Argentum: YO! Back to our regular set programing.
Grel'Slyfer: Why are you announcing this as if we're on a network channel?
Argentum: Aren't we?
Urokodaki: That is a good question.
Grel'Slyfer: Never thought of it that way.
Shadow: Eh not important what is important.
Argentum: Yeah...
Tanjiro: Always something with all of you.
Urokodaki: Ain't that the truth.
Shadow: Heh well we have a review from Redburningdragon. And to simply answer your question. Inosuke did pass the test. But ran off as soon as it was done.
Argentum: Happened exactly like that in Canon to.
Shadow: In fact he himself said that he got his swords. At least his first pair by beating up some random demon slayers. That's when he learned about everything.
Tanjiro: Inosuke was just that tough and talented.
Argentum: Yep! Alright since I'm bored and can't think of any other jokes or things to go over we're just going to start. Urokodaki you're up.
Urokodaki: Fair enough, we here at the Dark Guard productions own nothing but OC's and reality building concepts. Everything else belongs to their respective owners. Now without further delay.
Everyone: Here's the story.
Hello= Regular talk
Hello= Thoughts
[Hello]= Radio
(Hello)= Telepathy/Mind reading
Chapter Twenty Six: How I got assigned body guard duties or… How I became a third wheel…
I couldn't help but pace around, a curious pink eyed girl watching me from under a comforter. I was thinking of all the developments that had happened within the last seven days. For one my princess and the kiddos had left for their final selection. I knew Eris and her little brother, as she now calls Zenitsu for some reason I couldn't fathom, would also be there. I also knew that the five of them would be fine; I just couldn't help but worry. For one I loved Eris and Cassandra, and would rather cut off my own arm than have them get hurt.
Two I've pretty much "adopted" Kanao and Tanjiro as younger siblings at this point. As for Zenitsu… well besides how Eris seems to also "adopted" him, he was a good kid who I didn't want to see get hurt. Sighing I sat down next to Nezuko and petted her head. She made some sort of satisfied noise that I smiled about.
She had woken up two days after the others had left; at first she was a little disorientated. However she could understand what we told her about the current situation, so that was a good thing. Though anytime we weren't directly asking her to do something, she kind of acted like a cat. However the one time I asked to spar with her, proved she was more than capable of taking care of herself. I couldn't help but rub my left side from phantom pains.
This girl has super legs or something. Not even getting hit by a tree was as painful as getting kicked by this girl. Beyond that we had done a few experiments, nothing harmful; we just did enough to see where her sun immunity was. Along with how her mind was doing, good news she could stay out under the sun for about five minutes before getting a sun burn. Bad news was while she could add very small and simple numbers. She couldn't count higher than one hundred, and multiplication and division was still beyond her.
She was slowly improving however, and I figured now that when her body was done making it so she could simply sleep literally anything off. Than the demon girl's body would focus on her sun immunity and her mind. I would've liked to help quicken things again, but I didn't dare try to do so. My experience with doing so was still to infantile. If I had tried again when I've already tampered with it, then there was a good chance that I might mess something up.
Shaking my head I got up much to Nezuko's disappointment. "Sorry Nezuko Chan, but you know me by now. I like to get as much training in as possible." She huffed for a moment before nodding. "Thanks! I'll be back to keep you company before you know it." Leaving Urokodaki's main house I looked up at the sky. It was around ten in the morning, I had been keeping the demon girl company for the last two hours. Ah well it's for a good cause. I had liked spending time with the adorable demon girl. But now it's time to get some blood pumping.
With that in mind I began exercising, working on my strength and speed. Thinking back on what Kyojuro had told me I was rather curious. Because thinking back on it, the last two times I've used the ninth form Rengoku. They didn't seem as nearly as powerful as the first time I used it. Finishing up my with the first part of my training I unsheathed my sword. Looking at the blade I inspected it carefully.
