I Refuse to Be a Valkyrie!

The so-called meal was actually just some dry rations of unknown make that Kikyo carried with her.

There was no point expecting them to taste good.

"Rest a little longer, then we'll get moving!"

Yae Sakura casually ate a little, wondering whether she should take out the instant noodles and mooncakes the Valkyries had given her from her inventory.

But those were collectibles... She had never been willing to use them. If she ate them now...

Wouldn't that mean she had collected them for nothing?

"Yes."

Xia Ji nodded obediently.

After breakfast... if it could be called breakfast...

Yae Sakura took Xia Ji and bid Kikyo farewell.

Having completed her commission, Kikyo was returning to her own village as well.

Just as Yae Sakura was preparing to take Xia Ji home, on the other side, in the city ruled by Valley Plain—

"You useless trash! It has been a whole day, and you still haven't found Lady Xia Ji! If anything happens to Lady Xia Ji, every last one of you will commit seppuku!"

A heavily armored general with a tachi at his waist glared at the dozen or so samurai below, his face dark with fury.

Takekawa Yubear was the Valley Plain daimyo's foremost retainer, possessing the strength to fight yokai.

As long as it was not a Great Yokai, he had a chance against it.

Xia Ji had been attacked by yokai on her way home from Kyoto, and there was still no lead. This made Takekawa Yubear, who had always admired Xia Ji, extremely angry.

"We don't know either, Lord Takekawa Yubear."

"We have been doing our best to search for Lady Xia Ji, but who could have expected her to be attacked by yokai?"

The dozen or so samurai searching for Xia Ji could not help but lament.

Retainer samurai could manage against bandits, but against yokai... who knew how terrifying those creatures were?

Aside from Onmyoji, mages, shrine priests, and Miko, most samurai had no ability to fight the terrifying and powerful yokai. Only samurai who had cultivated sword aura had a chance of contending with them.

"Damn yokai. I can only hope Lady Xia Ji is unharmed."

That was all Takekawa Yubear could think. If something had truly happened to her, he would make these samurai accompany Xia Ji in death.

Ordinary samurai were a dime a dozen. Killing these men would have no impact on Takekawa Yubear whatsoever.

The Valley Plain daimyo would not say anything either, much less upset Takekawa Yubear, who possessed the strength to fight yokai, over a few samurai.