The purpose of marriage

By the time he came down from the mountain, the sky had already grown dark.

Mr. Himejima was a big man, and even the amount of tears he shed far exceeded most people's. Haruto had spent quite a while comforting him before he finally stopped crying.

The Kocho Sisters had also finished speaking with the village chief. Apparently, they had settled on a design for their swords, but the wisteria poison still needed careful research.

Tetsujikawara Tecchin told them not to rush. Developing a new way to kill demons took time and refinement.

"So they're eating dinner in the village kitchen? And staying in the village lodgings tonight?" Godogawa's hands paused as he carried the dishes.

"Yep. I heard the dining hall has red bean ohagi today." Haruto stuffed two syrup-coated glutinous rice balls into his mouth, puffing out his cheeks. "By the way, Master, why did you make so much food? Are we having guests today?"

The little square table in front of him was packed with sumptuous dishes, leaving Haruto spoiled for choice.

This one's delicious. Mm... this one is delicious too.

Godogawa's hands trembled as he restrained the urge to yank Haruto's white hair.

What am I going to do? This boy seems more likely to marry food than a girl someday...

Thinking of girls inevitably reminded Godogawa of the suspicion that had flashed through his mind that afternoon.

He slowly sat down and watched Haruto tuck into his meal, his wizened old face creasing with wrinkles.

"Haruto, you're seventeen now, aren't you?"

Haruto glanced at his master's fake smile and immediately knew he was getting at something. "Yeah, my birthday was a little while ago."

"Seventeen, huh? In the two or three years you've spent out there, you really haven't met a girl who caught your eye?" Godogawa stressed the word "girl." "You're on pretty good terms with Oyakata-sama, aren't you? He already has both sons and daughters..."

Oh, right. Shortly after Haruto left, Amane had gone into labor and given birth to a baby boy. Kagaya had written to him about it. The boy's name was Kiriya.

"Hmm..." Haruto raised his chopsticks and gave it some serious thought, then nodded. "I have."

"Really?" Godogawa perked up. "Whose daughter is she? How old is she? Where is she from? Is she a Demon Slayer Corps swordswoman?"

Haruto pressed his lips together and answered with feigned seriousness, "Her name is Tamayo. She lives in Asakusa, Tokyo, and she doesn't really have much to do with the Demon Slayer Corps... but you definitely wouldn't approve, because she's a teensy billion bits older."

"Ha ha!" Godogawa laughed heartily and thumped his chest. "Your master isn't some old fossil. Age isn't a problem for me. Older girls know how to look after you, and childbirth goes more smoothly for them too-by the way, is she a little older than you?"

"A teensy billion bits older than you."

After Haruto said that, a deathly silence fell over the dinner table.

The boy looked up. Across from him, Godogawa's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.

"Are you making fun of me?"

"No, it's just a complicated situation." Haruto sighed helplessly. "Master, why, exactly? Why do you keep pushing me to settle down? I'm honestly curious. So curious I can't even eat."

"Nonsense. You seem to be eating with plenty of gusto to me." Godogawa's expression softened a little, and he let out a long breath through his nose.

Under the lamplight, the little old man who was always so full of energy truly looked aged.

"You know I've always opposed you learning swordsmanship and becoming a demon slayer, don't you?"

Haruto nodded. A major reason he hadn't formally begun learning swordsmanship until he was eleven and a half was his master Godogawa's resistance.

It was dangerous outside the village, with foul demons roaming everywhere... Godogawa had always used words like those to frighten him.

Even after he began learning swordsmanship, Godogawa kept saying he lacked talent and would never become a good demon slayer.

Right up until the day before the selection, his master had still been trying to find ways to make him give up and withdraw.

An actual child would have long since lost all desire to become a demon slayer under such discouragement.

But Haruto wasn't a child. Beneath Godogawa's stern expression, he could tell... his master was afraid of something.

Afraid of him leaving the Swordsmith Village, afraid of him becoming a demon slayer, and even more afraid of him becoming a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.

"When I first saw you at your great-uncle's funeral, I knew I ought to keep you in the Swordsmith Village for the rest of your life."

Godogawa pointed at Haruto's face and gave a bitter laugh. "Your looks really are exceptional... fatally exceptional. They brought a thirty-year curse upon the Takanashi Family."