Not finding a single scratch or chip in it made me smile. "Alright time to experiment a bit." Pulling my sword back behind my head, I tried to feel what I had felt the time I used the ninth form in the lake. "Ku no Kata! Rengoku!" Unleashing everything I had against a faraway unsuspecting tree. I cut it in two, burning it in the process. As it fell I kicked it to make sure it didn't fall on anything I didn't want it falling on. Looking at my blade as the tree crashed into the ground I sighed. That still wasn't it. Kyojuro had told me it's supposed to push me past my limits. Yet I couldn't seem to find a way to do that. What did I do so differently in the lake?
Taking another breath, I filled my lungs to max capacity. "Again!" Over and over I cut down poor innocent trees. Yet even when I was completely exhausted I wasn't able to replicate my biggest feat. "Argh! What am I doing wrong?" Shaking my head I calmed myself and decided that I'd done enough for the day. Doing anything more would only anger me further, and I was never able to really train while angry. Sheathing my sword I started walking my way back to make dinner. As I approached the door it was kicked open. I was barely able to dodge as Nezuko walked out. Blinking I watched as she turned towards the path leading up to the house.
Turning that way myself I couldn't help but let my eyes widen. Standing there relatively fine, if rather filthy, was my princess and the kids. Smiling I watched as Nezuko ran up to them. Tanjiro seeing his sister up and literally running also ran forward.
"Nezuko!" As they hugged and cried together at finally being reunited I closed my eyes. It was a nice moment, and I had no intention of interrupting. That's when I felt a hug of my own. My smile could only grow as I hugged my princess back.
Kissing her cheek I spoke softly to her. "I'm glad to see you and the kids return safely." She giggled before pulling back and giving me a look. It was a look I knew very well, a look only a woman could give. I had received it plenty of times from my mother and quickly came to fear said look. So seeing this on my princess' face could only mean I somehow messed up on something.
"Michael Varis Smith… remember when you told Sabito, that you killed roughly eighty percent of the demons during your final selection?" I nodded cautiously as she continued. "Well… by doing so you made our final selection needlessly difficult." I couldn't help but gulp and take a step back as she poked my chest. "You made it so while we only had to survive two days instead of seven. You also made it so we needed to slay fifteen demons before the time was up! I rather have survived the full seven days! At least then I would know if myself and the others would all be able to pass altogether!"
I quickly started bowing my head at her over and over again. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen!" Needless to say I didn't get any cuddles that night.
I am the greatest smith of line breaks! Fear my line breaking powers!
The next day after a lonely night Cassandra glomped me with a hug during breakfast. "I don't want to ever have to do that again! Please don't make me do so!" She was begging with tears in her eyes. "I hate not sleeping with you when you are around!" I simply patted her head as the others chuckled at her antics. Even Kanao got in a small laugh, though Nezuko seemed a bit confused. As we started eating, my princess and the kids started telling me about their time during the final selection.
At hearing how Kanao came to Tanjiro's rescue I decided to tease the teen a bit. "So… couldn't keep away from Tanjiro for too long could you huh?" She blushed a bit along with Tanjiro as I continued. "Even treated his head wound and whatnot eh? Heh! Might as well come out and say you like him, I mean everyone else can see it." I had embarrassed the two young teenagers rather thoroughly with that. Feeling a pat on my arm I looked to see an upset Nezuko. Seemed as if she didn't like me teasing her brother. "Sorry Nezuko Chan I promise to stop." The for now part was left unsaid and she seemed mollified.
Looking over at her Tanjiro smiled. "It's great to see you getting in on conversations again Nezuko." She turned to him and gave her brother an eye smile, her bamboo muzzle still covering her mouth. Smiling back at her Tanjiro than turned to me with a question. "How much longer do you think she'll need to fully regain her mind? Or be able to walk out in the sun for that matter?" Thinking about it I did some mental math as everyone even Nezuko looked to me for answers.
After a moment I spoke up with a smile. "Well if my calculations are correct, and they usually almost are nowadays. I'd give her about a month for the sun, and two for her mind. Until then just let her get as much sleep as she wants." Tanjiro smiled brightly at that.
