"It means you took a wrong road from the start."
I don't know how you came here in the first place, though.
I set aside the meat I was eating and observed the sisters' expressions.
They showed very different reactions to my answer.
Shinobu scowled, clearly disappointed by my words.
Such a childlike response.
Kanae, however, wore a different look.
She fell silent, deep in thought, as if something I said had sparked an idea.
And then—
"So…"
Kanae raised her hand gently before speaking.
"That doesn't mean there's no way, right? You said we took the wrong path, but you didn't say there's no path at all."
…Well, she was right.
There was indeed a way.
And, surprisingly, it was quite simple.
You join the Demon Slayer Corps.
Everything you need to learn to hunt Demons—training, weapons like the Nichirin Blade, a teacher to guide you in Total Concentration Breathing—comes from the Corps.
All the tools that can kill Demons are provided by the Demon Slayer Corps.
And they're all yours once you become a member…
In short, enter the Demon Slayer Corps, and you'll gain what you seek.
But there was one problem…
How to find the Demon Slayer Corps.
Joining would solve everything.
But if you can't join, nothing even begins.
The Demon Slayer Corps was not officially recognized by the government.
It operated in secret, a clandestine organization.
No force could rival their skill in cleaning up after Demons or their stealthy operations—so much so that tales of their deeds had become mere bedtime stories about ruthless Demons.
Even in a distant past five hundred years ago—before the Silver Unit was formed—people hadn't heard of the Corps or Demons for all those decades, be it fourteen or seventeen years, I can't recall precisely.
And after I left the Corps and lived another five centuries, I rarely even saw Demon Slayers.
"But if you carry a weapon that can kill Demons, doesn't that mean you were once a Demon Slayer?"
Shinobu's eyes narrowed as she delivered that sharp observation.
But…
"I left the Corps myself, five hundred years ago. As for where they are now, I have no idea."
I shook my head in response.
They say that in ten years, the landscape can change. I had lived another fifty times that span.
There's no guarantee that the Rengoku estate or the house where Yoriichi once lived still stood where they had.
And in five hundred years since Rengoku and Yoriichi died, I never bothered to look up their locations. I had forgotten them entirely.
'If you open the book in your memory, you should find it. Forgetting is just pushing it into the back of your mind.'
'But I can't see the location.'
'Damn.'
In short, I was lost.
"So…"
I opened my mouth to speak again, but then I clamped it shut.
The two simply stared at me in silence, their lips sealed.
It was as if the conversation had abruptly ended and no one knew what to say next.
…
In the continuing silence, I finally broke the tension with a shout into the emptiness.
"Well, what else?"
The silence shattered, and the girls showed fresh reactions.
"Five hundred years old? Exactly how old are you?"
Shinobu jumped, pointing at me in astonishment.
"Uh… five hundred? Then… you're not Tsugikuni-san but… Grandfather Tsugikuni?"
Kanae fumbled as if her wiring had snapped.
They seemed more shocked that I was over five hundred than that I couldn't find the Corps.
Don't believe it? But it's the truth.
It's no small matter to live five centuries.
Besides, even as an immortal Demon, I had indeed lived a very long time.
Only a handful of figures could claim to have lived longer.
Kibutsuji Muzan, who had lived a thousand years, and perhaps Tamayo, who might have been my contemporary.
Then there were Uzu… and Amano, who were older than me in their human lives.
But none of that mattered now.
"That's beside the point."
We needed to talk about where to find the Corps first.
Why were we drifting off-topic?
I was about to scold them to stay on track when—
"No, this is more important."
Shinobu had clearly forgotten all about the Corps' location.
I had hoped Kanae, at least, would show some maturity, but—
"So then, Grandfather Tsugikuni?"
Damn it, even you.
Kanae's stunned face, still unable to process the shock, was enough to crush any hope I had.
"Just call me whatever you want…"
I buried my face in my hands and sighed.
@@@
A towering monk strode toward the house, wielding a strange weapon: a chain linking a poleaxe and iron horns.
The blind man's name was Himejima Kyoumei.
He was one of the Corps' silent pillars of strength, a swordsman who led the clandestine operations that upheld this era.
He must have just returned from a mission—dust clung to his uniform.
But he didn't seem to mind.
It was simply another day's work, another familiar scene to him.
Yet today felt different.
Because in the back of his mind lingered the memory of that night's events.
'That person saved us! So please, stop... stop fighting!'
A child had screamed at the fight with an explosive emotion, chastising both me and the Demon.
'Then I shall leave those children's safety in your hands.'
The Demon, unlike the others, held no anger or resentment toward me; it simply passed the choice back to me.
That memory of those two figures had been a jarring experience for Himejima.
A child seemed so fragile yet cruel in its own way in his recollection.
But that child had not been merely pitiful.
Though her voice had trembled with pleas, she had faced the danger directly and resolved to stand her ground.
Demons were detestable in every way—vile and merciless.
Yet that Demon had been different.
It had not acted selfishly or lied; it swung its blade without malice and handed every decision back to itself.
And then…
He shook his head and checked his weapon.
After all, it had been nothing more than a dream that came alive at night.
The stinging sensation in his fist from striking the Demon's skull still lingered.
He could never forget the word 'monster' spoken like an executioner's decree to the child he had saved…
He was drenched in terror that still haunted his ears.
It would never fade away for the rest of his life.
So Himejima had buried that nightmarish dream back into the depths of his memory, just as one would push away a bad dream.
It was nothing but a dream—a dream that would vanish like a bubble.
He would never meet those girls sent off to their relatives by the Silver Unit again.
To be honest, he didn't want to get involved with children anymore.
That was why he hadn't even asked their names.
And it was the same for Tsugikuni.
Or so he had thought.
But then he confronted that memory again.
He had sensed movement by the door and thought it might be a visitor…
"This is Himejima Kyoumei's residence, is it not?"
He heard that voice again—one he never expected to hear outside the dream.
And then…
"Watch closely! And don't tell a soul!"
That figure was there too.
In the pitch-black darkness where he could see nothing at all…