"Turn around. Let me have a look."
The man stood a short distance away, staring at Su Mu's back. Though he thought he was unlikely to encounter a demon, it was the dead of night, and he remained somewhat wary.
"What do you want?"
Su Mu did not turn around. His head remained lowered, and his voice was cold.
"Nothing serious. Haven't bandits been causing trouble lately? We're helping the Dōshin of the Jōmachi-mawari inspect people passing through. It's for your own good."
As one of the Demon Slayer Corps' Hidden Ones, the man was actually assisting the Corps in searching for demons. That was obviously not something he could say openly, so he claimed to be helping the Dōshin of the Jōmachi-mawari conduct inspections. As Su Mu understood it, that meant helping the local police station check passersby.
As he spoke, the man looked Su Mu over. Since Su Mu had not turned around, he could only see his back. The girl he was carrying, however, seemed curious and turned her head.
The gentle moonlight illuminated the girl's delicate brows and fluttering pinkish-purple eyes. She looked exquisitely beautiful.
The man paused at the sight, and his voice softened a little. "Just cooperate with us. It'll be over in a moment."
Then he looked at Su Mu. "Let me see your eyes. It won't take much of your time."
The man's voice had relaxed considerably. The girl on Su Mu's back clearly was not a demon, so the man carrying her probably was not one either.
Demons generally used to be human, so after transforming, they looked much the same as people. Still, they developed certain distinctive traits. Some demons' skin turned bluish-purple, for example, while others developed mutations in particular parts of their bodies.
Of course, some demons underwent no such changes. Those were often difficult to identify.
Yet even those demons could still be distinguished from humans.
Every demon shared one trait: their eyes usually bore distinctive markings. An ordinary demon's markings would be faint, while a powerful demon's would be quite clear. The markings in the eyes of the Twelve Kizuki, for instance, even formed distinct numbers.
He had just seen the girl's eyes, and they bore no markings. That told him she was not a demon.
After confirming that the girl was not a demon, he actually thought Su Mu was probably fine too. If the pair had not suddenly changed course upon reaching the area where wisteria incense was burning, obliging him to investigate according to protocol, he would not have wanted to cause trouble.
"Hurry up and turn around. I just need to see your eyes."
Seeing that Su Mu still refused to cooperate, the man urged him again.
"I don't understand what you're trying to do. Why do you need to look at my eyes for no reason? I have things to do. I don't have time to waste here."
Su Mu spoke with his head lowered, then strode forward.
"Hey, what are you doing? I told you to cooperate."
When Su Mu walked away outright, the man grew anxious and hurried after him.
But Su Mu suddenly picked up speed, making it difficult for the man to keep pace.
"Hey! If you keep refusing to cooperate, I'll call for help!"
Seeing that Su Mu would not stop and was moving even faster, almost too fast for him to catch up, the man shouted angrily.
Su Mu abruptly stopped.
"See? You should've done that from the start."
Muttering, the man hurried over and stepped in front of Su Mu. Seeing that his head was still lowered, he said, "Lift your head. I just need to look at your eyes."
"There's no need."
Su Mu's voice was soft, almost a sigh.
"Please cooperate. Otherwise, I'll call for help. Once the Dōshin get here, they won't be as easygoing as I am."
The man's tone had grown stern.
Seeing that Su Mu still kept his head down, the man lost patience and bent over to peer at him.
He froze instantly. The markings in those scarlet eyes were so clear that his heart trembled.
At the same moment, a quiet sigh reached his ears. Then he saw Su Mu's coat swing open, followed by the flash of a blade that seemed to glow with the color of flames.
The sharp blade sliced through his neck in an instant.
The man opened his mouth, instinctively trying to cry out, but Su Mu had already stepped forward and clamped a hand over it. He silenced the man and watched the light slowly fade from his despairing eyes.
Supporting the man's collapsing corpse, Su Mu dragged him into the nearby grass. Just then, he saw someone else approaching in the distance. That person also wore a wisteria emblem. He was probably the dead man's companion, and another of the Hidden Ones.
"Hey..."
The companion called from a distance. He seemed to have noticed something amiss, but did not come closer.
Since Su Mu could not kill this member of the Hidden Ones silently as well, there was no point in hiding. He turned and ran almost at once.
The member of the Hidden Ones faltered. Seeing that inhuman speed, then looking at his companion lying on the ground, apparently in trouble, he immediately let out a piercing scream.
"There's a demon!"
His voice, filled with sheer terror, carried far and shattered the surrounding silence.
Almost the instant the shout rang out, several men in tight black uniforms rushed over at tremendous speed. Leading them was Hiroshi Furukawa, a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps.
At the sight of the dead member of the Hidden Ones on the ground, followed by that familiar retreating figure carrying a girl, Hiroshi Furukawa's expression darkened.
"Damn it."
Hiroshi Furukawa tightened his grip on his Nichirin Blade's hilt. This demon had slipped away right under his nose. If he had not carelessly overlooked him, this member of the Hidden Ones would not have died.
"Damn you! I'll kill you!"
Hiroshi Furukawa gritted his teeth and gripped his Nichirin Blade tight!
Now that he had been exposed, Su Mu fled without hesitation. He ran so fast that he could clearly see the scenery on either side streaming backward.
He kept running.
Ordinary people could not keep up with this speed. Once he put enough distance between them, he would be able to shake off these Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen.
After all, although the Corps' swordsmen practiced Breathing Styles and could briefly attain speeds comparable to demons, they clearly could not sustain them. They could not maintain an effective pursuit for long.
As long as they failed to catch him at the outset, he could essentially escape.
Beneath the gentle moonlight, everything was silent except for the clear sound of Su Mu's feet striking the ground.
Suddenly, he felt something like a gust of wind sweep past. Grass swayed and leaves rustled, and at the same time, he sensed mortal danger overhead.
Almost without hesitation, he whipped out his Nichirin Blade.
Clang!
A Nichirin Blade had slashed down from overhead before he knew it, colliding with his own in a shower of sparks.
The swordsman descending from the sky realized his Nichirin Blade had been blocked and immediately followed through with a kick like a heavy hammer.
His foot whistled through the air, seeming to carry immense force as it drove straight toward Su Mu's chest.
Thud!
A dull impact rang out from his chest, as though a ferocious beast had rammed into him. The kick left Su Mu's chest aching and sent him staggering backward uncontrollably. His feet gouged deep marks into the ground, and it took several stumbling steps before he regained his balance.
The instant the swordsman's kick connected, he deftly used the force of the contact to flip through the air. Like a graceful bird, he landed lightly on the ground.
His clothes fluttered in the wind as he stood steadily a short distance away.
He was a Demon Slayer Corps swordsman who practiced Wind Breathing and excelled above all in speed.
Thank you to the readers "Mingxi," "A name with money, brains, and brawn," "Batman JoKer," "Train in the mountains," "Carp leaping away," and "x Starcry c" for the monthly tickets. Thank you for your support.