"Really?! That's amazing news!" Nezuko quickly nodded in agreement as Kanao patted Tanjiro's hand in congratulations. Happy that her crush was happy. Of course that gesture didn't go unnoticed by the rest of us, however with the promise I made to Nezuko I didn't bring it up. Though even she was looking at them carefully at this point. That's when Oniki flew in, our conversation interrupted as she landed on my shoulder.
A bit surprised I scratched under her chin while taking the letter she had with her. "Thanks girl, want anything to snack on?" Nodding I got out a rice cracker, giving it to her as I opened the letter up. After a moment I hummed before grinning.
Next to me my princess poked my shoulder a bit. "What does it say Michael Kun?" Seeing how everyone was curious I spoke up with a grin.
"Just got some new orders, but not just for me, but also for Kanao Chan over there." The flower girl blinked for a moment as I elaborated. "With how you two have passed final selection, it was decided by Oyakata Sama that you two be assigned to under my care. If only for Nezuko's protection, he figured that with both me and Kanao around. We'd be able to make sure that Nezuko isn't discovered by Muzan." Both of them nodded in understanding, as I continued. "Expect our first assignment together when you two get your uniforms and swords."
Both nodded seriously before speaking as one. ""Hai!"" As they smiled at being able to continue to be together, my princess grumbled something only I heard.
"Lucky them…" Cassandra was a little jealous of not being able to stay with me longer. Smiling at her I kissed her cheek. "Thanks Michael Kun." Simply nodding at her thanks I turned to Tanjiro.
That's when I grinned evilly. "You know we only have a little less than two weeks left before your swords come in." He gulped as I a sadistic gleam appeared in my eye. "Within those days we're going to get you to at least hold your Zen Shūchū Jōchū while you're awake~! Time to get you up to the next level kid." As he chuckled nervously Nezuko tilted her head cutely. She had no idea the torture I was about to put her brother through. "That means you as well my lovely princess~!" This time Cassandra chuckled nervously. This was going to be fun.
Not even three hours later me and Kanao had both Cassandra and Tanjiro, on the ground panting for air. Seeing this I couldn't help but rub my chin in thought.
I really wish we had some of those gourds to blow air into. Would make training their lungs soo much easier. After a moment I turned to Kanao. "Do you think we could order in some training gourds before your guys' swords came in?" She shook her head and I could only sigh in disappointment. "Dang… would've made training a bit easier." She nodded as Tanjiro slowly stood up.
"I-I can still ke-keep going!" I couldn't help but admire his determination, but the kid was at his limit.
So instead I shook my head. "We still have plenty of daylight left, so why don't we take a small break. No need to completely break you." Tanjiro nodded with a disappointed look as I walked over to my princess. Helping her up I came up with an idea, and walked over to Tanjiro before whispering to him. "Hey you know that idea you had a while back? The one about helping Kanao out? Well I'm going to take Cassandra with me and you can then implement whatever your idea was. I think this is the perfect time to go for it~." His eyes widened before he whispered back to me.
"Do you really think so?" I nodded before pulling back and taking my princess by the hand.
"Well we're off to do some stuff, have fun kiddos~!" Knowing me as well as she did at this point, Cassandra simply followed my lead… to about twenty five feet behind them and into some bushes. "Okay time to see what happens with our two young lovebirds."
Giggling for a moment my princess quickly agreed with me. "Oh I can't wait to see what happens~!" Making ourselves comfortable we watched as the two teens awkwardly shifted around. "Come on work your adorable magic Tanji Kun~!" I couldn't help but give her a look at that nickname. "What? I think it fits!" Smirking I turned back to see Tanjiro finally making his move.
He seemed to have taken the time things were quiet to contemplate what he was going to say. "Well they're off again, wonder what they're doing?" Kanao simply shrugged as he sighed. "I swear… I may look up to the both of them, Michael San even more so, but they can to the most random things at time." After a moment Kanao simply nodded in agreement, that's when Tanjiro struck with his trade mark smile. "Hey! You know I've noticed that you haven't been using that coin of yours as much!"
