The Demon Slayer Corps, Ubuyashiki

But now was not the time to dwell on other matters. The most important thing was to find a doctor.

The two unfortunate children who had been injured first were not in mortal danger, but their treatment could not be delayed any longer.

Fortunately, the temple was not far from the nearest clinic, and with Gyomei's speed, the round trip took little time.

The doctor he carried back had suffered for it, though. The trembling legs beneath him when he was set down made it clear how badly he had been jostled.

Thankfully, the doctor had a strong sense of medical ethics and quickly settled into treating the two little girls' injuries.

Through-and-through wounds that missed vital areas were not particularly difficult to treat. The only problem was that disinfection methods in this era were rather inadequate; whether an infection developed afterward was down to luck.

Both girls had already lost consciousness, and nothing unexpected happened during their treatment. After also giving basic treatment to Gyomei's wounds and the wound on Kanzaki Kumo's forehead where Kaigaku had struck him with the incense burner, the doctor hurriedly collected his payment and fled.

Just how badly did Gyomei traumatize him...? Surely he didn't drag the man out of bed first thing in the morning? Kanzaki Kumo wondered as he watched the doctor, who clearly did not want to stay a moment longer.

Kanzaki Kumo had misunderstood this time. Although Gyomei had been anxious to save the children, he would not go so far as to charge into someone's home and drag a doctor out.

The main reason the doctor fled as though escaping was that the scene had frightened him.

One wall was almost completely shattered. A short distance inside was a depression nearly a foot deep, and he could just make out a human shape in it. The blind monk who had carried him here also had quite a lot of blood on him.

God only knew what had happened here.

Had the injured children not been so pitiful, and had his medical ethics not forbidden him from abandoning patients, he would have fled long ago.

The doctor had barely left when the government guards arrived.

After all, the tremendous noise of Gyomei's battle with the demon had lasted from midnight until dawn. It was only natural for the nearby residents to report it to the authorities.

Three injured children, a tall, blind monk who was also wounded, a group of visibly frightened children, and a scene of utter devastation.

That was what the authorities saw.

Judging by the suspicious human-shaped depression and Gyomei's injuries, the blind monk had clearly fought a fierce battle with an intruder.

With the children testifying that Gyomei had protected them, the authorities did not make trouble for the monk, who looked like someone best left alone.

As for claims like "that monster disappeared at dawn," they could only put them down to hallucinations caused by the children's extreme fright. Since Gyomei himself could not see, his account was not believed either. In the end, the authorities hastily closed the case as a home invasion in which the attacker had been driven off.

Although Kanzaki Kumo very much wanted to criticize this world's so-called authorities, at least Gyomei had not been wrongfully imprisoned as he had in the original story, so he said nothing more.

Instead, he was rather curious about how the head of the Demon Slayer Corps would recruit this formidable fighter now that Gyomei had not gone to prison.

As for why he was certain the Demon Slayer Corps would learn what had happened here, it was naturally because the figure who had flashed past outside earlier was someone familiar from his memories.

Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters, the Ubuyashiki Estate.

A man wearing a haori patterned with bright yellow squares was reporting what he had witnessed earlier.

He was Jigoro Kuwajima, the Demon Slayer Corps' current Rumble Hashira and a user of Thunder Breathing. Although rather short in stature, he was the fastest member of the current Demon Slayer Corps.

The Demon Slayer Corps was severely understaffed. Its lower-ranking swordsmen were barely sufficient, but of its pillar-level fighters, the Hashira, only he and the Flame Hashira remained. The Water Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki, had suffered another injury on a mission a year earlier and requested retirement to become a trainer, owing to his age and the many lingering injuries in his body.

Even Jigoro himself was gradually finding it difficult to endure high-intensity battles because of his advancing age. Only the Flame Hashira, Shinjuro Rengoku, was still in his physical prime.

He had set off immediately upon receiving word of a demon's appearance, but he had still only arrived at dawn, just in time to see the demon disintegrate beneath Gyomei.

