Female Swordsman Training Dojo

enough.

These women are very suspicious. They're hiding such a powerful samurai; they must be plotting something! Maybe they've already discovered some clues. I must go back and tell Lady Yakumo Kurenai!

...Wait, what is that woman doing?

Why did you draw your sword?

Why did you come here?

calm down!

Stop! Don't come any closer!

Damn it! Stop right there! Don't come near me!

The blade was reversed, aimed at the cat demon's heart, and then stabbed down forcefully.

The headless corpse of the cat demon sprang up suddenly, like a robot puppet that had suddenly started up, stiff but swift, and most importantly, completely unexpected by everyone—it rushed straight toward the window on the left.

This abrupt change left people with almost no time to react.

Unfortunately, it was only almost.

Saten Yoko was indeed a step too slow. She had just raised her sword again, preparing to use Thunderclap Flash, when the cat demon had already rushed to the window. However, Minamoto Yuki Sakura had already blocked the wooden window frame, also blocking the headless corpse's path.

Great! Just as planned!

The head lying in the pool of blood suddenly opened its eyes, and at the same time, pitch-black smoke billowed out, filling a large area of ​​space.

This is the Shadow Mist Technique. The black mist it creates can not only obscure vision but also eliminate sound and mislead certain magical detection methods.

Moreover, at the same time the shadow mist formed, the cat demon's head had already flown up, just like another kind of monster called the Flying Head Demon.

The spell's name is more direct: the Flying Head Technique.

Casting these two spells silently and swiftly was no easy feat, and the cat demon paid the ultimate price—a price she paid with her precious life! But it didn't matter, because she had already lost four lives when she sacrificed her body. In other words, she only had two lives left.

But at such a high price, she also successfully created an excellent opportunity to escape! Now, Saten Yoko and Minamoto Yuki are both distracted by her headless corpse, and the remaining girl with the pistol couldn't possibly see through the shadow mist... no, that girl probably wouldn't even be able to react to what happened, let alone take out the pistol from her waist, aim, and fire.

With reason and justification for her actions, the cat demon didn't actually fall into fantasies, but instead quickly flew towards the window on the other side.

Although

Chapter 260

I only have one life left, but it doesn't matter. As long as my head can escape, it's just a loss that can be made up for by eating more humans. That's right, this is my escape route!

boom!

The loud noise and the ensuing excruciating pain interrupted the cat demon's thoughts.

She felt the bullet lodged between her skulls in horror; the metal, just a hair's breadth away from piercing her brain, made her remaining head tremble.

No, impossible! She's a nine-lives cat, how could she possibly die at the hands of a mortal!

As long as, as long as we get to that place—

boom!boom!boom!boom!boom!

Five bullets followed in quick succession, striking the Nine-Lives Cat's head. The impact and excruciating pain followed in quick succession, successfully interrupting the cat's spell. The once glossy, adorable, and elegant cat head fell to the ground, scraping against the windowpane. Its fur, already soaked with blood, was now covered in dust and tangled into clumps, making it look utterly pathetic.

The confident vertical pupils lost their luster and turned into a gloomy mess.

The last breath of life left the struggling, writhing head, leaving only a head riddled with six bloody holes.

"How about that! I'm pretty good, right?" Fujiwara Kaguya swaggered around with her gun, her chin practically pointing to the sky.

"Yes, yes." Saten Yoko put down her knife, her previously concentrated thoughts dissipating. She rubbed Fujiwara Kaguya's head and said, "Fujiwara-san is amazing."

Fujiwara Kaguya pouted, not very happy: "Senior, your tone is like you're coaxing a child, how rude!"

“Anyway, you’re no different from a child, Kaguya-hime.” Minamoto no Yuki Sakura also walked over, behind her was a headless corpse, dismembered and soaking in a pool of blood.

"Sakura—" Fujiwara Kaguya drawled out in dissatisfaction, glaring at her fiercely, looking both adorably menacing. But Minamoto Yuki Sakura was already immune to her friend's tactics and had no intention of changing her tune.

At this moment, Saten Yoko spoke again, interrupting Fujiwara Kaguya and Minamoto Yuki Sakura's staring contest: "Speaking of which, is this guy the murderer?"

"It shouldn't be, right? After all, if she were, why would she kill the president and his wife?" Yuan Xueying looked towards the corner of the room, where a man and a woman lay dead, mostly eaten. Judging from the state of the bodies, perhaps they were still alive last night?

"That's troublesome. Now that this guy is dead, the clues have gone cold again." Saten Yoko, who had already made completing Harunobu's mission her life motto, was somewhat anxious.

"Well..." Minamoto Yuki Sakura and Fujiwara Kaguya looked at each other and said in unison, "That's not necessarily true!"

"Eh?"

Amidst Saten Yoko's confusion, Lord Yakumo Kurenai suddenly sat up in shock from his deathbed dream.

