"Please, sir, give me a chance."
Makomo bowed slightly and pleaded again.
Beneath the tree, a slender girl who was probably quite beautiful made such an earnest plea in such a lovely voice that few people would have refused her request to help.
Had it been an ordinary request or favor, Hiroshi Furukawa and his companions might have agreed without hesitation.
But...
Hunting demons was different.
From the moment they became swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps, every member understood that hunting demons meant shouldering not only their own lives, but also those of their companions and the people they meant to save.
If a demon hunt failed, not only would they die, but their companions and the people awaiting rescue would die as well.
"I'm sorry."
Hiroshi Furukawa shook his head. "Hunting demons isn't as easy as you imagine. It's dangerous, and you could lose your life at any moment. You haven't even passed the trial on Mount Fujikasane. You're not really suited for this."
"That's right. Hunting demons is dangerous."
The swordsman beside him spoke up as well. "You should go back."
Makomo felt a little dejected at their refusal, but she did not give up. Instead, she raised her head and looked at Hiroshi Furukawa and the others. "Then what would it take for you to let me join?"
"We won't let you join."
One swordsman answered without hesitation. "We're saying this for your own safety."
"If you won't give me even a single chance, I'll just keep following you. I doubt there's much you could do about that, is there?"
The girl behind the fox mask tilted her head slightly as she looked at them.
Hiroshi Furukawa and the others were momentarily at a loss. If Makomo really followed them, there was little they could do about it. After all, the speed she had just demonstrated was quite impressive.
Had they not been tracking a demon, they believed they might have had the time and energy to shake her off. But that clearly was not an option now.
Tracking a demon while trying to lose Makomo would be far too difficult.
"And if I happened to run into a demon then... that would be very dangerous too!"
The girl narrowed her eyes slightly, her voice light and airy, a sly smile appearing on the face hidden beneath her mask.
Hiroshi Furukawa's expression soured. He looked at the girl beneath the tree, whose resolve was plain to see, and finally nodded. "Then I'll give you a chance."
With that, he pointed to a swordsman behind him. "If you can last one minute against my companion, I'll agree. If you lose, you go straight back. How does that sound?"
"No problem."
Makomo clenched her fists slightly, looking rather excited.
"Once you start, go straight into your breathing state and defeat her."
Hiroshi Furukawa spoke to the companion beside him.
"Don't worry, boss. I won't give her a chance."
His companion patted his chest, brimming with confidence. How could someone who had never even taken the trial on Mount Fujikasane, who was not even an official Demon Slayer Corps swordsman, possibly be his match? Especially with him entering his breathing state-he truly had no intention of giving her any leeway.
Hiroshi Furukawa did not expect any problems either. Once Makomo seemed ready, he told the two to begin.
"Whew..."
Makomo drew the Nichirin Blade at her waist and breathed softly as she watched the swordsman across from her.
This was her first time facing an official Demon Slayer Corps swordsman, someone who had even endured brutal battles with demons. She felt nervous, and her heart began pounding fiercely.
"Whew..."
She exhaled softly again, forcing herself to calm down. If you feel nervous, turn what you want to protect into your breath.
The girl whispered those words, her eyes gradually growing resolute as her nervousness seemed to ebb away.
At that moment, the swordsman rested his hand on the hilt of his Nichirin Blade and looked at Makomo.
"Are you ready?"
"Please go easy on me."
The girl tightened her small hand around her sword's hilt, her delicate face beneath the mask turning serious.
"Attack!"
Almost instantly, the swordsman moved, his limpid blade flashing coldly in the afternoon sunlight.
In Makomo's eyes, the swordsman who had seemed so ordinary just a moment ago, even rather kindly, suddenly became an incarnation of carnage. An oppressive aura of mountains of corpses and seas of blood made her grip tighten.
How many brutal battles with demons has he fought?
Shocked, the girl moved as well. In contrast to the swordsman's terrifying, murderous intent, her sword was as soft and flowing as water.
Boom...
The swordsman's Nichirin Blade came slashing down with overwhelming force, as though it would cleave through everything. Yet as it descended toward the girl, it suddenly seemed to lose its power. Even that oppressive aura of corpses and blood seemed to fade.
At the sight, Hiroshi Furukawa and the others looked stunned.
The swordsman facing her also paled. He felt as though his powerful slash had struck cotton, or yielding water. With seemingly effortless ease, she had stripped away more than half its strength.
The sensation was even more frustrating than when he sparred with veteran swordsmen who practiced Water Breathing.
He could not understand it. Was this really something a girl who had never even taken the trial on Mount Fujikasane, who was not even a swordsman, could master?
At the same moment, after evading the swordsman's fierce attack, the girl had somehow glided to his side. As his expression changed dramatically, her Nichirin Blade, with its lake-blue guard and pink flowers adorning the hilt, came to rest before his throat.
In an instant, the swordsman froze.
"Thank you for the match."
Makomo nimbly stepped back, her voice light and airy, with a lovely, ethereal ring.
Defeated by a girl who was not even a swordsman yet, his cheeks flushed with shame, and he retreated in embarrassment.
The other swordsmen stood rooted to the spot, equally incredulous.
Hadn't they said that Master Urokodaki was unsuited to being a Cultivator? Not a single one of his students had passed the swordsman trial on Mount Fujikasane so far. How could she be this powerful? Most ordinary swordsmen probably would not be a match for her.
Beneath the tree, the girl in the fox mask quietly watched Hiroshi Furukawa and the others. Yet deep uncertainty rose within her. She did not seem any weaker than these swordsmen who were already carrying out demon-hunting missions. That level of strength should have been enough to pass the trial on Mount Fujikasane. So why had her
senior fellow students, and even... Sabito, failed?
Or was fighting humans completely different from fighting demons?
Hiroshi Furukawa looked at the girl standing quietly before him and sighed softly. "I'll agree to take you demon hunting. But you must follow our instructions the entire time. You're not to act on your own..."
"No problem."
The girl beneath the tree pushed down her doubts and nodded gently. As she walked toward Hiroshi Furukawa and the others, she asked with a mixture of curiosity and puzzlement:
"What kind of demon are you hunting this time?"
At the mention of that demon, their expressions darkened, their eyes filling with hatred.
"A very cruel, cunning demon."
Hiroshi Furukawa gritted his teeth, recalling the figure he had seen leaving the city that night. "And one extremely skilled at disguise."