Crimson Blade, Crimson Eyes

Flicking the blood off of his blade, he sheathed it with a flourish. Looking at the Giant Toad before him, its head was cleanly separated from its body.

The swordsmen had spent the last few hours hunting down toads, doing a full patrol around the city wall, making sure that the toads along his route were dealt with swiftly and as painlessly as he could manage.

As he reached each gate, he informed the knights there where the toads that had human bodies in them, in hopes that those who died would be identified and returned to their next of kin.

Right now, he was on his way back to the east gate entrance, his final stretch.

"Oh, the rookie's back." The guard at the post was leaning against his spear, clearly bored. "How'd you do?"

"I slew many toads." Yoriichi stoically stated. "A number of them had bodies in them."

"Yep, that's not uncommon." The guard yawned, sounding apathetic to it. "You don't seemed to bothered by it… some of the rookies are."

"I had been warned that people go missing." The swordsmen gestured to the plains. "I discovered why."

"That's how it is out here." The guard stood up straight, looking in the direction gestured. "Suppose you're going to tell me where these bodies are?"

With a nod, Yoriichi, began to explain where these dead toads were located.

Once he had finished, it didn't take too long for a cart to be pulled out and moved in that direction.

"Is that all then rookie?"

Before he could response, he heard a roar followed by a tremor in the earth, much like how it had been for the past few days only this time much stronger. Turning his head quickly, and hand on blade, he saw it over the tree line, a familiar plume of smoke which rose into the heavens.

"You don't know what that is? A party of adventurers went over that way." The guard continued, gesturing towards the plume. "One of them was a wizard of some type, probably casted a spell."

"Magic?"

Yoriichi relaxed as he let his hands fall to his side.

"Magic can make the sky roar and the earth shake?"

"If the casters talented enough."

While he had heard that basic magic could create water and small gusts of wind, he had not yet heard of a magic that could do what he had just stated.

"I see." Yoriichi looked to the man. "Where could I find out more?"

"I don't know much about magic but I hear a few tidbits here and there." The guard continued to make small talk, patting the pommel of the blade. "There's a magic shop that's popular, somewhere that way." The guard gestured to a more urban area of the city. "Or you could try the guild? Gotta be a lot of mages there?"

"I will then." Turning to the man, he gave a polite bow. "Thank you for the information."

"You're welcome." The guard gave a nod, suddenly perking up. "Oh! Before I forget, what's your name so the guild knows who turned in these toads?"

"Yoriichi Tsugikuni." The swordsmen gave his name. "And once again, thank you."

After that, the guard didn't keep him any longer as he was soon allowed to enter town. However it seemed that his mind was still relatively focused on the potential danger that magic could be.

While Yoriichi had been able to defeat a number of demons with blood demon arts that bordered the supernatural, he was not certain about his chances against a trained mage who could potentially split the ground or cause a deluge at will.

Looking towards the center of town, he supposed he should try the guild. First he would turn in his quest so that the guild would recognize it as completed, and then he would try to learn more about magic, as there was likely to be someone in the guild who either knew more through study or personal experience in this area.

If that failed, there was that shop the guard had mentioned, although he might have to ask directions to it.

…

He pushed open the large doors to the Adventurers Guild.

Moving into the building, he could see a number of peoples lounging about and drinking the days work away. A few eyes looked his way as he passed by, but no stares lingered for longer than a couple of seconds.

As he got closer to the booths, he could see that many of the lines were actually busy at this time, the longest line being that which Luna was in charge of. Looking to the other lines, all of the other receptionists were in uniform outfits very much different than their superiors.

Observing it, he noticed that the majority of individuals within that line were men, and a number of them seemed rather… eager to speak with her.

One step towards one of the other booth lines, he quickly spotted the other members of the guild handing off their Guild Cards to the receptionists, most likely as a measure to confirm that the jobs they were tasked with were completed.

If he handed off his card to one of these receptionists, there might be a… reaction, especially if this morning was any indicator.

Yoriichi thought it preferable if there was not another outburst of that caliber.

So, he moved to the back of the longest line, and waited.

While this line didn't go as quickly as the other ones, the wait didn't bother him.

"Next one in line!" Luna called out, and once her eyes landed on him, her expression relaxed. "Ah, Yoriichi-dono." The blonde spoke with a much more respectful tone, and also gave a half-bow, her action garnering attention from a few of the other members of the guild at the tables. "I take it you completed your quest."

"Luna-sama" He returned the bow. "I have."

Walking forward, he pulled out his guild card, handing it to her when she out her hand out to receive.

