The "Giyu Circle" lived up to its name

At those words, Lin Yoriichi instinctively raised his head.

A sizable mansion had come into view ahead, surrounded by wisteria, as though wrapped in a sea of flowers.

Giyu Tomioka explained, "A large amount of wisteria is planted here. After special cultivation, they can take turns blooming throughout all four seasons."

"The wisteria isn't just planted for decoration. It's also to keep demons from invading."

Hearing this, Lin Yoriichi couldn't help looking at Giyu Tomioka and asking the question he had wanted to ask since last night:

"So you can actually talk to people normally?"

Giyu Tomioka asked back in complete seriousness, "So saying whatever comes into your head is what you call talking to people normally?"

Lin Yoriichi was at a loss for words. An utterly ridiculous idea suddenly occurred to him-

So that night on Mount Kumotori, Giyu Tomioka might well have only wanted to knock on the door and ask:

"I'm Giyu Tomioka of the Demon Slayer Corps. Could whoever's inside please open the door? I'd like to know what happened."

But someone had specifically advised him to think more before speaking.

As a result, after a great deal of thought, Giyu Tomioka had decided to express himself concisely:

"Don't hide in there without making a sound. I know you're home."

And after Lin Yoriichi pointed out, "People must dislike you a lot," Giyu Tomioka had started saying what he thought directly.

Instead, this made him seem capable of communicating "normally."

Murata, who had been standing beside them the whole time, had absolutely no idea what the two were talking about.

From his perspective, they had each asked a question, then suddenly fallen silent at the same time.

Sure enough, Hashira and people capable of traveling with Hashira all had strange personalities...

Murata gave a light cough, breaking the silence between Lin Yoriichi and Giyu Tomioka.

He said cautiously, "We should be able to knock now, right?"

The moment he finished speaking, the wooden door creaked open.

As the wooden door opened, a little girl in a purple kimono with shoulder-length white hair came into view.

Lin Yoriichi, who knew the original work very well, immediately recognized the little girl as Hinaki Ubuyashiki.

She was the eldest daughter of Kagaya Ubuyashiki, whom the members of the Demon Slayer Corps called Oyakata-sama.

Going by the timeline, was this little girl eight now?

While Lin Yoriichi was thinking, Hinaki Ubuyashiki had already opened the wooden door wide enough for them to pass through.

In an unusually even tone, she said to Lin Yoriichi, "Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Her tone was so even that she didn't sound like a child at all.

Lin Yoriichi was a little stunned. How the hell was this eight?

Hinaki Ubuyashiki paid no attention to Lin Yoriichi's surprise and simply continued in the same calm tone:

"Please follow me inside."

Murata had still been craning his neck curiously, trying to see what was inside.

But the next moment, he jerked a step backward as though he had been burned.

"S-so scary!"

"The other Hashira are all here too! Is there a Hashira Meeting today?"

Giyu Tomioka said nothing and simply followed Hinaki Ubuyashiki inside first.

Lin Yoriichi wasn't surprised by this and followed him in.

After hesitating for a long time, Murata finally summoned his courage, gritted his teeth, and passed through the doorway.

Hinaki Ubuyashiki raised her voice:

"Hashira swordsman Giyu Tomioka, Kinoe swordsman Murata, and..."

At that moment, Hinaki Ubuyashiki actually faltered, a rare occurrence, and her face showed the bewilderment appropriate to a child her age:

"And Mr. Yoriichi, a swordsman for fun, have arrived."

Hearing this, Lin Yoriichi wanted to cover his face. He was so embarrassed that he even wanted to claw at the ground with his toes.

When he had introduced himself to Momoki Haruko of the Kakushi, he had called himself a swordsman for fun.

Who knew that when Giyu Tomioka sent his message by Kasugai Crow, he would report those exact words?

Even more unexpectedly, this "Oyakata-sama" had actually had Hinaki Ubuyashiki introduce him that way.

"Ahem... ahem!"

Lin Yoriichi gave a dry cough, straightened his back, and walked straight ahead.

It's fine. As long as I'm not embarrassed, everyone else will be!

The instant Lin Yoriichi passed through the wooden doorway and stepped into the courtyard, many gazes immediately turned toward him.

Giyu Tomioka remained unmoved, seemingly used to being "surrounded" by so many gazes.

Murata, however, stiffened, his arms and legs moving on the same side as he walked.

As expected of the Hashira. What an astonishing presence!

Just having their gazes sweep over me feels so oppressive that I can't breathe.

I wonder how Mr. Lin Yoriichi feels, being stared at...

Lin Yoriichi paid no attention to everyone's gazes.

Now that he had even been publicly called a "swordsman for fun," he had nothing left to care about.

So he calmly found an empty spot beside Giyu Tomioka and stood there with perfect composure.

Lin Yoriichi was even in the mood to listen to what these people were discussing.

An extremely handsome man wearing numerous dazzling gemstone ornaments on his head was sizing Lin Yoriichi up.

At that moment, he said with some surprise:

"He looks about my age. He's pretty tall too, just a little thin."

"I thought he'd be a burly fellow like the Stone Hashira."

"Still, that Demon Slayer Mark on his forehead isn't bad. It barely qualifies as flashy."

Lin Yoriichi smiled and nodded at him.

That flashy getup had already told him who the man was.

The Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui!

