"I'll take you somewhere."
Sayo agreed. Seeing a group of children running past them, she suddenly grabbed Yorii Tsugikuni's hand and ran.
They arrived at an open patch of land overgrown with weeds.
Two battered goal nets stood facing each other at opposite ends.
"Stop him! Don't let him score!"
"If you're not sure, remember to kick the ball to me."
Standing on a field he had never seen before, Yorii Tsugikuni watched the ball being kicked back and forth.
A rare look of confusion appeared on his face.
Sayo had a somewhat worn-out leather ball at her feet, while a group of children surrounded her and chased after it.
From the children's expressions, it was clear that they knew Sayo well.
"Alright."
Though he was still unfamiliar with it, Yorii Tsugikuni nodded seriously.
He began running along with everyone else.
Looking at the innocent smiles on the children's faces, he recalled some things from his own childhood.
Back then, he had also wished for companions he could play with.
However, because of the markings on his face and because he was a twin, he had been considered unlucky from a young age and even called a monster.
"Catch it!"
Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni running toward the crude goal, Sayo broke free from several children pursuing her and kicked the ball at him.
"Thud!"
Though it was his first time playing this kicking game, his control over his strength made it easy for him.
Yorii Tsugikuni effortlessly intercepted the ball Sayo had kicked in midair. Before it could touch the ground, he sent it straight into the net with a single kick.
"Nicely done."
"Even though you kicked it into our own goal."
Seeing the ball land in the net, Sayo jumped excitedly.
Although she often came here, she usually only watched the children play.
She did not get to join in very often.
"Aren't we supposed to kick the ball into our own goal?"
Watching the children opposing them cheer and jump about, Yorii Tsugikuni initially thought they were celebrating for him.
It was not until he saw Sayo holding back a laugh that he realized things were not as he had thought.
"We're the attacking side. We're supposed to score in their goal."
Sayo walked over to Yorii Tsugikuni and explained the rules to him.
After Sayo's explanation, Yorii Tsugikuni quickly came to fully understand the game before him.
Soon, the match began again.
This time, Yorii Tsugikuni quickly worked with Sayo to score a goal.
However, throughout the rest of the match, Yorii Tsugikuni would occasionally make a mistake.
In the end, he and Sayo won by the narrow margin of one goal.
"Goodbye, Sister Sayo."
"Goodbye, Brother Yorii."
The sky had grown dark, and the children on the field bid farewell to Yorii Tsugikuni and Sayo one after another.
Their happy yet slightly unwilling expressions showed that they had enjoyed today's match very much.
Before long, only Sayo and Yorii Tsugikuni remained on the field.
"You deliberately let them win, didn't you?"
"Didn't you do the same?"
Sitting with Yorii Tsugikuni on a fallen log by the field, the two smiled at each other.
In truth, with either of their abilities, neither of them would have given a dozen children any chance of winning.
Yet they had made mistake after mistake during the match, turning what should have been a one-sided game into something difficult and interesting.
Yorii Tsugikuni had no particular obsession with winning. In his view, the most important thing about a game was having fun.
How could he use his own strength to forcibly deprive those children of their happiness?
Chelsea's Late-Night Visit: Right and Wrong
As for Sayo, she simply wanted to relive some beautiful memories.
The slower and more closely contested the game was, the longer she could stay with those children.
It was already late.
The two parted ways at the street corner and headed home in different directions.
The moment Yorii Tsugikuni returned to where he lived, he smelled a rich fragrance.
The others who had returned before him had already prepared a lavish meal.
"Master, come in quickly. We've been waiting for you for quite a while."
"If you didn't come back soon, we would've thought you'd gone on a date with Sayo."
When he saw Yorii Tsugikuni return, Ieyasu brought over a chair for him. He grinned and winked at Yorii Tsugikuni as though to say, You don't need to explain. We understand.
"I was delayed on the way. How did things go for you today?"
Yorii Tsugikuni sat down and ignored Ieyasu's suggestive expression.
He merely decided in secret to increase Ieyasu's morning sword swings from five hundred to fifteen hundred.