When Godogawa said "fatally," he meant it literally.

It all went back thirty years, to Haruto's grandfather, Takanashi Sōma.

In the early Meiji era, Takanashi Sōma had made a name for himself throughout Tokyo Prefecture's entertainment districts with his outstanding looks and superb swordsmanship. He was a regular at the brothels.

He often drank and performed sword dances throughout Tokyo Prefecture and its surrounding areas, living a wild, uninhibited life. He was the dream lover of countless courtesans and oiran.

"In fact, he joined the Demon Slayer Corps when he was fifteen. He was a Thunder Breathing swordsman and had always hunted foul demons outside Tokyo Prefecture. He came to Tokyo disguised as a rōnin to carry out a mission from headquarters."

A foul demon apparently lurked in Shinagawa's entertainment district in Tokyo Prefecture. Unlike any demon the Demon Slayer Corps had encountered before, it seemed to prey only on exceptionally attractive people.

By the time the Oyakata-sama of that era learned of this trait, several people had already disappeared. Sōma was well known within the Demon Slayer Corps, so Oyakata-sama transferred him to Tokyo Prefecture specifically to lure this "lustful" demon out.

Sure enough, the demon fell for Sōma's looks and rakish charm at first sight.

"They say she was an extraordinarily beautiful demon. Even a man as much of a womanizer as Sōma said he had never seen anyone more beautiful than her." Godogawa was lost in his memories, while Haruto listened and divided his attention between his words and the scrolling comments appearing before him.

[Entertainment district, beautiful, demon, obsessed with looks... guys, why does this sound familiar?]

[First, let's use the process of elimination. It's definitely not Daki.]

[A man even a demon fell for. The Takanashi Family's genes are way too powerful!]

[Honestly, if he really ran into Daki, this Mr. Sōma probably wouldn't stand much of a chance...]

[Ume, my Ume~]

[Let's be real, Ume as a human was the pinnacle of beauty in Demon Slayer!]

[Hey, person above, isn't Miss Tamayo the pinnacle...?]

Daki.

Haruto committed that name to memory.

The beautiful demon hadn't killed Sōma immediately, so for their second meeting, he brought two Hashira-level swordsmen and several Kinoe- and Kinoto-ranked demon slayers. They surrounded the demon in a brothel in Shinagawa.

"Everyone was completely confident in the operation, but when dawn broke the next day, the Kakushi found only the swordsmen's bodies and a pool of blood that belonged to Sōma.

"She had eaten only Sōma's body. The other swordsmen were left intact because their looks weren't outstanding..."

Godogawa gave a desolate smile. "That was the only reason the ashes of my fifteen-year-old son, Ryoji, could be returned to me."

Haruto's eyes widened. At last, he knew whose ashes were in the urn in Godogawa's room.

"After Sōma died, his son-your father, Yūsei-was raised by your grandmother. Although Yūsei was just as handsome, his talent was ordinary, so he didn't join the Demon Slayer Corps. He married and had a child early.

"Everyone thought Yūsei would be able to raise you safely. Who could have known that, shortly after you were born, a foul demon would attack Yūsei at his home in Ryūsen? You escaped because you were visiting your great-uncle.

"On the wall inside the house, several large words had been written in blood-Sōma's child tasted just as delicious as he did.

"Everyone knew that demon had come for him. She held a grudge against Sōma and wanted to wipe out his descendants!"

Godogawa took a deep breath and reached out to stroke Haruto's hair.

"Why did I bring you to the Swordsmith Village? Because you look so much like Sōma. As long as you stayed here, this secluded village could protect you for the rest of your life.

"But I never imagined you'd become a demon slayer, let alone a Hashira."

The little old man lowered his eyes and sighed. "Perhaps one day, the demon who killed Sōma and Yūsei will suddenly appear and take your life too..."

"So you want me to marry early and carry on the Takanashi Family's bloodline, so I can at least leave a child behind before I die?"

"The Takanashi Family and the Godogawa Family have been close for generations. I don't want..."

"Master." Haruto chuckled and shook his head. "You've got it wrong. All wrong!"

"If that demon isn't killed, any child I have will just become her food in the future. What would be the point?

"Besides, marrying a girl just to have a child would be-far too despicable!"