Chapter 43: Today, I Have Come to Kill You
The heavy wooden doors of the Tenshukaku's main hall groaned open, releasing a thick scent of sandalwood and spilled sake that rushed to greet them.
Hikaru stepped over the threshold, his gaze sweeping across the opulent chamber. The hall was even more luxurious than he had imagined. The floors were lined with tatami woven from the highest quality rush grass, so soft they seemed to sigh under his feet; a single mat could likely be traded for a village family's entire yearly food supply. The wooden shoji screens were painted with complex landscapes of flowers and birds, their backgrounds gilded with so much gold leaf that the afternoon sun, filtering through the paper, ignited the room in a blinding, golden glare. Above, the ceiling beams were carved with exquisite cloud patterns and coated in a vermilion lacquer so bright and fresh it looked as if the paint had just dried.
Such a display might not have been noteworthy in the residential castles of the great daimyo near Kyoto. But for a low-ranking vassal who governed a mere six villages, it was an obscene extravagance.
Hikaru's mind flashed to the villagers he had seen outside the castle walls, starved to the point of being little more than skin and bone. He pictured the children huddled in corners, shivering not just from the cold but from gnawing hunger.
Then he looked again at the magnificence before him.
A quiet, cold sound escaped his lips. "Hmph."
"Please, have a seat," Suda Shigenobu said from his position on a raised platform. The lord of the castle leaned forward, his face a mask of smiles. It was an enthusiastic, welcoming expression, but his eyes, small and restless, betrayed a shrewd, calculating mind. "I am Suda Shigenobu, the lord of this domain."
He continued, his voice dripping with false sincerity. "I heard that you eliminated the vile yokai of Shimura, which has plagued these lands for many years. It is truly an act of immeasurable merit."
Hikaru remained silent. His gaze drifted past Suda Shigenobu's round, fleshy face and settled on the wall behind him.
Something was hanging there.
It was a colossal, boomerang-shaped weapon, its surface a pale, jaundiced yellow. The entire object gleamed with a faint, unnatural luster—the unmistakable texture of yokai bone.
'Hiraikotsu,'Hikaru thought, a flicker of confirmation passing through him.'It really is here.'
He showed no outward reaction, simply lowering himself onto the tatami with a casual grace. Kikyo sat beside him, her white robes and red hakama arranged with careful care, her longbow resting beside her knees. Nura Rihan, meanwhile, leaned against a pillar by the door, idly chewing on his kiseru pipe as if the entire affair had nothing to do with him.
"I wonder where you have all come from?" Suda Shigenobu pressed on, his eyes darting between them as he fished for information. "Looking at this young lady's attire, she appears to be a shrine maiden? May I ask which shrine she serves?"
"A wandering shrine maiden from Kaede Village in Musashi Province," Kikyo answered, her voice perfectly calm and even.
The term 'wandering shrine maiden' had once referred to those priestesses who, trapped by financial hardship after the start of the Sengoku period, were forced to travel without a fixed shrine. In modern times, however, the label had expanded to include nearly all rural shrine maidens, or any who did not specifically serve a major deity. Kikyo was one such person.
Typically, these shrine maidens were of low status. But upon hearing her self-introduction, Suda Shigenobu's expression shifted, a subtle tightening around his eyes. It was the reaction of a man who had not just heard a name, but recognized it.
"Kikyo?" he repeated, the name a soft question on his lips. 'So it's her… the strongest Priestess of the Sengoku period!'
His tone immediately became more humble, his posture bowing forward until his chin nearly touched his chest. "I have long heard of your great name! Long heard of your great name! I wonder what business brings Lady Kikyo to my humble castle today?"
Hikaru watched the short, corpulent lord, and the corner of his mouth curled into a faint, humorless smile.
'Business?'he thought.'To take your head, of course.'
He did not say it aloud. Instead, he spoke with a cool detachment. "We are tracking something down."
"Oh? And what might that be?" Suda Shigenobu's eyes narrowed, his face taking on the predatory focus of a merchant deep in negotiation.
"Hiraikotsu."
"Hiraikotsu?" Suda Shigenobu's face became a perfect picture of utter confusion, as if he had no idea what the massive weapon hanging just feet behind him was called. "What is that? I am an ignorant man and have never heard of such a thing."
