The next day, outside Sendai City, the House Where Wisteria Blooms.
Although Taka was also seriously injured this time, thanks to the timely treatment from the Kakushi members and the demonic power he had seized from Rokuro, it greatly aided his physical recovery.
He looked quite miserable wrapped in bandages, but it didn't actually hinder his movement.
Sitting at the entrance of his room, he politely greeted a few corps members and began gazing towards the distant Sendai city area.
The commotion last night hadn't stopped all night. Even from this residential area outside the city, he could hear the noise and chaos coming from within.
Taka thought of the severely injured Sakae, wondering if he had received treatment....
"Hey! Taka-san!"
Just as he was thinking, a familiar voice sounded.
Turning his head, it was Yuka.
"...It's you. How did you get here?"
"...This is my home."
'Hmm?'
Seeing Taka's surprise, Yuka quickly explained: "I should say, it's my uncle's home... Because my uncle once received help from your Demon Slayer Corps, it now serves as a kind of recovery facility."
As she spoke, she led Taka into other rooms within the compound. Just as she said, there were other patients with haggard faces.
"Besides Demon Slayer Corps' members, we also take in some fellow workers who have nowhere else to go, helping them recover. It's just a pity the results are minimal..."
"What about Asano Sakae?" Taka asked calmly. He hadn't seen any sign of him here.
Yuka nodded and continued leading Taka deeper, finding Sakae sleeping peacefully in a secluded corner.
Thanks to treatment from the Demon Slayer Corps' members, he was now sleeping soundly.
Taka unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Yuka:
"This is also part of the Sanmonji owner's holdings, isn't it."
"Eh? You guessed?"
"Yeah. The style is very similar to the bookstore." Taka replied calmly. He was trying to learn how to make small talk.
They chatted idly as they walked to the courtyard outside the recovery house and sat down on a veranda.
"Did the commotion last night finally calm down?"
"....It calmed down, but it was quite eerie."
Yuka looked towards the distant Sendai city area, seeming hesitant to speak, then lowered her voice: "Taka-san, you don't know, yesterday... those black-hearted people, they all died!"
"Died?" Taka frowned. "How did they die?"
"Apparently, the protesting workers became more and more out of control and eventually broke into the Dyeing and Weaving Company. And guess what..."
Recalling the scene last night, Yuka shuddered.
"Those black-hearted bosses seemed to have taken some kind of narcotic or something bad. They were all dazed, slumped on the sofas!"
"The workers were already furious. Seeing these guys indulging themselves with the crisis at their doorstep, they completely lost control..."
Yuka shivered and pulled her coat tighter. "Anyway, in the end, it was ugly... These people were really crazy. At a time like this..."
'Hallucinations? Paralysis?' Taka felt something was off.
He thought of those cold purple eyes.
'Could it be her?'
'…Hard to say, but if it were me...'
Taka touched his bandages, a cold glint in his eyes.
"....Since these people chose to ally with demons, they are no different from demons. Living, they would only devour people. It's better they were killed."
"Ara ara, violence is not allowed."
"Ah! Hashira-sama!"
With a gentle breeze, Shinobu's figure appeared in the courtyard without warning.
All the Kakushi members, including Yuka, immediately greeted Shinobu and bowed respectfully.
Only Taka turned his head, waving at Shinobu with his bandaged arm as a friendly gesture.
"It seems you're recovering quite well. I thought you'd be laid up for a few weeks."
"Thank you for your concern."
"How are your lungs? Does it hurt when you breathe?"
"No."
"...Taka-san, you can't be so cold, you know. People will dislike you."
"Is that so? I'll be mindful."
In truth, Taka was deliberately speaking this way, just to confirm his feelings from last night.
He could sense that the woman before him had Reiatsu churning in time with her suppressed emotions.
'If her heart was so angry, why pretend to be gentle?' Taka didn't understand.
Dropping his probing attitude, Taka bowed again to Shinobu and spoke in as respectful a tone as he could manage:
"Good day, Hashira-sama. Thank you for your help."
Shinobu tilted her head, somewhat puzzled by the change in Taka's attitude, but didn't intend to investigate further.
She signaled Yuka to fetch some oral medication, while she herself circled Taka for a look, paying special attention to the bandaging on his chest, where the wounds were most severe.
