Chapter 100: The Princess

The houses were neat, the streets were wide and clean, and the water in the fountain in the square was clear.

Countless radial roads gathered like a spider web, pointing to the palace in the center.

This was a quiet and peaceful city, far from the hustle and bustle of the world.

The four of them hid in an alley, found an uninhabited house, and temporarily lurked.

“Why don’t you walk around for a while longer?” Himemiya Izayoi was very interested in the medieval streets.

Minamoto Kiyomoto ignored her and instructed, “I’ll go out and check the situation, and buy you some clothes and daily necessities.”

“Be careful,” Kamibayashi Miko reminded him.

“I don’t want anything other than white,” the Hokkaido miko was very picky about clothes.

“Don’t worry,” Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled reassuringly at Kamibayashi Miko. “If it really doesn’t work, I can leave you behind and fight my way out alone.”

“I want white clothes,” the Hokkaido miko thought he hadn’t heard.

Minamoto Kiyomoto put on his helmet and left the room.

In the quiet and simple house, the Hokkaido miko looked at the other two, “He’s ignoring me.”

“He doesn’t even listen to me, how could he listen to you,” Himemiya Izayoi looked at Kamibayashi Miko and said to the Hokkaido miko.

Kamibayashi Miko didn’t speak and inspected the house.

It had two floors, with only simple furniture such as a dining table, wooden beds, and cabinets. They were all covered with a thin layer of dust, and it seemed that no one had been there for a while.

“But I’m prettier than you,” the Hokkaido miko said.

“…What did you say?” Himemiya Izayoi looked at this white-haired girl for the first time.

“Am I not?” the Hokkaido miko really thought so. “I’m first, the Divine Miko is second, and you’re last.”

“You’re not afraid,” Himemiya Izayoi laughed. “When Kiyomoto comes back, let him judge.”

The Hokkaido miko shook her head, not approving of this proposal.

“You’ve done something shameful with him,” she said. “Unless you let me do it with him too.”

“What’s your name again?” Himemiya Izayoi opened her folding fan and fanned herself. “Those people call you ‘Senmo’?”

“Senmo is a title. My real name is Rokka. I was dug out of a snowdrift by my master on a snowy day.”

“When it snows in Hokkaido, I’ll bury you back.”

“I bury myself every year. Have you ever tried being buried in the snow?”

“Is there something wrong with her here?” Himemiya Izayoi pointed to her head with her fan and asked Kamibayashi Miko.

Kamibayashi Miko nodded while wiping the dust off the table.

The afternoon sun shone into the room, and the floating dust was dyed golden. In the golden sea, the white-haired girl looked back and forth at the two of them.

◇

Minamoto Kiyomoto walked on the street, tossing a money bag inherited from the owner of the armor in his hand. One gold coin, four silver coins, and fifty-three copper coins.

The passers-by looked at him with respect, not knowing whether it was because of the armor or the money in his hand.

He bought clothes, bedding, some food, and toiletries, and didn’t even spend a single silver coin.

Returning to the residence, Himemiya Izayoi immediately asked, “Think of a way. I want to go out too.”

“No way,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said as he placed the purchased items on the table. “It’s all Westerners outside. There are no beautiful girls with black hair and black eyes.”

“Why can’t I use divine power? I’ve long wanted to try dyeing my hair a flame color, but I just haven’t had a good opportunity.”

“You can go back and show me,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

The Hokkaido miko rummaged through the bag and was finally satisfied when she saw the white clothes.

“Did you find out where the others are being held?” Kamibayashi Miko asked.

“I didn’t find out, but I saw it,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied. “The soldiers took them directly into the castle.”

“We must rescue them as soon as possible.”

“Since they are the princess’s people, their fate shouldn’t be too bad. I saw a tavern in the square just now. I’ll go out again tonight to see if I can get any news, and then think of a way to get into the castle tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

“The people here eat very well,” Minamoto Kiyomoto changed the subject. “It’s not like the living standards of the Middle Ages at all. Commoners can drink milk, eat beef, and enjoy fruit.”

The four of them sat at the dining table and ate lunch again.

“Let me ask you a question. Who do you think is the most beautiful among the three of us?” Himemiya Izayoi took a bite of the buttered fresh bread and asked Minamoto Kiyomoto.

“Who is the most beautiful?” Minamoto Kiyomoto stuffed a piece of cold-cut meat into his mouth. “Objectively or subjectively?”

“Objectively,” Himemiya Izayoi licked the butter off her fingers.

Minamoto Kiyomoto sized up the three of them and said, “You and Miss Kamibayashi are equally beautiful, but in different styles. Rokka is a little less so.”

After saying this, he threw a small tomato into his mouth and continued:

“However, for some people who like white-haired girls, Rokka might be more beautiful.”

“Do you like white hair?” Kamibayashi Miko asked him.

“Whether I like it or not depends on whether you have white hair. I like you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at her eyes. The small tomato in his mouth was sour and sweet.

Kamibayashi Miko picked up a fruit. It looked like a fig.

