บท 161: The Witch and her Martyred Knight
You have done enough… maybe even beyond that.
You have done things that only the most tolerant and merciful person in this world would ever dare to forgive.
But I am not that person… I will never be that person.
This could've been solved way back then if only you have given up on escaping and justifying your evil by calling it as your pursuit of satisfaction and happiness.
But it wasn't like that… it never was like that.
You ran away and even left troubles for all of us to suffer through and solve. You didn't just leave without fixing it, you even went and added more to your crimes.
"…"
"Stop right there!"
*BRAAAA-!!!*
"""HIYAAAAH!!!"""
Well… that doesn't matter to me anymore. I've grown too old and obtained more valuable things to cherish in my life and heart to even mind these kinds of things now.
All that I am here for now is to enact justice, punish the one responsible for all of this… and once and for all, give closure to the less mature and more emotionally fragile child that I was long ago.
"B-Back off!"
"W-We won't let you any nearer to Lady Aoyama-"
*BYAK-! BYAK-! BYAK-!*
"…"
That's right… this… is only for the sake of closing off my wounded past…
"So, let's finish this… once and for all… Natsuki."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
What the hell-!? What on earth is going on in here!?!?!?
"Go up! Have Lady Aoyama go up to the main tower!"
"A-Alright! Lady Aoyama, if you may…"
"Tch! Stop them! Call everyone to head here and stop them already!"
"Y-Yes! Sound all the bells! We need every single one in the city to drive out the invaders!"
Don't screw with me, you Alliance dogs! Do you think you can just come here and invade this place that I've built with my own brilliance and my patience with these low-born slaves!?
Preposterous! Utterly preposterous!
"I will not let any of you destroy my paradise! This is the bastion of my ambitions! I will use everything in my power to stop you!"
"L-Lady Aoyama! Look!"
"-!"
"T-The entire city is…"
So that was the reason why no one has heeded the alarms in the castle and trapped the attackers yet…
"Out there… and over there too…!"
"Is this… reality?"
The entire city was on fire. The very city that I hewn out of my ambitions and cruel use of slave labor is now burning into nothingness.
"Those people… they're killing everyone!"
"The soldiers… the prostitutes… even their customers…"
All over the city, groups of armed men shot down anyone who came towards them or outside of the buildings which they prioritized to burn down with firebombs. The bodies of these people littered the streets and burning buildings, painting greater horror outside of the castle.
"Kh! Lady Aoyama! We have to move now! At this rate, we will need to escape from the capital!"
"Alright! Let's forget about getting into the tower! Let's head to the treasury room!"
If this city is going to fall to enemy hands, I jut have to start over at another city and push them back out! Hah! My plan is nothing but brilliant!
"…Let him pass first."
"…"
"Let's go."
With the enemies roaming the castle and shooting down my soldiers and slave guards alike, getting to the treasury room took a while. But after I and my head slave overseer got there, we were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
"We have no moment to waste. Pack up as much money as you can carry and let's get the hell out of here."
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
While she was placing bunches after bunches of paper money onto four knapsacks, I took out books, scrolls and ledgers from the room's bookshelves and lit the pile on fire.
"Lady… those are…"
"It's all in order to deny the enemy information… with most of the Coalition's army around our region being slaves from Kisaragi province, I have little to no doubt that the enemy wouldn't put this to use once they get their mitts on it."
"I see…"
"Don't mind that now, it's pointless. Are you done packing up the cash?"
"Yes! We have more than enough to reform an entire slave army at a northern city's slave market."
"Good. Let's leave this hellhole now."
After saying that, I pushed one of the bookshelves out of its place and behind it was my escape tunnel leading to the river south of the city.
"This tunnel was just dug recently. Take care not to slip on the rocks or put too much pressure on the walls and cause a cave-in."
"Yes, ma'am."
"…"
Now that I am in relative safety, I began to think about what just happened and how quickly things developed both inside and outside the castle.
The signal firework rocket was followed by explosion on the gates and the beginning of gunfire. In less than a minute, they've breached the outer courtyard and managed to squeeze the panicked soldiers and slave guards alike to not be able to put up a proper defense because of countering orders and the like.
Once they breached the inner courtyards, what followed was that some of them turned back to not only guard the breached gates from incoming reinforcements but also to spread bloodshed throughout the city.
They knew enough about the city's layout to find out the prostitution dens and how some of the soldiers would go there at night whether or not they are at duty. Because of that, they must've prioritized destroying those places… but that begs the question of why they seem to purposefully shoot down the women?