"Let us see…" Her amber eyes landed on the side of the card where his parameters were listed before finally looking to the right. Her expression changed to a perplexed on all of a sudden. "Eh?"

"Is something the matter?" Yoriichi inquired.

"This must be some type of mistake…" Her eyes were still focused on the spot, and her tone hushed. "Of all the classes available, you choose an Adventurer?!"

Unperturbed, he nodded. "I did."

Yoriichi had looked over the wide variety of classes available to him, and while he could select any one of them, he had decided to select the Adventurer Job Class.

While many people seemed to hold the class in low standing, he could see many merits that came with the class when comparing it to the other ones.

He had learned from his time here that all classes were bound to certain predetermined list of skills they could select and utilize, which meant that when one selects a class, they would be tethered and bound to a specific framework.

This would benefit any adventurer greatly who had decent parameters in certain stats which complimented the job class they took, but in his case it would hinder someone like himself as much as he loathed to agree with Luna, his unusually high parameters made him a unique case.

So choosing a class which would allow him to utilize the full potential of his parameters would be the most logical choice, and there was only one class which allowed for that type of versatility, that being the Adventurer.

While this did mean he had no starting skills of this world, he still had the abilities he had learned from his past life. With this class, he did have the ability to learn skills from all job lists whether these skills were from non-combatants to those in advanced classes.

It would be on him to find individuals who would be willing to teach him those skills so that he could make the most of his choice

"I… I see." Closing her eyes, Luna sighed. "If that is your choice Yoriichi-dono, then that is your choice."

While the red-haired swordsman didn't consider himself particularly skilled at reading people, he was certain she was currently in some degree of calm bafflement at his choice.

"Continuing on to business." Luna centered herself and put up her smile once more. "Twenty toads slain… that is a lot of Giant Toads."

"I could not risk them taking any more lives than they already had."

"That's very noble of you." She dipped her head now, in gratitude, before handing back his card. "Thank you."

Receiving his card, he looked at it, and noticed a few things had changed.

Yoriichi immediately noticed that his level increased by eight, and the number of skill points increased marginally, but piled with the high number of them he had been blessed with, he supposed he would need to spend them wisely.

"We've been receiving a number of toads already under your name." Luna's voice caused him to look back up at her. "Did you get transportation sorted out?"

"I have been informing the gate guards." Yoriichi said. "Is that alright?"

"It is.." With a nod, she pulled out a tray, and atop it was a stack of rectangular paper, with the Eris sigil on it. "One-hundred thousand Eris for the quest completed, and if all twenty toads come in, you will receive an additional one-hundred thousand once the last batch of toads trickle in. Please confirm that this is the correct amount."

Taking the Eris and counting the slips, each slip of paper was marked with the number 'five-thousand', meaning that there should be twenty slips there.

Once he reached twenty, he put the stack down and nodded.

"This is the correct amount."

"That is good to hear." With her practiced smile, she tilted her head slightly. "The guild thanks you for your hard work!"

"Is this all Luna-sama?"

"It is, although I will recommend you stay within the premises, as it shouldn't take too long to confirm the arrival of the giant toads."

"Very well." He gave a half-bow. "Thank you for the payment."

With business concluded, he turned around and walked up to the board.

On the board he could see that it was filled with pieces of parchment. Many of them were attempting to find wizards and priests. On occasion they would ask for other roles and classes, he did see a few parties which had wizards… he could try his luck there?

While his maroon eyes scanned the board, a peculiar request caught his attention, as it stood out entirely from the rest.

It read 'Party Members Wanted: Seeking front-row companion. Ideal Candidate will be kind, willing to listen (even to boring stuff), won't laugh at a strange name. Willing to hang out even when there's no quest. I'm an Archwizard who just turned fourteen.'

While he was not experienced with the postings on the board, this seemed to be formatted in a manner much like request for some betrothal interview rather than an extra hand for a mission in the field. From what he could gather from this paragraph was a plea for companionship.

But, the requester was an Arch-Wizard, perhaps this individual might be able to enlighten him?

Suddenly, he felt a pair of eyes land onto him, and such a stare was drilling into his back with such intensity, the only thing preventing him from faltering was a combination of his unwavering control of his emotions and his experiences facing down the minions of the Progenitor of Demons.

Turning towards the source of this stare, he could see what appeared to be a young lady in black robes. Her hair was brown and was tied into two tails with red ribbons, reaching past down her shoulders. While that wasn't unusual, what was peculiar was how bright her eyes seemed to glow.

Upon realizing that she was noticed, she immediately turned away, seemingly bashful of her behavior.

