The demon was irritated.
It was irritated that although it sensed human presence in the mountains, no village was visible anywhere.
The demon was hungry.
It was so hungry that catching and eating the occasional humans it encountered in the mountains could never satisfy it.
The demon was searching.
It kept searching for humans that must be somewhere, even if not visible.
Finally, the demon realized.
It realized that the scent of another demon was lingering within the human presence.
The demon became furious.
It was furious, enraged, and hateful that the hunting ground it had targeted was hidden by another demon's demon art, wandering every night to find the village—finally.
The demon discovered the hunting ground it had been searching for.
＊
A beast driven by starvation is sometimes more ferocious than a vigorous lion.
To be honest, it was nearly a miracle that I managed to slay that demon when Rei was incapacitated.
The demon, starving and attacking people, was a giant over eight feet tall. Its entire body was covered in muscles, and its arms were much longer than normal, drooping down to its knees when extended.
The range guarded by those long, thick arms was wide, and their strength made the demons from the selection seem like frail children.
Driven mad by hunger, the demon roared, swung its arms, and rampaged like a mindless beast, heedless of direction.
Protecting innocent civilians from those vicious arms while targeting its neck was extremely difficult. Rei and I were barely able to block the attacks.
That precarious balance collapsed instantly when Rei was hit by the demon. The catalyst was him rushing out to protect a wealthy couple within the demon's reach.
Rei, hit by the arm and flung into a house back-first, lost consciousness, leaving only the demon and me behind.
Alone, I couldn't block the attacks. Just as I was gritting my teeth, thinking casualties were inevitable, something strange happened.
Colorful patterns suddenly appeared in the air and wrapped around the demon's face like a blindfold.
I had seen those patterns before. They were the same as the demon art Rei's mother used for deception—flowers blooming like illusions filled the demon's vision, dulling its movements.
It was a perfect opportunity to behead the demon. Though I suspected it might be a trap, I swung my blade thinking, "come what may," and the demon's head separated from its body all too easily.
"Aaaah! This scent, the scent of the demon hiding the village!"
As the hypnotic blindfold was removed, the head falling to the ground shouted with resentment. But just before hitting the ground, the demon crumbled into ash and glared at one spot.
"Yoooouuuu! Is it youuuuuu!"
Turning to where the demon's gaze was directed, I saw the figure of a woman hidden behind a tree not far away.
The female demon, bleeding from her arm, vanished into the dense forest as soon as she realized I had spotted her, fluttering her kimono hem.
Chasing after her was a reflexive action. Was it because I thought, as a demon, she should be slain, or because I wanted to ask why she helped? Honestly, I didn't know myself.
Pushing through trees and running up the mountain, the place where I thought I had finally caught up was atop a sheer cliff.
The woman seemed hesitant to jump, looking down from the cliff's edge, but upon seeing me, she slightly bent her knees as if resolved.
"Are you planning to leave without meeting Rei, even though you're his mother!"
Even I thought it sounded cunning.
The woman stopped her jump and cautiously turned to look at me. Her face was far from ferocious, resembling that of a rational human.
"……No, that's not it."
"That's a lie. Rei called you mother."
The woman fell silent.
She seemed hesitant, unable to judge if I was friend or foe, but I felt the same.
"……What are you to that child?"
It was within beheading distance.
A sufficient distance for a lunging strike with Shira nui. Yet, my right hand couldn't grip the hilt. I too was hesitating whether to behead this demon or not.
Demons must be beheaded. But if I beheaded this demon here, I felt like I would become a senseless murderer.
"……A comrade. Someone I hope can become a friend… just a comrade."
The woman, who had been looking down as if lost in thought, opened her eyes wide. Only then did I see her pupils.
Two eyes rising in the night sky were tinged with the clear color of wisteria blossoms, just like Rei's sword blade.
"I see."
Her smile, which could be described as blooming brightly, was fleeting but softer than moonlight illuminating the night.
"……If it's alright, please be his friend."
That benevolent gaze overlapped with that of a mother's.
