"Don't worry. Kyoto has a barrier set up by Lord Abe no Seimei. Ordinary powerful demons can't get in, and that ox cart also has Lord Abe no Seimei's Shikigami on it. Ordinary monsters are no match for it."
In response to Mash's concern, Sakata Kintoki smiled and told her not to worry. Nobles who could travel through Kyoto at night naturally had means of protecting themselves. In Kyoto, one hardly ever saw people unable to defend themselves walking the streets after dark. It was not that such people did not exist; rather, they had mostly died. After all, Heian-kyō had already existed for many years.
In fact, even if they had not intervened just now, the Shikigami on the ox cart would have been enough to defeat the demon they encountered on the road. But since they had ridden in Kiyoko's ox cart, it was only natural to lend a hand.
Sakata Kintoki then stepped forward and knocked on the door. Before long, a servant came out to open it. Kintoki then requested an audience with Fujiwara Kōko in his capacity as one of Yorimitsu's Four Heavenly Kings. It was already late at night, and the person they wished to see was the renowned Murasaki Shikibu. Only someone of Kintoki's status could manage it.
Fujiwara Kōko was Murasaki Shikibu's real name; Murasaki Shikibu was merely the pen name she used for her writing. Along with the Kiyoko they had just met—namely Sei Shōnagon—and one other woman, she was counted among the three great talented women of the Heian era.
"You must be Lord Sakata Kintoki, retainer of the Minamoto clan. I have seen that face several times at Lord Michinaga's residence."
Soon, led by a servant, the group met Murasaki Shikibu in the main hall. She had long black