Tsuruga Camouflage narrowed his beautiful red eyes and looked at Heather:
"Sekiro-dono knows a lot... Shikizaki Kiki's sword poison, have you tried it?"
Heather shrugged: "I haven't had that honor yet."
"Then do you know the origins of the black witches in Santu Shrine?"
"Appreciate further details."
"They are all women who have been brutally abused by men for a long time. They are maids who work in high-ranking officials' mansions, daughters who were sold by their parents to the powerful class, and even the daughters of former daimyo who lost their status."
Tsuruga Camouflage looked at the black witches standing motionless at the door, with a hint of irony and a touch of sadness in his tone:
"Both the body and the mind have been abused to the limit. Even if the limit is exceeded, the abuse continues. Out of dirty and dark thoughts or simply because of hidden uneasiness, the abuser will only inflict torture in the secret room.
So violent until something is clearly broken."
"After it's broken?"
"What else can I do? They will just be thrown away. Then, what I picked up from the place where they were thrown away are these thousand black witches. As you guessed, because their hearts have been damaged to the point of being almost irreparable, I used
Shikisaki Kiki's sword is used as 'medicine'."
"The medicine...is obviously knife poison."
"It's medicine and poison, but poison can also be used as medicine. The sword poison is used to rebuild their damaged hearts, and the sword is used as a weapon of self-defense. It is their legitimate weapon as a shrine maiden serving an armed shrine."
"Do you really believe in [Knife Poison]?"
"As long as you hold Shikisaki Kiki's completed variant sword, you will personally experience the indescribable 'toxicity'. Moreover, even if it is not true, there is a saying in psychology that the effect of counterfeit medicine is."
"Hey, what about the charms on their faces? Isn't it also part of the autosuggestion?"
"No, it's just put on to hide your face. As I said, the people here are all insiders, and a large part of them are wanted by the shogunate. It is very dangerous to show your face. So it is necessary
Covering the face and thoroughly implementing the impersonal concept of [Black Miko], as a shrine, it can also bluff people. What they need is [Thousand Swords], and [Thousand Swords] is the last resort for them to barely maintain themselves.
, is where the soul rests.”
Tsuruga's camouflage eyes looked sharply at the man in front of him with a charming posture that made him feel a little nervous:
"So, I can't lose Qian Dao, do you understand?"
If she could, she didn't want to be an enemy of Heather. It wasn't that she was deceived by Heather's appearance, nor was it hindered by Heather's upright reputation as a knight, but because of her strength.
If even 10% of the legend about Sekiro is true, then once he and Heather take action, it will be hard to say whether this Santo Shrine can be saved, let alone those black mikos whose physical fitness is only that of ordinary women.
Therefore, she wants to use the "sympathy tactic" to make Heather retreat, which can be described as the flash of a sword between words.
Heather shook the bottle with only a little bit of wine remaining, raised her neck and drank it all:
"In the final analysis, what they lack is [target] and [force] sufficient to defend themselves. I understand that, right?"
"exactly."
Tsuruga camouflage maintains a sitting posture with a solemn attitude.
Heather turned to look at the black witches standing aside. Feeling Heather's scrutinizing gaze, the originally silent and motionless witches made waves of uneasy commotion.
Tsuruga Camouflage frowned. Are they afraid of Heather, who is a male? It's not like that, but they feel a sense of admiration like seeing an idol.
Could it be that just a few minutes of contact had such an influence? The fifty black mikos staying at the mountaintop shrine are all girls with the most seriously injured hearts and the most need of care. Even though they are extremely afraid of men,
He was actually charmed by Heather's appearance.
The appearance of the man in front of me is more like a [curse] than a [god gift].
Curse for the opposite sex.
She took a deep breath to calm down, and then said slowly: "Sir Sekiro, I am very curious about the 'solution' you mentioned before. Can you elaborate on it?"
"I thought you wouldn't ask, but just start the fight. Ladies over there, could you leave us some space to talk? Thank you."
