They had initially thought the mission would simply involve finding and flushing out a demon within this town. Now, the scope had expanded more than twofold. This clearly increased the difficulty of the search by more than a single grade.
Igarashi spread out a hand-drawn map. On it, the latest times of discovered cases were marked with charcoal.
"The diffusion trajectory is obvious. However, it isn't spreading from a center outward to the surroundings, but rather... in a leapfrog fashion."
Shinobu Kocho also felt the situation becoming troublesome. She couldn't help but suggest, "Should we split up? If the three of us investigate different areas simultaneously, we might find that demon faster."
However, Igarashi and Natsunishi shook their heads in refusal almost at the same time.
In Igarashi's view, if this eleven-year-old girl were the first to stumble upon the demon, she likely wouldn't even have the chance to send a distress signal. Natsunishi's thoughts were similar; there was no reason to let the support unit wander off alone to initiate a team fight against the enemy's commanding general. Shinobu's role in this mission was not that of a swordsman meant for direct confrontation with a demon.
Seeing the two object in unison, Shinobu immediately understood their concerns. Although she felt a bit of unwilling frustration at being underestimated, she knew how to prioritize. Thus, she proposed an alternative plan. They could summon more swordsmen, and the three of them would lead separate teams to systematically check every suspicious point in this region.
The Igarashi pushed his glasses up. This idea was good in principle, but the prerequisite was that the Demon Slayer Corps had enough manpower to spare. In reality, most of the time, a single or several lower-ranked swordsmen were responsible for a vast area. Ranks such as Kinoe, Kinoto, and even the Hashira served as mobile, elite forces that constantly intersected and roamed between regions to provide support for any situation that might arise.
Precisely because of this, the Demon Slayer Corps was able to use its few hundred swordsmen to barely cover the entire country and slay demons. Summoning more corps members? It was necessary, but by the time they arrived, the opportunity would likely have passed. It wasn't the optimal solution for this moment.
He frowned, staring at the map in deep thought about where to start. A moment later, his brow smoothed slightly; Igarashi had a burgeoning idea. However, when he looked up, he found Natsunishi tracing invisible paths in the air with his fingertip, outlining trajectories on the map as if he were analyzing something.
"Kuguruma, do you have a thought?"
Natsunishi didn't stand on ceremony. He took the map and gestured across it while speaking.
"I think we should prioritize investigating the most suspicious locations."
Although the epidemic had broken out in six different locations one after another, when placed on a map of the entire Kanto region, they were actually not that far apart. They were entirely within a distance reachable by a day's walk. If it were a demon—especially one of the Twelve Demon Moons—this distance was not even worth mentioning.
Using his own foot speed, or even his senior brother Igarashi's speed as a baseline for reverse deduction...
Natsunishi took the charcoal pencil and drew simple, light circles on Igarashi's map, using each town as a center to draw circles of similar size. The six circles overlapped in an area toward the northeast.
And in the center of that overlapping region, a place name was conveniently marked. It was one of the towns where the strange disease first broke out.
Ueno Town.
"Here." Natsunishi pointed to the name of the town in the center of the overlap.
"If the practitioner needs a relatively fixed base, needs to be able to travel back and forth to other locations within the shortest distance, and radiates these infected areas through a Blood Demon Art..."
"This place is very suspicious."
The Igarashi nodded slightly. Natsunishi's deduction was almost identical to his own.
Shinobu stared at the map in silence for a good while, then immediately began packing her medicine chest.
"Then what are we waiting for? While it's still early, let's go to Ueno."
Ueno Town was considerably larger than the previous town. It was also much livelier. There were still street vendors hawking their wares, and though pedestrians were few, they were not absent. However, upon careful observation, one could still find fear and panic hidden in the eyes of some. Although the town appeared to be functioning normally, people had begun to maintain a significant distance from one another. It was as if everyone was tainted by something ominous.
The three split into two paths to gather intelligence. Igarashi visited teahouses and taverns to see if he could hear anything. After all, the places where information flowed most freely were the taverns, teahouses, and brothels—places where all sorts of people mingled. The more complex the environment and the greater the flow of people, the easier it was to obtain reliable intelligence.
Natsunishi and Shinobu went straight to the local hospital. There were many patients there in need of the medicine Shinobu was preparing. While administering medicine to the patients, they unexpectedly heard a concerning rumor from several of them.