Turning back to the post, he once more felt the stare into his back.

Yoriichi turned around and once more saw her quickly avert her gaze.

Perhaps this young woman was the poster of the request?

Quickly taking the sheet off the wall, he walked towards the person in question, seeing them shuffling in their seat as he got closer, her head slightly tilting to look his way before continuing to stare straight ahead.

It didn't take too long for him to reach her, and when he was around a pace away from her.

Now he could see that she was certainly nervous in some manner, the manner in which she shuffled told him that she was anxious but at the same time doing her best to remain hopeful.

When she did not turn to speak to him, he decided to take the lead.

"I apologize for bothering you," Yoriichi began with level tone, "but are you the one who posted this request?"

The swordsman carefully placed the parchment with 'Party Members Wanted' on the table now.

Almost immediately, she turned to him and he noticed eyes of crimson red, shining brightly.

"I am!" She nervously exclaimed, but pressing on. "My name is Yunyun and I'm an Arch-wizard but I can still only use some intermediate magic so I'm really sorry about that but I will do my best!"

While she had spoken fast and had a quiver in her voice, he was able to catch everything without issue.

"My name is Yoriichi Tsugikuni." The swordsmen introduced his name in a manner that the people of this world would, doing a quick half-bow. "It is an honor to meet you Yunyun-san."

She blinked once, her eyes glowing with a dim hum, and her face taking a somewhat surprised expression. Perhaps she didn't expect such a formal greeting? Maybe that is why there was an awkward silence between the two, the young lady shuffling in her seat uncertain what to do, and Yoriichi who was awaiting her response.

Finally, she spoke.

"Um…" She nervously twiddled her fingers before gesturing to the seat directly across from her. "Would you like a seat?"

With a nod, he moved to the seat, first removing his katana from his sash before sitting down, resting the blade on his lap.

"So… you came over here to find out more about this request?" Yunyun sat there, bashfully playing with the hazel locks on her shoulder. "Right?"

"I am." Yoriichi gestured to the posting, noticing her eyes glowing brightly again. "Though I was curious to why you kept staring at me."

She flinched as her expression changed from a hopeful one to one of shock, as if she had done something wrong.

"I'm sorry Yoriichi-san!" She bowed profusely. "I'm sorry for causing you trouble!"

"It's alright." Yoriichi put his hand up in an attempt to prevent further apology. "It was no trouble to me."

"Eh?" His words caused her to look up and it seemed like she was about to cry. "Are you sure?"

He nodded, allowing her to calm down.

While she recomposed herself, there was only silence between the two of them before he spoke.

"May I ask a question Yunyun-san?"

"Yes of course Yoriichi-san!" She seemed very eager to speak. "What do you want to know?"

"Why do your eyes glow?"

"Huh?" Confused, she tilted her head. "What do you mean?"

"Your eyes were glowing earlier." Yoriichi elaborated further. "Why is that?"

"It's because I am a Crimson Demon…" She sounded embarrassed by the fact, but was quite clear like that was supposed to be an appropriate answer.

This young lady was a Crimson Demon? All Yoriichi remembered was what the receptionist told him two weeks ago: Red eyes, strange attire, and strange tattoos. He supposed that the cloak she wore could be covering up any strange clothing, and while he didn't see any tattoos, the eyes of pure crimson were rather unique among everyone he had seen.

"A Crimson Demon?" The swordsman echoed.

"Ah… well… we Crimson Demons are known for our magic power…" She shuffled in her seat. "And whenever we get excited, our eyes shine."

"I see." Yoriichi didn't, but he decided to accept it as she didn't seem like the type to lie about something like that. "Thank you for answering my question."

A lull fell between the two, it seemed that the young lady wanted to say something, but seemed to be plagued with indecision on what to say, as she was constantly opening her mouth as if she was going to speak before closing it.

This cycle continued for a couple of minutes, before Yoriichi felt his stomach growl, not having eaten since the night prior. While he didn't feel particularly hungry, he would be remiss to not eat when he could.

His eyes saw a leatherbound booklet that was labeled 'Food and Drinks'.

"Is it alright if I order something to eat?"

She nodded vigorously. "Of course!"

Picking up the menu, he quickly scanned over the options, and while many of the dining options here were foreign to him, one was familiar.

"Waitress-san."

While he didn't raise his voice, the tone carried through the loud hall, and it wasn't before long that a young lady with russet hair arrived.

"Good afternoon, may I take your order?"

"I would like the grilled saury special, with something non-alcoholic please."

"Can do." The waitress cheerfully confirmed, before looking to the young lady. "And you miss?"