No… even beyond that… how did they managed to get through the tight patrols? Those soldiers might be dumb bumpkins, but they are still skilled enough to not screw up their work.
"Lady Aoyama."
"Yes?"
"The tunnel is flooded."
My thoughts were cut short after my head slave overseer told me that the tunnel route ahead of us was flooded.
"It doesn't seem to be too deep. Besides, if my judgement of the distance is right, this is the wall behind the baths. This might just be water that seeped through the stones."
"I-I see…"
"…Use your sword's scabbard to touch the bottom of the pool. If it sinks completely, let's not throw the knapsacks towards the other side before swimming through it."
"Understood!"
As displeasingly disgusting as it is, I had no choice but to brave the silty and smelly stagnant water at the tunnel while lifting the money-filled bags over my head while my overseer was scouting the way ahead.
"I can't feel the bottom over here, ma'am. Let's throw the bags from here and swim."
"Alright."
As I suspected, the center of the pool was too deep and because of that, we threw the money to the other side and began to slowly stroke through the water and swam to the other side.
"Tch! If only I brought a change of clothes."
There's no point in me complaining here about the state of my clothes. I am still not safe.
"Let's go now!"
"Yes!"
Judging from the distance that we walked, I judged that the end of the tunnel is getting near and after one last turn, the simple wooden panel that leads to the cliff face where the river is located showed itself and I knew that escape is finally on my grasp.
"Lady Aoyama Natsuki… it sure is amusing to finally meet the cursed woman who have desecrated our land with her evils."
"Y-You are-!?"
"Manchiyo shinobi. The exact same ones that you have ordered to be hunted down and eradicated. We are here to return the favor."
"Everyone. Have the female Daimyo beaten to a pulp but alive. We shall offer her life to the General and attain his favor. Am I underst-"
*Fwiii-! Fwiii-!*
"Ich!"
"T-Take cover!"
A whirring sound came from the dark forest cover around us and one by one, blow darts hit some of the ninjas and immediately killed them, the others had to hop back and take cover on the foliage.
"Lady Aoyama! Here!"
"Finally! Otawa shinobi!"
"This way! Come!"
In the nick of time, ninjas loyal to me appeared and saved me from being taken captive by the Manchiyo ninjas. I went past their lines as they continued to fire blow darts towards our enemies and was eventually led to the river shore.
"Please, Lady Aoyama! Hop in with your overseer and let's get out of here!"
"A-Alright!"
"Watch your step, my lady!"
On the river, a boat was prepared and as soon as I and my trusty overseer was on, the ninja pushed us off the shallow shore and with the help of the strong evening current of the river, quickly left the city's outskirts.
"T-That was a tad too deadly…"
"Not just a tad. It really was deadly. For a moment, I thought that it really was the end for me."
"Lady Aoyama, who could've done this?"
"It's those Southern Alliance pests, obviously! The wretched lapdogs of that pedantic Shogun!"
"Y-Yes… but what bothers me is that they managed to get here without raising any alarms on the borders or even just a pip of rumors about them being in this close vicinity of the capital."
"…"
"I… I can't believe the this would actually happen one day."
From afar, we watched the burning city whose flames continued to spread upwards to my luxurious palace of pleasures. I had nothing but a seething flame of hatred in my heart after witnessing this sight…
Over twenty years of ceaseless yearning and hard work… only for all of it to be ruined in just a single passing of the night.
Back then, I would wake up at daybreak to see my beloved city of sin and pleasures sobering up from its long night of wine, women and psychedelic wonders.
But now, the daybreak that I am seeing was that very same city being purged with a relentless inferno and ceaseless gunfire from its attackers.
"Whoever did this… will pay… they will pay, NO! I WILL MAKE THEM PAY WITH THEIR BLOOD FOR THIS!!!"
"L-Lady Aoyama!?"
"To stop me from attaining my goals! To ruin my happiness! To desecrate all that I declared to be mine and mine alone!"
It doesn't matter to me if its those Alliance dogs or that mongrel of a Shogun! I will never let them get away with this!
"Ninja! Bring me to Mt. Yao! I will gather all of Kisaragi's people and use them to drive them out of my city! I don't care how many of them will die, I will regain that I have lost here!"
"…"
"Oi! Are listening to me!? You-"
*Sploish-!*
"-!?!?!?!"
"Not that sharp to be a match for us, aren't they?"
"You-!"
"Otawa shinobi clan… for an upstart group who is yet to carve their area of influence and leave an impression on the workings of Kisaragi, they truly have bitten more than what you can chew."