Heather changed her sitting position and was not so lazy this time. He waved to the black miko, and Tsuruga Camouflage was shocked to find that they had obediently exited the hall before he, the leader of the mikos, could issue an order.
The more traumatized the soul is, the easier it is to be captured by the charm of the man in front of him? Tsuruga Camouflage has become very alert in his heart, and his fingers secretly pinched his thigh through the miko pants.
"They are all good and obedient children. How could they be as exaggerated as you said?"
Seeing that there were no more black witches around, Heather looked at Tsuruga Camouflage and said with a smile:
"Master of the Camouflage Palace, let's open the skylight and speak frankly. You can't hold on to this [Thousand Swords·铩]. This is an iron fact."
"Oh? Are you planning to rob it openly?" Tsuruga's body in camouflage was slightly raised, his hands were lifted from his kneeling thighs, and he suddenly assumed a posture ready to face the enemy.
"No, no, no, it's not me. Your murderous look is really scary." Heather quickly waved her remaining left hand: "It's [Shogunate]."
"...!!"
Tsuruga Camouflage was startled, and then sat back in silence.
"The shogunate will not continue to tolerate masters like you continuing to control twelve complete variant swords. I don't need to say more about the Oshu chaos twenty years ago. You should have a deep understanding of it, right? The shogunate is afraid that the next Hida will appear.
Yingbi, etc.], if left alone, the old generals from a hundred and fifty years ago are the best negative teaching materials."
Heather's voice was like a devil whispering in her ears——
"The levy of swords has begun. The General Superintendent of the Preparatory Office under the direct control of the general personally recruited the virtual sword style, successfully collected the [Jutsu Sword] and went to Inaba. Ordinary people may not know what is there, but your words don't need it.
Can I say more?"
"Inaba...[Zhan Dao·Blunt]."
"That's right, Uren Ginkaku, the lord of Shimoku Castle, the [Zanto: Blunt] he holds will be confiscated without incident. And the holder of the variant sword closest to Inaba is Izumo's
Santu Shrine. Master of Camouflage Hall, this is a fate you cannot escape."
"Your Majesty, do you think I will lose? To the Xu Dao style? Or to you?"
"Haha, as the daughter of the former captain of the 2nd Division of the 3rd Izumo Guardian Company, you have inherited the [Sento Style]. Naturally, I dare not say that you have a 100% chance of winning."
"…………"
Tsuruga Camouflage clenched his fingers in silence.
The gap in information is too big. Where did the other party get the information?
"Twenty years ago, the unprecedented chaos in Oshu was caused by Hida Takahibi and others. Even Izumo, who had extraterritorial jurisdiction, could not escape the flames of war alone. The three guardian companies were wiped out, and your father and all the disciples in the gym were also killed.
On the battlefield, if the surrounding countries had not taken the initiative to help, even Izumo would have become history."
Heather's voice was full of magnetism, but the content made Tsuruga Camouflage's heart grow cold little by little:
"Did you know that this time the shogunate was responsible for collecting the twelve mutated swords as the general supervisor, his name is 'Jiu'er', and his true identity is the only daughter of Hida Takahito who caused the great chaos twenty years ago, Yong Sheki
.The daughter of the enemy who killed her father, do you want to hand her the knife?"
"...What on earth do you want to say?" He didn't even use the honorific. It was obvious that Tsuruga Camouflage was upset at this time.
"At the same time, there are also the sword master Qiu Baibing who is known as the "strongest in the country", the Shini Ninja Army who is as famous as Iga Koga, and of course, me. Master of the Camouflage Hall, let me say it again, you really can't hold it.
This [Thousand Swords·铩], these Santu Shrine and a thousand black shrine maidens are your biggest weaknesses. Once you openly resist the shogunate's sword conquest, everything you cherish will be in vain."
Heather leaned forward and whispered in Tsuruga Camouflage's ear:
"You have a weakness. You are no longer the 'Sento-ryu' who could receive slashes with the black key when you were a child."
Feeling the heat coming from his ears, Tsuruga Camouflage clenched his fists and said in a low voice, "So, do you have a solution?"