Lower Moon Two Rokuro

Inside the Peace Town clinic, the physician frowned as he looked at Kaigaku, pulling the stethoscope away from the boy's chest.

He turned to Kujo Tachibana and asked, "You're that new worker from the Inoue Family, right? What happened to this kid?"

"He was walking and wasn't careful, he tripped," Tachibana explained calmly, looking at the physician.

He watched the physician's expression, which clearly read: Do you take me for a fool?

Kujo Tachibana followed up with, "If you don't believe me, you can ask him yourself."

Seeing this, the physician turned his head to look at Kaigaku.

Kaigaku clutched his chest, coughed twice, and then nodded, confirming Kujo Tachibana's story.

It wasn't that he wanted to cover for Kujo Tachibana; it was that Tachibana seemed to know his secrets. If the police were brought in, the things he had done before might come to light.

Kaigaku was no fool, so he certainly wouldn't do that.

Kujo Tachibana had known this would be the result all along, which was why he had dared to bring Kaigaku here so openly.

The physician shook his head. Since the patient said so, he couldn't be bothered to meddle. He just looked at the two of them and said:

"Aside from the damage to his lungs and trachea, there are no other major issues. He'll be fine after resting for a while."

"I suggest you go to Tokyo to have it looked at. I hear foreigners have built a hospital there; perhaps they have a way to cure you."

Kujo Tachibana smiled, and without wasting any more time listening, he turned and left the clinic.

He still had to return the money Kaigaku had stolen in town.

As for the money Kaigaku had stolen elsewhere, Tachibana felt there was nothing he could do. He wasn't a saint, and he had his own business to attend to.

Bringing Kaigaku to the clinic was merely to confirm whether his punch had achieved its purpose.

As for healing the damage to Kaigaku's lungs, Kujo Tachibana felt that with the medical standards of this era, it was likely impossible. With his damaged lungs, Kaigaku would have to live the rest of his life as a cripple; let him spend his remaining days repenting for his sins!

A week later, Kujo Tachibana looked helplessly at the physician who had come knocking, handing over every cent he had on him.

Yes, as soon as Kaigaku's condition had improved slightly, he had snuck out of the clinic, successfully skipping out on the medical bill.

Finally, once the physician was certain that Kujo Tachibana truly couldn't scrape together another penny, he left, cursing and swearing while clutching the money.

The restaurant owner nearby, that old geezer Inoue Shogo, looked at Kujo Tachibana and chuckled, "Haha, you brat, out of money again?"

Tachibana couldn't be bothered to deal with this skinflint of an owner. He had been working for him for so long, and the man hadn't even mentioned a word about wages?

He didn't want to pay a single cent, did he?

I'll have to eat more for dinner!

Tachibana thought to himself as he swung his axe into the log in front of him.

Late at night, Peace Town was exceptionally quiet, and most of the residents had already fallen into a deep sleep.

Only a few scattered izakayas and certain entertainment venues still maintained a glimmer of light.

A man with the appearance of a middle-aged uncle, sporting shoulder-length black hair, a beard, and a face covered in cracks, slowly walked along the road outside town and into the streets of Peace Town.

The moonlight in the sky reflected in the man's pupils, emitting a ghostly green glow. Even more bizarrely:

Deeply etched into the iris of the man's left eye were the characters "Lower Two"!

Yes, this man was none other than the Lower Moon Two Rokuro.

As he walked, Rokuro muttered to himself:

"How many people should I eat today?"

"Three? Or maybe six?... Forget it, let's just eat three."

"If I eat too many... the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps might just come looking for me."

Having made his decision, Rokuro slowly walked toward the light ahead.

Kujo Tachibana, who slept with his sword in his arms, suddenly opened his eyes in the darkness.

This is the scent of fresh blood.

High in the sky, a Kasugai Crow hidden in the night air flew rapidly toward the distance.

Rokuro gripped a Demon Slayer Corps member by the throat, lifting him up. Watching the man's face turn red from suffocation, he mocked:

"So you found your way here after all! Heh, what a pity, only two small fry showed up."

Fujiwara Naoto gripped his Nichirin Sword tightly, but his body began to tremble uncontrollably.

He looked at the demon before him, who was holding his companion high and radiating a terrifying aura.

I'm going to die!

I'm going to die!

"Is a monster like this something I can possibly defeat!"

Fujiwara Naoto, with two and a half years of training under his belt, was a Mizunoto-ranked member of the Demon Slayer Corps. This was his very first mission since officially joining the ranks.

Naoto felt that, in all likelihood, this would also be his last.

Watching Fujiwara Naoto, who had already lost the courage to even swing his blade, Rokuro spoke with an expressionless face:

"Humans! Truly weak and incompetent lives."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Rokuro's thick, grayish palm squeezed down with brutal force!

"Squelch..."

Following a low, muffled sound, the flesh and bone at the young Demon Slayer's neck had been crushed into a pulp by Rokuro.

Blood gushed out from between Rokuro's fingers like a fountain.

Rokuro stuck out his tongue to lick the blood that had sprayed onto the corner of his mouth, then tore the head from the corpse and began to gnaw on it right in front of the other Demon Slayer.

When Kujo Tachibana arrived at the scene, this was the hellish sight that greeted him.

A youth clad in the black uniform of the Demon Slayer Corps was currently on his knees, retching violently at the vomit on the ground.

As for the other one... well, the scene was far too gruesome, and Kujo Tachibana couldn't help but gag himself.

With a pale complexion, Kujo Tachibana looked up, forcing down the churning sensation in his stomach.

Rokuro, who had been sitting cross-legged, licked his fingers clean of the gore before casually tossing the skull, now stripped of every scrap of flesh, to the side.

He stood up, looked at the newly arrived Kujo Tachibana, and said:

"Another piece of trash has arrived? It seems I'll be able to eat my fill today."

Seeing the characters "Lower Rank Two" in Rokuro's left eye, Kujo Tachibana's pupils couldn't help but constrict.

Does the first battle really have to be this far above my pay grade?

This is one of the Twelve Kizuki!

And a Twelve Kizuki whose Blood Demon Art is completely unknown!

Even if he is just a Lower Rank demon...

The battle arrived with such suddenness. Although Kujo Tachibana had wanted to start with small fry to grind up his levels, it was clear that Rokuro was not about to give him that chance.

Peach Mountain.

A pitch-black Kasugai Crow circled in the sky, looking down at the white-haired and white-bearded Kuwajima Jigoro, the former Thunder Hashira who had retired due to his injuries.

A hurried and sharp human voice emanated from the crow's beak.

"Mizunoto-ranked members Fujiwara Naoto and Kobayashi Senichiro have discovered a Twelve Kizuki in Peace Town! Send reinforcements immediately! Send reinforcements immediately!"

After repeating the message twice, the Kasugai Crow flew off in another direction without looking back.

Upon receiving the news, Kuwajima Jigoro did not dare to delay. He retrieved his Nichirin sword from the house and rushed toward Peace Town with all his might.

"Never mind missing a leg; what does it matter if I have no legs at all?"

"As long as this old man can still hold a blade!"

"I swear to slay every demon in this world!"