwara no Renbo, Fujiwara no Arima and a few others faced each other with ashen faces. They were surrounded by samurai and onmyouji bodyguards holding torches.

In the corner of the backyard, on the grass laid a body, the upper half of burly middle aged samurai, the corpse of Fujiwara no Takesaku.

Takesaku was one of Renbo’s retainers, in truth, Lily’s strike had killed him before his talisman of escape finished activating.

Although a permanence realmed expert had regeneration far beyond a normal person and would not die even if suffering shattered internal organs or was pierced through. But a human’s regeneration was limited, after being cut in half, death was guaranteed.

Every Fujiwara clan member had a solemn expression.

A Fujiwara guard examined the corpse, “He was probably hacked to death the moment the talisman of escape activated. The murderer’s blade skills are extraordinary, to be able to deal such a blow in the short duration of talisman activation. Takesaku is afterall a permanence leveled powerhouse of our Fujiwara clan.”

When they had discovered Takesaku’s corpse, it had been laying there for over an hour. Though the Fujiwara clan had extraordinary healing treasures, they had long missed the time limit.

“What about my uncle, and that person from the Yamato’s Eight Legion?” The fat Imperial Chancellor was constantly wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Arima shook his head, “An expert like Lord Yaiba shouldn’t have encountered any danger1 in a place like the Izumo shrine. Exactly what did Takesaku encounter, and why did he flee in such a panic?”

Another Fujiwara minister reported, “I have dispatched some men to the Izumo shrine teleportation array to investigate, they should return soon.”

The Imperial Chancellor looked at the remaining half of Takesaku in worry and could only feel terror. “We should bury him first, hurry and contact Ibaraki Doji2.”

They returned to the hidden mansion within the backyard. Ibaraki Doji who lived in seclusion in a small secret hut in the backyard heard the news and came.

The entire group sat as one, the firelight illuminating their murky faces. No one spoke a word as they all waited for the news.

The distance of thousands of miles to the Izumo shrine could be bypassed in an instant through the teleportation array. Within an hour, several retainer samurai and onmyouji ran back in a panic.

“M-my lord! It’s not good!”

“What’s the situation!?” Renbo questioned.

“That...” The leading gray clad samurai panted out of breath, “Dead...they’re all dead! Lord Yaiba, Lord Hiroto...all dead! Not one had a complete corpse, they died miserably!”

“What!???” Renbo’s fat body tilted to one side, collapsing while seated.

“Lord Imperial Chancellor!”

“How, how could this happen?” Renbo’s face was ashen gray, “That one of the Yamato’s Eight Legions! And my uncle! He’s a powerful reclusive onmyoji! How could they all be killed at the Izumo shrine!”

“Besides them, even, even...”

“Even what?”

“This...”

Arima roared, “Why are you stuttering about, speak!”

“Even Lord Shigeyuki and...the second young lord...also died!” The samurai knelt and kowtowed in a panic.

“What!???” Renbo’s eyes rolled up and fainted.

As Yuki-Onna returned to the mirror space, Lily summoned demon hound and got on, setting a path toward Izumo Mountain. She only had to be vigilant and she could focus on her seductive intent and restore her violet lunar energy.

......

......

In the mansion of the Imperial Chancellor.

Under the care of onmyoji arcane artes and medicine, Fujiwara no Renbo had already woken up. Though he was unharmed, he had suffered a great mental shock.

“Lord Imperial Chancellor, you must take care. You are one of our Fujiwara clan’s pillars.”

“I’m fine...” a servant helped him up, Renbo asked, “Then, was Ayaka’s scroll retrieved?”

Everyone looked at each other, and shook their heads. This was what he had expected.

“Lord Imperial Chancellor, we searched the archives and warehouse. Although the building was damaged to some extent, the other archives were there, only Ayaka’s was missing.” The samurai in gray responded, he looked and acted steady and mature and indeed, his work was very reliable.

“If it’s like that...then it’s very likely, the one who killed Lord Yaiba, Lord Hiroto, and Lord Takesaku was also targeting the scroll and killed them all4.” Arima guessed frowning.

“Yes, according to the shrine personnel, powerful spirit energy exploded around the mountaintop, dying the skies red, causing a heavy earthquake. They dared not get closer.” The gray clad samurai reported.

“Agh!” Arima slammed a hand down on his knee, “How could this happen? We prepared such precautions, we even thought ourselves too cautious when hiring from the Yamato’s Eight Legion. That’s a super expert comparable to left, right imperial guard commanders! This was only going to a shrine operated by our clan and retrieving a file, most of the personnel are our loyal retainers, and even if they weren’t, there were no powerful people there! Who could have stopped us this time?”

“Yes, why would a super expert capable of killing one of the Yamato’s Eight Legions be at the Izumo shrine?” Yoshio also couldn’t believe it.

“Ah!!” Suddenly a Fujiwara minister thought of something.

The group looked at him.

“Tojo, do you have something to say?” Renbo asked.

“Several days ago, I approved of some paperwork for the release of memorial articles, I think it said...it was for the release of clothes and memorial items for the miko administrator sent to the Izumo shrine.

“Miko administrator? Wasn’t the Izumo Shrine recently changing generations? Wasn’t the miko administrator chosen by the Lord Chief Advisor?” Yoshio asked.

Fujiwara no Renbo frowned, “Chief Advisor!? Miko administrator? Are you saying that Ayaka sent out a miko administrator a few days ago? Who was it? Find out right now!”

Very quickly, the retainer sent to the ancestral building to investigate returned.

“Lord, I found out!”

“Who!? Tell me!” The group turned to face the returning black clad retainer.

“It’s, it’s that...Kagami...Kagami Lily!”

“What!!?????” The group was shocked!

Even Ibaraki Doji silently sitting in a corner raised his head underneath his cloak, eyes leaking a strange purple glow.

Robinxen: Wrong.Robinxen: Darn traitors.Robinxen: Like... how about doing something seductive perhaps?Robinxen: Well yes but actually no.