Demon Sword Maiden

Volume 13 - Takamagahara: Chapter 122 - The Enigmatic Sisters

“What kind of world is this inside the Sakura Parasol? How could it be this bizarre?” Lily found it impossible to believe.

“Sis, it sounds lively over by those houses. Let’s go take a look.”

“Mm.”

The two of them passed several dilapidated houses along the edge of an overgrown field. The sky was dim yet faintly illuminated, and from ahead came the bustling noise of a marketplace, accompanied by bleak, desolate drumbeats and rhythmic clapping.

Following the sounds, Lily and Nanako arrived at a busy street lined with shops. Most of the stores had their doors open beneath colorful signboards. Yet neither the merchants nor the passersby were ordinary humans.

This was a place where humans and demons lived side by side.

Among the shoppers were four-legged lizards, kappa, giant toads, and even bowls and plates that had sprouted arms and legs. They hopped energetically around countless dinnerware stalls, clanging against one another while loudly advertising their own “companions.”

One plate demon tumbled onto the ground and shattered. Its tiny limbs dissolved away as a small vengeful spirit drifted from the broken shards into another intact plate. In the blink of an eye, the new plate sprouted arms and legs of its own and immediately resumed hawking its wares.

Lily couldn’t help wondering how such a business could ever hope to make any money.

Before the thought had even finished crossing her mind, an ancient Southern Outlander clock suddenly revealed itself to be a demon as well. It waddled over and ordered a dustpan demon and a broom demon to sweep the broken pieces into a pile. Then the clock began walking backward.

Miraculously, the shattered plate reversed itself. The fragments flew back together, restoring the plate perfectly before it returned to the shelf as though nothing had happened.

“It actually reversed the flow of time for such a tiny object? How extraordinary.”

Still, Lily knew that while time-reversal arts were among the most profound secret techniques in the Three Realms, they did exist. The greater the object or the more powerful the energy involved, however, the more difficult it became to reverse its time. As for rewinding the time of a living being, the energy required was so immense that it was practically impossible.

At most, such techniques could only be used for little tricks like this. By comparison, briefly stopping time or merely slowing its flow was far easier.

Nearby, a pretty female vagrant with an attractive figure was browsing talismans at the neighboring shop, haggling with a toad onmyoji who had a smoking pipe dangling from his mouth.

At that moment, Lily’s gaze turned cold.

She noticed a tall, overweight man wearing a scarf and Southern Outlander spectacles. Carrying a bamboo basket on his back and dressed like a scholarly gentleman, he quietly approached the stall from behind the female vagrant.

“That guy has such a lecherous look on his face. He’s definitely up to no good,” Lily whispered to Nanako.

“Sis, I’ll go help that girl.”

“Wait. He hasn’t actually done anything yet. Besides, unless it goes too far, if it’s only some ordinary harassment, we’d better not interfere. We just arrived here,” Lily said.

To her surprise, the plump scholar stopped behind the vagrant and said in a perfectly serious tone, “Miss, are you buying anything or not? If not, would you mind stepping aside? I’d like to look at these talismans.”

The female vagrant turned around. Not only was she completely unoffended, she lowered her guard entirely. Her cheeks flushed pink as she gazed at the fat scholar with unmistakable allure. “Mister… you’re so tall… and so chubby… Would you like to come have a drink with me at the tavern over there?”

As she spoke, she boldly pressed herself against him, shamelessly swaying her hips as her face blossomed like a peach flower.

“Miss! Please show some respect! I’m only here to purchase talismans. If you aren’t buying anything, then kindly step aside!” The overweight scholar adjusted his glasses, speaking with complete righteousness.

“Oh? It’s only a drink. After that… we could do something even more… interesting together.” The female vagrant continued twisting her voluptuous body seductively, every movement overflowing with irresistible charm.