Kanao's eyes widened before getting out the coin and looking at it carefully. "I… I suppose you are correct on that. I have no idea why, even when I was simply sparring or traveling with just Smith San. I had always used the coin." Tanjiro nodded before giving his thoughts.
"Perhaps you're just using your heart more to do what you feel you should do." As she bit her lower lip in worry Tanjiro took her hands in his. "Hey! None of that! I believe it is wonderful thing! In fact can I see your coin for a moment?" A bit hesitantly Kanao gave him the coin and he stood back a few feet. "Alright! I'm going to flip the coin, tails you keep using the coin. If it lands on heads you have to listen to your heart from now on!" Without waiting for a response Tanjiro flipped the coin. We all waited with bated breath as it came down. When the kid caught it he smacked it onto the top of his hand.
Finally he revealed it and cheered. "It's heads!" Showing it to Kanao she gaped at it, seemingly unable to understand what had happened.
"How? I saw you flip it and I knew you didn't cheat so how did it come up as heads?" Tanjiro simply smirked at her disbelief.
"Guess it's fates way of telling you to use your heart as well! Besides if it came up tails I was going to continue to flip it until we got a heads. Guess that was unnecessary huh?" That's when something seemed to happen to Kanao. At the new look in her eyes my princess and I could only smile. Kanao finally had life in her eyes. After a moment she cried a few tears before tackling Tanjiro in a hug. "Heh?! Ka-Kanao San?! Did I do something wrong?!" As we sighed at the kid's cluelessness Kanao shook her head.
"No, just thank you for this. I feel finally free of something I never knew had chained me down." Tanjiro while knowing that he did help his crush, didn't quite understand the true depth of what he did. However he could see it was important to Kanao and so simply hugged her back. Seeing this we left them alone, we weren't really needed anymore after all.
I am the greatest smith of line breaks! Fear my line breaking powers!
It was about thirteen days later that a few swordsmiths finally stopped by. There were actually two who happened to stop by this time. Both wearing large straw hats and clown masks. Biggest difference was how one was covered in a dark sun flower patterned rob, and the other had a blue robe with wisteria flowers on it. As they approached it was Tanjiro and I who greeted them.
The one with the wisteria flowers bowed to us while holding two packages. "I am Hagoro Jiro; I am simply here to deliver Tsuyuri Sama's and Cassandra Sama's swords and uniforms to them." His voice was gruff and deep, a good match for his large frame. I simply gestured inside and he nodded in thanks. As he entered the other one sat down and began talking.
"I am Haganezuka Hotaru, I've come from the swordsmith village to deliver Kamado Tanjiro's sword." Tanjiro lit up for a moment.
"OH! I'm Kamado Tanjiro sir, you can-" He was cut off as Hotaru kept talking.
"Nichirin blades are made from a special crimson ore, ore that is made from crimson sand, only found on mountains where sunlight hits them all year round." Wanting to see where this went, I simply listened as Tanjiro was continually interrupted and his hospitality ignored. "We take this sand, smelt it down into ore, and then hammer it into weapons. Nichirin blades! The only sure fire weapon that can kill demons. They are also known as color changing swords. They start out as regular steel but will change based on the user. Giving each sword unique properties."
"Wow that sounds-" Poor Tanjiro was interrupted again as the man turned around.
"HMM?! HMMM?!" He got right up into Tanjiro's face and started poking it. "You're a child of the sun!" Tanjiro uncomfortable and confused merely told him who his parents were. "NO! That's not what I meant! I meant is when a child is born with reddish hair and eyes like yours. It is considered lucky and a blessing for those who work around fire!"
"I had no idea that was a thing." As the man laughed he shouted into the house.
"Seems like we might get a crimson colored blade don't you think Sakonji?!" I could only faintly hear a maybe from the former water Hashira. Sighing I looked back at the swordsmith, feeling bad that this was the guy who Tanjiro would have to deal with from now on.