"The Nine-Lives Cat is dead?!"

She ignored the cold sweat on her brow and carefully sensed the barrier she had left on the Nine-Lives Cat, finding that it had indeed vanished without a trace. Although it was possible that the cat had discovered and removed the barrier, or that it had completed its task and moved out of the sensing range, causing the sensing to fail.

But being in the enemy's lair, Yakumo Red had no intention of taking any chances.

Everything must be calculated based on the worst-case scenario!

"Could it be that Hiraharu actually went with those three women? Maybe he even brought Shiranui Ran with him?"

"Now we need to destroy the evidence... no, it's too late. Using obvious magic to travel will get us noticed. Honestly, he's never here when we need him!"

If Rin Rokudo were here, he could use his innate magic to quickly reach the Nine-Tailed Cat's ambush location without being detected. But Rin Rokudo certainly couldn't stay in Yakumo Kurenai's safe house; the two of them had never had a good relationship.

"Tsk, I guess I have no choice but to give up on this place. Luckily, that cat doesn't know much; it knows nothing except that I'm in Tokyo and that I'm planning to assassinate the Emperor."

"The plan can probably still be carried out—damn it, Hiraharunobu! I'll get my revenge for this!"

While grumbling, Yakumo Kurenai quickly packed all the things she needed to take and threw the rest into the fire. Then, she changed into an ordinary gray-black kimono, transformed into an ordinary face, and naturally left the safe house through the back door.

Even a cunning rabbit has three burrows, so the even more cunning Miss Fox certainly wouldn't have just one.

Chapter 239: Asauchi and the Shrine Maiden

Let's go back to a little earlier, to the mysterious witch's hut.

Harunobu's direct question did not cause any ripples. The shrine maiden simply extended her right hand with her palm facing upward: "Shōe, thirty yen."

"You..." Harunobu took out a few banknotes from his pocket and placed them in the shrine maiden's palm. "That's all. Put the rest in the books and I'll bring them to you later."

"Okay." After all, he was a regular customer, so the shrine maiden, who usually refused to pay on credit, reluctantly agreed to Harunobu's offer of a freebie. "My magical artifacts are fine. The reason they can't detect the demonic energy is because they've suppressed its outward flow with filth."

"Impure, what is that..." Harunobu's question was only halfway through when Shiranui Ran tensed up and straightened her back: "Impure?! Are you really sure? How could an ordinary youkai withstand the power of impure!"

"Besides filth, how could ordinary monsters possibly escape the detection of my magical artifact?" the priestess said with utmost confidence, taking a sip of hot tea from her cup.

The teacher said that even Harunobu felt the shrine maiden was a bit too confident; there's always someone better than you...

"Too."

Shiranui Ran agreed.

No, ladies?

Harunobu stared speechlessly at Shiranui Ran, who had surrendered instantly. Could this fox's golden fur be of French descent?

But jokes aside, since the shrine maiden and Shiranui Ran, who were probably the most knowledgeable about magic around him, had said so, Harunobu naturally had no objections.

"But what exactly is filth?"

The shrine maiden set down her teacup, the celadon porcelain making a soft clinking sound against the table. Harunobu suddenly felt a surge of energy, as if he had stepped from a cool, shady room into bright sunlight; though it was only a moment, it felt like a lifetime had passed.

But before he could ponder this feeling, the witch's voice pulled him back: "You can think of filth as monsters in magic. Their only effect is to erode and distort everything, so ordinary spells are useless against them."

"However, if one can withstand that kind of erosion, one can indeed gain some twisted power. Moreover, this is just an old theory; perhaps there is a genius somewhere who has mastered the power to utilize filth."

“So the Tongxin Society…” Harunobu looked at Shiranui Ran. Lord Fire Demon shook his head seriously and said with certainty, “At least before this, I have never heard of the Tongxin Society having such an ability. Even cyborgs have only appeared in recent years.”

"Alright." Qingxin didn't dwell on the principle; he wasn't a spellcaster. "So, is there any way to circumvent it?"

Shiranui Ran hesitated, but the shrine maiden stretched out her hand again: "Of course, we just need to add some new spells so that it can even detect filth."

Shiranui Ran's mouth was slightly open, her head turning back and forth between Harunobu and the shrine maiden, her gaze complex. Unfortunately, the mask concealed her identity, and Harunobu didn't notice.

How much will the renovation cost?

"Hmm... since it's not brand new, I'll make it 100 yen."

"It's too expensive!"

"You don't have to buy it."

The shrine maiden withdrew her hand, picked up her teacup, and took a satisfied sip. Harunobu folded his hands, calculating how much operating funds he had left and his next plan.

Finally, he chose to put it aside for the time being: "Before that, let's talk about the next issue. I would like to commission you to make a batch of new magical artifacts. The requirements are that they have strong defensive capabilities and can tell me the location of the holder when they are activated. If possible, it would be best if they could teleport the holder directly to my side."