"I-I would like the same!"

"Very well, it'll be out in a short bit."

Once the waitress left, she spoke.

"Um… If you don't mind if I ask… Yoriichi-san what class are you?"

"My job class is Adventurer."

"Oh…" Her eyes held worry for a second before she waved her hands in embarrassment. "Not that that's a bad thing!"

"And your request stated you were an Arch-Wizard?"

"I am!" She confirmed as she pulled out her Adventurers Card, as if she was currently eager to prove something. "See, right here!"

Name: Yunyun ; Gen: F ; Age: 14 ; Race: Human

Despite the name, Crimson Demons were still in fact just humans.

"Arch-Wizard is an advanced class correct?" He recalled earlier this day that Luna mentioned it. "From my understanding, to be one at your age is a remarkable feat."

"I-I guess… but everyone trains to be one where I'm from." She tried to brush off the compliment, looking to the left, blush dusting her cheeks. "I still have much to learn though, I only know intermediate magic."

"There is another reason I came here for." Yoriichi stated.

"Yes?"

Once more her expression changed slightly, as if she was mentally preparing herself.

"I had a number of questions about magic." The red haired man explained. "I know little about it, so please forgive my ignorance on the subject."

"Oh don't apologize!" She frantically waved her hands. "If you don't know a lot, that's fine! I can tell you lots!" She soon realized that she had leaned forwards, and eyes suddenly widened. Sitting back down, she bashfully played with her locks. "If… if that's what you want."

"I would greatly appreciate it Yunyun-san." Yoriichi's maroon eyes landed on the request. "In exchange, we could do a quest together?"

"A quest?" Her eyes widened. "Together? With me?"

"Is that not to you—"

"I accept!" Yunyun cut him off before he could finish, and he could see that her eye began to shine brightly once again. "So should I start telling you now?"

Before he could respond, the scent of grilled saury filled the air.

"Two saury specials and two neroids!" The russet haired waitress arrived with two plates, and two wooden tankards. "Enjoy your meal!"

"Thank you, waitress-san." With a dip of the head.

"Thank you for the meal."

Looking before him, he could see the saury with a number of vegetables such as cucumbers, spring onions, and radishes, along with a beverage in a wooden tankard which was extremely bubbly.

Finally, he looked to Yunyun, who seemed to be waiting for a response.

"After our meal."

"Ok! Then I'll answer any question you have about magic!" Yunyun cheerfully proclaimed before picking up the utensils.

It caught him slightly by surprise with the vigor the young lady was eating with, but he remembered Rengoku-san telling him that food was always better in company.

Putting his hands together, he gave a silent thanks to the Gods for the meal before him.

…

After their meal together, Yunyun was content to discuss and explain to him in greater detail about the magic that was ever-present in this world.

Magic seemed to be a blessing bestowed upon the races of this world by the Gods, and through the channeling of ones own magic power commonly referred to as 'mana', one could choose to make the impossible possible.

From basic magics which could conjure simple effects, to the more complex and lethal intermediate and advanced magics, which could put a person to sleep to tearing the sky in two with a pillar of fire or a bottomless swamp.

Yoriichi found how casually this young lady discussed the ability to wholly annihilate armies with incantation and the flick of the wrist quite unsettling, but she had assured him that not many people had the magic power to pull off such feats.

Regardless, it was simply one of the truths of this world he would need to adapt to and be prepared for.

After she had finished speaking about the knowledge she knew, the sun had already dipped below the wall's line, and so it was decided that they would reconvene here tomorrow morning to select a quest.

Once the decision had been made and after he had concluded business with the guild, the two of them decided to part ways for the night.

Despite that, both of them to end up walking in the same direction for the entire way, making a slight detour at a banana stand being ran by a woman with hair of the richest shade of blue.

Finally, they split off when they made it to the to where the road led to the inn and stables respectively. While she seemed embarrassed by the coincidence, he couldn't help but feel amused by it.

After a restful night in the stables, he once again found himself at the Guild Hall, relatively early and choosing to sit in the same spot he had when talking with Yunyun.

Yoriichi sat in silence for the better part of an hour before said silence was broken by the sound of the wooden doors opening.

"Yoriichi-san!" Yunyun called out to him and eagerly walked to him.

"Good morning."

"You came!" She seemed to be relieved and happy. "I hope I didn't make you wait too long."

"You didn't."

"Ah that's good." She shuffled in place. "Did you pick a quest out already?"

He shook his head. "I thought it would be appropriate that we do that together."

"Right!" She seemed to beam at the prospect. "Let's do that!"

