"Such a baseless prejudice." Tetsu no Sosuke shook his head and sighed. "I work so diligently, and people still dislike me... As if being disliked by people weren't enough, now even Demons dislike me."
Shinobu Kocho was at a loss for words. It seemed perfectly normal for Demons to dislike him.
What Demon didn't hate the Demon Hunters of the Demon Slayer Corps?
"So what's the plan?" Shinobu Kocho didn't dwell on that question. Instead, she pressed him for details.
Tetsu no Sosuke smiled. "Let's wait until everyone's here. I don't want to explain it over and over."
"So mysterious." Shinobu Kocho snorted, then started sniffing around the room.
Tetsu no Sosuke watched her in confusion. Only after she had made a full circuit of the room did he ask, "It's been a while. Have you picked up another strange habit? Did you learn this from Big Hammer? Have you taken him as your teacher?"
"Get lost!"
Shinobu Kocho snorted. "I'm just checking whether this room smells strange. You've been out here on your own, so I need to inspect things properly for my older sister."
"And?"
"Seems like there's no problem. Apart from the stink, I don't smell anything else."
"What smell are you looking for, exactly?"
"Photinia."
Tetsu no Sosuke froze for a long moment, then gaped at her. "You—you—you... You've gone bad! Where did you learn something so taboo?"
"Taboo?" Shinobu Kocho looked puzzled. "It's in the medical texts."
"..."
Tetsu no Sosuke thought it over. Perhaps something was taboo only because it was private.
In truth, Photinia was perfectly ordinary, and its scent was just its scent. There was nothing strange about that either.
But people insisted on associating it with certain things, until it somehow became something improper.
So knowledge itself was never taboo. The