“Young Master Kiyoshi, look here,” Himemiya Izayoi whistled lightly, the melody beautiful.

Minamoto Kiyomoto turned his head in confusion.

“Then do you like me—” she said halfway, then changed the subject. “I can’t bear to make things difficult for you, so I won’t ask you this question.”

“…Should I say thank you?”

“You’re welcome,” Himemiya Izayoi said with a smile.

A perpetrator, because she did not commit violence, so the victim had to thank her. Minamoto Kiyomoto felt that she could win the Nobel Peace Prize.

“You look like a family of three, a husband and two wives,” the Hokkaido miko held a muffin.

“Miss Rokka, this is the most beautiful thing I’ve heard from you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said in affirmation.

He then said to Himemiya Izayoi and Kamibayashi Miko:

“What if we can’t go back? The three of us will be together, right? I’ll try to make my current knight status official and make you knight’s wives, and live a decent and prosperous life.”

“Useless,” Himemiya Izayoi said.

“Useless?” Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the Hokkaido miko, who was eating a muffin, with hesitation. “Although I don’t dislike white-haired girls, but—”

Himemiya Izayoi stuffed the remaining half of the buttered bread into Minamoto Kiyomoto’s mouth.

“When I said useless, I didn’t mean you’re marrying too few. I meant you’re thinking of becoming a knight, not a king, and making me a queen,” she squinted her eyes, pursed her lips, and revealed a smile that was both brilliant and threatening.

“You’re giving me the food you can’t finish?” Minamoto Kiyomoto took the bread out of his mouth and saw through her scheme.

“Not everyone is qualified to eat my leftovers. Be grateful,” the ever-reasonable Miss Himemiya Izayoi said with a superior attitude.

Kamibayashi Miko glanced over here. Although her expression did not change, there was an indescribable emotion in her heart.

After eating the bread, Minamoto Kiyomoto stopped eating, intending to save some room for the tavern.

“I’m going out. If I see any delicious late-night snacks, I’ll bring them back for you,” he stood up and took the helmet that was placed on the side.

“Wait,” Kamibayashi Miko called out to him.

She pointed to the corner of her lips.

A trace of doubt flashed in Minamoto Kiyomoto’s eyes. Then he leaned over. Kamibayashi Miko’s head was pushed back, but she was restricted by the chair and was kissed by him.

Her lips were beautiful and soft, like they were smeared with honey. Minamoto Kiyomoto resisted the urge to taste them again.

“Don’t worry,” Minamoto Kiyomoto smiled reassuringly. “I’ll be fine.”

“…” Kamibayashi Miko took a deep breath. “Your mouth.”

“My mouth?” Minamoto Kiyomoto wiped it. It was butter.

“You’re quite good at acting,” Himemiya Izayoi’s eyes were on Minamoto Kiyomoto. She held a knife and fork and stabbed a potato with a “swoosh.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto laughed out loud. He was doing it on purpose, whether it was leaving butter on the corner of his mouth or kissing Kamibayashi Miko.

He just didn’t expect the plan to go so smoothly.

He put on his helmet, his steps light, as if he were really in a happy mood, and was going to a tavern for a drink.

After he left, the Hokkaido miko immediately said, “I told you, men are tigers. The three of us will sleep together tonight.”

“How did it feel to be kissed?” Himemiya Izayoi ignored her and asked Kamibayashi Miko.

“Have you never tried it?” Kamibayashi Miko asked her back.

“Among us here, only you have experience,” saying this, Himemiya Izayoi remembered and asked the Hokkaido miko, “Have you?”

The Hokkaido miko shook her head.

The two of them looked at Kamibayashi Miko together.

“This is not a question that a miko should discuss. What’s more, the cultivators who came in with us are in danger,” Kamibayashi Miko took a sweet sauce pudding and ate it with a blank expression.

The square at night was very lively.

A couple listening to a harmonica; a family of three watching a magic show.

The tavern that Minamoto Kiyomoto had seen during the day was in the southeast corner of the fountain square.

There was a beech tree in front of the tavern, so the tavern was called ‘Beech’.

“Lord Knight, please sit down!”

A red-haired waitress greeted Minamoto Kiyomoto and asked him to sit down.

“What would you like to drink?” the red-haired waitress was very energetic. She asked while wiping the table.

“It’s my first time here. You can get me something,” Minamoto Kiyomoto placed his thin sword on the table.

“A glass of malt wine, a portion of roasted lamb, and some roasted vegetables of all kinds, is that okay?”

Minamoto Kiyomoto nodded.

“Okay~, please wait a moment~”

“Efi—, three beers!” a customer at another table called out skillfully.

“Coming!” the red-haired girl named Efi replied without turning her head.

In less than thirty seconds, Efi came with four glasses of wine in her hand and placed one on Minamoto Kiyomoto’s table first.

“Lord Knight, your malt wine. The lamb and vegetables are already being roasted~”

“Thank you,” Minamoto Kiyomoto said.

Efi took the other three beers and walked to another table.

