That blade in your hand is a renowned sword, isn't it?

Kirimori Yuko had lied to the samurai from out of town the day before.

Yesterday, she had told him everything was fine.

But villagers really had gone missing in the neighboring village recently.

She had even heard that someone had found gnawed remains deep in the mountains.

Rumor had it that a man-eating bear had come down from the mountains.

But since all the hunters from their own village had returned safely, everyone preferred to believe it was just a "horror story from far away," something to discuss after dinner with a few sighs and then forget.

For Kirimori Yuko, however, it was different.

Her younger sister lived in Noki Village.

And her due date was approaching.

Already anxious, she had told her husband, a hunter, about it.

But he had frowned and told Yuko to keep quiet.

It wasn't as though he knew nothing about the bear attacks.

He simply didn't want to discuss them with his wife.

In a countryside steeped in superstition, people readily believed sayings like "Speak of something you shouldn't, and it will come knocking that night" or "Talking about disaster invites an even greater disaster."

He planned to bring his wife's younger sister over himself in a couple of days.

Until then, they simply needed to avoid talking about such ominous things.

So when Xia Xi appeared, Kirimori Yuko had instinctively chosen to conceal what was happening in the neighboring village, just like the other villagers.

Even though a voice whispered deep inside her: perhaps it wasn't a bear, or mountain bandits...

She feared that admitting something was wrong would drag her into something even more terrifying, or subject her to repeated questioning by the samurai and shatter her peaceful life.

Then, early the next morning, she saw the young samurai still making careful inquiries at the village entrance.

The concentration in his expression was entirely unlike those officials who merely went through the motions.

And her concern for her sister's safety finally won out.

Only then did she approach Xia Xi and tell him about it.

"Whether it's a bear, bandits, or something else... please go over there and take a look." She lowered her head, clutching the hem of her clothing. "My sister is about to give birth. With you nearby, perhaps she'll be a little safer."

Even having a samurai wander around the area would give her some peace of mind.

And this man was even a secret policeman from a big city.

Xia Xi thanked her, then asked for details about the bear attacks.

As far as he was concerned, with the plot clues leading this far, how could it possibly be an ordinary bear attack?

It had to be a demon.

Unfortunately, Yuko only knew so much.

It wasn't that she refused to talk. She spent her days in the village, and most of her information came from scraps of conversation with her husband and the village women.

When Xia Xi asked to speak with her husband, she looked troubled.

She hadn't wanted to cause her husband any trouble.

But that reluctance finally crumbled under Xia Xi's next threatening remark.

Xia Xi said softly, "Ma'am, you wouldn't want your sister to fall victim to that bear, would you?"

She froze for a moment, then finally chose to take Xia Xi to her husband.

Kirimori Kuro was a lean, muscular middle-aged man.

His expression darkened as soon as he saw his wife bring an unfamiliar young man into their home.

Only after Yuko explained that this was a "samurai" investigating the bear attacks in the neighboring village did his expression ease slightly.

But the suspicion in his eyes remained.

Even when his wife specifically mentioned the man's status as a "special police officer," Kuro remained unimpressed.

In his eyes, most big-city policemen were useless good-for-nothings who only knew how to throw their weight around. Coming to the countryside to investigate was merely a formality to earn themselves a little credit.

Had they ever caught a bear?

Thinking they could hunt one with a few swords was pure wishful thinking.

"A bear isn't something some brat with a sword can handle."

Kuro folded his arms, his tone carrying the particular arrogance of a seasoned hunter.

Xia Xi offered no explanation. He simply turned sideways and drew his sword.

Steel flashed.

It cleaved straight through the massive boulder beside the hunter's house, splitting it in two and leaving surfaces as smooth as mirrors.

Kuro's words caught in his throat.

The next instant, he bent into a deep bow, his attitude making a complete turnaround.

"Sir Samurai! I'm truly sorry! I was blind to your abilities!"

A nod, a bow, an apology.

All in one smooth motion.

Were Tokyo's policemen... all this terrifying now?

