In a hotel suite located in the heart of Europe, a silver-white-haired woman looked restless.
Koko Hekmatyar paced back and forth across her room. Her steps were uneven, and she bit down hard on her thumb—a long-standing habit whenever she was under stress.
"Damn it… what do I do? Should that plan be postponed?" she muttered in frustration. "But the preparations have already gone so far. I've spent far too many resources to reach this stage!"
Koko threw herself onto the leather sofa, staring blankly at the ceiling.
"Why did that strange 'gathering' have to appear now?" she complained. "Why did they show up when my project was already halfway done? Why couldn't they have appeared earlier—before I started all of this?!"
She massaged her throbbing temples, trying to cool her overworked mind.
"No…"
Koko shook her head firmly, her gaze sharpening once more.
"Postponing the project would be too risky," she murmured quietly, forming a new strategy. "I'll make it a backup plan instead. Yes… it'll continue behind the scenes as 'Plan B.'"
Just as she finalized that decision, a knock interrupted her thoughts.
Knock, knock.
"Koko, is the meeting over? There's an incoming call from Kasper," a woman's voice sounded from behind the door.
"Hm? Big brother's calling?" Koko muttered softly. She adjusted her expression. "Yes, I'm done, Valmet! Come in. And please tell Lehm to have the others rest."
The door opened. A tall, muscular woman with an eyepatch over her right eye stepped inside. Her face was filled with concern as she looked at the superior she deeply admired.
"Koko, why did the meeting take so long? It's already four in the morning! You haven't rested at all today," Valmet scolded anxiously as she handed over a phone.
Koko accepted it with her usual wide smile—a perfect mask to hide her exhaustion.
"It was a major meeting, Valmet. Of course it took time," she replied casually.
Before bringing the phone to her ear, Koko glanced at Valmet.
"Oh, one more thing. Could you find me some reference books? I need books about ancient mythology and legendary heroes."
Valmet narrowed her one visible eye sharply.
"What do you need books like that for, Koko?" she asked.
Koko tilted her head and put on an exaggeratedly innocent expression.
"Come on, Valmet… don't be so stiff. Even like this, I'm still a girl, you know," she teased playfully. "I like fairy tales about princes and heroes too. I'm just an ordinary girl longing for a knight in shining armor!"
Valmet's defenses collapsed instantly. Her cheeks flushed, and her eyes sparkled.
"Moh~! Koko! You're so cute when you talk like that!" Valmet squealed.
All suspicion vanished without a trace.
"Alright! I'll gather every hero book in this city for you!"
Without wasting time, Valmet turned around and jogged out of the room with blazing enthusiasm.
As Valmet reached the doorway, Koko called after her, "Don't forget—books about gods and goddesses too!"
"Roger, Koko!"
The door closed. The cute smile vanished from Koko's face in an instant, replaced by a flat, cold expression. She lifted the phone that had been ringing all this time.
"Hello, big brother."
"What business do you have calling me at this hour?" Koko asked coolly.
"Yo, Koko! How've you been? My dear little sister's doing fine, right?" the voice replied cheerfully—suspiciously so.
"I'm fine. Get to the point. What do you want?" Koko cut in.
"Wow, how cold. I'm your brother, you know. Is it so wrong for an older brother to call his little sister because he misses her?"
"It wouldn't be—if you weren't calling at four in the morning," Koko shot back sharply.
"Hahaha! Sorry, sorry. But you weren't sleeping either, were you?" Kasper paused, his tone lowering slightly. "So… who were you meeting with until this late, Koko?"
Koko frowned and clicked her tongue.
"Tch. You heard it from Valmet, didn't you?"
"Bingo. But don't blame me, I didn't force her," Kasper replied lightly. "She was worried sick because you hadn't slept all night. I just nudged her a little, and she told me everything. Don't make your favorite subordinate worry like that."
Koko rubbed her temples. "Yes, yes, I know. So why did you call?"
"You still won't tell me who that meeting was with?" Kasper pressed.
"No. That's trade secret," Koko replied firmly.