As soon as the ninja that was paddling our boat through the strong current of the river fell down to his knees and eventually into the cold water, a mysterious man appeared from the shore and spoke so casually as if it's the most obvious thing in the world. Stuck on a narrow gap of large stones, our boat was held in place as this mysterious man began to speak.
"You… who are you…?"
"I'm the one who returned the favor of those crooks. Blow darts are amazing weapons that leave nasty wounds, but they can also be useful when administering poisons and toxins. The deadliest of which is the one from a particularly harmful fish."
"Fugu?"
(TN: It's Blowfish, but for some reason, Author Rai insisted to keep it in the original JP name.)
That makes sense. It's like the guy froze up until I gave him a shove and he eventually fell down and off the boat.
"Now… as for what would happen to you two-"
"Too slow!"
"Urgh-!"
I don't know what his deal is… but my head overseer was quick to react and as soon as he entered the right range, she threw a knife towards his neck and in an instant, he lost his life.
"He's not a Manchiyo ninja…"
"This is the insignia of the Yuruno ninja clan… why did he say that he's repaying the favor of the Otawa ninjas?"
"It doesn't matter. What matters is that this made things very clear from this point onwards."
"What do you mean, Lady Aoyama?"
There can only be one reason for all of this chaos to happen and all of these opportunists to come out of the woodwork like disturbed cockroaches.
"We're heading somewhere before we go northward."
I hate to go back to this kind of modus operandi, but as things are right now, I do have a lot of money on me, but all of this is meaningless without any kind of leverage with the people that I have to meet.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"General, we have secured the castle, arrested the high-ranking and important people and disposed of the "troublesome ones"."
"…"
"We have also found the documents mentioned by the Manchiyo clan that would officialize the claim of the Alliance to hold Kisaragi province by the right of conquest."
"…"
Nobisuke's continued silence as he stares out of the balcony sent shivers through his right-hand man's spine.
"Is something troubling you, sir?"
"Have you located that woman?"
"I…"
"You are what? Spit it out."
"I-I am afraid that we haven't found even a trace of her yet, sir! I wholeheartedly wish for your understanding!"
"…It's fine."
"P-Please spare our lives- W-what was that? Shimura-sama…?"
"I said it's fine… stop fearing for your lives and just do as your orders asks you to do so."
From his coat pocket, Nobisuke took out a letter that seems to already have been opened a long time ago, and with his back against the others, began to read it silently. Caught by the unnaturally calm state of their military head, his men wondered what the content of the letter could be.
"Haah… Liars. In the end, it really was just me who wanted to end all of this in this way, isn't it?"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
That day… you had all the reason to kill me for the treachery that I did against you.
And yet, you stopped our son who wanted to take my life… and you urged me to run away and save myself.
Just how much did you love me… for even after everything that I did, you still lent an ear and protected me when I made the greatest of crimes and sins.
"This is… Mt. Yao?"
"Yes."
"I thought that it really is a mountain. So, it's just a tea house, huh?"
"A private tea house, to be exact. And because of it, I want you to leave and mind our provisions first."
"B-But Lady! This place is-"
"This is one of the most secure places in the province. I will be safe here. So, go and do as I command."
"Y-Yes!"
As she scurried away towards the town's marketplace, I turned around to face the simple-looking building and by its door, knocked twice and whispered the two-lined password.
"The waters of Onnoki gulf are blessed with the Kirin's benevolence."
"And what of the fate of the guardian spirits?"
"They… are cursed by the lack of prudence and common sense."
After remembering the proper reply to the randomized question from behind the door, the lock was opened and from there I entered the tea house that was so clean and wafting with the refined smell of premium tea that one could never imagine that this is built inside the slave province of Kisaragi.
"Lady Aoyama. He has just arrived himself."
"…I see. Bring me to his room."
For the past twenty years, this was our only excuse to ever talk personally like this… during that time, I only had to ask for him to come thrice… and those were the times when I was in very grave danger.
This time might be the greatest danger that I have faced… and because of that, I wanted to consult him about what I should do to escape with my life.
"I see that you've somehow escaped from him, Natsuki."
"…Yes. Although I am at this state now."
Through the screen door, I heard his voice and he spoke in the way that I fondly remember him for.
"Such are the consequences of having to make a quick retreat. Haibara-san, please warm some bathwater and procure a set of replacement clothes for her."
"As you wish, sir."
"…Why bother with this?"
"Let's talk later when you can actually enter the tearoom… I too, have to set my mind properly before I can talk to you."
I didn't like how he worded it out, but I have no right to complain to him now… after all, I am the one who needs his help.
