Kanzaki Kumo and Kanae had lunch at Mitsuri's home, giving Kaito and his wife a chance to formally get acquainted with Kanae.
Since neither side was difficult to get along with, the meal was quite a cheerful affair.
Still, the two did not stay long at Mitsuri's home and left after lunch.
They were going to visit the Rengoku Family. After all, Shinjuro had been helping look after Kanae's territory for the past two days, and now that they were practically on his doorstep, it would have been somewhat rude not to visit.
Kanzaki Kumo also wanted to see whether his earlier warning had achieved the intended effect.
"Welcome, Kanzaki-senpai, Kocho-senpai."
"I told you... never mind..." No matter how many times he heard it, Kanzaki Kumo still could not get used to Kyojuro, who was his own age, calling him "senpai."
Still, judging by the fact that Kyojuro's voice had not grown noticeably louder, Kanzaki Kumo's warning seemed to have worked.
Seeing Kanzaki Kumo's rare display of embarrassment, Kanae covered her mouth and chuckled.
"You must be Kyojuro. You're just as warm and exuberant as Shinjuro-senpai."
"Thank you for the compliment." Kyojuro led them inside as he replied.
"Kyojuro, have you encountered any troublesome demons on your missions lately?"
"Hmm, I haven't encountered any particularly powerful demons yet, but there was one with a troublesome Blood Demon Art. He could control people's bodies through the sound of his flute. Fortunately, thanks to Kanzaki-senpai's warning, I had earplugs with me. They couldn't completely block his influence, but they were enough for me to slay the demon."
Kanzaki Kumo nodded at Kyojuro's reply.
In the original story, Kyojuro's absurdly loud voice was the result of encountering that demon shortly after becoming a swordsman. To slay the demon, he had forcibly ruptured