"Y-yes, that's right!" The other person swallowed nervously and said cautiously, "This thief is very strange; they only steal food. Money, clothes, and other things in the house haven't been touched."
"Only food was stolen?" Retsu raised an eyebrow, a suspicion forming in his mind. This was likely the work of a Demon. Human wealth was useless to Demons; only food was their goal.
He had encountered similar things before. The kitchen of a wealthy merchant's house was frequently robbed. At first, they thought it was a thief...
...and arranged for servants to keep watch in the kitchen, only to find a Rat Demon stealing food. In the end, he had dealt with it in passing.
"Take me to the house that was most recently robbed."
"Yes! Please follow us, my lord!"
The two didn't dare to delay and hurriedly led Retsu deeper into the Village.
At this time, most of the villagers were working in the fields, with only a few children playing by the roadside.
They soon arrived in front of a somewhat dilapidated wooden house.
In the open space in front of the house, several children in tattered clothes were sizing up Retsu with curiosity and fear. Seeing him look over, they quickly huddled together.
Retsu ignored the children, lifted the woven grass curtain, and walked straight inside.
The room was very simple, with only straw mats spread on the floor, a worn-out wooden table, and a few jars stacked in the corner.
He focused his perception for a moment and soon detected a faint but clear demonic aura in the corner of the room.
The Demonic Power of the Demons in this world was quite peculiar:
Most weak little Demons could not precisely control their Demonic Power. Places they stayed would always have a residual demonic aura. Although it would dissipate after a while, it easily exposed their tracks.
On the contrary, those great Demons who could transform into human form could hide their presence extremely well as long as they didn't use Demonic Power to fight, leaving almost no trace.
"Alright, you don't need to look for the thief anymore." Retsu walked out of the room and said to the two villagers waiting outside, "The one stealing things isn't a person, but a Demon."
"A-A Demon?!"
Their faces instantly turned pale, and their bodies began to tremble slightly. In this era where Demons ran rampant, once ordinary people got involved with Demons, they usually didn't meet a good end.
"My lord, you..." One of the villagers summoned his courage, wanting to say something but swallowing it back. His eyes were full of pleading, yet he was afraid of offending this Samurai.
Retsu saw through their thoughts at a glance and waved his hand. "Don't worry. Since I've encountered it, I'll help you resolve this trouble."
"Ah! Thank you very much, my lord! We'll go prepare a reward for you right away!" The two were overjoyed and hurriedly bowed in thanks.
"No need," Retsu said indifferently. "Looking at you, you probably can't produce anything decent anyway."
After saying that, he ignored their thanks, followed the residual demonic aura, and turned to walk out of the Village.
With the enhancement of Chakra, his speed was extremely fast, flying through the forest. He soon left the vicinity of the settlement and entered a valley with steep terrain.
On the tip of a large tree at the entrance of the canyon, he stopped and focused his perception. Inside the valley, there were actually many faint demonic auras gathered; it clearly wasn't just a single Demon.
"I didn't expect there to be a whole group of Demons?" Retsu was somewhat surprised.
Logically, Demons that could form a group had usually settled in a place for a long time, and their food problems should have been solved long ago. How could they have fallen to the point of stealing grain from a human Village?
Moreover, judging from their behavior of only stealing food and not harming people, they didn't seem to be bloodthirsty, evil Demons.
"Did they encounter some special circumstances?"
He was a bit puzzled but didn't dwell on it too much. Anyway, he was just looking for something to do out of boredom; he would know once he went in and asked.
Furthermore, the Demons in this group were all very weak. Even if there was some change, they couldn't stir up any trouble.
Thinking of this, Retsu leapt down from the treetop, cancelled the Transformation Jutsu of the wandering Samurai, and revealed his true form as an Edo Tensei.
He didn't care at all as he strode forward, walking into the valley in a grand manner. His aura was completely unmasked; to these weak Demons, it was undoubtedly a blatant deterrent.
Inside the valley, the vegetation was lush, and a clear river crossed the valley floor. Along the cliff walls on both sides of the riverbank, there were many natural caves of various sizes.
On the open ground below the caves, many Demons that looked like upright-walking dogs were busy. They wore ragged, patched-up clothes and held various simple tools.
Some were washing items by the stream, some were organizing dried herbs, and others were transporting food.
Strangely, some of the Demons carried bulging, large bundles on their backs, which were quite odd in shape.
Since Retsu didn't deliberately hide his presence, the busy Demons soon discovered him.
Someone shouted first, "A human Demon Slayer is here! Run! Hide!"
Instantly, noisy cries of alarm and panicked yelps intertwined.
In less than a minute, all the Demons active outside scrambled into the caves on the cliff walls and disappeared without a trace.
The valley, which had been somewhat lively just a moment ago, became dead silent in the blink of an eye.
Many tools were scattered on the ground—smoothly polished stones, half-finished vine baskets, fallen wild fruits, and a few discarded wooden sticks—as if the previous bustle was just an illusion.
"..." Retsu stood there, somewhat between laughter and tears.
He didn't expect these Demons to be so cowardly; just seeing his figure was enough to scare them into hiding immediately.
"Everyone, come out!" he shouted helplessly, raising his voice. "I'm just here to ask you something; I won't kill you."
Only the echo of the valley responded to him. He could sense that the Demons inside the caves hadn't gone far; clearly, they were all hiding near the entrances, secretly observing his movements.
"You're doing this the hard way." Retsu's gaze turned cold, and his hands quickly formed seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
A massive fireball several meters in diameter gushed from his mouth, rushing forward with scorching heat.
The gravel beach along the way was instantly heated up. The surface river water boiled, turning into a large amount of white steam that filled the air.
"Boom—!"
The fireball crashed heavily into the distant cliff face. The violent explosion sent gravel and flames flying in all directions. The surrounding shrubs and wild grass were instantly ignited, and the blazing firelight reddened half the valley.
"One of you who can speak, come out right now! Otherwise, I'll burn the entire valley to the ground and leave no one alive!"
Retsu stared at those dark caves, his tone cold and carrying an unquestionable deterrent force.
"M-My lord, spare us! This little Demon is coming out!"
A trembling voice came from a larger cave not far away.