Miss Tamayo

Byōyō felt his vision suddenly fill with a strange floral pattern, leaving him unable to see the road ahead at all.

The next moment, another waft of delicate fragrance swept over him.

He seemed to hear that voice whisper again:

[Bewitching Blood: Fragrance of the White Day]

Byōyō felt his attention gradually scatter, and his mind seemed to go blank for a moment.

No, there was something strange about this scent!

Byōyō immediately held his breath, only to discover that he had unknowingly stopped in his tracks.

His heart clenched!

Whoosh!

[Sun Breathing, Second Form: Clear Blue Sky]

A blade wreathed in roaring flames suddenly swept toward him.

The next moment, Byōyō's head flew into the sky.

Lin Yoriichi paused and sheathed his sword, but his eyes turned toward a street corner not far away.

A woman stood there, dressed in a deep purple kimono with a wide beige sash around her waist.

Lin Yoriichi could see her clearly. Her hair was arranged in a large, low bun, and her gentle eyes were like a pale violet mist.

This was the purpose of his trip: Miss Tamayo.

Beside Miss Tamayo stood a boy wearing a white kimono.

The boy turned to look at Miss Tamayo from time to time, and Lin Yoriichi felt as though he could even hear his thoughts-

Miss Tamayo is so beautiful!

Miss Tamayo looked so beautiful using her Blood Demon Art just now, too!

Meanwhile, as Miss Tamayo watched Lin Yoriichi slowly approach her, disbelief gradually appeared in her eyes.

He looked like him!

He looked so much like him!

No, she could even say he was Yoriichi Tsugikuni himself!

Simply looking at him brought back the scene of Yoriichi Tsugikuni's arrival three hundred years ago.

Muzan Kibutsuji, whom she had considered cruel and powerful, had been gravely wounded by this man in the blink of an eye.

He had been left with no choice but to split into over 1,800 pieces and flee in disarray.

Yet that man had still cut apart over 1,500 of those pieces of flesh in an extremely short time.

It was precisely because of the grievous wounds Yoriichi Tsugikuni had inflicted that she had been able to escape Muzan Kibutsuji's control.

Miss Tamayo still remembered how she had clutched her hair and screamed in a breakdown before Yoriichi Tsugikuni:

"Why couldn't you just die already, Muzan Kibutsuji!"

After calming down, Miss Tamayo had shared a great deal of information about Muzan Kibutsuji with Yoriichi Tsugikuni.

She had also reached an agreement with Yoriichi Tsugikuni-

Yoriichi Tsugikuni would let her leave.

But she had to work with him to research how to deal with Muzan Kibutsuji.

As Lin Yoriichi slowly came to stand before her, Miss Tamayo gave him a deeply complicated smile.

"Hello. How... should I address you now?"

Lin Yoriichi smiled.

"Just call me Yoriichi, Miss Tamayo."

Miss Tamayo's expression grew even more complicated, but she likewise said nothing more.

She made an inviting gesture and said softly:

"This isn't the place to talk. Why don't you come with me to my humble home?"

Lin Yoriichi naturally nodded in agreement.

At the same time, however, Yushiro's eyes instantly widened.

"Wait, you're letting this guy into our house?"

"H-how can you do that?!"

"Especially when he's got those two following him..."

Yushiro was naturally referring to Sanemi Shinazugawa and Kyojuro Rengoku, who stood behind Lin Yoriichi.

This was because Kagaya Ubuyashiki had not explained the mission's details to them, and Lin Yoriichi had not said much on the way either.

The two of them only knew that Lin Yoriichi had come to Asakusa in Tokyo Prefecture to meet someone very special.

But they had never imagined that the one Lin Yoriichi wanted to meet was not a "human," but a "demon"!

Although they had not attacked Miss Tamayo and Yushiro on sight, they had not sheathed their swords either.

They continued to stare at Yushiro and Miss Tamayo with extreme vigilance.

Lin Yoriichi understood that Kagaya Ubuyashiki's instruction to "follow his lead at critical moments" could come in handy right here.

So he said in a low voice, "Please stand by here for now. I have something to discuss with this lady."

At this, Sanemi Shinazugawa's eyes immediately widened.

"Hey! She's a demon! You..."

Kyojuro Rengoku, however, answered with hearty enthusiasm:

"Understood, Mr. Yoriichi!"

"Before we came, Oyakata-sama instructed us to listen to you at critical moments. I imagine this is when we should follow your lead!"

"But Mr. Yoriichi, there is one more thing I'd like to say!"

"Even a swordsman as powerful as you must take care when spending time with that beautiful lady!"

"We'll also summon the Kakushi promptly to handle the cleanup!"

Lin Yoriichi instinctively rubbed his ears.

Once again, there was that eardrum-shattering volume, along with his way of complimenting two people the moment he opened his mouth.

As ever, that was Kyojuro Rengoku for you.

Lin Yoriichi could guarantee that every sentence Kyojuro Rengoku spoke ended with an exclamation mark.

Yet even after settling the two Hashira, Lin Yoriichi still faced one obstacle to following Miss Tamayo to her residence:

"No! Miss Tamayo, absolutely not!"

Yushiro stared fixedly at Lin Yoriichi, his arms trembling involuntarily.

He had seen it clearly just now. This man could behead a Lower Rank with a single stroke!

Let a dangerous fellow like that share a room with the beautiful Miss Tamayo?

Absolutely not!

Lin Yoriichi couldn't help looking at Yushiro, feeling that he had once again "heard" his thoughts:

This guy with the Demon Slayer Mark on his head is nothing but an ugly, violent lunatic!

It would be far too dangerous for the beautiful Miss Tamayo to share a room with him!

I have to stop him!

Oh, Miss Tamayo is looking at me. She's so beautiful!

Miss Tamayo smiled.

"Don't worry, Yushiro."

As she spoke, she took a small wooden box from inside her kimono and opened it in front of Lin Yoriichi, showing him the syringes inside.

Then Miss Tamayo said gently to Yushiro:

"I have a task for you now that only you can accomplish."

"Two members of the Twelve Kizuki died tonight. Their blood is extremely precious."

"You need to collect their blood before their bodies disappear completely."

Hearing this, Yushiro immediately perked up.

"No problem. Leave it to me!"

Once Yushiro had left, Miss Tamayo led Lin Yoriichi into a seemingly ordinary alley.

When she reached a wall, she suddenly stretched out her hand, and her arm passed straight through it.

Although Lin Yoriichi had expected this, witnessing it himself still left him somewhat amazed.

After he passed through the wall, a magnificent mansion appeared before Lin Yoriichi.

Miss Tamayo suddenly stopped and asked:

"Mr. Yoriichi, are you... really him?"

P.S. I took a look at the paragraph comments and noticed people discussing whether Miss Tamayo knew where Yoriichi Tsugikuni was buried.

First of all, I'm so happy! People are actually discussing the plot! I'm not writing all alone!!

I also wanted to say that I'll explain this question, along with the other "controversial" points, as the story continues.

But to avoid spoilers, please allow me to keep you in suspense for now.

I'll write it into today's update, though!