Lord Donkey Demon

The woman opened the white cloth of the bundle, revealing the child's arm. His entire arm was gone; the wound looked fresh, and although it had been crudely bandaged, it was still bleeding.

He was only a child of a few years...

"Ma'am, please put him down first..."

Seeing the child's wound, Kikyo's expression shifted slightly, and she immediately took the luggage off her back.

She took out some white medicinal powder, sprinkled it over the boy's severed arm, and began to perform further treatment.

As a shrine maiden, one did not only need the ability to exorcise demons; one also had to know how to pray, perform divination, conduct funeral rites... and understand pharmacology.

It could be said that the shrine maidens of this era all possessed at least some medical knowledge.

They were essentially the doctors for a village or a town.

After a simple treatment, ensuring the bleeding had stopped, Kikyo finally ceased her movements.

By now, the little boy on the ground had stopped crying. Clearly, the medicine Kikyo used had analgesic properties. The boy stared at Kikyo with wide, expectant eyes, never blinking.

"Can you tell us what happened? Why was his arm severed? It looks like it was cut off with a single blade... who could be so cruel?"

While treating the wound, Kikyo had discovered that the arm had been cleanly severed.

As a kind-hearted shrine maiden, Kikyo found this difficult to accept.

"It was a passing samurai. Just because my child looked at him a few times, that samurai cut off his arm." The woman held her child, tears streaming down her face.

Even though the child's bleeding had stopped, his life was effectively ruined. In this era, it was incredibly difficult to survive with only one arm, let alone do anything else.

"A samurai..."

The samurai class of the Sengoku period in Japan held power equal to the nobility, and for a time, they were even the supreme authority in the land.

The so-called... rule of the samurai.

Samurai possessed the right to kill with impunity... this resulted in many cruel-natured samurai who would kill people just to test their blades at the slightest provocation.

Of course, this immunity only applied to the killing of commoners.

"Do you want to go over and take a look?"

Yae Sakura looked at the silent Kikyo and immediately guessed what she was thinking.

As a shrine maiden, her duty was to eliminate demons and protect humanity.

If it were humans, especially high-ranking samurai, she had absolutely no right to interfere.

In this world of the hundred demons' night parade, the status of a shrine maiden was considered quite high, but while many samurai might not be as strong as a shrine maiden, their social standing was never lower. Kikyo had no authority to intervene in such matters.

Especially in this era, letting a samurai test his blade was called a citizen's honor.

It was legal...

"But..."

"Let's go! I am not just a shrine maiden, I am also a samurai. Let's go find that samurai and have a little chat!" Saying this, Yae Sakura pulled Kikyo along.

"Shrine Maiden, and this rabbit... no, Lord Donkey Demon, the other party is a samurai, and he is..."

Hearing this, the little boy looked at Yae Sakura and Higokumaru beside Kikyo without fear.

Although the two clearly weren't human, since they were companions of this holy shrine maiden, he figured they couldn't be bad people.

After all, in this era, there were always Onmyoji, shrine maidens, and monks who kept non-human shikigami or familiars by their sides.

"Donkey... Donkey Demon..."

Donkey? What the hell!

Hearing this brat's address, Yae Sakura's sympathy for the kid vanished instantly.

"I'm sorry, Lord Rabbit Demon! Children speak without thinking, please don't blame him, punish me instead." Hearing this, the woman immediately knelt before Yae Sakura.

Even if they were with a shrine maiden, they were still demons.

"It's a fox, not a rabbit, and certainly not a donkey!!!"

"Yes, yes, Lord Fox Demon!"

"..."

"My lady, the village we live in is just ahead!" The woman held her child, her tone filled with respect. Although her child would only have one arm from now on, at least he had survived, and now these three ladies were going to seek justice for them. How could the woman not be grateful?

There were no doctors or shrine maidens in this village; to see one, they had to go to the neighboring village.

This was why the woman had left the village with her child—to find the old shrine maiden in the next village to treat her son's injury.

After all, not every village had a shrine maiden or a doctor.

If they hadn't met Kikyo in time, who knew what might have happened to the boy from blood loss by the time they reached the next village.

In this era, when commoners were injured... or fell ill...

If it wasn't serious, they just waited for it to heal on its own. If the injury or illness was too severe, they could only wait for death.

"Such a thick smell of blood..."

Before they even approached the village, Yae Sakura sensed a heavy scent of blood, and a trace of... demonic aura.

"Oh no, something's wrong!"

The three of them hurried with the woman and the little boy to the village.

They saw that behind the rice paddies, countless houses were burning in a great fire.

Screams and the sounds of slaughter rang out incessantly...

"It's bandits..."

"Shrine Maiden, Lady Fox Demon, please, save our village."

Looking at the bandits killing and burning in the distance, the woman pleaded with Kikyo and Yae Sakura.

[Triggered Commission: Drive away the bandits]
[Reward: 5 Crystals]

"Don't worry, leave it to me!"

"Kikyo, you stay here and look after the mother and child. I'll go stop those bandits." Kikyo's attitude toward demons and humans was completely different.

Even toward evil bandits, Kikyo found it difficult to strike, so it was better not to let her get involved.

"This... if it's not necessary, please don't kill them. Just driving them away will suffice."

After a moment of hesitation, Kikyo agreed.

"You are truly kind... Kikyo." But in this chaotic era, such kindness would not lead to a good end.

"Mm, I understand!"

Smiling at her, Yae Sakura nodded and then quickened her pace, rushing toward the village ahead.

"Big sister, wait for me!"

Higokumaru glanced at Kikyo, stuck her tongue out at her secretly, and hurriedly followed Yae Sakura.

"We'll just wait here for a while. They will drive those demons away." Kikyo paid no mind to Higokumaru's actions and spoke to the mother and child beside her.

"Yes, Shrine Maiden."