Chapter 32: Throwing a Stone to Ask the Way
Night fell, deep and absolute.
The candlelight in the shrine hall had not yet been extinguished, its gentle glow causing shadows to flicker and dance across the paper doors.
Kobe Hikaru sat cross-legged under the corridor, a soft cloth in hand as he carefully wiped down Muramasa. The blade's ominous purple light was restrained, but the vibration of its thirst for blood still pulsed through his palm and into his bones—a low, hungry thrum, like the lament of a ghost that could never be satiated.
Although its favorability was already maxed out, Hikaru had never been the heartless sort to discard something after its use was fulfilled. He was, in his own way, quite sentimental. He still carried fragments of other max-favorability weapons he had once used, tucked away like old keepsakes. It was only natural that he wouldn't treat this blade, which had accompanied him for a good while, as worthless just because its gauge was full.
Kikyo sat opposite him, about a foot away, fiddling with several pieces of white paper cut into the shape of a person.
"That old gentleman... why did he seek you out?" Hikaru asked casually, his eyes never leaving his blade.
The question lacked context, but Kikyo understood immediately. He was referring to the elder of the Demon Slayer village, the one who had died on Hikaru's back.
"Because he trusted me." Kikyo set down her scissors. A soft, white light rippled at her fingertips as she released a sliver of spiritual power. The paper figure instantly swelled as if inflated by an unseen breath, standing light as a feather on the wooden floor.
Hikaru glanced at it but didn't give it much thought.
"Seven years ago, a plague broke out in Musashi Province," she explained, her voice soft. "The source was a Plague Demon that had cultivated significant power. I was still young then, merely passing through their village, and I purified it."
She spoke of it so lightly, as if it were nothing.
Hikaru's polishing movements paused for a fraction of a second. Seven years ago. How old could she have been then? Ten? Eleven, at most? To be able to purify a fully cultivated Plague Demon at that age... she truly was a genius blessed by the heavens.
He knew that Oni, a common type of demon in this era—whether formed from corpses or coalesced from pure resentment—were far more troublesome than the minor spirits born from ordinary animals. While few ever reached the level of a Great Yokai, they were generally formidable foes.
"At the time, the elder told me that I possess a 'Pure' constitution and a mind free of distracting thoughts." Kikyo's gaze drifted to the flickering candlelight, growing distant. "He said that if he one day grew too old to suppress the Shikon Jewel he carried, he would entrust it to me. He believed that, by then, perhaps only I would be able to protect it."
"He had a good eye," Hikaru said, sheathing Muramasa with a crisp, satisfying click. "Not just because you can fight, but because you are indeed very pure."
Kikyo glanced at him, a flicker of something unreadable in her dark eyes. She didn't argue, but she had a distinct feeling that what this Oni Samurai meant by 'pure' wasn't quite the same as what the village chief had intended.
"And you?" she asked, turning the question back on him. "You are clearly an Oni Samurai, yet you act more like a... ronin."
"I'm someone who has already died once." Hikaru leaned back against a pillar, seeing no reason to weave a lie. "I woke up in a pile of corpses with a spear through my chest and my head full of mush. The only thing left was the obsession not to become a mindless beast."
It was the truth. The memories of his past life as a transmigrator were what had shaped him into the man he was now.
Kikyo nodded slowly, not prying any further. In these chaotic times, who didn't have a past they preferred not to speak of?
"That elder's remains..." she said, changing the subject. "Are they still in that cave?"
"Yeah."
"We must send them back to his village."
"I know," Hikaru agreed with a nod.
"Did he have any mementos on him?" Kikyo asked.
"The situation was urgent. I only had time to take the Shikon Jewel." He carefully replayed the scene in his mind. The old man had collapsed in the cave, his left arm severed, his right hand clutching the jewel in a death grip. Besides that... "I didn't notice anything else," he said honestly.
Kikyo's brow furrowed. "That elder should have been carrying the heirloom of the Demon Slayer clan."
"A weapon named 'Hiraikotsu'."
"It was forged from the bones of countless demons. It is the most important weapon of the Demon Slayer clan."
Hiraikotsu.
The name stirred something in Hikaru's heart, but he shook his head. While he was certainly familiar with the legendary weapon and more than a little interested in it, he truly hadn't seen it. He had simply assumed the old man hadn't brought it with him.
Hearing the gravity in Kikyo's tone, however, made him reconsider. "Is it that important?"
"Extremely," Kikyo confirmed. "It is the most powerful demon-slaying weapon in the Demon Slayer village. For the village chief to be escorting the Shikon Jewel, it would be impossible for him not to bring it. If you didn't see it, then it must have been lost along the way. If possible, we should find it and return it to them."
Hikaru nodded, unsurprised. "Then we'll look for it as we travel," he said.
He fully intended to find it.
...
The next morning, the mist had not yet dispersed from the mountains.
At the village entrance, Kaede pulled tightly at Kikyo's sleeve, her eyes red and puffy. "Sister is leaving again..."
Although she was the priestess tasked with protecting Kaede Village, Kikyo had frequently traveled to slay demons before this incident. Each time she left, Kaede was just as reluctant to see her go.
"I'll be back soon." The raven-haired miko crouched down, patting her younger sister's head. She pulled the paper man she had cut last night from her sleeve. It drifted to the ground and, catching the wind, grew in the blink of an eye. It transformed into a white paper effigy half the height of a man, holding a small wooden stick. Though its facial features were merely painted on, it exuded a strange, lifelike agility.
A paper shikigami—a form of onmyodo that used spiritual power to grant temporary mobility to inanimate objects. But this one was clearly far more sophisticated than the work of any average onmyoji.
