The Kasugai Crow fluttered down, and Hiroshi Furukawa took a letter from it.
After reading it, Hiroshi Furukawa's face filled with shock and confusion.
"Boss, was that demon killed by the Flower Hashira while she was passing through?"
One swordsman asked casually, his tone relaxed. He had not noticed the change in his leader's expression.
"No."
Hiroshi Furukawa shook his head.
"It wasn't the Flower Hashira? Then which swordsman happened to pass through and kill it?"
Someone exclaimed in surprise, utterly puzzled.
"The Flower Hashira said in her reply that she hasn't killed any demons here. No other Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen have passed through recently, either. Our squad is the only one that's been hunting demons in this area during this time."
Hiroshi Furukawa spoke with a deep frown. He could not quite make sense of it himself.
The other swordsmen found it hard to believe. Some even came forward, took the letter from Hiroshi Furukawa, and read it over and over.
Had the information not come directly by Kasugai Crow, leaving no possibility that it was fake, they would all have suspected an error in the report.
"Surely an ordinary person couldn't have found a Nichirin Blade and killed the demon?"
One swordsman muttered, disbelief written all over his face.
An ordinary person stood almost no chance of defeating a demon. Besides, anyone outside the Demon Slayer Corps had virtually no way of obtaining a Nichirin Blade. Even Corps swordsmen, barring special exceptions, had only one Nichirin Blade made specifically for them.
Even when a Corps swordsman died, their personal Nichirin Blade would be recovered as a vessel for their will and spirit. Such blades almost never fell into outside hands.
"Could we have been mistaken last night?"
One swordsman rubbed his nose. "Maybe that foul smell wasn't left behind by a dead demon."
"Impossible."
Before he could finish, another swordsman firmly rejected the idea. "There's no mistaking the stench of a dead demon."
"If the Flower Hashira didn't kill it, and no other swordsmen passed through here, then how did this demon die?"
One swordsman was baffled. "Surely there couldn't be another way to kill demons?"
After that, they exchanged glances and shook their heads. Throughout its many years of fighting demons, the Demon Slayer Corps had searched for other ways to destroy them, but every attempt had undoubtedly failed.
Apart from exposing demons to sunlight, the only way to kill them was to sever their necks with a Nichirin Blade.
Of course, they had recently heard that the Flower Hashira's younger sister, Shinobu Kocho, had extracted a toxin from wisteria that was harmful to demons. It seemed to have the potential to kill them, and the matter had even drawn Oyakata-sama's attention.
If she truly developed a poison capable of killing demons, there would be one more way to destroy them. That achievement alone would be enough for Shinobu Kocho to become a new Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.
As he listened to their discussion, Hiroshi Furukawa's gaze grew serious.
"Whatever the case, we need to get to the bottom of this. I'm sorry to ask you all to put in more hard work over the next few days. If we really can find another way to kill demons..."
The swordsmen grew excited at his words. If they truly found another way to slay demons, there would be hope of ridding this world of them.
The sun would not stay below the horizon forever, nor would it remain above it forever.
When daylight passed, night would fall, and that was when demons became active.
Su Mu pushed aside the wooden board and emerged from the underground hollow where he had spent the day.
Seeing her uncle come out, Kanao ran over with quick little steps. She looked up at him with a sweet, innocent smile.
Su Mu reached out and gently rubbed the little girl's head, then took her hand and led her upstairs. He walked over to the window and gently pushed it open.
The second floor was not very high, but it still afforded a view of the surrounding area. It was night now, however. Though this was a bustling town and lights still shone in many places, most of it was pitch-black.
A human could see very little in such darkness, but for a demon active at night, the dark could not obstruct his vision.
He immediately looked toward the area where he had killed the demon yesterday. After only a few glances, his gaze sharpened.
He noticed quite a few unfamiliar people in the alley where he had killed the demon, discreetly examining their surroundings. Several of them bore wisteria emblems.
The wisteria emblem was associated with the Ubuyashiki Clan, and every generation of the Demon Slayer Corps' Oyakata-sama had come from that clan. Clearly, these people worked for the Corps.
Continuing to observe, he spotted a man sitting at a small stall, holding a long, cloth-wrapped object against his chest. He seemed to be constantly searching for something.
Judging by the long bundle in the man's arms, it was probably a Nichirin Blade. This man was undoubtedly a Demon Slayer Corps swordsman.
Su Mu frowned at the sight. By all rights, the Corps swordsmen had already discovered the demon's death yesterday. They should have relaxed their vigilance, perhaps even withdrawn.
Why did their search of the town seem even more thorough now? Su Mu even saw a man bearing a wisteria emblem speaking to a doshin from the regular town patrol. Soon afterward, doshin began heading out in every direction.
Although he had spent these days hiding during daylight and coming out at night, he had learned a little about how things worked here. The so-called regular town patrol was the department responsible for maintaining order in the town. As he understood it, it was essentially a police station.
"Doshin," meanwhile, was a title for the lowest-ranking personnel in the department responsible for public order.
Clearly, the Demon Slayer Corps had already begun contacting the local authorities.
Although the Demon Slayer Corps was not an officially recognized organization, the authorities tacitly permitted its existence and often cooperated with it. For instance, before Gyomei Himejima joined the Corps, he had fought a demon to protect some children, only to be mistaken for a murderer afterward and thrown into prison. Just before his execution, the Corps' Oyakata-sama, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, had personally contacted the authorities and secured his release.
If the Demon Slayer Corps intervened, it clearly had the influence to get the authorities to assist with an investigation of a town. Of course, that would be far less likely in a major city such as Kyoto or Edo. The repercussions there would be too great, and the authorities seemed unwilling to let the public learn of demons' existence.
By now, Su Mu had already seen several doshin going door to door, questioning nearby residents and asking whether anything unusual had happened in the area, whether anyone had recently entered
the town, or whether anyone nearby had gone missing...
Seeing this, Su Mu felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest. He knew that if he stayed here, there would be a high chance of discovery.
The Demon Slayer Corps was clearly much harder to deal with than he had imagined.