Tetsu no Sosuke sighed. "So that's how it is. But I still don't understand—how exactly did I fall for it?"
"As you said, an illusion." Even after dropping his pretense, Honmyo Yutaro did not immediately attack Tetsu no Sosuke. Instead, he sat calmly opposite him and explained softly, "My Blood Demon Art causes a mental alteration that affects people's perception. It can even create scenes inside their minds—things they want to see, or things I want them to see."
Tetsu no Sosuke sighed. "Just as I thought."
"Of course. But because one detail has kept you in the dark all along, you don't seem to have suspected anything, even now." Honmyo Yutaro wore a sly smile as he said this.
Tetsu no Sosuke pondered for a moment, then sighed. "Then I suppose I'd have no one to blame if I died..."
"Have you figured it out?"
"There's no village like this within a day's journey of the Hammer Hut." Tetsu no Sosuke sighed. "If there were, I would have known about it long ago. All the information on the surrounding area is in my study. Yet when I arrived here, I never suspected a thing. That really is a frightening ability."
"Thank you for the compliment." Honmyo Yutaro smiled.
Tetsu no Sosuke asked, "If you have that kind of ability, why go to all this trouble?"
"When facing the Hammer Pillar, you can never be too careful," Honmyo Yutaro said. "Your strength has always been legendary among us. That lord hates you to the bone. Some time ago, he personally went looking for you, but even after waiting a full seven days, he found no trace of you. That infuriated him."
Tetsu no Sosuke recalled the time he had sensed Kibutsuji Muzan's presence from Heavenly Artisan's forging workshop in the