Demon Sword Maiden
chapter-26

CHAPTER 26 – SLICING TEACUP

“What?!?!”

Motoshige, Nagahide, as well as every samurai and servant around, were dumbfounded. Even Taro and co. who were watching in delight at the corner of the yard were bewildered.

This woman…

is she crazy?

Did she abandon herself to despair?

Blue veins even popped up on Motoshige’s forehead and his eyes became very sharp.

“This woman… what is she doing?! Is it because she’s too scared to look or is she trying to swing at random? Does she think that she can hit it by closing her eyes when she can’t even see the cup with her eyes open?!” Motoshige was very furious. This confusion made him feel that he had been looked down upon.

“Very well! Just don’t regret it later!”

As proud as Motoshige was, he naturally wouldn’t stand up and made a throwing motion. Since it was a teacup, he decided to maintain his sitting position as he threw the cup. However, with the arm strength of a samurai, this throw was still very powerful.

Motoshige looked at Lily. He naturally didn’t want to hurt her face, so he moved his gaze towards her breasts and thought, ‘Hmph, this woman sure has some superior breasts! I will just aim at her chest! With that thing’s size, it shouldn’t kill her. Take this as your lesson!’

Not only was it to serve as a lesson for her, but it was also to humiliate her! Motoshige’s intention was to humiliate Lily and make her lose face! There was no reason as to why he’s doing this, he merely wanted to bully her.1

“Kagami Lily, ready or not, here I come!”

Motoshige exerted strength into his fingers, causing the porcelain cup to let out cracking sounds. He then stared at Lily with his eagle-like eyes!

Without any warning, Motoshige swung his hand abruptly and the cup flew with a hissing sound.

The space where the cup flew past became blurry. All they could see was the cup flying towards Lily with a stable, non-rotating motion.

And right now, Lily found herself in a world of darkness as she secretly emitted waves of spiritual fluctuation. As long as those waves ran into an obstacle, they would be twisted and form a vague outline of said objects!

Within the darkness, the waves suddenly crashed into a black dot and broke the stillness of the world. The instant that black dot made contact with the waves, Lily was able to perceive the trajectory and speed of the cup. Her sword was ready to strike at any given time.

The process of this spiritual perception seemed complicated, but as a matter of fact, from how Hojo threw to cup to how Lily waved the sword, it happened only in an instant.

“Swish— Clink!”

As soon as Lily swung her wooden sword, that cup in front of her shattered into pieces and scattered in all directions.

The entire place turned eerily quiet.

They were all incredible dumbstruck as they looked at this world-class beauty.

The combination of her pretty face and the elegant swing of her sword were so beautiful that they seemed like one and the same, almost impossible to tell them apart.

Matsuda Nagahide had a stupefied face. Since when and how did he bring up such a genius swordsman? Perhaps the only thing that’d hinder her in the way of kenjutsu would be her looks and position? As they would bring about many unnecessary troubles…

Motoshige was also dumbstruck.

Was it pure luck?

Even he himself didn’t dare to guarantee that he would be able to hit it with his eyes open, much less closing his eyes.

Could it be that this white-clothed beauty was not a female swindler but a female monster?

If she was not a monster, then how could a woman who just learned swordsmanship for several days reach this point?

If that was not pure luck, then this woman might really be a genius swordswoman!

Naturally, the reason Lily could hit it was because she used the spiritual perception of the “Moon Grace”. It was not purely dependant on swordsmanship, that’s why this was considered a miraculous feat in the eyes of those common samurais that didn’t know how to utilize Spirit Power.

Lily opened her eyes. There was not the slightest bit of arrogance in her gentle eyes, nor was there an expression of shock. She was only able to do this because she used Spirit Power and even utilized the perception technique recorded in the 《Moon Grace》. This was indeed a little unfair to these common samurais who didn’t know about Spirit Power.

However, if she didn’t show a little bit of her power, the other side might deliberately make things harder for her! The so-called bushido2 in this parallel world was precisely the merciless path of respecting the strong and pushing around the weak. This trait was especially strong when it came to women. From what Lily had learned regarding the culture of this world, the women had been disrespected since ancient times!

Motoshige was colored in surprise as he wore an ugly expression.

He originally wanted to humiliate this woman, yet he ended up showcasing her sword skill!

According to the Hojo family’s precepts, they should be tolerant and give preferential treatment to powerful individuals. Otherwise, how would they be able to recruit more loyal samurais to serve under them? Even if the other side was a girl, they couldn’t treat her poorly.

When plebeian committed a crime, punish!

For a samurai, however, even if they were somewhat at fault, they could give them a way out as long as they didn’t jeopardize the Hojo Clan.

In front of so many samurais, Motoshige knew that he couldn’t take Lily away by force anymore. Otherwise, the samurais of Matsuda Clan would feel dissatisfied.

Motoshige got up and walked towards Lily with a serious face. Even though he was not too delighted in his heart, he had no choice but to assume a praising attitude, “Miss Kagami, nice sword-play! If you can really pass the samurai’s qualification test, my Hojo Clan will forget about the matters regarding your identity!”

He walked towards the door and brushed past Lily. As he reached the entrance, he stopped to say this, “However, if you didn’t pass the test, then with your identity as a civilian girl with no family register, we can still arrest you according to the law! Anyway, we will come again half a month later. If we don’t see your certificate by then… hmph!”

Motoshige let out a cold harrumph as he left with his travel-worn servants.

“Miss Kagami,” Matsuda had a face full of remorse, “I only heard that the Young Master is coming today, that’s why I stayed behind to welcome him. I didn’t expect it was regarding this matter… if I had known earlier…”

“Elder,” Lily said with a gentle voice, “Don’t worry about it. I also didn’t wish to make things difficult for you because of the matter regarding me. After all, that Hojo Clan is your Lord.”

Somewhere nearby, Hiroko flung her long sleeves in anger as she turned around and left. Taro followed suit and let out a few cursing remarks.

On the other hand, Matsuda dragged Lily into the house and said with a serious tone, “Miss Kagami, your sword technique really made me see you in a new light. However, this can only prove that you have outstanding perceptivity, skill, and mental state. This is still very different from actual combat.”

“What the elder meant to say is that… actual combat can only be tempered in real fights, that’s why you want Lily to enter the competition more so than ever?” Said Lily with a humble tone.

“To be honest, even though they are all my disciples, you cannot win in kenjutsu by relying on courage and guts. What you need is fast decision making and grasp the right timing to attack. In truth, I really hope that you can win in the match ten days later. It’s just that Taro is really strong in a fight!”

Matsuda said with a worried face, “Even I myself don’t dare to underestimate him if I am on the same level as him. Even if Miss Kagami doesn’t lose to him in all aspects, it’s a different story in real combat… Miss Kagami is gentle and kindhearted, I’m afraid that you are not well-matched against that fierce and violent child!”

Lily answered indifferently even after hearing these, “Elder, I will be careful.”

Needless to say, Lily wouldn’t dare to let her guard down. Even if she could utilize Spirit Power and her penetration force was a few times higher than the fatty, just one careless mistake and he could make a comeback! Real combat was real combat, there’s no difference between strong or weak, only victory or defeat!

And this was a match she couldn’t afford to lose!

“Senior sister… Lily’s first actual combat is almost here.”