Tetsu no Sosuke was feeling utterly dejected.
Ever since Shinobu caught him that day, she had been fiercely guarding Kanae.
Every ti he tried to spend ti with Kanae, Shinobu would be there like a glaring spotlight, illuminating everything and leaving no shadow for demons or evil spirits to hide in.
Sosuke was furious but helpless.
Under such circumstances, he couldn’t even ask Kanae about the answer he sought, let alone exchange more than a few words without being interrupted by a whirlwind of interruptions.
This even made Sosuke wonder if Shinobu had received the true teachings of Gale Sun.
Moreover, even the rice balls he made for Kanae were now being shared with an extra person.
While Shinobu praised the rice balls’ deliciousness, she never let her guard down. In a way, she was surprisingly principled.
Another source of Sosuke’s lancholy was... his injuries were healing too quickly.
He had been told he wouldn’t be able to get out of bed for seven days to half a month.
Yet in just three days, his wounds had already healed to about eighty percent.
Not only could he walk around without difficulty, but he had also beco adept at matching wits and skills with Shinobu.
Normally, such rapid recovery would be cause for celebration. But the problem was... if this continued, what excuse would he have to stay at the Butterfly mansion?
The swordsmiths from Swordsmith Village were supposed to return imdiately after delivering the Nichirin Blades.
Especially now that he had earned the right to forge Nichirin Blades independently, he should be back at the forge, providing weapons for the Demon Slayer Corps.
He had no reason to shirk his responsibilities.
He just couldn’t bear to leave.
The breeze in the courtyard was gentle. Sosuke sat on the veranda, holding a brush and paper, gazing absently at the clouds on the horizon.
A young girl sat beside him, cradling a rice ball in her hands. She took small bites, paused to stare into space, then continued eating.
She didn’t glance at Sosuke, sitting so quietly she seed almost invisible.
’Tsuyuri Kanao... she was considered a mber of the original protagonist group, wasn’t she?’
Though she appeared younger than he rembered.
She was an exceptionally quiet girl, so quiet that she wouldn’t even acknowledge you if you spoke to her.
Yet this tranquility wasn’t due to aloofness or arrogance.
It was a form of self-protection.
When Sosuke first made rice balls, he noticed her watching from the doorway.
He invited her in, but she didn’t move. When he turned away, she didn’t seem to feel slighted.
After flipping a coin—he never learned the outco—she approached him, observing his every move with ticulous attention, yet never uttering a single word.
Silence suited them both. Sosuke understood the circumstances and didn’t believe he could unlock the girl’s heart.
At least for now, she seed to be living well enough.
anwhile, Sosuke was drowning in his own troubles.
Shinobu had taken on a mission today and left early.
Sosuke had initially seen this as a golden opportunity to deepen his connection with Kanae.
But he soon discovered that Kanae had left even earlier, her destination unknown.
Resigned, he sighed and lured the little girl over with a rice ball. The two sat together on the veranda, enjoying the breeze.
They watched the sky and Sosuke sketched a new Nichirin Blade on paper.
This blade was for Shinobu.
She had served as a valuable "third wheel," so she demanded that Sosuke forge a Nichirin Blade for her. He could only agree through gritted teeth.
And the girl’s demands were far from modest!
First, it had to be as light as her elder sister’s Nichirin Blade. Second, it needed a compartnt to store poison.
Finally, it had to perfectly complent her self-created Insect Breathing sword techniques.
If possible, she wanted the blade to enhance the poison’s potency...
And when it struck a Demon, it should directly inject the poison into the Demon’s body...
Also, it had to be beautiful, not too bulky or clumsy-looking...
The tsuba (handguard) had to be four-leaf clover-shaped. Since she wasn’t a Pillar, the blade didn’t need inscriptions, but the scabbard should conceal hidden chanisms.
Furthermore, she requested Sosuke to forge two small daggers for her, providing precise asurents.
After hearing this barrage of demands, Sosuke’s mind went blank.
At first glance, it was a chaotic mix of reasonable and unreasonable requests!
The first three requirents seed normal to him, but what on earth were the rest?
Enhance the poison’s effectiveness?
Does Scarlet Crimson Sand Iron, the material used for Nichirin Blades, possess such properties?
That would likely require mixing it with another tal, wouldn’t it?
Moreover, poison effective against Demons isn’t ordinary stuff. It’s extracted from Wisteria flowers, a specialized toxin specifically designed to counter Demons.
This task is completely beyond Sosuke’s capabilities!
’And what’s this about aesthetics?’
’Isn’t the Nichirin Blade supposed to be purely functional? Why does appearance matter? And the scabbard needs a chanism? What kind of chanism? You need to be more specific!’
As for the two small knives, those are straightforward enough. The dinsions are provided, clearly indicating her consideration. All that’s needed is to forge them.
But overall, it’s clear she’s racking her brain to co up with all this nonsense just to make things difficult for Sosuke, isn’t she?
Sigh...
He let out a long sigh, tore off the paper, and crumpled it into a ball. On the other side of him, a pile of discarded paper balls already littered the ground.
He glanced back at kanao. The girl seed to have eaten too much and was staring blankly at the sky, rubbing her stomach.
Noticing Sosuke’s gaze, she hesitated for a mont, then tossed a coin into the air. When it landed, perhaps she got the result she wanted... and remained in her original position.
Sosuke suddenly realized that bringing her out here to enjoy the breeze with him had probably been a terrible idea.
A gust of wind swept through, and a butterfly fluttered down.
Sosuke looked up and saw Kanae standing before him, smiling.
"Ah... It’s dawn already."
Sosuke felt a ray of hope pierce through the gloom.
Kanae glanced at the pile of crumpled paper beside him and couldn’t help but chuckle. "You need to learn to refuse that child’s unreasonable requests."
"...As a swordsmith, I believe we should strive to make the impossible possible. If we can’t, it simply ans our training is insufficient."
After Sosuke finished speaking, he imdiately regretted it. Was this over-the-top posturing really necessary?
Kanao, standing beside him, seed unable to bear it any longer. ’Who was sighing so dramatically just monts ago?’ She turned her head away, perhaps unwilling to witness such a hypocritical adult.
Kanae suppressed a smile, forcing herself to remain serious. "I’ve heard about your recovery. Lord Ubuyashiki wishes to et you."
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