After that whole debacle all of us were sitting in front of Cassandra, Kanao, and Tanjiro. I will admit I was just as curious as Hotaru on how the swords would turn out. We decided to go in order from oldest to youngest. The oldest being Cassandra who took her sword from the package. We were surprised to see that it was a two edged sword. The blade was thin and only two and a half feet long. What's more was how it had a Japanese habaki, tsuba, and tsuka. Though the tsuka was much thinner than normal, it was also white and while holding no ornaments. Was one solid piece of leather, her tsuba was also unique.
Its center was a bronze rectangle with a spiraling pattern on it, and then on all sides of the rectangle were four horizontal bronze rings. As she held the sword one half turned white, while the other turned light blue. I couldn't help but nod at it.
"To be expected from someone making an ice style." The two blacksmiths and former Hashira nodded in agreement as we turned to Kanao. She was a little less than a year older than Tanjiro so she went next. Her nichirin blade had a white handle with pink diamonds running up the sides. Her kashira or pommel was gold, and her tsuba was circular in shape with a flower motif. As she drew the blade out it swiftly changed color, the front or the yakiba or hard section of the blade stayed a steel color. However the rest of the blade turned into a light pink. I simply nodded at this as Sakonji spoke up.
"As expected of a flower breath user." She smiled brightly while thanking him. Finally it was Tanjiro's turn, and he was eager to see what would happen. Now he had the most simple design for both his tsuka and tsuba. The tsuka was divided up into two halves that mirrored one another with a thick leather strip. On both halves were red diamonds going along the sides. His kashira was simply colored silver. His habaki however was rather unique, seeing how it was a two piece habaki. The bottom piece was silver while the top piece was black. Finally his tsuba was also black but resembled a wagon wheel in design.
Finally after looking his sword over Tanjiro unsheathed it. In wonder he watched as the sword turned completely black. Hotaru didn't seem to like that and jumped him.
"BLACK! Damn it I really wanted to see a crimson sword!" As he wrestled Tanjiro into the ground, after a bit of wrestling the kid asked him how old he was. Got to say I couldn't help but sigh at his answer. "I'm thirty seven!"
"That makes this even worse!" Unfortunately Tanjiro was ignored, so looking away as Jiro spoke up. I was curious as he brought out another package, before holding them out to Kanao.
"Your uniform Tsuyuri Sama." Taking it gratefully Jiro than turned to Cassandra with another. "Here is yours Cassandra Sama." She nodded before taking it herself.
"Thank you so much Jiro San." Nodding he stood up and left without another word, turning back to Tanjiro as he struggled. I noticed the girls leave to get dressed. Shaking my head I listened in as Sakonji began speaking.
I had no idea how he still sounded so serious despite the ridiculous situation. "Tanjiro, I will let you know that most in the corps consider black swords unlucky. Signifying that they won't go far in the corps. This is because most who use them die fairly shortly in their careers. This means that no one really knows the attributes of a black blade. Giving it the stigma of bad luck. However since it is you I'm sure you'll be fine."
Tanjiro nodded as his cheek was being pulled. "Granks kurokodaki San." I couldn't help but snort at his pronunciation as a black crow who wasn't Oniki, flew in from a window.
"Mission for Tanjiro! Kanao! And Michael! A village to the northeast is being attacked by a demon! Young girls are disappearing in the night! Go there and slay the dem- CAW!" It cawed loudly as Oniki fly in and kicked it away.
"CAW! Go there and destroy the demon before it can claim more lives!" I couldn't help but give her a dry look causing my crow to turn away. Tanjiro having escaped Hotaru's clutches began fretting over his crow. Said crow was completely out of it. Sighing I stood up while taking the package that held Tanjiro's uniform.