"Though his appearance is a bit unusual, please don't be afraid."
"I know."
"……Thank you."
Bowing deeply, she turned her body toward the cliff. The full moon hanging at the cliff's edge in the middle of the night was so large it seemed to swallow people, as if coming to welcome her.
"He's a bit mischievous and troublesome, but he's a kind child who thinks of others."
Finally, the woman looked back at me over her shoulder. Her pupils, tinged with the same light as his sword blade, were filled with the dew of maternal love, not resembling the eyes of a demon at all.
It would be impossible to call this woman, who didn't suit malice or murderous intent, a demon.
She was merely a beautiful woman.
"Please get along well with that child."
All she left behind here was a fleeting smile like a soap bubble.
And the woman threw herself lightly beyond the moon like a heavenly maiden.
＊
"Dr. Tamayo? Ah, she's an excellent doctor."
"There's probably no one in this village who hasn't been indebted to her."
"When my child had a fever, she stayed up all night nursing them."
"Anything unusual about her?"
"Well, she didn't go outside due to a skin condition, but… that's about it."
"The people who died in the mountains are related to Dr. Tamayo? Hey, don't talk nonsense."
"The deaths happened in the last few weeks."
"Dr. Tamayo has been living here for three years."
"Wasn't the culprit that guy? The one those kids were dealing with…"
"Oh no! Dr. Tamayo isn't at the clinic!"
"What?!"
"But the sun is up?!"
"……Hey, did you guys do something?"
"No no no no, absolutely not! No way!"
I didn't know the cleanup crew's work was this tough.
Ten days since giving up the swordsman's path after the selection and becoming a Kakushi. Watching senior Kakushi 1 surrounded by numerous villagers and fidgeting, I thought so.
I thought the Kakushi's job was only to restore scenes destroyed by battle, but it seems explaining the situation to help demon victims return to normal life is also part of the job.
Come to think of it, I heard a similar explanation when I lost my sister.
"Hey, help fill in the holes."
"Yes!"
Following senior Kakushi 2's instructions, I handled the work. Looking at the traces left at the scene, it's easy to imagine how fierce the battle here must have been. I thought it was fortunate I didn't become a full member.
But it wasn't because my life was precious. It was because I was sure that if I had been at that battlefield, I would have been a hindrance and endangered my comrades.
That's why I turned to rear support. I didn't want to cause unnecessary trouble for the kind fool who helped me.
Hearing that those who fought this battle were the two strongest among my comrades (I don't know if it's okay to call swordsmen comrades as a Kakushi), I felt even more relieved I didn't wield a sword.
If even those two struggled this much, I would have been defeated instantly.
By the way, if you ask about the recent situation of those comrade kids—
"Please! Let me investigate the doctor's house too!"
"No, we can't have a swordsman do such cleanup work!"
"I beg you too. Like this."
"Stop with the dogeza! Both of you, get up… gah, they won't move, these swordsmen…"
They were making senior Kakushi 3 sweat with difficulty.
They had been stubbornly insisting on accompanying the investigation of the house and clinic of the female demon who lived hidden as a doctor in this village.
They even used breathing techniques to perform an iron-clad dogeza, so what on earth was driving them to this extent?
In the end, senior Kakushi 3 was the first to tire and give up. The two were allowed to come along to the doctor's house, and I also followed as the seniors' errand runner.
One might expect a demon's house to be eerie, but the clinic, once entered, was clean and, aside from not letting in sunlight, not much different from an ordinary clinic.
If it's a demon, it should eat people to survive, but there was no scent of blood. It didn't feel like a cannibal's house at all.
"Demons have to eat people to survive, right? How did the demon here live?"
"Did it kill and eat patients on purpose?"
"No, but according to the villagers, everyone became healthier after the doctor came."
Searching shelves or desks only yielded patient records, prescription slips, trivial documents, or ledgers. No matter how much we looked, no ugly traces of a demon were found; instead, only evidence of a kind doctor piled up.
Seeing this, Rei's tense atmosphere when we entered gradually eased. He looked like he might burst into tears at any moment.