Although she was a Hashira, Shinobu was not tall. To facilitate her examination, Taka specifically bent down, the tip of his nose just brushing against her butterfly hair ornament.
He sniffed lightly, and his gaze grew serious.
'The smell was very similar to Fujikichi's... the scent of a dye workshop.'
Sensing Taka's gaze, Shinobu looked up at his jawline and chuckled: "Ara, such a perceptive young man...."
"Alright, your wounds are healing remarkably fast. How incredible... Rest well for a few days, and you should be fine~"
"Hashira-sama, may I ask you a question?"
"You may not."
"Last night, did you go to the Dyeing and Weaving Company?"
"....Taka-san, you can't interrogate a girl like this. You'll be disliked."
"I want to know, were all those people killed?"
"Eh?"
Shinobu seemed not to have expected Taka to say this.
He merely asked calmly: "Those corpses at the shrine... if I'm not mistaken, they were offerings from the people behind the demon, weren't they...."
"Evildoers who have taken so many lives are no different from demons. Not one should be spared. They should all be killed!"
He had already experienced a life of being arbitrarily manipulated like livestock, living in constant fear as a sacrificial offering.
That helplessness and despair, that unease more terrifying than simple death… he could empathize.
So when Yuka mentioned the abnormalities of those people, he didn't feel horror or unease. He only felt they had died too easily.
Seeing the serious look in Taka's eyes, Shinobu spoke quite frankly:
"I didn't kill those people, Taka-san...."
She took a broken test tube from her pocket. The liquid inside had long evaporated.
On the cork of that test tube, a small seal could be seen.
It looked like a blooming lotus, its lines intricate and exquisite. In the center of the lotus was carved a complex Sanskrit symbol.
Last night, when Shinobu burst into the Dyeing and Weaving Company, she had indeed intended to subdue these people and hand them over to the protesters so they would meet their just deserts.
But in the end, she didn't act.
At the same time, she hadn't expected that among this group, the human trafficker, Morii, upon seeing Shinobu, was either scared out of his wits or desperate—
He actually tried to use the high-concentration narcotic he had on him to subdue Shinobu!
This crude attack was easily broken and dodged by her, instead causing his own people to be affected.
Upon closer inspection, Shinobu discovered the special mark on it....
This was the seal of the Eternal Paradise Faith, a little-known minor religion. It was said to specially recruit young women into the cult.
Recently, due to some bad rumors circulating that women who joined the cult mysteriously disappeared, the Demon Slayer Corps suspected this might be related to demons. They assigned the investigation task to Shinobu, but there had been no progress yet.
It seemed this guy had been providing human trafficking services to the Eternal Paradise Faith all along. If the protesters hadn't broken in so quickly, Shinobu would have wanted to interrogate him further.
Shinobu tucked the broken test tube back into her pocket and looked sincerely at Taka:
"Although those people were detestable, as Demon Slayer Corps' members, we must not lay hands on ordinary people. Taka-san must also be mindful. Violence is not allowed!"
"....I understand."
"Really, you must not. You have to promise me."
She reached out to Taka, linking her little finger with his.
To Taka's surprise, her hand was very light, nothing like that of a Demon Slayer Corps' member wielding a Nichirin Blade.
"The blade of the Demon Slayer Corps is for slaying demons. It must not be used to harm ordinary people. Understood?"
"...Alright."
Seeing Shinobu's gentle smile, Taka reluctantly agreed.
But if he truly encountered someone who deserved to die, he would not hesitate.
After the simple promise was made, Shinobu prepared to leave the recovery house to patrol the situation in Sendai City again.
"What about Oyakata-sama's mission?"
Taka asked towards Shinobu's retreating back: "That demon hasn't been killed. He'll just go elsewhere and cause trouble, won't he?"
Shinobu turned sideways, still smiling as she responded:
"Life is full of such regrets, Taka."
"You've already done very well. Don't blame yourself. Just kill him next time you meet."
"And, try to smile more...."
The sunlight streamed down, illuminating Shinobu's colorful haori, making it shimmer with gorgeous light. Taka felt momentarily dazed.
"When a smile becomes a weapon, even death can bloom."