"Is that so?" Hikaru raised a hand, pointing directly at the wall behind the lord. "Then what is that hanging behind you?"
Suda Shigenobu's expression froze. This time, he understood perfectly.
The atmosphere in the grand hall instantly grew heavy and suffocating. The attendants who had been standing silently along the walls now had their hands resting on the hilts of their swords. In a far corner, several men dressed in the robes of Onmyoji straightened their backs and began to subtly form hand seals. Hikaru's [Inspiration] talent allowed him to feel the faint, agitated fluctuations of spiritual power stirring within them.
It was not strong. Compared to Kikyo, it was pathetically weak.
"What do you want?" Suda Shigenobu asked. The smile remained plastered on his face, but it had become a stiff, brittle thing. "That item was offered to me ten days ago by a passing old man. I am merely collecting it and do not know its origins." He paused, his eyes gleaming. "If you all want it, I can..."
"Offered?" Hikaru interrupted, his voice cutting through the lord's lie. "A Demon Slayer, dragging a severed arm and bleeding from heavy injuries, was stopped by your soldiers while passing through your territory." Hikaru's tone was quiet, yet each word landed like a hammer blow, causing Suda Shigenobu's face to drain of all color. "He entrusted his life's work to that weapon, and you say it was 'offered'?"
"You... how do you know all this?" the lord stammered.
Hikaru didn't bother to answer. He simply rose to his feet. He knew because he had 'asked' a few questions at the castle gate. His blade was not yet drawn, but a chilling killing intent had already begun to seep into the air, coiling around the room like a serpent.
"Before he died," Hikaru continued, his voice a low, dangerous murmur, "he asked me to give the Shikon Jewel to someone who could protect it. He also asked me to tell his juniors that he was very sorry."
Hikaru began to walk, each step measured and deliberate, closing the distance to the high platform. "Do you know why he was sorry? Because he failed to bring back his clan's ancestral demon-slaying weapon, Hiraikotsu. Because his family heirloom was snatched away by a piece of trash like you. Because when he died, he couldn't even leave his own belongings to his descendants."
Suda Shigenobu's face had turned a deathly shade of pale. He finally realized that the young man before him hadn't come for a reward.
He had come for his life.
"Men!" he shrieked, scrambling backward. "Seize this madman!"
The attendants on both sides drew their swords and rushed forward. At the same time, the mages' incantations finally took shape, and spiritual light of various colors flooded toward Hikaru—a mix of Sealing Techniques, Binding Techniques, and several Spiritual Bullets that crackled with offensive power.
But Hikaru did not dodge. He didn't need to.
Someone else was faster than the mages.
Twang.
The sharp vibration of a bowstring cut through the air. A single streak of pure white light shot out from behind Hikaru, exploding in mid-air and shattering into countless tiny threads of light. The threads spread out like a celestial spiderweb, instantly enveloping the entire great hall.
The moment the mages' spells touched those threads of light, they simply collapsed. Their spiritual power was suppressed, crushed, and then completely annihilated.
Hikaru glanced back. Kikyo stood where she was, her bow still held in the posture of a just-released shot. Her white robes billowed in the radiant afterglow of her power, and her long, black hair was lifted by an invisible current of air. A dazzling white light bloomed around her, so bright that even Hikaru had to squint.
'So this is the full power of the Sengoku period's strongest Priestess,'he thought, and the corner of his mouth curled up once more.'As expected.'
With her here, he had nothing to fear.
He turned back to face Suda Shigenobu. The short, fat lord was now slumped on the high platform, his face as white as a sheet of paper.
"No... don't..." his voice trembled. "I can give Hiraikotsu back to you... and money... lots of money..."
Hikaru did not stop.
"Do you know?" he said, his voice deceptively calm. "I originally just wanted to take back Hiraikotsu and maybe scare you a bit."
It was a lie. He had come here specifically to kill. But that didn't stop him from making the declaration.
"But when I entered the castle just now, I saw some things. Mountains of rice piled by the roadside. Exquisite wine and food displayed in shops. Meanwhile, in the villages outside this castle, children are gnawing on tree roots to survive."
"So, I've changed my mind."
Hikaru raised his sword. The cold steel tip of the blade came to rest just an inch from Suda Shigenobu's throat.
"Today," he said, his voice dropping to a whisper that was louder than any shout.
"I have come to kill you."
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