Standing up, the two of them moved over to the board, and while there seemed to be no new postings there were still a number of quests on it.

"Ah… um…" She seemed nervous as she looked at the board. "How about we start off small?"

Standing on her tippy toes, she took one of the postings for Giant Toads.

"S-so we can gauge our skill before we fight something stronger?"

That made a reasonable amount of sense, so with a nod, he deferred to her judgement.

The two of them walked up to the counter.

"Luna-sama?" Yoriichi tapped the bell.

Moments later, Luna appeared before the two of them, with more pep than she had the day prior.

"Yoriichi-dono!" The receptionist seemed surprised for a moment before looking at Yunyun. "And company?"

"Y-yes!" Yunyun stammered but regained her stride. "We're hunting toads today!"

"As stated on the posting, due to the Giant Toad mating season, the Guild is offering one-hundred thousand Eris for the elimination of five toads in the surrounding area within three days, and is offering an additional five-thousand per Toad sold to the guild." Luna began to recite the clearly routine information. "Do you wish to continue?"

"I-We do!" Yunyun looked to Yoriichi and back to Luna. "Right?"

"Right."

"I am happy to see your enthusiasm." Luna smiled, much like an older sibling does when their younger is content. "Good luck out there and be careful!"

"We'll do our best!" Yunyun smiled looking back to him once more. "Come on!"

Yunyun began jog ahead as Yoriichi followed close behind.

Such a strange yet interesting world.

Yoriichi's Tsugikuni's Stats

Height: 6ft 3in

Gen: M Age: 18 (OLD CALANDER) Race: Human

Health: A+ / Strength: X / Vitality: X / Magic-Pow A- / Agility: X / Speed: X / Intelligence: X / Luck: C

Passive Skills

Demon Slayer Mark: The Mark which amplifies combat abilities.

Sun Breathing: The first breath styles made of 12 techniques and a perfected 13th technique

Transparent World: Ocular extrasensory perception

Do what you wish with that info.

Yoriichi's met a interesting member of a certain magic clan, and there's never just one of them.

I was planning on doing more, but I felt that the chapter was dragging on and losing focus so I decided to have Yoriichi learn a thing about this world and reveal his class. Next chapter will have more character interactions for sure!

No Sengoku Snippet today but as always I am interesting in hearing what you all have to say or what opinions you might hold!

Now answering a couple of reviews.

THE TOWER OF PIMPS: I liked the names that you provided, but then that justification for adventurer seemed ironclad enough to run with it. Kazuma's stats were so mid that he needed to be an adventurer out of necessity, whereas Yoriichi would see the merit in being an adventurer because his statline is so great at everything, and as shown in this chapter, many Guild Members seem wouldn't hold him to any higher standards as they would an advanced class.I feel like I have some ideas on how Yoriichi works with the class.

Plus, I do think it would be funny for Kazuma to learn that there is a powerful adventurer in town.

Nehz XZX: I'll segment my response per paragraph.

Paragraph 1: Demon Slayers do travel on foot to their missions; their guides are usually the Kansugi crows that give them their missions. Pillars are no different, and can certainly travel vast distances with ease, however I do not believe that they actually travel across Japan, rather simply across the province, specifically in prefectures of Saitama, Tokyo, and Kamagawa (Sengoku Era Provinces Musashi and Sagami). While I have no doubts that Yoriichi could make due with just a general direction to the capital, he is in a foreign world where the laws of his previous world don't exactly apply, as seen with giant toads and the potential danger of actual sorcery, so he would most likely lean on the side of caution.

Paragraph 2: From a writing standpoint, the wish is on the backburner and should simply be thought of as 'incentive' to ensure that he'll do the job. While I do not have any set plans for how it will go, it will likely come into conversation in story at some point due to there being other Japanese people in this world who also have wishes they want granted.

Paragraph 3 + 4: While I initially thought of giving him an average magic parameter, I remembered how Demon Slayer does like to lean on the more 'supernatural' side when it comes to Humanity's limits on their abilities, and how it emphasized that Yoriichi was so far beyond them, so I figured why not. As for people looking for him to teach them breaths, I think he would be highly selective of who he teaches, as I can see him being concerned that breaths would be used against innocents rather than the demons they were intended for.

ShinySpiritomb(Guest): While I've not planned the interactions beyond a couple of surface level conversations, he will likely be a beacon of common sense that isn't straight up verbal abuse.

KenjiApex: Interesting ideas that I am certain to keep in mind when going forward, though I do admit Yoriichi using explosion is something I didn't think of.

Well I hope you all enjoy your days and have good reads!