"Tanjiro!" He looked up at me as I tossed him the uniform. "Get dressed; we have a job to do now." Eyes widening he quickly schooled his expression into one of determination. With a nod he began putting on his uniform, I couldn't help but hum as I saw it was basically like Kyojuro's only black in color. Of course he had to put his checkered haori over it. But I thought the look suited him well enough. That's when the girls came out of the room Nezuko was in. Peeking out from under the covers, bamboo muzzle still on, Nezuko looked at her brother with admiration. As for Kanao and Cassandra…
I couldn't help but blink a bit. "Huh… why do the both of you have skirts? Even Kocho San had the regular uniform pants, even if her uniform is slightly purple like Kanao's. Though now that I think of it she does have butterfly kyahan around her lower legs…" Cassandra simply shrugged.
"Eh we have white leggings, so it should be okay. On the other hand since we are slaying demons, we might as well look presentable doing it."
I gave her a bored look as Kanao spoke up. "Well Kanroji San the love Hashira also wears a skirt, though she also keeps some top buttons open… My older sisters were actually offered the same uniform once. I do believe they burned them however." My look only became more blank at that.
"Okay…" Clapping my hands I was about to say something when another crow flew in.
This one landed on my princess' shoulder. "To the east is a demon! Hunt it down caw!" I could tell that this Kusugai crow was a no nonsense kind of guy. So with a sigh I walked up to my princess and hugged her.
"Guess this is it, we also got some new orders." Hugging me back she nodded before going on her toes and kissing me. As the two teens blushed the others simply nodded in understanding. As we broke apart I smiled. "I wish you all the luck in the world."
Giving me her beautiful smile Cassandra nodded. "Same to you!" She kissed me again before running off. "Farewell everyone~! I wish you all safety!" As we said goodbye the kids turned to me.
"What?" They quickly turned away blushing. Kids are so strange nowadays. Was that hypocritical of me? Probably. Did I care all that much? Nah.
I am the greatest smith of line breaks! Fear my line breaking powers!
All ready and set to go, all we had to do was put a pink shawl over Nezuko and head on out. At this point she had progressed enough to only need something between her skin, and the sun. The young girl also had a lot more clarity in her eyes as well. Though she still acted like a cat from time to time, seemed as if that trait wasn't going away for a while. However seeing how it was his first official mission, we had decided to leave most of the work to Tanjiro this time around. Technically this was also Kanao's first official mission; however she had also gone on a number of missions with Shinobu. So we figured it was best to give Tanjiro the experience.
Thankfully with Tanjiro's stunt with Kanao's coin she was actually talkative for once. Or at least marginally so, much better than what she used to be. However for the most part she kept to talking to Tanjiro. Me and Nezuko could only watch from behind as the two love birds conversed. Seeing this I decided to be the one to talk to the demon girl, even if she could only respond with grunts.
I did say that she could take off the muzzle but she refused, I could only guess that she was still worried about hurting someone. I knew that unless she purposely let go than that wasn't going to happen. However I let her do her own thing seeing she was more relaxed with it on. Thankfully we arrived at our destination in about a day. It wasn't too far away and we had kept our pace quick. When we arrived I immediately looked around. While the village looked rather normal, the citizens seemed a little spooked about something.
Walking up to him I patted Tanjiro's shoulder. "Well the ball is in your court now, lead the way kid." Nodding seriously Tanjiro started leading the way into the village. I couldn't help but sigh a bit at how he went around asking questions.
He completely lacks subtlety; no one's going to believe that he's here to hunt demons. Now despite my misgivings on how he was handling it, I let him continue if only to teach him a lesson. In fact I was planning on telling him how he could do better during the evening. However that's when his luck struck. For there was a rather plain looking man in a brown Haori, and blue kimono walking around in a daze. As he walked past us my ears perked up over what I heard.
"Poor Kazumi."
"I heard that his fiancée was one of the victims."
"I heard that he says she simply vanished into thin air." That last line got Tanjiro's attention and he made his way over to him.
"Kazumi San!" The poor man turned to the teen as Tanjiro continued. "Forgive me but I would like to know what happened to your fiancée. We're actually here to help." The man's eyes lit up for a moment before he gestured for us to follow. He lead us to the spot where his fiancée disappeared. As described what happened I couldn't help but feel for the man. I certainly wouldn't know what to do if Cassandra or Eris or kami forbid! Both of them either disappeared or died.
