Night had fallen.
The candles in the shrine still burned, their light dancing across the paper doors.
Shinji sat cross-legged on the veranda, carefully polishing Muramasa with a cloth.
The blade's purple glow had dimmed, but that hunger for blood still trembled through the hilt and into his bones like a starving ghost that could never be satisfied.
Even though he'd maxed out his affection with it, Shinji wasn't the type to just discard something once he was done with it.
He was sentimental like that.
He still carried fragments of weapons he'd maxed out affection with before. Kept them on him even now.
No way he'd toss aside a blade that had served him well for so long just because he'd hit max affection.
Kikyō sat across from him, about a foot away, working with several sheets of white paper cut into human shapes.
"That elder.. why did he come to you?" Shinji asked without looking up, casually.
The question seemed to come out of nowhere, but Kikyō understood.
He meant the elder from the demon slayer village. The one who'd died on his back.
"Because he trusted me." Kikyō set down her scissors. White light rippled from her fingertips as she channeled a thread of spiritual power.
The paper figure inflated like it was filled with air, standing lightly on the table.
Shinji glanced at it, then moved on.
"Seven years ago, there was a plague in Musashi Province. The source was a plague demon that had grown powerful. I was young then, passing through their village, so I performed a purification." She made it sound so simple.
Shinji paused mid-motion.
Seven years ago.
How old would she have been then? twelve? thirteen?
And she could already purify a plague demon.
Sure enough, a true genius blessed by the gods.
Plague demons were no joke. In this era, whether born from corpses or grudges, they were far more troublesome than minor animal yokai.
Few of them reached the level of high-tier yokai, but most were at least at the third change, or just below the Sixth.
"Back then, that elder said I possessed a 'pure' constitution. A mind free of distraction." Kikyō gazed at the flickering candlelight, her eyes growing distant. "He said that if he grew too old one day, and could no longer suppress the Shikon Jewel in his care, he would entrust it to me. That when that time came, perhaps only I could protect it."
"Good eye," Shinji said, sheathing his blade with a sharp click. "Not just because you can fight. Because you really are pure."
Kikyō glanced at him.
She didn't argue.
But she had a feeling the demon warrior meant something different than the village elder had.
"And you?" she asked calmly. "A demon warrior, yet you act like… a rōnin."
"I'm someone who died once." Shinji leaned back against the pillar, not bothering to make up a story. "Woke up in a pile of corpses, a spear still in my chest. My head was mush. Only thing that kept me going was the determination not to become a beast."
That was the truth.
The memories of his past life, of being a transmigrator, they were what made him who he was.
Kikyō nodded and didn't press further.
In this chaotic age, everyone had a past they didn't want to talk about.
"That elder's remains…" Kikyō shifted the topic. "Are they still in that cave?"
"Yeah."
"We need to send them back."
"I know." Shinji nodded.
"Did he have any personal objects on him?" Kikyō asked.
"The situation was urgent. I only took the Shikon Jewel." He tried to recall the scene.
The old man had collapsed in the cave, his left arm severed, his right hand clenched around the Shikon Jewel.
Aside from that…
"I didn't notice," he admitted.
Kikyō frowned.
"That elder should have been carrying the heirloom of the demon slayer clan."
"A weapon called 'Hiraikotsu.'"
"Forged from the bones of countless demons. It's the most important battle weapon of the demon slayer clan."
Hiraikotsu.
Shinji's interest was piqued, but he shook his head. He wasn't unfamiliar with Hiraikotsu, and he was certainly interested, but he honestly hadn't seen it.
He'd assumed the old man simply hadn't brought it with him.
But hearing Kikyō's tone now…
"Is it that important?"
"Extremely important," Kikyō said. "It's the most powerful demon-slaying weapon in their village. The elder was escorting the Shikon Jewel here, there's no way he would have left it behind."
"If you didn't see it, then it must have been lost along the way."
"If possible, we should find it and return it to the village."
Shinji nodded. That made sense.
"Then we'll keep an eye out while we travel," he said.
And naturally, he intended to find it.
…
The next morning.
The mist still hadn't lifted.
At the village edge, Kaede clung tightly to Kikyō's sleeve, her eyes red-rimmed.
"Sister's leaving again…"
Though she was the guardian shrine maiden of Kaede's Village, Kikyō had often traveled before this, going out to slay demons.
Every time, Kaede was reluctant to see her go.
"I'll be back soon." The dark-haired, dark-eyed shrine maiden knelt down and patted her sister's head, then pulled out the paper figures she'd cut the night before.
The paper figure floated to the ground and grew as it caught the wind. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a waist-high paper child, clutching a small wooden stick. Though its features were drawn on, they held a lifelike vitality.
A paper shikigami.
A form of onmyōdō magic, using spiritual power to grant temporary animation to inanimate objects.
But this technique was far more refined than what most onmyōji could manage.
"It'll watch over the village for me, handle any minor demons," Kikyō said as she stood. "Don't wander off, either."
