While the boys recovered from their injuries, Haruto still had to keep clearing demons out of his patrol district.
After Kagaya actually established an office at Headquarters to collect rumors from the public, a steady stream of letters arrived at the locations they had designated outside Headquarters. The letters then passed through several hands before being quietly brought inside.
The Kakushi responsible for sorting intelligence sifted through and verified the reports. Confirmed information was assigned to swordsmen of the appropriate ranks, who would head out to eliminate the demons in hiding.
After going to Wakamatsu Town and dealing with a demon hiding in a tea-processing shop, Haruto stood on a hillside and looked down. "Huh? What's that place?"
Before him lay a collapsed, abandoned town undergoing repairs. Workers moved back and forth through it, clearing away the wreckage of fallen houses.
Haruto found the place incredibly familiar. Not just the layout of the collapsed houses, but the nearby coastline, too-everything gave him a sense of déjà vu.
"This is Hirano, in Chiba Prefecture," Cang Kong answered promptly.
Chiba... Hirano...
Ah, right.
On his very first mission, he had joined forces with Giyu here to slay the Ox Demon and Nure-onna.
He had never imagined eight years would pass in the blink of an eye, or that he would go from a green rookie to a Hashira capable of holding his own.
Feeling nostalgic, he approached a worker to ask about it.
"Excuse me, sir. Why have all the houses here collapsed?"
The Hot Steam House and the Late Sea Inn were both gone. All that remained was a pitiful stretch of ruined buildings.
The worker stopped what he was doing, took his pipe from his waist, and used the break to take a few more puffs.
"Renovations. The government put