Tetsu no Sosuke stared lifelessly at Kanae, who stood right in front of him. She looked back at him with warm encouragement.
He closed his eyes and downed the entire bowl.
Then he fell over and slept straight through to midnight.
There were too many episodes like that to count. Kanae and Shinobu Kocho worked hard and took the treatment seriously, while Tetsu no Sosuke suffered through it.
Still, although the medicine caused all kinds of unpleasant effects, not all of them were bad.
Using Meditation to examine the inside of his body, he found that his organs, which had been showing signs of failure, had indeed recovered some vitality.
The improvement was most obvious in his kidneys. He had to wonder whether Kanae had slipped a little personal preference into the prescription...
Another ten days passed, and news from the outside world gradually began to reach Hammer Hut.
The Final Selection, once put on hold, had resumed. It was no longer being held on Fujikasane Mountain, but at another location.
Still a mountain!
After all, the Demon Hunters' Final Selection was exceptionally brutal. Holding it in a city or town could cause far too much chaos.
Having learned a painful lesson from what had happened to Tetsu no Sosuke, Ubuyashiki Kagaya had sent a number of Pillars to stand guard this time. So far, everything had remained peaceful.
Recently, though, the demons had grown increasingly active.
Losing Nakime and Akaza in quick succession had clearly dealt Kibutsuji Muzan a heavy blow.
It had driven him close to madness. He no longer seemed intent on hiding himself.
From the pattern of the demons' movements, they could almost deduce where he was hiding.
But Ubuyashiki Kagaya did not act rashly. After waking, Tetsu no Sosuke had passed along a warning: Kibutsuji