At the break of dawn, Yohan was already preparing to set off in search of his mission objective.
Seeing Yohan's eager expression, Mitsuri and the others followed along, curiosity lighting up their faces. The group made their way into the forested mountains surrounding the Swordsmith Village.
"Yohan-kun, is something hidden here?" Mitsuri asked curiously as she watched him comb through the forest.
"Yeah, I'm looking for a secret weapon."
"Ehh?! The Swordsmith Village has a secret weapon and I didn't even know about it?" Kanae was genuinely surprised. She had come here so many times for the hot springs, yet never once heard of anything like that.
How could a guy who's visiting for the first time know something I don't? Kanae squinted suspiciously at Yohan, who was peering into the forest like a treasure hunter. Her curiosity grew stronger by the second.
"A secret weapon… Could it be buried underground? This feels just like a treasure hunt!" Tanjiro was clearly getting excited, examining every patch of ground they passed as if expecting to unearth something sparkling at any moment.
Nezuko looked at her brother's antics, silently covering her face with a palm.
Yohan didn't respond.
The "secret weapon" he spoke of wasn't buried underground at all. In fact, he wasn't even sure the person holding the key to it would be here at this hour.
"Heave-ho, heave-ho."
There was a sound.
From the woods to their right, someone seemed to be moving something.
"Is someone carrying something over there?" Mitsuri asked as she walked toward the sound.
"Could it be him?" Yohan murmured to himself. Even he wasn't sure if it was the person he hoped to run into.
"There's a kid… looks like someone from the village… and he's dragging a… wooden person?" Mitsuri tilted her head, puzzled.
"Follow me," Yohan said with confidence now.
Based on Mitsuri's description, he was nearly certain—this was the person he had been looking for.
The group hurried after Yohan.
When they arrived at the clearing, they saw a small masked boy dragging a wooden humanoid figure behind him.
"Who are you people?!" The boy froze, eyes sharp with vigilance. He had lived in this forest for a long time, and it wasn't every day he saw this many strangers.
Yohan's gaze dropped to the boy's waist.
Just as he'd hoped—
A key.
Noticing Yohan's fixed stare, the boy immediately covered the key with his hand, stepping back defensively.
"Hey! Are you trying to steal my key?" he snapped. "No way! I'm not giving it to you! That thing is about to break down—I can't let it fall into the wrong hands!"
"Yohan-kun, don't tell me… the secret weapon you were talking about is related to this kid?" Kanae folded her arms. She couldn't believe she had let herself be convinced there was some legendary "secret weapon" hidden in the village. This kid didn't exactly scream secret weapon master.
"Yohan-kun, is the 'thing' he's talking about the thing you're looking for?" Mitsuri asked, still trusting.
"Little guy, be good. If you give big sister the key, I'll give you candy~" Mitsuri knelt down and pulled a candy from her sleeve, smiling sweetly.
"Hmph! No way! You can't bribe me! I'm Kotetsu, and I don't fall for that!" the little boy huffed and stepped back again.
"Relax. I just want to see the thing passed down in your family. I'm not going to do anything to it." Yohan's figure blurred as he flashed forward, instantly appearing beside Kotetsu.
He knew exactly what the boy meant by "that thing"—a mechanical puppet passed down through generations. Honestly, he had nearly forgotten about it himself if not for this mission.
Realizing the key was suddenly gone from his hand, Kotetsu froze. He understood immediately that if Yohan had wanted to take it, there was nothing he could've done to stop him.
"…Fine. I'll take you to see it," Kotetsu muttered. "But I'm warning you—you absolutely cannot destroy it!"
He turned and started walking deeper into the forest, leading them through a narrow path.
The group followed him closely.
Eventually, a small wooden cabin came into view.
"Wait here. I'll bring it out," Kotetsu said gruffly before disappearing inside with a frown on his face.
"Yohan-kun…" Tanjiro looked concerned.
"Relax. I'm not the kind of guy who'd rob a kid," Yohan muttered. "I'm only doing this because it's part of the mission, alright?"
A moment later, Kotetsu emerged—dragging behind him a far more refined puppet than the one they had seen earlier.
The wooden humanoid towered over them, with six fully articulated arms, clad in a suit of weathered armor. Its form resembled a samurai from centuries past.
Half of its face was broken, revealing the inner mechanisms underneath, and everyone finally understood what Kotetsu meant when he said it was "about to break."
"This puppet was built by my ancestors," Kotetsu said proudly, emotion welling up in his voice. "It's capable of performing 108 combat moves and possesses strength surpassing that of any human. It's a training puppet designed for battle."
"Wait—why does it have six arms?" Mitsuri tilted her head. "Wouldn't it look more human with just two?"
"That's because it was modeled after a legendary warrior from the Warring States period," Kotetsu explained. "Without six arms, it just wouldn't do his power justice."