Beside Tengen Uzui, a petite girl with purple hair and a butterfly-shaped hair clip poked her head out:

"I really didn't expect this swordsman for fun to look like this."

"Well, traveling with Mr. Tomioka must have been hard on you!"

Lin Yoriichi saw not only the girl's butterfly hair clip, but also the haori she wore, as gorgeous as butterfly wings.

And the sympathy that surfaced beneath her smile when she realized he had traveled with Giyu Tomioka.

Clearly, this was the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho.

But before Lin Yoriichi could greet Shinobu Kocho, an extremely irritable voice rang out:

"This guy hasn't joined the Demon Slayer Corps or gone through the selection, and he calls himself some swordsman for fun."

"To put it plainly, he has no achievements whatsoever, does he?"

"Our Demon Slayer Corps doesn't need weaklings with no achievements."

"Rather than hear one day that this guy suddenly died at a demon's hands, I'd rather drive him out myself!"

An irritable voice, white hair, and a fierce face covered in scars.

Clearly, this was the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa.

Perhaps because he had spent time with Giyu Tomioka, Lin Yoriichi actually felt that he could understand the man's true intention-

He didn't want Lin Yoriichi to end up in danger because he wasn't strong enough.

As he spoke, Sanemi Shinazugawa was already striding toward Lin Yoriichi.

At the same time, a figure suddenly jumped down from a tree.

Bandages wrapped around his mouth, a small snake coiled around his neck, and a pair of differently colored eyes.

It was the Serpent Hashira, Obanai Iguro.

His voice seemed to carry a snake's chill, and his tone was very low:

"I read Giyu Tomioka's report. From what he said, he seems to think this Lin Yoriichi is very strong."

"I just wonder whether Giyu Tomioka made an error in judgment."

As Obanai Iguro spoke, he too slowly approached Lin Yoriichi.

But Lin Yoriichi kept feeling that while Obanai Iguro and Sanemi Shinazugawa both appeared to be walking toward him,

they were actually more or less surrounding Giyu Tomioka.

At the sight, Lin Yoriichi's eyes widened slightly:

My first Hashira Meeting, and the "Giyu Circle" really does live up to its name!

"Shinazugawa, Iguro!"

"You two, don't be rude!"

Lin Yoriichi looked toward the voice and saw an exceptionally tall, muscular man.

A white film clouded both his eyes. Clearly, he couldn't see.

He wore a monk's robes and held prayer beads, but his head wasn't shaved, and a scar stretched across his forehead.

It was the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.

At that moment, he said solemnly:

"Oyakata-sama will naturally judge all matters."

Clatter, clatter-

Lin Yoriichi heard the sound of small stones moving.

Following the sound, he spotted a black-haired figure behind Gyomei Himejima who looked very slight.

The figure was crouching on the ground, intently fiddling with the stones there, seemingly unconcerned with anything happening in the courtyard.

Lin Yoriichi knew this was the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito.

A thought immediately stirred in his mind.

He had already met the Stone, Mist, Wind, Water, Insect, Sound, and Serpent Hashira.

Then the ones left were-

As though sensing something, Lin Yoriichi looked in one direction, and his vision immediately brightened.

Yes, brightened in the literal, visual sense.

Blond hair tipped with red glittered in the sunlight.

Beneath exceptionally thick black eyebrows, a pair of wide-open eyes looked positively full of energy.

The man looked just like an owl.

"You must be Mr. Yoriichi! It's a great honor to meet you!"

"I very much look forward to having the chance to work with you!"

His voice was incredibly loud, as though every sentence ended in an exclamation mark.

Who else could this be but the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku?

Lin Yoriichi gave him a friendly smile, then noticed a pink-haired figure poking her head out from behind Kyojuro Rengoku.

"Mr. Yoriichi, you're more handsome than I expected!"

Lin Yoriichi instinctively lowered his head, vaguely noticing that Obanai Iguro beside him stopped breathing for an instant.

Lin Yoriichi could hardly be blamed for reacting that way. The Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji, was truly dressed in a way that was "abundant and generous."

Lin Yoriichi had honestly never seen "huge knockers" like these before.

No, that masked Kakushi, Momoki Haruko, might be able to give Mitsuri Kanroji a run for her money.

After all, even through that Kakushi's thick uniform, the astonishing size of her "huge knockers" was still apparent.

Stop! Stop right now!

I absolutely can't keep thinking along these lines!

If I were in a novel, the readers definitely wouldn't like scenes discussing the size of "huge knockers"... right?

He desperately tried to think of something else to dispel the thoughts in his mind.

In his previous life, he had read many compilations of the original work's timeline, and there had always been debate over when the Mist, Love, and Flame Hashira had joined.

Some said that before Muzan Kibutsuji's nighttime attack on Mount Kumotori, which marked the start of the main story, some of those three hadn't yet joined the Demon Slayer Corps, while others hadn't yet become Hashira.

Of course, others said that all three had already become Hashira before the main story began.

From the looks of it, he had encountered the latter situation.

Tap, tap-

Footsteps rang out.

Lin Yoriichi raised his head and saw a black-haired man slowly walk to the platform before the courtyard.

The man's forehead was covered in hideous purple scars.

But compared to his first appearance in the original work, only one of his eyes was clouded with a white film now.

The purple iris of his other eye was still visible.

Hinaki Ubuyashiki suddenly raised her voice:

"The Master has arrived!"