And finally, his tears burst when we discovered something hidden under the floorboards.
"What's this… blood in a bottle?"
"It's far from a lethal amount."
"……Did it drink this instead of eating people?"
The moment a senior voiced this laughable speculation, Rei burst into loud sobs. We Kakushi were baffled, blinking our eyes as we watched him crying densely from within his black fox mask.
At first, Shōjuro, who was patting Rei's back, soon had tears welling in his eyes and, led by Rei, also burst into tears.
"Thank goodness, thank goodneeeess! Waaahh!"
"Yeah, yeah… it really is a relief…!"
—Later, examining the ledger in detail revealed the source of the blood. It seems the demon here bought blood from poor people.
Upon learning this, Rei cried again. Shōjuro cried too. In the end, the two were hugging and sobbing.
They apologized to each other with things like "I'm sorry for saying harsh things" or "I'm sorry for showing such a pitiful sight," but did you guys even fight?
I don't know what touched their hearts so much, but honestly, it's too noisy for the search, so please just go back quickly.
"Sniff, sob, hic… ugh, sniff, hic, u… the hiccups won't stop…"
"Rei, I'll give you tissues, so go outside, blow your nose, and just leave."
"Tha, thank you, hic… Mr. Sato… hic…"
"I'm not Sato."
"Won't you bestow tissues upon me too, Lord Sagawa…!"
"I'd rather be called Sato."
Rei, with his face hidden by the fox mask, was somewhat better, but Shōjuro, your handsome face is a mess. At least no snot is flowing, so that's a relief.
After forcibly sending out the two sobbing swordsmen, we Kakushi continued the search and found a hidden shelf.
And inside it—hell was revealed.
Upon opening the door, a fishy stench spread. Holding back the nauseating foul smell that made us want to cover our noses, everyone who looked inside shrank their necks and screamed.
The first thing that caught the eye was a black mass densely studded with rusty nails.
That thing, gleaming with a sticky, unpleasant gloss and slippery—
"Seaweed!"
"It's seaweed!"
"Seaweed so pitiful just to look at!"
It was seaweed, the companion of mothers' dining tables. How did this versatile ingredient, good whether blanched, seasoned with vinegar, or put in soup, end up buried deep in the shelf?
"Did the demon here have its parents killed by seaweed?!"
"Wait, look closely. The seaweed is wrapping something!"
"What is it… Eek! A straw doll—!!"
Senior Kakushi 3, who tore open the seaweed bag, jumped up in terror by at least five inches. A straw doll tightly wrapped in seaweed with large nails driven deep into it. What on earth was the demon here cursing?
"Huh? There's a charm attached to the straw doll."
"Hard to read, let's see, Ki, Bu… Kibutsuji… Muzan?"
"It was cursing Kibutsuji Muzan?"
"Uh, but why seaweed?"
"Was Kibutsuji Muzan seaweed?"
"Seaweed? Kibutsuji Seaweed? Why?"
"Then is there Kibutsuji Kelp?"
"Kibutsuji Mozuku?"
"Kibutsuji Sargassum?"
"Kibutsuji Agar?"
"That's dangerous."
"Are they the Kibutsuji seaweed quintet?"
Really, can't keep a straight face.
But there were two definite gains.
One, that the demon here deeply hated Kibutsuji Muzan.
And another.
Kibutsuji Muzan is—seaweed!
"Found a hidden drawer!"
"What's inside? A new type of seaweed?"
"No, it's a bundle of papers……… Wow."
"What's written?"
"Records on demon physiology, and… this seems to be research on whether it's demon poison or medicine, not sure."
"……We should report to higher-ups. Newbie… what was your name? Was it Goto? Call a Kasugai Crow."
"Yes."
＊
For Kibutsuji Muzan, the pharmacist Tamayo was the most formidable among the women remaining in his memory.
The strongest woman who first rebelled against him, the pinnacle of demons. She was like a vengeful goddess who declared, "I'll kill you and then die!" and directly administered drugs to his solar plexus.