Recently, in this town and several others, rumors had been circulating about a "Miracle Doctor" appearing in Ueno. It was said he possessed a prescription that could cure this strange disease. However, the person's movements were far too secretive; not only did he never see patients during the day, but he didn't even have a fixed residence. Many patients wanted to seek him out for treatment, but they had no way to even begin looking.
Natsunishi and Shinobu exchanged a glance. This Miracle Doctor... sounded suspicious no matter how one looked at it.
After asking the patients for the names and addresses of several people who had supposedly been "cured" by the Miracle Doctor, the two followed the clues from house to house. However, every household of a "cured" patient looked at Natsunishi and Shinobu as if they were seeing the plague god itself when they came to the door. They either closed their doors to guests or claimed to know nothing.
Miracle Doctor? What Miracle Doctor? Where? I really don't understand what you're talking about.
Finally, just before evening, they managed to knock on the door of one household. When the lady of the house led Natsunishi and Shinobu to her husband's bedside, the man, whose body was still somewhat weak, reacted as if he were being triggered. He sat up abruptly as if startled and harshly scolded his wife for letting people in. At the same time, he waved the two swordsmen away repeatedly.
"I won't say anything! I don't know any Miracle Doctor!"
Having finally found a lead, Natsunishi and Shinobu naturally didn't want to let it go easily. Shinobu wore a sweet smile she had practiced countless times and spoke patiently, "Sir, please think carefully. What did that 'Miracle Doctor' look like? Where did you see him?"
"This can help us find a way to eradicate the plague and save many people."
The patient gripped his blanket tightly and shook his head frantically. "No, I don't know... I don't know anything!"
After speaking, he glanced at the Nichirin Swords at their waists, seemingly very wary. "I told you... I can't trust people like you who carry swords!"
"I will never betray him!"
Shinobu's patience didn't falter; she even took a stack of coins from her medicine chest and placed them gently by the bed. "See, we aren't bad people. We are pharmacists from Tokyo, and we are investigating this epidemic. If you're willing to tell us, this is a token of our gratitude."
A flicker of hesitation crossed the patient's eyes, but it was immediately overwritten by intense resistance. He simply closed both eyes and began to play deaf and mute.
Shinobu's smile stiffened for a moment, and a flash of anger and frustration crossed her face. She had tried reasoning. She had tried bribery. Yet this man remained completely impervious.
At that moment, Natsunishi, who had been leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, moved.
"Miss Kocho, let me try."
"Kuguruma, you're..."
The boy walked straight to the bedside. The expression on his face switched instantly from nonchalance to a nearly official, impatient seriousness. He curled his lip, leaning down so his shadow completely enveloped the patient on the bed.
"Hey."
"Are you provoking the dignity of the Tokyo Special Tasks Section 9?"
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried a cold quality that made the air in the room seem to stagnate. The patient shivered and subconsciously opened his eyes. Natsunishi kicked aside the coins Shinobu had just placed between them and grabbed the man directly by his collar. He tapped his index finger knuckle moderately against the patient's forehead, making a dull "thud-thud" sound.
"Recognize this?"
Natsunishi pulled a "token" from his waist—a piece of wood crudely carved and painted with a bit of silver lacquer. He flashed it quickly before the patient's eyes. It seemed to have several crooked characters carved on it.
[Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Special Tasks Section 9]
"You are now suspected of harboring a dangerous supernatural entity and obstructing public duties," Natsunishi said in a flat, monotone voice full of oppressive pressure. At the same time, he slammed the "token" onto the wooden table beside them with a loud thwack.
The patient and his family jumped in fright.
"What? Not cooperating?"
He didn't even wait for the other party to answer before suddenly raising his hand.
Slap!
A crisp, loud, and resounding slap landed on the man's face. The force actually wasn't heavy, but Natsunishi had specifically used a technique to heighten the pain and the sound.
The patient and his wife were stunned. Shinobu was also so startled that her mouth hung open slightly.
Natsunishi lowered his voice even further: "Idiot! You! Tell me everything honestly!"
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I've almost caught up with the available free raw chapters, so I'm moving to a one chapter every two days schedule. There might be short gaps while I wait for new free chapters to be released, but I'll post them immediately as soon as they are accessible. Thank you for your patience!