Chapter 36: An Invitation Like This
The wound was on his shoulder, and properly checking and bandaging it required removing his outer garment. With a quiet understanding, the women of the family, all except for the middle-aged man, excused themselves from the room.
"Tsk, why is it poisonous..." After a brief examination of Akira's wound, the man's brow furrowed. He turned and began to rummage through a nearby cabinet.
He pulled open one drawer after another, retrieving an assortment of herbs that Akira didn't recognize in the slightest. The man crushed them together with a practiced efficiency, mixing the resulting pulp with herbal juice to form a thick, dark paste. Finally, he spread the concoction onto a small square of white cloth and pressed it firmly against Akira's wound.
"Hiss—"
The moment the poultice made contact, a sharp, biting pain lanced through Akira, and he couldn't help but draw a sharp breath through his teeth. The sensation was agonizing, but it was also a welcome sign. It proved the medicine was working, as feeling began to flood back into the flesh around the injury.
"If you can feel the pain, it seems to be effective," the man noted with a nod. He turned back to his supplies, taking out a fresh roll of bandages, and began to wrap the dressing securely. "Try it. Can you move your shoulder normally?"
Akira did as instructed, gently shrugging. Though a dull ache still pulsed from the wound, the unnerving numbness from the poison had vanished completely.
"Thank you."
"Don't be so quick with your thanks," the man said, waving a hand dismissively. His expression grew solemn as he fixed his gaze on Akira. "First, tell me what exactly happened out there. And what is it that you do?"
A young boy, moving about alone in the dead of night, carrying a blade that was clearly of exquisite and expensive make in an era where swords were ostensibly banned—no matter how one looked at it, he was far from simple.
also, for some reason, the man felt a nagging sense of familiarity as he studied the boy's face.
Under normal circumstances, his personality would have compelled him to keep a wide berth from anyone so obviously entangled in significant and dangerous affairs. But this time, his own daughter had been dragged into the middle of it; he couldn't rest until he had a clear explanation.
"To put it simply," Akira began, his voice even, "I hunt a type of monster that emerges at night to feed on humans. They're called 'demons.' Just now, your daughter was drawn to the door by the sounds of my fight. That demon tried to take her hostage, but I killed it in time. I was injured in the process."
He recounted the events with a calm brevity. Then, while the man was still reeling from the shock of his words, Akira delivered a cascade of information.
"The organization I belong to is called the Demon Slayer Corps. It's a private entity dedicated to hunting these evil demons. Their existence can be traced back for over a thousand years..."
"Stop, stop, stop!" By the time the man realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Monsters that had existed for at least a millennium. A "private organization" that specifically targeted them, one capable of equipping its members with such sophisticated weaponry. And yet, almost no information about any of it circulated among the public.
Connecting these pieces, the man stared at the boy before him, at his disarmingly harmless smile, and felt the urge to weep but found no tears.
'You asked for this yourself,'Akira thought, a flicker of satisfaction in his eyes.'Now I don't even need to come up with an excuse to pack up this whole family and take them with me.'"May I ask for your name, Doctor?" Akira asked, seeing beads of sweat forming on the man's forehead. He offered a slight wink. "Our Demon Slayer Corps is quite short on skilled physicians like you. Are you interested in joining? The benefits are excellent."'Do you think I still have a choice?' The man didn't voice the words, but the helpless, almost resentful look in his eyes conveyed the thought perfectly.
He let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Don't be so disheartened," Akira said gently. "In fact, you and 'demons'—or rather, you and I—already share some history." While the man had been treating his wound, Akira had finally placed where he had seen him before.
"Nearly two years ago, in a temple in town. A wounded blind monk, two seriously injured little girls, and a young boy with a gash on his forehead. Do you remember, sir?"
As Akira spoke, recognition dawned on the man's face. He finally understood why the boy looked so familiar—he was that very same child from back then.
After all, that particular house call had been far too memorable to forget. First, he had been carried at a dead run for a great distance by a towering, blood-soaked man. Then, he had witnessed a scene in the temple that his mind shied away from contemplating too deeply. The very next day, someone had appeared at his door, warning him in no uncertain terms to never speak of what he had seen.
It was because of that incident that he, who had once lived in the town proper, had moved his family back to the relative seclusion of the village, commuting to his clinic only during the day.
"That day in the temple... there was a crater in the ground, in the shape of a person," the man murmured, his voice hushed. "Was that... was that left by the monk fighting one of those evil demons that broke in?"
"Exactly," Akira confirmed. "It seems you do remember. So, about joining the Demon Slayer Corps... what are your thoughts?" He pressed his advantage. "Don't worry, the status of a physician is very high within the Corps. And because tonight's demon was quite special, my success in killing it will grant me a certain amount of influence. At the very least, protecting your family won't be a problem."
The man drew in a slow, deep breath, held it, and then exhaled in a rush of surrender. He finally nodded. "I am willing to join."
"Very good," Akira said, a genuine smile touching his lips as he extended his hand. "Let's have a formal introduction. My name is Kanzaki Akira."
"Kochou Sawaki."
The man—the father of the Kochou sisters—reached out and gave Akira's hand a firm, brief shake.
"Then," Akira said, his tone shifting to business, "let me briefly introduce you to the situation within the Demon Slayer Corps."
While the two males were deep in conversation, in the adjacent room, Kochou Kanae found herself being gently questioned by her mother, Kochou Hanako, and her younger sister, Shinobu.
"Ara, I'm not entirely sure of the specifics myself," Kanae admitted, her voice soft. "It's just... right after I opened the door, I saw a monster. It looked like a person but had such fierce eyes. Its claws were about to grab me... I didn't even have time to react. But in the next moment, that boy from inside had cut off its head."
She continued, "And after it was decapitated, the monster just... disappeared. Very quickly. Then I saw he was injured, so I brought him in for Father to treat."
"Him? He doesn't even look as old as you, Sister." Upon hearing the tale, Shinobu's first reaction was one of disbelief. The boy in the other room, who didn't seem much older than herself—how could he have instantly decapitated a monster that her sister couldn't even react to?
"Oh, you can't judge a book by its cover," Kanae said, simply rubbing Shinobu's head without offering much more of an explanation. In truth, the entire experience felt surreal even to her. But the image of the boy who had slain the monster under the moonlight, saving her life, was now imprinted upon her heart.
That incandescent flash of lightning, moving like a soaring dragon... she thought she would never forget it.
"Mmm..." Having her head stroked by her older sister, Shinobu's eyes narrowed in comfort. She nuzzled against Kanae, no longer dwelling on the unbelievable story. In the end, all that mattered was that her sister was safe.
Before long, she had drifted off to sleep, leaning against Kanae's side. Having been woken from a deep slumber, and with the danger now past, her body naturally gave in to exhaustion once more.
Time passed slowly, marked only by the sound of Shinobu's gentle, even breathing. Even Kanae began to feel a wave of drowsiness, but her concern for her savior's injuries kept her alert, her mind refusing to rest.
From time to time, Kochou Hanako would cast a worried glance toward the next room. Having been married to her husband for many years, she possessed a certain degree of insight. Based on her initial judgment, the boy's injury shouldn't have taken this long to treat. Nearly an hour had passed, and she had no idea what was being discussed inside.
Just as her anxiety peaked, the door slid open. Akira had finished his brief introduction of the Demon Slayer Corps and the potential future arrangements for their family to Sawaki. Together, they walked out of the room, meeting the gazes of the waiting Kochou mother and daughters.
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