Several days had passed since the Final Selection ended.
Tatsuo had returned to the mountain house where he had originally lived, and was now meditating.
As his eyes remained closed, the memories of the past few days flickered through his mind.
Not long after he came home, a crow had delivered a letter.
The sender was a swordsmith from the swordsmith village.
To sum up his message:
If Tatsuo came to him within a month as a true Hashira, he would grant any request without complaint.
He had added that his own craftsmanship was the best in the swordsmith village, so there was no need to worry about being disappointed.
But...
I still don’t have a mission.
Tatsuo sighed inwardly.
Normally, Demon Slayers did not receive a mission the moment they passed the Final Selection.
There was a gap of time while they recovered from the exhaustion of the test and waited to receive their sword from their swordsmith.
It was a kindness in its own way, but to Tatsuo it was nothing more than a waste of time.
Maybe I should just go find one myself.
Just as he was considering going out to hunt down a blood demon on his own—
“Caw!”
A crow’s cry rang out.
Tatsuo opened his eyes and looked at the crow.
It was unmistakably his own crow.
“Tsunokake Tatsuo! New mission! East! East!”
It was an incredibly loud crow.
“There’s a small village! People are disappearing there!”
That was the moment Tatsuo received his first mission.
Finding the village was not difficult.
The crow had guided him along the way.
When he arrived, he found a man wearing the same uniform as himself.
His crow had said that this mission had one additional member besides Tatsuo.
So this must be him.
The man noticed him too and waved.
“Oh! You’re the rookie I’m working with this time?”
He looked relaxed, almost carefree.
“Nice to meet you! My name’s Shuya Koki. I’m rank Mizunoto in the Demon Slayers. As your senior, I can teach you plenty, so ask me anything you want!”
Not bad.
That was Tatsuo’s assessment of the man introducing himself as Shuya Koki.
He’s about on par with Kakuro. But he’s already hit his growth limit.
That was Tatsuo’s conclusion after a brief appraisal.
“You look young. How old are you? For reference, I’m twenty-six. This is my ninth year with the Demon Slayers.”
“Tsunokake Tatsuo. I’m fifteen.”
“Wow, really young... Well, our Demon Slayers organization is mostly kids anyway.”
Koki scratched his cheek.
“Anyway, you’ve probably heard the basics already, right? People have been disappearing in this village. The disappearances happen at night. No matter how you look at it, it’s clearly the work of a demon.”
“Of course, the Demon Slayers already sent people. But the ones they sent never came back. They were probably taken down by the demon.”
As he looked at Tatsuo, a questioning light entered Koki’s eyes.
“Honestly, I do wonder why they sent a rookie like you to a mission that already failed once, but I’m sure there’s a reason. I’ll have to trust that decision.”
“...Sorry, I rambled a bit. Do you like salmon? Apparently there’s a restaurant in this village that’s famous for it.”
Tatsuo nodded to show his agreement.
After that, the two of them ate, then wandered around several places to gather information.
Time passed quickly, and before long night began to fall.
“This is where the real work starts. You know this already, but demons only move at night.”
The two of them were walking past a row of walls.
Koki was a step ahead of Tatsuo, because he had decided to take the lead in case a demon suddenly appeared.
“During the day, when the sun’s up, the basic method is to ask the villagers questions and investigate. At night, we go around the area directly and search.”
Koki kept talking, sounding almost excited to teach his junior something.
“So—ugh!”
Koki’s words were cut off. Tatsuo, who had been walking behind him, suddenly grabbed his collar and yanked him back.
“!!!”
At that exact moment, dozens of thorn-like tendrils shot out from the wall Koki had been about to pass.
If not for Tatsuo, Koki’s body would have been riddled with holes.
It’s this one... This is the one behind everything! What an absurd disguise. I didn’t notice a thing!
After the brief shock, Shuya Koki—his nine years of experience not wasted after all—quickly regained his composure and reached for his sword.
Having failed its attack, the wall melted away like flowing water and took on a human shape.
Without the demon’s distinctive eyes and teeth, it would have been easy to mistake it for an ordinary person.
“!!!”
The blood demon’s pupils trembled after its ambush failed. Perhaps because its attack had been seen through, it froze for a moment. Then it leaped away, trying to flee.
“I won’t let it get away! That disguise was incredible—it has to be a Blood Demon Art. I’m going after it! Keep up, Tsunokake!”
Koki shouted as he kicked off the ground and flew after it.
Tatsuo said nothing.
He simply watched the direction the demon had fled.
The blood demon, Hensou, was running for its life.
“What was that?!”
Hensou felt a chill run down his spine.
After the Demon Slayers had come again, he had disguised himself and waited for an ambush.
Just like last time, they seemed not to notice him, and the moment they passed by, he launched his attack with murderous intent.
But this time the result was different. The one he had targeted was saved by the one walking a step behind him.
In that instant, the moment his eyes met the one in the back, Hensou felt as if his own body were being torn apart.
In less than a heartbeat, he had been sliced and ripped into several pieces.
The next emotion that surged up was fear.
He had instinctively realized that what he felt was not imagination, but a future that was about to happen.
[Wind Breathing First Form - Dust Whirlwind Cutter]
A vortex of wind slammed into Hensou.
It was Koki’s strike, unleashed before Hensou even realized he had closed the distance.
Hensou crossed both arms to block, but the arms that took the blow were left mangled and ragged.
“Tch... I don’t have time to waste on trash like you!”
He immediately spun and kicked Koki away.
Koki blocked with his sword, but he could not stop his body from being sent flying, and he was thrown back with a sickening sense of weightlessness.
“I have to run!”
Hensou tried to flee again using the opening, but after only a few steps he froze in place.
Tatsuo was standing not far ahead.
“Useless.”
Tatsuo spoke.
Then I’ll just abandon my arm and break through...!!
Hensou thought it, but he could not bring himself to do it.
He had seen an illusion of his head splitting into nine pieces.
“Stop right there!!”
Turning around, he saw Koki shouting as he had already caught up again from behind.
From that one exchange earlier, he had felt it. The one chasing him from behind was no pushover either.
If he fought head-on instead of ambushing them, he would probably lose.
A true deadlock.
“Where do you think you’re looking?”
The instant Tatsuo’s voice reached him, a chill ran over Hensou’s entire body and he looked forward again.
Before he knew it, Tatsuo had closed to point-blank range and was holding his sword out in a rearward thrusting stance, the blade aimed straight ahead.
When did he get there?! I didn’t hear a single sound!!
As Hensou reeled in shock, Tatsuo exhaled.
[Heaven-Splitting Breathing Second Form - Heavenly Body Piercing Strike]
The thrust shot forward with enough force to pierce even the sky itself, and drove straight through Hensou’s head.
A tremendous blast of pressure erupted, bursting out from the hole in Hensou’s skull and tearing him apart from within, until his entire head exploded.
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