My thoughts were interrupted by his tired voice. "No one believes me… you probably don't either. Everyone is just saying that my guilt is just overwhelming me, but I know what happened! She was there one moment and the next my beloved Satoko was gone!" I watched as Tanjiro kneeled down while sniffing the ground, much like a dog actually. What he said however put a frown on my face.
"I believe you Kasumi San, in fact it is why we're here. Don't worry we'll track down the one who did this!" Though his words were optimistic, I knew this meant that there was a demon at large. One that could appear and disappear in a blink of an eye no less. I could only hope that the kids were ready for what was going to happen.
The rest of the day was spent following Tanjiro around as he sniffed the ground. I was again disappointed by his lack of discreetness. Got to make sure to bring this up with him later. Looking around I couldn't help but sigh as everyone whispered about us. Even Kanao and Nezuko looked a little embarrassed of following around a "dog" man. In fact while Nezuko hid her embarrassment behind her shawl. Kanao was blushing all the way into right side ponytail. In fact even her butterfly ornament that kept her hair in a ponytail seemed affected. I couldn't help but shake my head at that.
When night finally came we were still watching, having to explain to Kasumi why we were still hunting even into the night. I was however able to buy a couple of things during the day, including a small box, some leather straps, and a small blue bow. I planned to give them to Oniki, mostly to differentiate her from the other Kusugai, but also to give her something to hold letters in.
As I was fiddling with the box, trying to put the straps I bought onto it Tanjiro perked up. "I smell it!" Hardening my gaze I put the box and straps away as I chased after Tanjiro. Jumping onto roofs along with the others. Poor Kazumi had to try and keep up on foot. Now normally I'd tell the guy to go home, that it was dangerous to follow, and that there was a chance he might get eaten. However I had left the lead to Tanjiro and he had yet to say anything about his presence. Yet another issue I'd have to talk to him about.
Jumping down from the roofs I used Lyb'Craeft to look around. There was a wall to one side of us, and buildings to the other. Looking down I could see something wrong with the equations. I could also see a demon, and a regular human girl. Thankfully despite not having my literal cheat code, Tanjiro still had his sense of smell.
"There!" Stabbing into the ground some sort of liquid pooled up from the ground. Reaching in the kid pulled on something, after a bit of a tug of war he managed to pull out the human girl I had spotted earlier. Jumping back with her we all got ready as Kazumi caught up. Right when the demon came up as well. "You!" That's when the three horned demon made a horrible sound. It started grinding its teeth at high speeds, now while it wasn't as bad as some sounds I've heard. It was still horrific and somehow Tanjiro didn't look affected at all. Even asked the darn thing a few questions. "I have some questions! Is it possible to turn a demon back into a human? And where can I find the one who turns people into demons?!" The demon simply grinded its teeth before dropping back into the swamp.
Walking up to Tanjiro I took the girl from him. "This is still your trial run; I'll protect the girl along with Kazumi. You, Kanao, and Nezuko deal with the demon." He nodded as I jumped back to Kazumi, handing him the girl. "Hold her; I can't fight properly while holding her." The man nodded as I drew my sword. "Time to see if they can handle something this tricky." Using my eyes I could see that there were actually three demons, though they all seemed to be copies of each other. "Good luck kiddos."
I am the greatest smith of line breaks! Fear my line breaking powers!
Argentum: Yay! Another chapter done!
Kazumi: Why am I here?
Grel'Slyfer: It was either you or Tokie.
Kazumi: Fair enough.
Argentum: Whelp… I got nothing to end this with.
Grel'Slyfer: Yeah.
Argentum: Kazumi end this chapter before something bad happens!
Kasumi: Okay… This has been a Dark Guard production now signing off.
Everyone: Goodbye!
Grel'Slyfer: We've run out of jokes and material haven't we.
Argentum: Yes… yes we have.