Volume 7 - Mount Ooe: Chapter 88 – Chaos

Volume 7 - Mount Ooe: Chapter 88 – Chaos

Momiji arrived at Port Ayabe.

Just a few days ago, this place was an important frontier city for the imperial court to attack Tanba, but now it was deserted. The imperial army had all withdrawn, but there was still an iron-clad warship moored by the river bank.

Momiji, who was draped in woven black feathers and a bamboo hat, came to the shore facing the iron-clad warship, followed by several fierce demons. A line of black-armored warriors came down from the warship.

The leader was a middle-aged samurai wearing a black oni mask. Although he wasn’t tall, his wide body that was almost equal to his height gave him an extremely strong appearance.

The black-armored warriors behind him were also wearing oni masks.

The stout middle-aged samurai leading the black-armored group took off his mask when he saw Momiji. It was actually Tokugawa Shigemori!

“Madam Momiji, I have heard of your reputation for a long time.” Facing the backbone of the enemy archdemons, Tokugawa surprisingly bowed and saluted in a very pious manner.

“Isn’t this one of the Furinkazans of Eastern land, Mr. Tokugawa? If I hadn’t stayed in Mino, I’m afraid I would have mistaken you for the imperial court’s crusaders. That scene wouldn’t be so pretty.” Momiji said with a twinkle in her eyes.

“I understand Madam Momiji’s meaning.” Tokugawa waved his hand.

Many black-armored warriors carried down large iron boxes from the ship.

When they opened the boxes, they were filled with magatama, precious medicinal herbs, Tamahagane of grade eight or higher, and other rare materials.

Tokugawa said, “This battle is of immeasurable loss to both His Highness Shuten Doji and the court. On behalf of the Shogun, I offer these modest gifts to express my deepest apologies to His Highness Shuten Doji.”

“Apologies?” Momiji walked past the boxes and picked up some magatama with her slender fingers before putting them down again, “These gifts are quite a lot, but your imperial army marched into our Tanba Province and killed tens of thousands of our troops. Can a word of apology and a few big boxes of gifts wipe away our past grudges?”

“Hehe, of course not,” Tokugawa chuckled in a gruff voice, “Alas...in the end, this battle was a huge misunderstanding between both sides. It was Fujiwara no Ayaka’s faction who compelled the young emperor to launch this useless war which resulted in the imperial court suffering heavy losses! It also caused irreparable harm to our close friends and neighbors.”

“You have come so far, yet you pushed everything onto Fujiwara no Ayaka and think you can settle this matter? Oh, wait, did you say close friends and neighbors?”

“Hehehe, Madam Momiji is worthy of being a person who understands the greater cause. What Lord Shogun means is that, as long as we all put down our struggles and work together in this chaotic world, a truly great gift will be given to His Highness Shuten Doji, which far exceeds this humble gift at the moment.”

“Oh? Let’s hear it.”

...

In the chief advisor’s manor, Ayaka stayed alone in the study. She had just set up a spell formation in the garden to increase the power of the voice transmission orb, but she still couldn’t get in contact with Lily.

“Lily, the imperial army has already withdrawn and Ashikaga Makoto is still in prison because of poor command. Where are you? I can feel that you are still alive and full of vitality, but I can’t get a word from you...”

Ayaka was dressed in white and looked tall and beautiful as always, but she seemed a bit lonely.

She stood up and lightly caressed the flowering branches that poked through the window with her fingers, “I have to try to meet Madam Ashikaga and learn the truth. Why did she go to prison? Did Minamoto no Yoritomo abandon her? Although the Ashikaga Clan and its supporters in Kansai have almost lost their strength in this battle, Minamoto no Yoritomo wouldn’t be so straightforward, right? What made Minamoto no Yoritomo act so suddenly without caring about revealing his true colors?”

“Hm?” Ayaka suddenly frowned slightly, and a hint of alarm flashed through her eyes.

After a while, Hoshi Murasaki anxiously appeared in front of the study and reported, “Lord Chief Advisor! Tonight, it seems that there are several large armies moving within the capital, and for some reason, these armies are all heading towards the chief advisor’s manor without any prior notice!”

Ayaka was not too surprised. She continued to caress the cherry blossom branches elegantly and smiled coldly, “Finally, it’s happening.”

“Eh? Lord Chief Advisor, what do you mean by those words? It’s really disrespectful for these large numbers of troops to pass by the chief advisor’s manor without prior notice. Who dares to mobilize troops like this? Is this not a provocation to you?” Hoshi Murasaki said agitatedly.

“Hehehe, provocation? Murasaki, you are too naive. The destination of these troops is precisely the chief advisor’s manor.” Ayaka said calmly.

“What?!!” Murasaki was shocked, “What, why? Are they planning to rebel?”

...

Heian-kyō, on a dark, cold street.

Suddenly, the sound of dull, heavy horse hooves and footsteps rang out.

Troops from the Right Imperial Guards’ Palace, the Rokuhara, the Heian Palace, the Shogun’s Imperial Palace, and many other military departments, rushed out from all avenues and crowded the roads, surrounding the chief advisor’s manor in the darkness.

Among them, there was a woman in black, revealing demonic armor. The armor had black metal arms of various forms, which were used as decorations, but they looked very bizarre.

She rode a black, one-horned demon horse whose eyes shone with devilish light, and led an army wearing black iron armor and oni masks, which gave them an ancient, fierce aura. They gradually approached the main gate of the chief advisor’s manor.

“Lady Rokuhara!” A masked, black-armored warrior knelt in front of the demon horse, “The encirclement of the chief advisor’s manor has been completed!”

References