Kaede sniffled, looking at her sister, then at Shinji standing nearby, hand resting on his sword.
Still no armor. No demon mask.
Just the appearance of a handsome boy.
If not for his unnaturally pale complexion and those unusual eyes, he really did look more like a samurai than anything else.
Looking at him, Kaede suddenly stopped crying.
"Sister's going with big brother?"
"Yes."
"Then you're eloping!"
Shinji nearly choked on his own breath.
Even Kikyō's perpetually cool expression stiffened for a moment, the tips of her ears visibly reddening.
"We're delivering remains," she corrected.
"I don't believe it." Kaede pointed at them both. "When you stand together, you're just like what the neighbor lady said… What was that word? Oh right, a perfect match! You're off to make babies!"
"Pfft."
Shinji couldn't hold it in.
This kid knew way too much.
He glanced at Kikyō.
In the morning light, the shrine maiden stood in her white robes and red hakama. Though her expression was cool, the embarrassment was unmistakable.
Pretty cute.
"Time to go." Shinji reached out, patted Kaede on the head, and spun her around toward the village. "I'll bring you back some candy."
"Candy? The kind only the city lords can eat? Sister Kikyō brought me some once, I want the sweetest kind!"
Kaede's voice followed them as they left.
Kikyō didn't look back. Her pace quickened, almost like she was fleeing.
…
Out of the village, into the mountains.
The scenery changed completely towering ancient trees, weeds as tall as a person.
They walked for about an hour.
Kikyō stopped and turned to look at him.
"Are we there yet?"
Shinji surveyed their surroundings: identical trees, identical rocks, layer upon layer of mountains folding into each other like a maze.
He fell silent.
He remembered the general direction.
But that was from five days ago, when he'd been fighting his way through. Back then, his mind had been focused on killing and running no time to memorize landmarks.
And the terrain here was complex. Several battles had reshaped the landscape with demon attacks and his own blade aura. It looked completely different now.
"Maybe… probably…" Shinji pointed in a direction, but his hand wavered slightly.
Kikyō gazed at him silently.
She didn't speak.
But somehow, that made it even more awkward.
Finally, Kikyō sighed, a hint of resignation in it.
"You forgot," she stated.
"Not entirely," Shinji insisted. "It's just that the trees grew too fast. Blocked the path."
Kikyō looked mildly exasperated.
"I can sense the surroundings with my spiritual power, but that's for demonic aura. Ordinary remains…" She trailed off. She couldn't help with that.
Shinji scanned the area.
These desolate mountains didn't have a single soul around. Asking for directions was out of the question.
But.
No people, but there were 'things.'
Shinji crouched down and found a rock that looked particularly smooth and whole, one with some 'history' to it. He pried it loose.
About the size of two fists, heavy, covered in moss.
He brushed off the dirt, raised the rock to eye level, and adopted a serious expression.
"Hey there. Got a question."
"...."
Kikyō stared at him.
Was this demon warrior having another episode?
Talking to trees and wells in the village was one thing, but now he was chatting up some random mountain rock?
"Three days ago, around here somewhere, there was a demon warrior carrying an old man and running like crazy. You see him?"
Shinji addressed the rock with the earnest tone of someone greeting an old friend.
The rock, naturally, did not respond.
Kikyō pressed a hand to her forehead, apparently considering whether she should hit him with an arrow just to knock some sense into him.
But the panel in front of Shinji shifted.
This wasn't the first time he'd done something like this.
Traveling alone through this chaotic age with no guide and no map, you needed some special methods for finding your way.
[Unnamed Green Stone]
[Affection: 0 (Stranger)]
[It was sleeping. You woke it up. It's annoyed.]
Shinji didn't give up.
He pulled out his water flask, poured a little over the stone, and used his sleeve to wipe away some moss.
"Looking a bit dry there. Figured I'd wet you down. And this moss wasn't doing you any favors blocking your sunlight."
Gentle movements. Attentive service.
Kikyō took two steps back.
The look she gave him was one reserved for perverts.
[Unnamed Green Stone: Affection +1]
[Current Affection: 1 (Goodwill)]
[It's still annoyed about being woken up, but the water was nice. And you seem alright.]
[It tells you: Three days ago, there was indeed a guy carrying an old man. He headed into that ravine between the two crooked-neck trees.]
Success.
Shinji carefully placed the rock back where he'd found it, even adjusting its angle to face the sun.
"Thanks, buddy. See you around."
He stood up, dusted off his hands, and pointed ahead and to the left.
"That way. The ravine in the middle."
Kikyō looked at him, then at the rock.
"…The rock told you that?"
"They call it 'asking directions from a stone.'" Shinji smiled and started walking. "Everything has a spirit. If you're sincere enough, even stones will speak."
Kikyō followed behind him, watching his back.
Logic told her this was absurd.
But…
With this strange demon, it somehow didn't seem impossible.
She glanced down at the rock, now wiped clean.
It did look a little more… agreeable than before?