Now, to tell this story, we must go back several centuries.
About ten years after Kibutsuji Muzan turned Tamayo into a demon—that is, after activating the Pythagoras switch with a friend's life. After barely escaping the sorrow of losing another friend due to yet another incident, Kibutsuji Muzan found Tamayo, the mother of his friend. He brought her in as a comrade, saying he would let her meet her child.
Because a slightly raised human emotion desired atonement, and he thought his friend would be happy to meet his mother.
At first, Tamayo intensely despised Kibutsuji Muzan. It was understandable, as he was the culprit who made her beloved flesh and blood eat people.
But from some point, the hatred and murderous intent swirling within her vanished, and she devoted herself obediently to drug research.
Muzan found this strange but attributed it to the fading of human-era emotions or memories over time after becoming a demon.
But the reality was different. The reason Tamayo became obedient was laughably simple.
This woman was casting a demon art on herself.
It was all preparation to make Kibutsuji Muzan let his guard down and poison him for sure.
Pretending to be obediently immersed in drug research, but in reality, pouring time, effort, and funds without reserve, Tamayo finally created a certain drug. A drug that kills demons.
She called Kibutsuji Muzan, tightly gripping that poison in her hand, leading to the direct drug administration mentioned at the beginning.
Tamayo shouted it was a drug that kills demons, but unfortunately, the poison wasn't enough to kill Kibutsuji Muzan, the strongest demon.
But it wasn't entirely ineffective either; his body began to gradually paralyze from the extremities. It was a poison that would be nothing if detoxified, but still, anger is anger.
Kibutsuji Muzan unconsciously shouted.
"Damn old woman!"
"Then are you dried-up seaweed! You living fossil!"
There was no room for rebuttal.
For Kibutsuji Muzan, Tamayo was in the "friend's mom" category, so conceptually she felt like an elder, but in actual age, Kibutsuji Muzan was hundreds of years older. He had nothing to say.
I said I'd let you meet your four children, so why do I have to be treated like this?
Kibutsuji Muzan was enraged. After detoxifying quickly, he should punish Tamayo—no, if he did something harsh to her mother, that guy might look at him coldly.
It ended with a stern warning, and this irritation should be taken out on Hahyun.
"To survive even after being hit by this poison, what a man desperately clinging to life…!"
Tamayo gnashed her teeth that the target didn't die. But seeing that the opponent wasn't completely unharmed and was gradually paralyzing, Tamayo seemed to have a flash of insight—and coughed falsely.
"Ahem… Kyahhh! A demon, a demooon! I hate it, someone save meee!"
She's lying, this woman…!
Forgetting the detoxification process, Kibutsuji Muzan was astonished.
A voice full of pretense, raised two octaves high, echoed through the night road.
The pitiful voice squeezed out with all her heart by a woman who originally had a moist, beautiful voice as if imbued with water—for instance, it had such a pitifulness that a man working in the fields would immediately throw down his hoe and run over saying, "What's the matter!"
"What's the matter!!!"
And in this case, what runs over is a demon slayer.
Realizing that the detoxification speed couldn't possibly keep up, Kibutsuji Muzan immediately set off 1800 hideous fireworks on the spot.
The best policy is retreat. Kibutsuji Muzan was a man who valued life over pride. This was before Nakime existed, and he couldn't use the Infinity Castle escape.
Out of the 1800 pieces, 1500 were already paralyzed by the poison and couldn't move properly. And those pieces were meticulously sliced apart by the blades of the demon slayers who appeared.
Damn, why is their work so thorough? He tried to regenerate with the remaining 300 pieces, but due to severe damage, his control weakened greatly, and some demons broke free from his domination.
Tamayo was one of them. The woman who calmly fled before the demon slayers is probably still living somewhere, raising the flag to overthrow Kibutsuji Muzan. A terrifying woman.
—On this day, Kibutsuji Muzan tasted for the first time in his life the terror of a friend's mother.
Comments (0)
Please log in to leave a comment. Login or Register