Minamoto Kiyomoto looked at the malt wine in front of him. The malt aroma was very strong, and the glass was also very clean.

He lifted his mask, raised the glass, and took a sip.

He didn’t know if the raw materials were all malt, but it tasted good.

“Another group of defective products ran in recently.”

“I saw soldiers leaving the city in the morning. The cavalry escorted many people back.”

“I heard that the defective products all have black hair and black eyes?” it was the red-haired waitress’s voice.

“Little Efi doesn’t know? Do you want to go and see together tomorrow?”

“Who asks someone to go to the city gate to see prisoners? You kid, you want to ask Little Efi out on a date!”

Minamoto Kiyomoto was about to change to another group to eavesdrop when a group of soldiers suddenly walked in.

His heart moved, but he still remained calm and did not put down his mask.

The soldiers went straight here. Minamoto Kiyomoto drank his wine and was ready to fight his way out.

The soldiers looked at him in surprise, as if they didn’t expect the face under the mask to be so handsome.

The customers in the shop, because of the soldiers, also saw Minamoto Kiyomoto’s face. The red-haired waitress named Efi couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Is it Lord Cooper?” the soldier saluted.

“What is it?” Minamoto Kiyomoto’s voice was cold. It was Cooper’s male voice when he was wearing a mask.

“The princess is summoning you. Please go to the Rose Hall of the Rose Palace immediately.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his glass, tilted his neck back, and drank. When the large glass of malt wine was finished, he had already made up his mind.

“Click!”, he put down his mask and hung his thin sword from his waist.

“Let’s go,” he said.

Walking straight north from the fountain square, they came to the foot of the mountain. In front of them was the castle called the Rose Palace.

Tall and sturdy walls, a towering clock tower, magnificent and splendid.

Lush trees, flowing water, and flowers of all seasons bloomed in the flowerbeds. A beautiful and majestic palace complex.

The castle was heavily guarded. Every five steps, there was a guard in armor holding a long spear.

They were all strong and sturdy, standing there like stone statues, motionless.

After entering a certain checkpoint, the guards were all gone. The one leading the way in front was also changed to a maid.

The maid had big eyes, a high nose, was in her thirties, and was very good-looking.

The palace was quiet. The maid’s footsteps were almost inaudible. Only the “tata” sound of Minamoto Kiyomoto’s armor on the marble.

“Lord Cooper, Your Highness is inside,” the maid stepped aside.

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand was on the hilt of his sword. He straightened his back and walked in.

It was a warm night. The sea breeze blowing in from the palace balcony was teasing the curtains.

Minamoto Kiyomoto walked into the Rose Hall and saw the princess.

Her slender legs, which extended from her nightgown, had no trace of fat.

Her beautiful waist, even under the loose silk nightgown, could still be felt to be slender.

“Your Highness,” Minamoto Kiyomoto knelt on one knee and saluted.

“The mission failed?” the princess’s voice was stern and lazy. She was picking up a book from her desk.

“Yes,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied.

The princess took the book and walked to the huge long sofa, half-lying on it.

Minamoto Kiyomoto raised his head slightly and saw her gorgeous suspender nightgown, the large area of snow-white skin at the neckline, and the golden gemstone hanging between her breasts.

He stared. Between the full breasts that were mostly exposed from the nightgown, the golden gemstone was a yokai’s remains.

“Why didn’t you come back to report?” the princess’s gaze was still on the book in her hand.

“All my subordinates are dead. I have no face to see Your Highness,” Minamoto Kiyomoto replied casually while listening to the movements around him.

He was about to abduct the princess and jump into the sea from the balcony. If he couldn’t take the person, at least he had to take the golden gemstone.

As long as he could turn back into a yokai, the princess was nothing. This world was his for the taking.

“Minamoto Kiyomoto—”

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s posture remained on one knee. His heart suddenly jumped, and his eyes were stained with red light.

“…According to their intelligence, this person can turn into an evil dragon in the general time and space. You lost to him. You don’t need to blame yourself.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto suppressed his heartbeat and pretended to be ashamed, lowering his head.

“Get up,” the princess said.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” Minamoto Kiyomoto stood up.

The princess propped herself up with her right hand and rested her head on it. The strap of her right shoulder slipped, and the nightgown on her right breast almost fell off.

Looking at it this way, Minamoto Kiyomoto found that she was indeed very beautiful, very delicate and exquisite.

Her golden hair, which was like a stream of light, flew, and her eyes, which were as green as a lake, had a beauty that transcended the world, like a fairy tale.

Confirming that there was no one around, Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand was on the hilt of his sword, ready to make a move.

“Belladonna has found the gathering place of the defective products hiding outside. I will go there myself tomorrow. You are responsible for my safety.”

“…Yes.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto’s hand released the hilt of his sword.

“You may leave.”

Minamoto Kiyomoto saluted and turned to walk out of the hall.

The golden-haired girl on the long sofa moved her gaze from the book, looked at his back for a while, and then slowly returned to the book.

(End of Chapter)