What else could he say?

And the man had only drawn one sword to cut through a boulder.

If he drew all three...

Forget the boulder... Kuro didn't dare think any further. He merely felt a chill at the back of his neck.

"Special Operations Section Nine."

Xia Xi calmly corrected him.

"Yes, sir! Esteemed senior officer of the Tokyo Public Security Special Operations Section Nine Demon Slayer Mobile Unit! Please forgive my rudeness!"

Actually, I preferred that defiant attitude you had a moment ago. How about bringing it back?

Despite that thought, Xia Xi didn't make things any harder for him. He sheathed his sword and asked about the bear attacks.

"Sir, no one from our village has gone missing lately. But Noki Village, over the ridge to the east... things really haven't been peaceful there."

He lowered his voice.

"At first, it was just tenant farmers who vanished after leaving the village alone. But a few days later, an old man living by himself up in the mountains disappeared too."

"The oak door to his house... had been torn apart. But judging by the claw marks, it definitely wasn't one of the bears we usually see in these mountains."

"A few of us hunters went up into the mountains together to search..."

He paused and glanced at Yuko inside the house.

Only after his wife took the hint and turned away to make tea did he continue, his Adam's apple bobbing as he recounted the gruesome sight he had witnessed.

"It definitely wasn't bandits."

"The bodies... hadn't just been gnawed on. They'd been torn to pieces, with guts strewn all over the ground."

"L-like slaughtered livestock that wild dogs had gotten into."

He closed his eyes, but the dead victims' wide-open eyes, frozen in fear and agony, still seemed to hover before him.

"We waited there until the sun sank low. It was almost dark by the time we left, and that bear never showed up."

"Even though we didn't see it, I'm certain it was a vicious bear that had tasted human blood and was practically turning into a monster."

"Only bears that have tasted human flesh approach villages on their own and attack people."

A trace of resentment crossed the hunter's face. "Who knows where it came from, or how many people it's killed."

"Perhaps it's a demon?"

"A demon? Like the monsters in the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons?" The hunter froze, then chuckled. "Please don't joke, sir. Aren't those just stories to fool children?"

Xia Xi said casually, "Not quite the same thing. Just think of it as... a 'bear demon' that's turned into a monster."

The hunter had wanted to argue that monsters didn't exist.

But then he remembered Xia Xi's sword strike, so powerful it could have come straight out of a legend...

He opened his mouth, but ultimately offered no further objection.

Could those stories the elders told him as a child, about Shuten-doji, Yamauba, and the like... actually be true?

Then could the Special Operations Section Nine Demon Slayer Mobile Unit this samurai belonged to be a group of experts secretly tasked by the government with exterminating monsters?

He felt as though he had uncovered a great secret.

His gaze then shifted to the three Nichirin Blades at Xia Xi's waist.

Perhaps those three swords were divine weapons for slaying monsters, just like the legendary Dojigiri Yasutsuna.

Sandai Yasushi, Jinmailie, Tongyi Maru: ...

After confirming the precise location of Noki Village, Xia Xi politely declined Kuro's offer to accompany him.

The Kasugai Crow landed on his shoulder, and he turned and walked into the deepening dusk.

The hunter and his wife remained by their little house in the twilight, silently watching him leave.

"That samurai really is incredible..."

Kuro murmured as he ran his hand over the boulder's mirror-smooth cut surface.

Even swinging an axe at it might have curled the blade, let alone left such a smooth, clean cut.

"The Tokyo Demon Slayer Mobile Unit, huh? If we ever really run into a monster, at least we'll know who to ask for help..."

"Yuko, go slaughter the fattest hen in the yard."

"When the gentleman comes back tonight, we need to treat him properly."

But his wife was watching Xia Xi's retreating figure gradually disappear among the trees.

She murmured, "Kuro, I have a feeling that gentleman won't be coming back..."

"What?! You mean he can't defeat that monster?!"

"Idiot! I mean he'll leave after killing the bear demon!"