After the two dogs had stirred things up, everyone tacitly agreed to set aside Inuyasha and Kikyo's tangled love and hatred for the moment.
Hojo Akitoshi found their expressions amusing. Then he cleared his throat and brought up another matter.
"Kagome, do you remember which way that female demon fled last night?"
"If necessary, could you still make out those hairs in daylight?"
Right! Hojo Akitoshi's reminder snapped everyone back to their senses. They had barely managed to drive off the female demon last night.
But they had not killed her. With a powerful enemy lurking nearby, this was hardly the time to get distracted by anything else.
Even if they were fascinated by such things, once they lost their lives...
What damned good would that interest do them?
At that thought, quite a few people touched their necks. They could not let a demon slice off their perfectly good heads without even knowing what had happened.
"Yes. I remember where that female demon's aura finally faded away."
Hearing Hojo Akitoshi's questions, Kagome composed herself before answering.
But then she thought it over carefully, recalling the terrain around Kaede's Village that she had become familiar with over the past few days.
Kagome frowned, a hint of concern creeping into her voice.
"I remember that the place she finally retreated to seemed to be a forest in the mountains."
"I think I went there a few days ago. It's full of dense trees and cliffs."
"In a place like that, there'd be no way to guard against her hair. Are we really going?"
"Maybe she realized she couldn't beat us and has already left?"
"Oh?"
Hojo Akitoshi raised an eyebrow and popped a few Roasted Soybeans into his mouth.
He exchanged a glance with Akechi Mitsuhide and clearly saw the objection in his eyes.
After all, the samurai and generals of Japan had heard the warning against entering a forest, too.
Unlike on plains or rolling hills, a large army could not deploy its formations in a forest, and its numerical advantage would be greatly diminished.
It would also face all manner of traps, venomous insects, and the like.
Forests were practically ideal places for the weak to defeat the strong.
And in their current situation, the Hojo Army could hardly be called strong compared with the demon.
If the Hojo Army really went into the forest to hunt her down and fight her there...
Sorry, that was a sight too dreadful to contemplate. Akechi Mitsuhide did not want to see it, and Hojo Akitoshi would have to have been kicked in the head by a donkey to make that decision.
No, even if a donkey kicked him in the head, Hojo Akitoshi still would not make that decision.
The clever people present all recognized the danger, and their faces showed their indecision.
Going meant throwing their lives away. But if they stayed put and the female demon kept coming after them...
If she attacked every few days, was the Hojo Army supposed to sleep with weapons at the ready every single night?
How many days could the Hojo Army last like that?
A thief could keep stealing for a thousand days, but no one could stay on guard against thieves for a thousand days.
"Hmph."
Whether because of Kikyo, the Shikon Jewel, or perhaps Kagome as well...
Inuyasha was seething. Looking at the silent crowd, he gave a cold snort.
"If you're too scared to go, I'll go myself."
"I won't spare anyone who's after the Shikon Jewel."
He was both defending his pride and indirectly telling Hojo Akitoshi that the Shikon Jewel belonged to him, Inuyasha!
With that, Inuyasha stood up, apparently serious about going after Yura of the Hair.
"Inuyasha!"
Kaede could hardly stand by and watch that reckless mutt march off to his death. She immediately grabbed Inuyasha as he was about to leave.
"The enemy is stronger than us, and she's hidden while we're exposed. You can't just go charging in."
"We need to think this through. You mustn't act rashly!"
"Don't forget, we're in the camp of Lord Hojo Akitoshi, the Kirin of Sagami, whose might awes the entire realm!"
Age had made Kaede shrewd. On the surface, she was persuading Inuyasha not to throw his life away.
Yet as she tugged at him, she kept bringing Hojo Akitoshi into every sentence, though she never explicitly asked the Hojo Army to move out.
But who present could fail to hear what she really meant?
"Kaede."
Even the thin-skinned Kagome could hardly bear to watch.
