Passing and parting

"What now? What am I supposed to do next? Where's my sword?"

After hearing the two children speak, a boy with a dark mohawk and a scar running across his right cheek to the tip of his nose addressed them impatiently.

The two children ignored him and continued addressing the surviving swordsmen. "The organization will first prepare your uniforms. Once your measurements have been taken, your ranks will be embroidered onto them.

"There are ten ranks in the Corps: Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, Wu, Ji, Geng, Xin, Ren, and Gui. All of you are currently at the lowest rank, Gui."

"What about our swords?" the mohawked boy asked again.

"Today, the organization will have each of you personally choose the steel you prefer. Your swords will be completed in ten to fifteen days," the white-haired child answered.

Then he continued, "We will also assign each of you your own Kasugai crow right away."

As soon as the white-haired child finished speaking, a flock of crows descended from the sky, cawing as they landed on the swordsmen's arms. Chiba Yo received his own Kasugai crow as well.

There was one exception, however. Zenitsu received a sparrow.

Staring at the tiny sparrow in his hand, Zenitsu was dumbfounded. He turned to the white-haired child and protested in disbelief, "Huh? Did you say crows? This is obviously a sparrow!"

"Chirp!"

The sparrow in Zenitsu's hand gave a chirp, seemingly displeased.

"Kasugai crows are primarily used to deliver messages," the black-haired child continued explaining to the swordsmen.

Messenger crows, huh.

Chiba Yo looked at the crow perched on his arm and felt quite satisfied.

While practicing Sword Techniques, he had seen Kyojuro's Kasugai crow, so he knew these crows could speak and were very intelligent. They were extremely convenient for delivering messages.

Not everyone was satisfied, however. The mohawked boy slapped his Kasugai crow away, making it caw in pain.

Then the mohawked boy shouted at the two children in utter dissatisfaction, "I don't care about some stupid crow!"

"I want a sword! A sword, do you understand?!" As he spoke, the mohawked boy threw a punch at the white-haired child.

Smack!

Chiba Yo noticed his movement and caught his wrist.

"They already explained it clearly, didn't they? Your sword will be finished in ten to fifteen days," Chiba Yo said, looking at the mohawked boy.

He couldn't stand this sort of bullying of the weak.

"What's it got to do with you? Let go of me!" the mohawked boy yelled, his face furious.

Chiba Yo flung his hand aside and stepped in front of the two children. The force sent the mohawked boy stumbling back several steps.

"I suggest you calm down," Chiba Yo advised the boy.

He had never met this boy before. Someone who had survived these seven days on his own strength presumably had some skill, but that was no excuse for acting so arrogantly. If the boy still wanted to fight, Chiba Yo wouldn't mind teaching him a painful lesson.

"Attacking a kid is pretty pathetic, isn't it?"

"Exactly. They already explained everything perfectly clearly."

The other swordsmen gradually gathered around and began condemning the mohawked boy. Almost all of them had been rescued by Chiba Yo and his two companions during the Final Selection. Meanwhile, Zenitsu caught the crow the boy had slapped away and gently soothed it.

"Tch!" Seeing that almost everyone was displeased with him, the mohawked boy said nothing more and turned away from Chiba Yo and the others.

"Thank you," the white-haired child said to Chiba Yo, who waved it off.

"Everyone, please choose the steel that will be used to forge your swords."

The black-haired child addressed the swordsmen. On a table beside her lay numerous pieces of steel in various shapes and sizes.

Chiba Yo studied the steel on the table and noticed that it contained a light like the sun's.

This must be the scarlet crimson ore Master Rengoku mentioned. Has prolonged exposure to sunlight allowed it to absorb the sun's energy?

With that thought, Chiba Yo approached the table and selected the piece of ore with the most intense light inside.

Before long, all the swordsmen had made their selections. Although more than half had survived, there were still only a dozen or so of them.

The swordsmen began leaving one after another, though most came over to thank Chiba Yo and his two companions before departing.

"Are you two leaving too?" Chiba Yo asked Zenitsu and Tanjiro.

"Yes. I'm going back to Mr. Urokodaki," Tanjiro answered with a smile.

During their seven days together, Chiba Yo had learned that Mr. Urokodaki was Tanjiro's trainer.

"I'm going back to Grandpa Kuwajima too. After this, I'll definitely have to go on demon-slaying missions alone. I might die before long, so this could be goodbye forever!" Zenitsu told Chiba Yo and Tanjiro through his tears, his whole body radiating fear.

"That won't happen. You're really strong, Zenitsu," Tanjiro reassured him.

"No, I'm not!!! I'm pathetically weak! I only passed the Final Selection because I was lucky enough to run into Yo. Otherwise, I'd have died ages ago! If I have to go on missions alone, a demon will kill me right away!"

Far from calming down at Tanjiro's reassurance, Zenitsu grew even more frightened, screaming and hopping wildly about.

Chiba Yo felt utterly helpless at the sight. From what he had observed, Zenitsu was clearly among the strongest swordsmen taking part in this Final Selection. He just couldn't understand why the boy was always so timid.

The three chatted a little longer, then said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

Tsuyuri's already left. Looks like I'll have to head back alone.

After parting with Tanjiro and Zenitsu, Chiba Yo discovered that Kanao, who had come with him, had already left as well. So he headed back along the same route they had taken...

At the Ubuyashiki Estate, Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat before the steps and listened to a Kasugai crow's report on the Final Selection.

"Thirteen survivors? Kyojuro's Tsuguko is quite exceptional. It seems the Demon Slayer Corps will soon gain another Hashira. I truly look forward to it..."

After hearing the Kasugai crow's report, Kagaya Ubuyashiki murmured a few words of admiration to himself.

Upon returning to the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, Chiba Yo immediately sought out Kyojuro to share the good news. Fortunately, Kyojuro had not yet left on a mission.

"Master Rengoku, I passed the Final Selection!" Chiba Yo happily pushed open the door to the Demon Slayer Corps dining hall and called out, only to freeze at the sight before him.

Bowls covered the dining table. Sitting amid them, Kyojuro held his chopsticks and ate the rice bowl before him with intense concentration, loudly declaring between bites, "Delicious! Delicious!"

Beside the table, a girl with twin ponytails and a butterfly hair clip was bringing over more food. That task alone had already left her forehead drenched in sweat.