Astonished by the tremendous fighting strength Gyomei possessed despite clearly being untrained, he had rushed back to headquarters to report as soon as he confirmed the demon had vanished. Such promising recruits were precisely what the Demon Slayer Corps desperately lacked.

"I see... He could restrain a demon barehanded and even fight it until dawn... Thank you for your efforts, Mr. Kuwajima. Please go and rest. Leave the rest to me." Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the current head of the Ubuyashiki Family and leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, sat opposite Jigoro Kuwajima and responded softly.

His tone was gentle, delighted yet composed, carrying the ease of someone in command.

"Yes, Master."

Kuwajima acknowledged him and took his leave.

After Jigoro Kuwajima left, Kagaya slowly rose and stepped outside with his wife, Amane.

"Mr. Kuwajima has discovered a child with boundless potential." In front of his wife, Kagaya shed the composure he maintained before others and appeared a little more excited.

"Are you going to invite him personally?" Amane easily guessed her husband's intentions.

"Of course. With training, someone like him could soon become a new Hashira. He's a rare talent for the Demon Slayer Corps as it stands today. Besides, those children who witnessed the demon also need proper arrangements made for them."

The Ubuyashiki Family had not merely established the Demon Slayer Corps to fight demons. It also used its influence to suppress information about demons as thoroughly as possible.

After all, if those so-called elites learned that becoming a demon would grant them immortality, with the only side effect being the need to avoid sunlight, Kagaya did not dare imagine how rampant demons would become.

As for needing to eat humans after becoming a demon? When had those people ever cared about ordinary people's lives?

Even without becoming demons, people who killed for amusement or enjoyed watching others fight bloody battles were all too common.

Not long afterward, the squad of government guards who had investigated the temple were summoned together by their superior.

"Not one word of what you saw or heard today is to leave this room, including from me! Otherwise, we'll all die!"

That was the first and only thing their superior said to them before sending them out.

Over the next few days, the members of that squad died in the line of duty for various reasons.

Apart from their families, no one cared whether these lowest-ranking officers lived or died.

On the afternoon of the demon attack, the abbot and the two monks who had been away returned.

Kanzaki Kumo noticed that a boy had returned with them, his face gentle and sunny, yet carrying a natural air of nobility.

"Kagaya Ubuyashiki."

His face was almost exactly as Kanzaki Kumo remembered, allowing him to recognize the newcomer at a glance.

Watching Kagaya and the abbot converse pleasantly, and seeing the abbot's clearly respectful attitude toward him, Kanzaki Kumo roughly guessed Kagaya's plan-to approach the abbot, learn about Gyomei, and have him help persuade Gyomei to join the Demon Slayer Corps.

The demon-repelling incense in the temple showed that its abbot knew something about demons; he simply had not told those beneath him.

And the abbot of a small, remote temple naturally had no power to resist the Ubuyashiki Family, whose wealth rivaled that of a nation in this day and age.

"Abbot."

Upon hearing the abbot's voice, Gyomei went to greet him.

"Ah, Gyomei. I hear you fought and killed a monster last night to protect the children. Well done. Those monsters are called demons. They eat people and are difficult for ordinary people to kill." The abbot was already rather old, and his reply was slightly hoarse, but he still sounded kindly.

"I know little about these monsters, but Mr. Ubuyashiki here knows more. He would very much like to speak with you. Take him to the meditation room and see that he is properly received."

They seemed to have settled matters on the way, as the abbot immediately arranged for Gyomei and Kagaya Ubuyashiki to speak alone.

However, Kanzaki Kumo noticed that when Gyomei led Kagaya away, the abbot discreetly shifted farther away from the two, seemingly unwilling to learn even the slightest additional detail about demons.

At his age, he only wanted to live in peace. As for demons, knowing how to avoid them was enough. The more he learned beyond that, the harder it would be to live peacefully.

Unlike the abbot, when Kanzaki Kumo saw Gyomei leading Kagaya away, he took the initiative to approach them.

Since he had been reincarnated into this world, he ought to do something, after all-save some lovable people, change some tragic events...