"It will watch over the village for me and deal with any minor demons," Kikyo said, standing up. "You shouldn't go running around, either."
Kaede sniffled, her gaze shifting from her sister to Hikaru, who was leaning on his sword nearby. He still wore no armor and no demonic mask, appearing instead as a handsome young man. Aside from his excessively pale complexion and those strange, piercing eyes, he truly did look more like a wandering samurai.
Looking at him, Kaede suddenly stopped crying.
"Is Big Brother going with you, Sister?"
"Yes."
"Then it's an elopement!" Kaede declared with absolute certainty.
Hikaru nearly choked on his own breath.
Kikyo's perpetually cool expression froze for a moment, and the tips of her ears turned a visible shade of red. "We're delivering remains," she corrected her sternly.
"I don't believe it!" Kaede pointed a small finger at the two of them. "Standing together, you're just like what the auntie next door says... what was that phrase? Oh, right, a perfect match! You're going off to make babies!"
Pfft.
Hikaru couldn't hold back a short, sharp laugh. This little girl certainly knew a lot. He glanced at Kikyo. In the soft morning light, dressed in her white robe and red hakama, her cold expression couldn't quite hide her flustered embarrassment. It was, he had to admit, quite cute.
"Let's go." Hikaru reached out and pressed a hand down on Kaede's head, spinning her around and giving her a gentle push back toward the village. "I'll bring you back some candy."
"Candy? Is it the kind that only the lords in the city get to eat? Sister Kikyo brought me a little bit once—I want the sweetest kind!" Kaede shouted from behind them.
Kikyo didn't look back, her pace quickening as if she were fleeing in a panic.
...
They left the village and entered the mountains. The scenery changed completely, the path swallowed by towering ancient trees and weeds as tall as a person.
After walking for half an hour, Kikyo stopped and turned to look at him.
"Are we there?"
Hikaru surveyed the identical trees, the identical rocks, and the mountain ridges that folded into one another like a labyrinth.
He fell silent.
He remembered the general direction, but that was from days ago, when he was fighting his way through a demonic horde. Back then, his mind had been filled with nothing but killing and running, with no time to memorize landmarks., the terrain in these mountains was complex, and after several battles, the landscape had been thoroughly plowed over by demons and his own sword qi. It looked completely different.
"Probably... maybe..." Hikaru pointed vaguely in one direction, his hand wavering slightly.
Kikyo watched him quietly. She didn't say a word, but Hikaru felt an inexplicable wave of awkwardness wash over him.
Finally, she let out a helpless sigh. "You forgot."
"Not entirely," Hikaru said stubbornly. "It's just that these trees grow too fast. They blocked the path."
Kikyo looked somewhat exasperated. "My spiritual power can sense the presence of malevolent energy, but as for the remains of an ordinary deceased person..." She had no way of finding them either.
Hikaru looked around. In these desolate mountains, there wasn't even a ghost in sight; asking for directions was impossible.
However, while there were no people, there were plenty of objects.
Hikaru crouched down, found a stone that looked smooth, intact, and quite 'experienced,' and pried it out of the earth. It was about the size of two fists, heavy, and covered in moss. He patted the dirt off it, held it up to his face, and adopted a serious expression.
"You there? I'd like to ask you something."
Kikyo: "?"
She stared at Hikaru. Was this Oni Samurai having another one of his episodes? It was one thing to talk to trees and wells back in the village, but now he was talking to a random rock in the middle of nowhere?
"A few days ago, around here, did you see an Oni Samurai running very fast with an old man on his back?" Hikaru asked the stone, his tone as sincere as if he were greeting a long-lost friend.
Naturally, the stone did not react.
Kikyo pressed a hand to her forehead, seemingly considering whether she should shoot him with an arrow just to snap him out of it.
But in front of Hikaru's eyes, a familiar panel flickered to life. This wasn't the first time he had done such a thing. Walking alone in this chaotic era without a guide or a map, he had to have his own special 'wayfinding' methods.
[Nameless Bluestone]
[Favorability: 0 (Stranger)]
[It was sleeping and is very annoyed that you woke it up.]
Hikaru didn't give up. He pulled a water skin from his robes, poured a little water on the stone, and began wiping away the moss with his sleeve.
"I see you're a bit dry. Let me moisten you up. This moss doesn't look good either; it's blocking you from sunbathing." His movements were gentle, his service thorough.
Kikyo took two steps back, her expression a mixture of disbelief and alarm. She was looking at him as if he were some kind of pervert.
[Nameless Bluestone: Favorability +1]
[Current Favorability: 1 (Goodwill)]
[It feels that although it was woken up, the water is quite sweet, and you are rather pleasing to the eye.]
[It tells you: A while ago, there was indeed a fellow carrying an old man who ducked into the ravine between those two crooked trees.]
Success.
Hikaru carefully placed the stone back in its original spot, even adjusting its position to a sun-facing angle. "Thanks, brother. See you around."
He stood up, clapped the dust from his hands, and pointed to the front left. "Over there. The ravine in the middle."
Kikyo looked at him, then at the stone, then back at him. "...The stone told you?"
"This is what you call 'throwing a stone to ask the way,'" Hikaru said with a faint smile before stepping forward. "All things have spirits. As long as you are sincere, even a stone will speak."
Kikyo followed behind him, her eyes fixed on his back. Although her reason insisted this was utterly absurd...
But... if it was this strange demon, it didn't seem entirely impossible.
She glanced down at the stone he had wiped clean. It did, somehow, seem a bit more pleasing to the eye than before.
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