And if even Kagome found it embarrassing, it was hardly surprising that Akechi Mitsuhide and the others looked ready to draw their swords.
"Quiet."
Both annoyed and amused by Kaede, Hojo Akitoshi sharply rapped on the wooden floor of the command platform.
He looked at Kaede, who was deliberately acting frightened, and at Inuyasha, whose stupidity had unexpectedly made him an excellent accomplice to her scheme.
Turning his head, Hojo Akitoshi gave Kagome another instruction.
"Kagome, while it's still daylight, go and determine the area where that female demon is hiding."
"You don't need to risk finding her exact location. Just mark out a reasonably accurate area."
"Huh? Lord Hojo Akitoshi, are you really going to...?"
Kagome's heart jolted. Deep down, she did not want Hojo Akitoshi to take such a risk.
Even if the Hojo Army's losses would buy the female demon's death and eliminate the threat to the villagers of Kaede's Village.
You foolish girl!
Below the platform, Kaede had thought she had backed Hojo Akitoshi into a corner, forcing him to eliminate the female demon even at the cost of his troops.
But what had she just heard? Kagome, the reincarnation of her elder sister Kikyo, was actually trying to stop him!
Oh, honestly!
With a faint sigh, Kaede could only accept that girls always took an outsider's side.
"It's all right. This is territory under my rule. Protecting my people and my land is a duty I cannot shirk."
After gently thanking Kagome for her concern, Hojo Akitoshi made arrangements for the army's Ninja Corps.
He ordered them to accompany Kagome, Kaede, and Inuyasha to scout out the demon's hiding place.
Once they had left, every samurai before the command platform except Akechi Mitsuhide immediately erupted.
"My Lord, our opponent is a demon who controls invisible hair. Even with all our methods and the advantage of waiting for her to attack, we can barely defend ourselves."
"If we attack her lair, I fear our army will be unequal to the task."
That was how one of the more tactful samurai offered his advice.
"My Lord, throughout the realm,
the safety of countless people rests upon you alone."
"Losing yourself in women's charms is unworthy of a great man. Moreover, I can see that this woman called Kagome is a born seductress, a scourge who will bring disaster upon the people."
"Please reconsider, my Lord. Allow me to kill her, then return before you to commit seppuku in atonement!"
That came from one of the less tactful fellows.
In short, despite the variety of their arguments, they genuinely had Hojo Akitoshi's interests and the Hojo's ambitions for supremacy at heart.
"Enough."
Looking at his agitated retainers below, Hojo Akitoshi had anticipated this scene all along.
"Mitsuhide, tell them the truth. Also, go summon the villagers from the surrounding area, including Kaede's Village."
"Tell them to bring their logging tools. I'm calling them up for labor service."
"They'll get two filling meals of rice porridge and pickles, plus two Copper Coins a day."
"What?"
They discovered that their remonstrations had not dissuaded their lord, Hojo Akitoshi, at all. Instead, he was even calling up so many laborers.
Calling up laborers was one thing, but feeding and paying them, too?
All the porridge and pickles they could eat?
Was there really such a good deal anywhere in the world?
They all knew Lord Hojo Akitoshi's benevolence was unmatched, but did subjugating a demon really warrant such an enormous expense?
Was that girl called Kagome worth so much?
"Understood, my Lord."
To the utter surprise of the samurai, Akechi Mitsuhide, whom they had pinned their hopes on to remonstrate with their lord...
Simply put his hands on his hips and agreed without hesitation.
"Treacherous retainer!"
The samurai immediately turned their ire on Akechi Mitsuhide. Some words would offend their lord.
But with Akechi Mitsuhide, they had no reason to hold anything back.
"Gentlemen, please hear me out."
Facing his colleagues' accusations and attacks, Akechi Mitsuhide gave a wry smile and began calmly explaining what he knew.
As for Hojo Akitoshi, he had already slipped quietly away from the command platform.
Before you continue