I washed myself and changed into the clothes provided by the teahouse's proprietress and finally went back by the doorstep of the tearoom.
"I am here."
"You have my permission to enter."
With the calculated graceful move that I was trained from my youth to perform and have grown to loathe ever since my rebellion, I opened the door and sat in front of this man…
This man who was… no, since we have never truly split maritally, officially speaking, he is still my husband.
"Do you hate it?"
"What are you asking about?"
"The fact that I only agree to meet you in this teahouse which demands the kind of grace taught and reserved only for the nobility."
"…"
"You can speak out as you wish, only the two of us are in here."
I know it far too well… that this is his way to humiliate me and remind me of the mundane life that he wanted to live till our last breath.
But after everything that happened just hours ago, I realized that there must be a reason why he insists to meet like this every time that I call for his help. It's not that he wanted to shame me or remind me of the things back then that I have hated…
"At first, I thought that you are shaming me or reminding me of the past… but after what happened earlier, I finally realized something."
"…What is it?"
"You… are trying to live the kind of life that I ruined all those years ago. The kind of life that you envisioned us to have after we got married and was blessed with a child."
"…"
"I was right, wasn't I?"
I was in the wrong. I don't need anyone to tell me that for me to realize it. I knew it… that I was in the wrong and whatever I do, I will never be able to correct it since my heart insists that I do not want to live like that anymore.
But this man… my husband whom I blatantly betrayed and even left to deal with my wrongdoings… he still yearns for that kind of life even after all of that.
"I haven't told anyone about this before since there is no way that anyone would believe me… and after what you did, no one would be surprised anymore."
"What are you talking about?"
"…While I was being dressed up before our wedding, Takeshi-sama went to my room and asked for the servants to leave for a while so that we can talk in private."
"…"
"He congratulated me for finally being wedded and settling down… as well as thanking me for saving his life after our last skirmish with the Kusanagi clan, after all, he would've died from Kusanagi Kenji-dono's sword if not for my timely arrival."
"Just get to the point already."
I don't want to stay here any longer than I should. I have the alliance following me and keen to either arrest or kill me, two things that I never intend to experience.
"…Do you know what Takeshi-sama told me before he left the room?"
"What?"
"He told me that "She's your problem now"."
"-!?"
Hearing those words shocked me. If my half-brother already knew and he told him…
"Even before we got engaged, Takeshi-sama already had a hunch about you wanting to escape and do whatever debauchery you wish for… and with that warning, I became aware of what it is that you wanted to do as well."
So ever before then… Shido already…
"I knew the truth as soon as we looked at each other after we exchanged vows… that if I do not want to lose you, I have to do all that I can to make you give up on your hedonistic desires and accept the ideal life that I envisioned for us to have."
"Shido… you-"
"I wanted nothing more but for us and our children to live in a peaceful Kiko and to cherish them together as their parents… we'd live in the estate house that I've acquired from my long service in the Aoyama clan and every day would be a memorable day for us as we guide them to become respectable men and women."
"Stop…"
"Years will go by, and our children would get into their rebellious phase. They'd grumble about every little thing and try to distance themselves from us their parents where they will take on decisions and actions that would hurt them and teach them about life. We would be there to comfort them and make it clear that it's not wrong for them to lean on us when they know too little about life yet to walk through it on their own."
I wanted him to stop… but the words were stuck on my throat as if it's being pushed back down by something that also makes my heart sting and my eyes moisten.
"Our children would grow up to become strong and dependable… they will find people that would love them and soon, they'd probably visit us with our grandchildren. Hahaha! Just thinking about it makes me a bit pensive and giddy. I wonder if even our grandchildren would take after our faces."
"Stop already…"
"…Because I've been fighting on the battlefield since I was a young man, I've been exposed to a lot of things that would've surely shortened my life. In the sunset of our lives, I imagined the two of us spending our days alone in our abode after our children and their families have left to tend to their own lives. We would surely be a bit too tired of seeing each other after all of those years, but deep inside, we would still be doting on each other and wishing that today wouldn't be the last meal and embrace that we would share."
"…"
"Actually, I wanted to be the first to pass on… after all, between the two of us, I am the one who can't imagine living on without you."
"You…"
"On my deathbed… surrounded by our children, our grandchildren, friends and maybe even the dying apparition of my comrades who have gone to the other side before me…"
Did he really want to die like that…?
"I would open my eyes for one last time to see all of you clearly before everything becomes dark… and as you hold my hand and lean your head on my chest whose heart is slowly losing its beat… I would feel your warmth and embrace you one last time… and by then, I would have no more regrets."
