Master Blacksmith in Demon Slayer

Not speaking was fine too. Tetsu no Sosuke knew her story, but he didn't think he could pry open a young girl's heart.

At least for now, she was living well enough.

He had plenty of his own troubles to worry about anyway.

Today, Shinobu Kocho had taken a mission and gone out.

Tetsu no Sosuke had thought this was a golden opportunity, a perfect chance to bond with Kochou Kanae.

But it turned out Kochou Kanae had left even earlier, and he had no idea where she'd gone.

Left with no choice, he sighed, lured the little girl over with rice balls, and the two of them sat together on the veranda, letting the wind blow.

They let the wind blow, watched the sky, and he sketched a new Nichirin Blade on paper.

This one was for Shinobu Kocho.

She'd been a useful lamp, so she'd asked him to forge her a Nichirin Blade, and Tetsu no Sosuke could only agree with tears in his heart.

And this girl's demands were far from few!

First, it had to be as light as her sister's Nichirin Blade. Second, it had to have a compartment for storing poison.

Finally, it had to be compatible with the sword techniques of her self-created Breath of the Insect.

If possible, she wanted the blade to enhance the poison's effects...

And when it struck a demon, it should be able to inject the poison directly into its body...

Also, it had to look good, not too bulky...

The Sword Guard had to be a four-leaf clover shape. Since she wasn't a Pillar, the blade didn't need engraving, but the scabbard also had to hide a mechanism.

And she wanted Tetsu no Sosuke to forge her two small knives, complete with precise measurements.

After hearing all this, Tetsu no Sosuke's mind went blank.

At first listen, it was a mess of demands, some reasonable and some not!

The first three seemed normal to Tetsu no Sosuke, but what the hell were the rest?

Enhance the poison's effects?

Did the Scarlet Sand Iron used in Nichirin Blades have that property?

That would require mixing in another metal, wouldn't it?

And poison effective against demons wasn't ordinary stuff—it was extracted from wisteria flowers, specifically designed to counter demons.

This problem was completely beyond Tetsu no Sosuke's scope, wasn't it?

And what was with the aesthetic concerns?

Wasn't a Nichirin Blade supposed to be functional? What good was looking nice? The scabbard needed a mechanism? What kind of mechanism? Spit it out!

The two small knives were no problem—the measurements were there, clearly thought out by her. Those just needed to be forged.

But regardless, looking at the whole picture, it felt like she'd racked her brains to come up with all this nonsense just to make things hard for Tetsu no Sosuke!

"Ah..."

He let out a long sigh, tore the paper off, and crumpled it into a ball. On his other side, a pile of discarded paper balls had already gathered.

He glanced back at Hazakura. The girl was probably full, staring at the sky and rubbing her belly in a daze.

As if noticing Tetsu no Sosuke's gaze, she hesitated, then tossed a coin. When it landed, maybe she got the answer she wanted... and then went back to her original state.

Tetsu no Sosuke suddenly felt that bringing her here to share the wind with him had probably been a terrible idea.

A breeze came, and a butterfly drifted down.

Tetsu no Sosuke looked up to see Kochou Kanae standing right in front of him, smiling at him.

"Ah... it's dawn."

Tetsu no Sosuke felt like he'd glimpsed a ray of light through the gloom.

Kochou Kanae glanced at the crumpled paper balls beside him and couldn't help but laugh. "You need to learn to refuse that child's unreasonable demands."

"...Well... as a swordsmith, I guess I should turn the impossible into the possible. If I can't do it, it just means my training isn't enough."

As soon as he said it, Tetsu no Sosuke regretted it. Was it really okay to show off like this?

Even Hazakura beside him seemed unable to watch anymore. Who was it that had been sighing and groaning just now? She turned her head away, probably not wanting to see such a hypocritical adult.

Kochou Kanae held back her laughter and made herself serious. "I heard about your recovery. Master wants to see you."

Chapter 27: The Choice

The Master's name was Ubuyashiki Kagaya.

Everything Tetsu no Sosuke knew about this man came from anime and manga.

A gentle leader with extraordinary personal charisma. His voice could soothe people's emotions, calming even the most restless heart.

He was gravely ill, blind from the moment he appeared.

At the start of the final battle in Infinity Castle, he used himself as bait, employing a massive amount of explosives to severely wound Kibutsuji Muzan.

But along with him, his wife and two daughters also perished.

He was a man impossible to overlook, and equally impossible not to admire.

At this moment, Tetsu no Sosuke stood in his courtyard, with Kochou Kanae beside him.

On the veranda before them, the sliding doors slowly opened to both sides, and two nearly identical young girls stepped out.

Their gazes fell on Tetsu no Sosuke's face, and they spoke in unison: "Please, guest, come in."

Tetsu no Sosuke glanced at Kochou Kanae, then nodded, left his shoes on the ground, stepped onto the veranda, and entered the house.

After he went inside, the two girls closed the doors.

Kochou Kanae stood silently, waiting patiently.