Gyomei was a towering figure, his physique massive and imposing.
Yuki recalled that Gyomei stood a staggering 220 centimeters tall and weighed a staggering 130 kilograms!
Though the Kakushi was carrying Gyomei, from the onlookers' perspective, the giant's legs were already dragging on the ground.
But that wasn't the end of it.
After all, the Pillars had come here for training, so each carried their personal weapons.
Thus, the Kakushi who carried the Pillars also had to carry their weapons.
So, what were Gyomei's weapons?
The answer: a broadaxe and a meteor hammer, connected by a chain!
As they finally reached the Swordsmith Village, the Kakushi's eyes lit up with relief.
After Gyomei dismounted, the Kakushi immediately collapsed to his knees, bracing himself with his hands on the ground, gasping for breath, sweat pouring off him like a waterfall.
Tears streamed down Gyomei's face as he said compassionately, "I really can walk on my own. You don't need to push yourselves so hard."
The Kakushi, still panting heavily, stubbornly replied, "Hah... hah... No! My mission is to carry you to the Swordsmith Village!"
Even after speaking, he continued to gasp for breath.
Yuki clearly saw the Kakushi who had just carried Tengen's eyes flicker with relief.
Although Tengen was also quite large, compared to Gyomei, his task had been far easier.
He bowed to the crowd in farewell, then stepped forward to help the Kakushi who was still unable to stand, and they slowly departed.
"Namu Amida Butsu..." Gyomei chanted another Buddhist prayer, "seeing them off" as they left. Though he couldn't see with his eyes, his senses were exceptionally sharp. Turning his head toward the group, he said with genuine surprise, "I never expected you all to be waiting for me here. I'm truly touched!" As he spoke, tears streamed from his eyes.
Yuki couldn't help but cough awkwardly. Initially, he had simply been curious about what would happen if a Kakushi insisted on carrying someone to the Swordsmith Village and encountered Gyomei. The result, however, had been misinterpreted as a welcoming ceremony. Now, Yuki felt a pang of guilt.
Fortunately, Gyomei changed the subject. "Mr. Yuki, when will we begin training?"
Yuki replied solemnly, "We'll start at dawn tomorrow."
The reason for delaying the training was that Yuki still needed to locate the Yoriichi Zero-Type, a training automaton modeled after Tsugikuni Yoriichi, within the Swordsmith Village.
Hidden within the training puppet's body was the sword left behind by Yoriichi.
The blade Yuki currently wielded was merely Yoriichi's Blade - Pseudo, possessing only a fraction of the Crimson Blade's power.
According to the Restoration System's prompts, he needed to fuse both blades to unlock the full Crimson Blade effect.
With this in mind, Yuki glanced behind him.
Due to the gathering of the Pillars, numerous masked swordsmiths had already appeared, observing them from a distance.
Among the crowd of masked figures, Yuki effortlessly spotted a child wearing a mask with thick, painted eyebrows—Kotetsu from the Swordsmith Village.
Yuki knew that Kotetsu could help him locate the training puppet, the Yoriichi Zero-Type.
He called Kotetsu over and asked him to lead the way.
The other Pillars moved ahead toward the village's dining hall.
After all, most of the Pillars were voracious eaters, and despite being carried on the Kakushi's backs throughout the journey, they were already starving.
Seeing this, Yuki felt a twinge of regret.
He had never witnessed the Pillars gathering to eat together in the dining hall—a sight he truly wished he could witness.
Meanwhile, in the forest outside Swordsmith Village,
Under the quietly descending night, a white porcelain pot with a wide belly and narrow spout, painted with green leafy branches, rolled along with a gurgling sound.
After circling among the fallen leaves on the ground, the pot suddenly stopped.
It wobbled a few times before righting itself.
Then, a human-like figure squeezed out of the pot's spout.
No, this thing couldn't even be called a "human-like figure."
It looked as if someone had mixed together fragments of human limbs and organs with some kind of clay.
Then, blindfolded, they had haphazardly molded the mixture into a vaguely humanoid shape based on a rough impression.
Perhaps only this could explain—
Why this thing had two mouths where its eyes should have been, with green lips.
And why a single eyeball grew from the center of its forehead and another from the location of its mouth.
Where hair should have grown, purple fins sprouted instead.
On either side of its head, where ears should have been, two tiny, infant-like arms extended.
If Yuki had seen this creature, he would have exclaimed:
"Enmu's mouth on the back of his hand was quite the peculiar little thing!"
But this creature's appearance could only be described as: "A peculiar little thing that's quite the thing!"
Yet this "peculiar little thing that's quite the thing" had the characters "Upper Rank" inscribed on the eyeball on its forehead.
The eyeball at its mouth bore the character "Five."
Upper Moon Five, Gyokko
Gyokko's upper body materialized in the air, while his lower half remained fused with the porcelain pot.
At that moment, the two mouths where his eyes should have been opened and closed incessantly, muttering to themselves:
"That Lord has ordered us to find the Swordsmith Village of those Demon Slayers."
"If we destroy the village, those detestable Demon Slayers' swords will be ruined beyond repair."
"Heh heh, I can't wait to see how those Demon Slayers fight without their swords!"
"But..."
Gyokko paused, then continued muttering to himself:
"Hantengu was supposed to be working with me, but That Lord summoned him away at the last minute."
"Still, dealing with this ordinary settlement of Mountain Swordsmiths is child's play for me."
"Tch, just thinking about these guys being Mountain Swordsmiths makes my stomach churn."
"Their flesh must taste absolutely awful!"
"But they'll make excellent materials. When I craft them into works of art, I'll be sure to emphasize their calloused hands..."
Gyokko murmured to himself as he retreated into his porcelain pot.
From the pot's mouth, his voice faintly echoed:
"It's late now. The village dining hall should be mostly empty."
"Perhaps I'll start there..."