Shiranui Ran was beside her

Chapter 261

He was starting to lose his temper: "Hey, are you talking in your sleep? There's a limit to how much you can spoil your wife! Magic isn't a magic bullet! And do you know how much it costs to achieve these effects—"

"Sure," the shrine maiden said, setting down her teacup and looking at Harunobu with interest. "However, the quantity we can make is limited, probably not enough to meet all your needs. And it will be very, very expensive!"

"How expensive?"

"10 yen each." The shrine maiden tapped the corner of her mouth with her right index finger, looking thoughtful. "And we can only make a maximum of ten identical ones, and each one will take at least a month to make."

"..." Harunobu looked speechlessly at the "Happiness" icon above the shrine maiden's head, and shook his head. "What if you only need the defense and location functions?"

"That depends on the strength. Taking the defensive artifacts I'm currently selling as a standard, with the positioning distance set within one kilometer, the starting price is 300 yen each. For each level of defense strength increase, the price increases by 200 yen, and for each kilometer increase in positioning distance, the price increases by 100 yen."

"Then, the defense strength is at most three times, which can probably barely withstand the full force of the dragon you killed. The positioning is also at most within 10,000 meters. I can't guarantee absolute accuracy beyond that."

"So, the highest-end version costs 2100 yen each. How many wives do you have now?"

"Damn it, I've made so much money, but I feel poorer than before." Harunobu scratched his head and looked at Ran Shiranui. "Lord Fire Demon, can I apply for an advance on my salary for the next hundred years?"

"No way! Get out!" Shiranui Ran rolled her eyes. She'd never seen anyone ask for a hundred years' worth of salary in advance, especially for something like this... really...

While complaining inwardly, Shiranui Ran suddenly noticed that Harunobu's expression had turned extremely ugly, as if someone had just stabbed him in the heart and spun him around twice.

Confused, she said, "Hey? It's just a refusal to pay in advance, why are you making that face?"

"Hmm? Ah... I'm sorry, it's not because of that..." Harunobu shook his head, his brows still furrowed, and reached out to touch his chest, which suddenly felt tight. "I just suddenly have a bad feeling?"

At this moment, Kyuumei Neko had just taken control of Saten Yoko.

"Does your mind have such power?" Shiranui Ran became cautious; a samurai's intuition can sometimes be quite unreasonable. The shrine maiden, on the other hand, put down her teacup and looked thoughtfully at the asauchi placed beside Harunobu.

After a moment, the shrine maiden suddenly spoke up: "Harunobu, you really want those magical artifacts because you want to protect your wives, right? Well, I might have a cheaper and more suitable way for you."

Seeing the "cunning" mark on the shrine maiden's head, Harunobu shifted his gaze and followed it to Asauchi.

"That's right, it seems you weren't unaware of the special features of your sword." The shrine maiden shook her head regretfully, looking like a cunning merchant caught red-handed. "May I take a look?"

"Don't break it, there's no guarantee we'll find another one like this." Harunobu handed over the asaka with its sheath intact.

The shrine maiden hummed as she took it, and eagerly drew the asagi. The well-maintained blade reflected the candlelight, making the room much brighter.

"Ah... this really is..." The shrine maiden's eyes seemed to be shining, and her status bar above her head immediately changed to [Surprised], then to [Excited], and then to [Deep in Thought]...

The constantly changing status bar contrasted sharply with the shrine maiden's "calm" expression, prompting Harunobu to ponder. It seemed that Asauchi... or rather, Zanpakuto, was a very rare and unusual thing for the shrine maiden.

That makes sense, it would be strange if it weren't.

After a long while, after the Nine-Lives Cat had been killed on the spot by the American Iaijutsu, the shrine maiden spoke again: "I take back what I just said. It would be a waste to use this as a material. Besides, with this, you don't need that kind of magical artifact... as long as you can unleash its true potential."

"Hmm, but seeing something like this still makes my hands itch... If you're willing to pay, I can make some temporary substitutes for you, okay?"

Harunobu cautiously began to inquire about the price. But a cheerful ringing interrupted him.

Dudu~

The author says:

Author's Note: Is it really that hard to book a doctor's appointment these days? I was planning to go to the hospital for a check-up this weekend, but when I opened the official WeChat account, I found that all the appointments with that doctor were booked until next Monday... I wish my book could be this popular someday. Don't call me, let me dream for a bit (ノへ￣、) Finally, as usual, I'm asking for your votes.

Chapter 240: Tsuchimikado Haru

"Moses Moses~"

"Is she the boss?"

A cheerful and lively voice came from the microphone. Shiranui Ran shook her head and picked up the microphone that the paper doll had placed on the table: "Haru, what's up?"

"Ah~ Big Sister!" The cheerful voice rose a few octaves, and the cheerful energy it contained made Qingxin's lips curl up in a smile.