That way, Ieyasu could experience the profound love of his master.
"We recorded everyone who might be involved today."
"But overall, we didn't gain much."
Sayo shot Ieyasu a glare, then poured Yorii Tsugikuni a cup of hot tea.
They had also gone to a great many places throughout the day.
"Take it slowly. Don't go out tonight."
"Until that person is caught, stay home and behave yourselves."
Yorii Tsugikuni was not surprised by this outcome.
The Imperial Capital was simply too large, and the Decapitator Demon appeared in random locations every time.
That greatly increased the difficulty of narrowing down their search area.
"Don't worry, Master. We won't run around at night unless it's necessary."
After witnessing Night Raid's strength, Ieyasu had made up his mind.
He absolutely would not go out at night.
It was not that he was especially afraid of death. In Ieyasu's view, he could only receive his wages if he stayed alive.
Only then could the situation in his village improve. If he died, he would be worth nothing at all.
Because they were exhausted and hungry,
after dinner, everyone returned to their own rooms to rest.
Yorii Tsugikuni, meanwhile, sat cross-legged in his room and waited for night to fall.
It was not until deep into the night that he opened his eyes.
Perhaps I should go out and see whether this world truly has demons.
Gently pushing open his door, Yorii Tsugikuni quickly went downstairs.
His goal was simple: to search the streets for traces of demons.
Having been in this world for so long, he had never heard anyone he knew mention the existence of demons.
Since he could not learn about them from others, he could only investigate on his own.
Awoo!
Based on his decades of experience with demons, Yorii Tsugikuni began heading toward places where demons might appear.
The streets of the Imperial Capital were empty in the dead of night. The only sounds were the occasional howls of stray dogs coming from the deep alleys around him.
There doesn't seem to be any trace of a demon's presence.
He walked through one street after another, yet did not sense even the slightest demonic presence.
It made him wonder whether the world he was in was truly the same world as before.
However, Yorii Tsugikuni did not give up. He decided that whenever he had time, he would come out again. After all, encountering a demon was not such a simple matter.
Perhaps if he walked the night roads often enough, he would eventually come across one.
Retracing his route, Yorii Tsugikuni soon returned to where he lived.
Without thinking much of it, he climbed under the covers and went to sleep.
After an unknown amount of time had passed, a small cat poked its head through a gap in Yorii Tsugikuni's window.
Perched on the edge of the window, it seemed somewhat hesitant as it looked at Yorii Tsugikuni lying on the bed.
"Meow?"
The cat let out a neither-too-loud-nor-too-soft cry. Yet in the silent night, it could be heard clearly.
Seeing no movement from Yorii Tsugikuni, the cat slowly squeezed through the window gap. It seemed to be somewhat careless, lost its footing on the edge of the window, and fell onto the floor inside.
It then sprang up alertly and leaped back onto the window ledge.
"Do you need something?"
Yorii Tsugikuni still lay quietly on the bed.
His calm voice rang out in the silent night, startling the cat on the window ledge so badly that it nearly fell out again.
It tilted its head and looked at Yorii Tsugikuni in confusion.
"Last time, when you turned into a cat, you overlooked a few details."
Yorii Tsugikuni did not get up. He lay still, and from the moment the cat appeared, he had already noticed what was different about it.
He saw many details on this cat that were identical to the black-and-white cat from before.
No matter what form someone took, their habits of movement and bodily instincts were extremely difficult to change.
"You found me out."
"I want to know what details I overlooked."
Chelsea returned to her original form. She had encountered Yorii Tsugikuni once before.
After returning that time, she had thought about it for a long while, yet she had never been able to figure out where she had made a mistake.
Furthermore, she sensed no hostility from Yorii Tsugikuni. Her companions were nearby, which was also why she dared to appear before him.
"You had one extra hair."
"That cat's whiskers weren't complete."
Yorii Tsugikuni slightly opened his eyes and looked at Chelsea standing beside the window. His tone remained calm.
He made no excessive movements.
After thinking for a moment, he asked in return, "Why did you kill that wealthy man?"
Before you continue