The Kasugai Crows flew desperately without stopping for even a second, hoping only to deliver the message as quickly as possible.
At last, the three exhausted Kasugai Crows reached the vicinity of the Ubuyashiki estate. Unfortunately, they fell from midair before they could enter. Just as they were about to crash to their deaths, a figure flashed past and caught them.
Hiruma carefully held them in his arms, pain flickering in his eyes.
These little fellows were fighting with their lives too.
He hurriedly pushed open the gate. Ubuyashiki Kagaya sat beneath the eaves as usual, holding a book in his hands—the very picture of a quiet, handsome man.
"Boss, these three Kasugai Crows must have something urgent to report!" There was no one else in the courtyard, so there was no need to bother with formalities. Hiruma naturally sat down beside Oyakata-sama.
Kagaya recognized at once which swordsmen the crows belonged to. He had a rough idea of what had happened—the swordsmen sent to investigate Slanting Eye Mountain had likely met with disaster.
At that thought, his heart sank. There had been twenty swordsmen.
This was all due to his misjudgment.
"Hiruma, go to Slanting Eye Mountain. The Twelve Kizuki you have always wanted to kill should have appeared there." Guilt filled Kagaya's heart as he gently stroked the white-eyed Kasugai Crows, as though he were stroking the swordsmen themselves.
"Got it. I'm leaving right away!" Hiruma tossed a bottle of Smiling Save Your Life Three Thousand to Kagaya and turned to leave. He understood what Oyakata-sama was thinking, and before departing, he left him with a few words.
"Kagaya, it isn't your fault. Everyone is striving toward a better future. Their deaths were not in vain."
"Once we set foot on this path, none of us swordsmen will