Once the results of the Final Selection were confirmed, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the head of the Demon Slayer Corps, received the news at once. At this point, his eyesight had not yet completely failed, and the scars on his face were still faint.
The curse eating away at his body had yet to reach a severe stage.
"This year's selection produced an interesting boy—so young, yet already possessing such strength."
Listening as the Kasugai Crow continuously relayed its report, Kagaya Ubuyashiki said with gentle satisfaction as he sat along the veranda of his courtyard, "So he is Gyomei's adopted son… Does that mean Stone Breathing finally has a successor? That's truly wonderful…"
"I only hope that the appearance of this young man can bring even the slightest turning point to this war that has lasted for a thousand years."
The empty courtyard offered no response to Kagaya Ubuyashiki's earnest hopes. After every Final Selection, he would say something much the same.
Before returning to the temple after officially becoming a Demon Slayer, Chu Yang made a trip to the Butterfly Mansion.
He intended to inform Kanae Kocho and Shinobu Kocho, the sisters who had once saved his life.
However, Makomo had arrived at the Butterfly Mansion ahead of him and had already told them everything she could. Kanae listened with constant amazement as she heard about the entire process of the Final Selection.
"We're going to be busy next," Kanae said with a mix of admiration and helplessness. "That kid nearly wiped out all the demons on Mount Fujikasane. We'll have to capture another batch and send them in."
With the Butterfly Mansion already overflowing with injured patients, she simply couldn't spare the time to leave.
"To think such a powerful demon could appear at a Final Selection site…" the still-young Shinobu couldn't help complaining to her sister. "No wonder the survival rate was always so low. If they'd noticed earlier, a lot of people could've lived."
"Shinobu," Kanae said seriously, "this kind of situation may be cruel, but it's something every Demon Slayer must face. Once you become a full-fledged member, you'll encounter this kind of cruelty again and again. Sometimes the victims will be ordinary people—sometimes it'll be ourselves."
"You're already an official member too, but you've always lived here with me at the Butterfly Mansion and haven't experienced those things yet. That doesn't mean you can afford to stay naive forever."
"I know, Sis," Shinobu replied cheerfully. Having yet to experience true life-and-death loss, she stuck her tongue out playfully.
Seeing that her words hadn't truly sunk in, Kanae could only shake her head helplessly.
While the sisters were talking, Chu Yang pushed open the doors of the Butterfly Mansion.
He had just opened his mouth to greet them when an angry Kanae chased him straight into the bathhouse, ordering him to wash off all the filth on his body.
This was a place for treating the wounded—bringing bloodstains and grime inside was taboo. If luck was bad, it could even cause patients to be infected.
Chu Yang, long accustomed to the stench of blood, hadn't realized that at all.
In the past, he would've been the first to be unable to tolerate having dirt on himself.
By the time Chu Yang emerged from the bathhouse, clean from head to toe, the sun had already quietly set. At dusk, the Butterfly Mansion was filled with the aroma of food.
"Dinner time—just like before."
Having lived here for a full week, Chu Yang was already familiar with every corner of the Butterfly Mansion. Without anyone guiding him, he easily found his way to the dining hall.
Makomo, both legs wrapped in plaster casts, sat alone at the table.
When she saw Chu Yang, a spark of light suddenly appeared in her eyes.
"Um… would you like to sit here?" Makomo widened her eyes, looking at him with something like a plea.
Chu Yang smacked his lips and walked over reluctantly. Even though they'd been together on Mount Fujikasane for seven days, being mistaken for a pervert by the girl still hadn't completely settled in his mind.
Strictly speaking, the two of them hadn't really spent those seven days together.
Makomo had simply woken up and fallen asleep on Chu Yang's back, drifting through the days in a daze.
Chu Yang hadn't spoken a single word to her—he'd been busy killing demons everywhere. Makomo, feeling embarrassed about her earlier misunderstanding of him as a bad person, hadn't dared to start a conversation either.
As a result, the two oddballs genuinely went the entire seven days without exchanging a single word.
It wasn't until the selection ended, and Makomo was brought to the Butterfly Mansion by the Kakushi.
"So?" Chu Yang plopped down beside her, glancing at her injured legs. They looked pretty serious.
"I'm okay," Makomo said happily, having narrowly escaped death. Her eyes curved into crescent moons. "Lady Kanae said that as long as I receive proper treatment, it won't affect my mobility."
"If you'd come any later, I might've really been crippled."
"That's good," Chu Yang nodded, finally letting out a sigh of relief. Then he asked, "How long until you recover?"
The smile on Makomo's face faded slightly, but she still forced one. "I can take off the casts after three months. But to fully regain mobility, I'll need another month of rehabilitation."
"To think that the first four months after officially becoming a Demon Slayer will all be spent in the Butterfly Mansion…"
At that point, Makomo hesitated, looking at Chu Yang as if she wanted to say something but couldn't bring herself to speak.
"You're not about to ask me to do something troublesome for you, are you?" Chu Yang eyed her warily.
Having her thoughts guessed so directly, Makomo's face flushed bright red—from her ears all the way down her neck. She waved her hands in panic.
"I-I'm sorry! If you don't want to, then forget it!"
Chu Yang, who hated trouble, nodded decisively. "Yeah. I don't want to."
Makomo's face turned crimson as if it might drip blood. Her voice grew softer and softer, like a mosquito's buzz, until she finally buried her head.
"Bullying girls isn't very manly, you know."
Kanae suddenly appeared beside them.
She shot Chu Yang a look of disdain and smacked his head hard with the spoon in her hand.
The sound was loud, but Chu Yang didn't feel any pain at all—probably because his skin was simply too thick.
Shinobu tried to imitate her sister and knock Chu Yang on the head as well.
Instead, Chu Yang snatched the spoon away and casually bonked Shinobu on the head, raising a sizable lump.
"Ow!!" Shinobu cried out, clutching her head as she hid behind her sister, tears welling in her eyes as she glared fiercely at Chu Yang.
Their childish antics left Kanae both annoyed and amused.
"What's wrong with at least hearing her out? It's not like you'll lose a chunk of flesh," Shinobu said angrily, covering her forehead.
"Fine, fine," Chu Yang said with a slight upward curl of his lips, clearly in a good mood. "Go on."
"I just wanted to ask you to help me pass a message to Urokodaki-san," Makomo said softly. "To let him know he can rest easy. And also…"
She bit her lip. "About the Hand Demon… I don't know whether I should tell him."
Hearing that, Chu Yang's expression grew solemn.
Those dead children had likely become a festering wound in Urokodaki Sakonji's heart.
Kanae let out a quiet sigh. What frightened her most wasn't facing powerful demons, but Urokodaki Sakonji's current situation.
If he learned that the talismans he'd lovingly given his disciples to ward off misfortune had instead become symbols marking them for death, anyone would break under that truth.
"He has the right to know," Chu Yang said at last. "Whether he can come to terms with it—that's his own choice."
Chu Yang decided to make the trip on Makomo's behalf. He wasn't in a hurry to return to the temple anyway, and demon-hunting missions could come at any time.
In the end, Makomo told Chu Yang the location of Sagiri Mountain. After finishing dinner, Chu Yang decided to set out immediately under the night sky—no matter how Kanae tried to stop him.
Watching him leave, Kanae complained, "Why is he as stubborn as an ox?"
Shinobu nodded repeatedly beside her, already plotting how she'd get revenge with a flick to the forehead next time.
(End of Chapter)