The Workshops

Without saying another word, the two quickly headed towards the workshop.

Although Yamamoto said that to Kotetsu, in his opinion, the people at the workshop should have already been evacuated.

Since it's nighttime now, there shouldn't be many people in the workshop. With a little coaxing, the evacuation can be completed quickly.

Unlike the residential area, where there are over a hundred people scattered around, and some of them are elderly and have difficulty moving around, evacuating them would take much longer.

The level of trouble involved in evacuating villagers on either side is incomparable!!

As the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps stationed in the Swordsmith Village, this kind of troublesome matter should have been his responsibility.

But there was nothing we could do; we initially thought the Upper Rank was on the mountain.

At that time, delivering the knife was more dangerous than staying in the village to evacuate the villagers, so he decisively accepted the task after hearing the news that the knife needed to be delivered.

Who would have thought that in the blink of an eye, the Upper Rank would have run down?

But I have a child with me, and I can't take him to the residential area that I know is more dangerous, so I have no choice but to come to the workshop.

Now we can only hope that Sato and his team can do a good job of evacuating the villagers!

Before long, Yamamoto arrived at the workshop carrying Kotetsu.

Just as he expected, the workshop had become very quiet, and everyone had been evacuated, unlike usual.

Normally, even at this hour, the sound of hammering could be heard from time to time in the workshop.

Of course, there will be far fewer noises compared to daytime, but it's still not as silent as it is now.

However, just to be on the safe side, Yamamoto decided to look around the workshop.

Anyway, Upper Rank went towards the residential area, and Lady Kanroji also rushed there, so nothing should happen here in the short term.

Thinking of this, Yamamoto paused slightly as he ran forward, then quickly pushed off the ground and jumped onto the roof with Kotetsu on his back.

Once on the roof, Yamamoto hurried along, his head turning alertly as he scanned his surroundings.

It seems that because they left in such a hurry, the doors of several houses were still open, and the fires inside were still burning.

When encountering such a house, Yamamoto would jump down with Kotetsu on his back and go inside to double-check if anyone was still there.

After checking seven or eight rooms that were still lit up and confirming that no one was there, Yamamoto finally breathed a sigh of relief, and his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was almost completely at ease.

"It seems everyone in the workshop has been evacuated!" Yamamoto muttered to himself.

Logically, he could leave now, but the deep-rooted sense of responsibility in his life made him want to finish inspecting the workshop before leaving.

After running for a while, Kotetsu, who had been quiet and well-behaved on Yamamoto's back, suddenly raised his hand and pointed in a direction.

"There!"

Upon hearing this, Yamamoto quickly looked over.

There was another room with lights on in that direction, but unlike the previous one, this room not only had lights on, but the door was also closed.

Moreover, and more importantly, there was a member of the Demon Slayer Corps standing outside the house.

Filled with doubt, Yamamoto quickly ran towards that location with Kotetsu.

Bang!

Yamamoto, carrying Kotetsu on his back, leaped off the roof and landed steadily.

The team member turned around upon hearing the sound, and after recognizing the figure, immediately bowed and asked:

"Yamamoto- sama!"

Yamamoto frowned, nodded slightly, and then asked:

"Didn't I tell you to evacuate as soon as possible? Why are you still here?"

"I... this..."

The team member was speechless for a moment, stammering out single words. With each word, he would glance nervously at the closed door of the room.

Seeing this, Yamamoto, who had been in the Swordsmith Village for some time, roughly understood his meaning and asked:

"Are there still villagers who refuse to leave?"

The team member, feeling like he'd been granted a pardon, quickly nodded in response. "Yes, I kept knocking on the door to tell him to leave, but he said his knife work was in its final stage and he had to finish it in one go!"

"Nonsense! Is your life more important or your sword?" Yamamoto muttered angrily.

Upon hearing this, the team member immediately lowered his head, pursed his lips, and dared not reply.

Seeing this, Yamamoto could only sigh. He knew that this was not the team member's fault; many people in the Swordsmith Village were stubborn, especially when it came to swords.

Yamamoto gently put Kotetsu down from his back, walked quickly to the door, and was about to knock when the wooden door suddenly swung open, revealing a burly man, 1.9 meters tall, carrying a box.

"Well..."

Yamamoto paused slightly. But Kotetsu behind him shouted excitedly:

"Uncle Tetsumoto, it's you! Why haven't you left yet?"

The buildings around the workshop are all pretty much the same, and since they had just jumped across the rooftops, Kotetsu, who was still on Yamamoto's back and hadn't been paying much attention to where they were going, only realized whose workshop it was after Kotetsu came out.

Upon hearing this, Tetsumoto Homura glanced at Kotetsu and calmly replied, "The Nichirin Blade is just one step away from completion, so I stayed behind!"

"Huh? We're just one step away and you won't let me stay?" Kotetsu complained, then looked at the box in Tetsumoto Homura's hands and asked, "Is this the Nichirin Blade that was forged for Uncle Kato?"

Upon hearing this, Tetsumoto Homura nodded, and was about to reply when he was interrupted by the anxious Yamamoto.

"Forget about the Nichirin Blade for now, the Upper Rank have invaded the village, we need to get going!"

Upon hearing that the demon invading the village was Upper Rank Tetsumoto Homura's eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at Yamamoto.

"Upper Rank?"

"Yes! It was Upper Rank Three Doma who invaded the village!" Yamamoto nodded repeatedly in response.

Tetsumoto Homura nodded and said nothing more.

Seeing that the person in front of him was finally leaving, the team member waiting at the door breathed a sigh of relief.

The four continued their journey through the workshop, which was the last area Yamamoto was inspecting.

After checking the last two rooms and confirming that all workshop staff had been evacuated, Yamamoto was finally relieved.

His next task was to lead the remaining two to safety, and then rush to the inhabitants to check on their situation.

Instead of taking the main road, the group walked through the gaps between the houses until they reached a grove of trees. Just as they were about to leave the village and enter the woods, Tetsumoto Homura stopped.

The others, realizing what was happening, also stopped. Kotetsu looked at Tetsumoto Homura with a puzzled expression.

"What's wrong, Uncle Tetsumoto?"

Without replying, Tetsumoto Homura looked toward a rooftop not far away.

Seeing this, everyone turned their gaze in that direction.

A cold wind blew by...

Three small ice figures stood there quietly, their ice sculptures silently watching the four people.