Makomo’s Request

After the selection results came out, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, received the news immediately. At this time, he had not yet gone completely blind, and the scars on his face were not very noticeable.

The curse had not yet severely eroded his body.

"This selection produced an interesting young man. At such a young age, he already possesses this kind of strength."

As the Kasugai Crow continuously relayed information, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, seated in the courtyard corridor, said with gratification, "So he is Gyomei’s Tsuguko. Has his Stone Breathing finally found an inheritor? That is wonderful…"

"I hope this young man’s arrival can bring even the slightest turning point to this war that has lasted for a thousand years."

No one in the empty courtyard responded to Kagaya Ubuyashiki’s earnest hopes. After every Final Selection, he would say something similar.

Before returning to the temple, Chu Yang, now officially a swordsman, made a trip to the Butterfly Mansion.

He intended to share the news with Kanae Kocho and Shinobu Kocho, who had saved his life.

However, Makomo had arrived at the Butterfly Mansion before him and had already told them everything she could. The entire process of the Final Selection left Kanae clicking her tongue in amazement.

"There will be plenty to do next. This kid nearly wiped out all the demons on Fujikasane Mountain, so we’ll have to catch another batch and put them in." Kanae’s tone held both admiration and helplessness. There were too many injured people at the Butterfly Mansion, and she could not leave at all.

"It was supposed to be a trial ground for the Final Selection, yet such a powerful demon appeared there. No wonder the survival rate was so low in the past. If we had noticed earlier, many people should have survived." Still quite young, Shinobu could not help complaining to her sister.

"Shinobu, this may be cruel, but it is something every Demon Slayer Corps member must experience. Once you become an official member, you will often face such cruel things. The target may be ordinary people, or it may be ourselves."

Kanae warned her earnestly, "Although you are also an official member, you have always lived with me at the Butterfly Mansion and have not experienced these things. But that does not mean you can remain so naive forever."

"I understand, Sister." Shinobu, who had yet to experience the parting of life and death, was lively and cheerful. She mischievously stuck out her tongue at her sister.

Seeing that she had not taken it to heart, Kanae could only shake her head helplessly.

As the sisters spoke, Chu Yang pushed open the doors of the Butterfly Mansion.

Just as he was about to greet them, Kanae angrily sent him to the bathhouse to wash the filth off his body.

This was a place for treating the wounded. The last thing they wanted was for someone like Chu Yang to enter covered in blood and grime. If they were unlucky, he might cause the patients to contract an illness.

Having grown used to the smell of blood, Chu Yang had not realized this.

In the past, he would have been the first one unable to stand having dirt on himself.

By the time Chu Yang emerged from the bathhouse, clean from head to toe,

the sun had quietly set. At dusk, the scent of food drifted through the Butterfly Mansion.

"Time to eat. Familiar."

Having lived here for a week, Chu Yang was familiar with every blade of grass and tree in the Butterfly Mansion. He did not need anyone to guide him to find the dining hall.

Makomo, both legs in casts, sat alone at the dining table.

The moment she saw Chu Yang, her eyes suddenly lit up.

"Would you like to sit here?" Makomo widened her eyes and stared at Chu Yang as if pleading.

Chu Yang smacked his lips and walked over reluctantly. Even though they had spent seven days together on Fujikasane Mountain, his anger at being called a pervert by the little girl had not completely faded.

In truth, they had not really spent those seven days together in the usual sense.

Makomo had spent those seven days waking and sleeping on Chu Yang’s back, muddling through them in a haze.

Chu Yang had not even said a single word to her. He had been busy killing demons everywhere, while Makomo had been too embarrassed to strike up a conversation because she had misunderstood him earlier and thought he was a bad person. Thus, these two oddballs truly had not spoken a word for seven whole days.

Until the selection ended, and Makomo was brought to the Butterfly Mansion by the Kakushi.

"How are you?" Chu Yang sat down beside her without any restraint. He glanced at her leg injuries, which seemed rather serious.

"I’m fine. Lady Kanae said that as long as I receive proper treatment, my movement will not be affected." Makomo, having escaped death, was very happy. Her eyes curved into crescents. "If you had come any later, I really might have been crippled."

"That’s not too bad." Chu Yang nodded, relieved. Then he asked,

"About when will you recover completely?"

The smile on Makomo’s face faded slightly, but she still forced herself to smile. "The casts can come off after three months, but to fully regain my mobility, I will need another month of rehabilitation training."

"I never expected to spend the first four months after becoming an official member in the Butterfly Mansion…"

At this point, Makomo suddenly looked at Chu Yang as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.

"You’re not about to ask me to do something troublesome for you, are you?" Chu Yang looked at her warily.

Having her thoughts guessed correctly, Makomo’s face flushed red, the color spreading from her ears all the way down her neck. Embarrassed, she hurriedly waved her hands. "I’m sorry. If you don’t want to, then forget it."

Chu Yang, who had always feared trouble, nodded. "I really don’t."

Makomo’s face turned red enough to bleed. Her voice grew quieter and quieter, buzzing like a mosquito, until she finally lowered her head.

"Bullying girls is not something a real man should do!"

Kanae suddenly appeared beside them.

She looked at Chu Yang disdainfully and fiercely knocked him on the head with the spoon in her hand.

It made quite a loud sound, but Chu Yang did not feel any pain at all. He was probably just too thick-skinned.

Shinobu also wanted to imitate her sister and knock Chu Yang on the head.

But Chu Yang snatched the spoon from her and casually gave her a bump on the head.

"Wah!!" Shinobu clutched her sister in pain, tears filling her eyes as she glared fiercely at Chu Yang.

Their childishness left Kanae both annoyed and amused.

"What’s wrong with listening to her request? It’s not like you’ll lose a piece of flesh." Shinobu said angrily, covering her forehead.

"Go on, then." The corners of Chu Yang’s mouth rose slightly, and he was in a much better mood.

"I just want to ask you to deliver a message to Master Urokodaki, so he can rest assured. And also…" Makomo bit her lip and softly said, "I don’t know whether I should tell him about the Hand Demon."

At those words, Chu Yang grew solemn as well.

Those dead children had probably become a source of anguish for Sakonji Urokodaki.

Kanae let out a faint sigh. What she feared most was not facing powerful demons, but Sakonji Urokodaki’s current situation.

If he learned that the Warding Masks he had kindly given his disciples had ultimately become the tokens that summoned their deaths, anyone would break down.

"He has the right to know. As for whether he can come to terms with it, that is his own matter." Chu Yang decided to make the trip for Makomo. In any case, he was not in a hurry to return to the temple, and assignments to kill demons could come at any time.

In the end, Makomo told Chu Yang the location of Mt. Sagiri. After dinner, he decided to travel through the night and head there at once, and Kanae could not stop him.

Kanae complained, "Why is this person like a bull?"

Shinobu nodded repeatedly beside her, already planning to return that forehead flick next time.