"…"
"I would've no more regrets… I would happily pass on to the afterlife."
After he said all of that, there was no other way for me to not feel regretful of everything that I did. As I said before, I fully knew that I was in the wrong and that there is no way for me to justify any of it, and yet, I was prepared to accept that it was wrong and still continue to do it because it was something that I desired from the bottom of my heart.
But right now… after hearing all of that, there was nothing but regret it my heart… in my selfishness and blatant disregard of what he wished our lives to become so long as I would give consent to it, I made him and everyone else face suffering that none of them wanted.
I knew that I am a terrible person… and I accepted that as the truth because I knew that it is the only way for me to get what I wanted… but after hearing all of that…
"About the one who is after your life, you must've already had a hunch if you changed the purpose of our meeting from "asking the Shogun to absolve you and exclude your province from the war" to "helping you escape from here and hide in China until things settle down"."
"So, I was right, huh?"
"Yes. I can't stop him after all. Whether he still holds a deep hatred for you or he's just doing his job of finishing this war as soon as possible, Nobisuke wouldn't stop until he either has you behind bars or buried somewhere where no one would ever find you."
"You are his father. You should at least still have some leverage in the alliance. Please, Shido. Stop him and save me… even if this will be the last request that I will ask from you."
"…"
"Please…"
I can't give up yet… I know that there is a high chance for me to get back to chasing after my goals and this time, cleaning up after myself if only I can escape from the clutches of my vengeful child.
"…Haibara-san, let her leave through the back alley."
"As you wish, sir."
"-!"
"…The first favor that I did ever since you have betrayed me… will also be my last favor to you before we finally part ways."
"Shido…"
"Run now, Natsuki. While I can still hold him back."
"Aoyama-dono, this way please…"
As I was trying to make sense of why he chose to give me a favor once again, I heard shouts from outside of the teahouse.
"Open this door or we will break in!"
"We know that you are harboring a criminal wanted by the Shogunate! Open this door at once!"
Their shouts made it clear to me that I was tailed, and my head overseer must've told the truth while being interrogated.
"Go now. Save yourself just like you did before."
"I know that I asked for this… but why did you accept, Shido?"
It didn't make sense to me. I did beg him to save me, but I knew that he has no reason to accept it and I would probably have to hold him hostage against the Alliance soldiers in order to make my escape.
"Perhaps… It's the same thing that Takeshi-dono had to uphold and that's why even if it hurt him greatly, he handed Chiyo-chan to the Ayanami clan to make her a Page and repay the debts that you left."
"Takeshi… did that…? But why!?"
"Because you are still our family."
"-!?"
"No matter how much we deny it, you are still our responsibility. And because of that, we are ready to risk all of this even if everyone else would call us fools."
Shido stood up and went to the screen door, never facing me again as the tea house's proprietress led me by the hand to the door to the rear corridor.
"I owe you my life once again, Shido."
"…"
I left the room and hurriedly went to the aforementioned back alley where I hid my face using a scarf and went to the river harbor to take a boat down to the south.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Stupid woman… if you would owe your life to me again and again like this, you should've just kept your promise and stayed beside me… But that applies to me as well…
"I really am a foolish husband and father, aren't I?"
"…"
"To love his wife who had repeatedly proved that she wouldn't return that loyalty… and stop his child who is just enacting justice. I truly am a failure in all of this."
"…You sure are one, father."
Behind me, after his men have broken in and located the tearoom where she and I met just moments prior, our son replied to my musings and looked at the table that had two teacups that both are still warm.
"Father… why do this for her?"
"She is still my wife. There is also a tinge of love in it, but it isn't enough to be the true reason."
"You are a terrible liar, father… just like you have always been."
"…Is that so?"
"Yes… No man who no longer loves his wife would write letters like this… and no woman who wholeheartedly wishes to cut ties with her husband would reply to his letters as if they are still lovers deeply in love with each other."
"I see that she failed to burn all of that before you got there."
"Yes… and because of that, I am both personally and legally obliged to do this."
"I see… I can't get any favors when it comes to you."
"Oh please, Father… I am not letting you stop me again from doing this when she's within my grasp. Hey you, cuff this man up and take him back to the boat."
"Yes, sir!"
As one of the soldiers placed handcuffs on me, I exchanged glances with Nobisuke and with that alone, learned why he is so keen on doing this.
"She ruined our lives… I am not going to let her ruin the future too."
"I see… I guess this should be left to you now."
And thus, even if Kisaragi province has been taken by the Alliance, the vendetta of Nobisuke is yet to be fulfilled.
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