A disappointed—or perhaps fake-disappointed—sigh came from the other end. Kasper didn't push further.
"Alright, alright. Keep your secrets," he said, his tone shifting into business mode.
"By the way, Koko… are you interested in some 'new merchandise'? How about… a child soldier to serve as one of your bodyguards?"
---
At a secret location in England.
The room was dark, illuminated only by the bluish glow of dozens of monitors. Amid the hum of servers, a thin young man with dark circles under his eyes sat in a strange position—crouched atop his chair.
L bit into a sweet donut, his eyes blankly fixed on the screens.
"This… was beyond my calculations," he murmured.
He set down his fork between his fingers in his characteristic grip.
"How do you kill… no, how do you restrain a being like Ritsuka? Taking action against him would clearly force me to violate international law. But…" L scoffed. "The existence of that gathering already tramples over physics and reality."
L fell silent, his mind spinning to find the missing variable.
"Do I need to study magic?"
The idea sounded absurd to him.
"No. This world—my world—fundamentally lacks supernatural elements. If they existed, I would have discovered them by now."
Suddenly, the image of Zelretch—the old wizard who could traverse dimensions—crossed his mind.
"Do I need to rely on that old man for 'knowledge'?" L bit his thumb, thinking intensely. "Owing favors to a foreign entity is extremely risky… I'll shelve that thought for now."
L returned his gaze to the screens, but his thoughts drifted back to the last meeting—specifically, to Ritsuka Fujimaru's face.
"That expression…"
L narrowed his eyes, analyzing the visual memory.
"When he said he was 'already broken'… his eyes were empty. That wasn't the look of an ordinary troubled teenager."
"That might be the key," L murmured.
He pressed a key on the keyboard and leaned toward the microphone.
"Watari. Please prepare medical literature on acute Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Also, gather thick volumes on Mesopotamian mythology, particularly the Babylonian era."
L paused, biting the tip of his thumb.
"And one more thing… enroll me in a university with the best psychology department. I need to study human behavior more deeply."
There was a brief silence before an elderly man's voice came through the speakers, gentle yet worried.
"Ryuzaki… what's wrong? You sound rushed. I can prepare everything immediately, but… you seem to be facing serious trouble. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, Watari. There's no problem," L replied flatly. "I just need to verify a hypothesis."
Watari sighed softly. "Very well. I'll prepare everything at once."
Click.
The connection ended. L rose from his chair with a hunched back and shuffled toward the long sofa. He grabbed the remote and turned on the wall-mounted TV, intending to rest his mind by monitoring world news.
"At present, the greatest threat is Koko Hekmatyar," L muttered as the screen lit up. "Oda Nobunaga is merely brute force. But Koko… she's a manipulator. Far more dangerous than any Demon King."
Just then, the news broadcast broke the silence.
"Good evening, viewers. Breaking news from Tokyo, Japan…"
"Japan's underworld was shaken today by the sudden death of one of the most influential Yakuza leaders. The head of the Kamikaze Clan was reported dead at the age of 50 at his private residence earlier today."
"According to official reports from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police and medical teams, the cause of death was confirmed to be a heart attack, dispelling early speculation of assassination by rival factions…"
"The leader's sudden death is expected to create a significant power vacuum within the criminal organization's structure."
---
Japan, Taisho Era.
In a grand yet silent traditional residence, a married couple sat kneeling opposite each other on tatami mats. The night breeze drifted gently through the engawa, carrying a faint scent of wisteria.
"Oyakata-sama… are you truly alright?" the woman asked softly, breaking the silence.
"I'm fine, Amane. You needn't worry," her husband, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, replied with a thin, forced smile.
Amane fell silent, gazing intently at his face. Though his lips smiled, Kagaya looked as if his soul were wandering far away. His face was pale, weary, burdened by something unseen.
"Are you… thinking about Fujimaru-sama?" Amane asked carefully.
Kagaya let out a long sigh and nodded slowly. "Yes… I can't stop thinking about him."
Amane lowered her gaze slightly. "Are you worried that Hekmatyar-sama may misuse Fujimaru-sama's great power?"
"Yes, but it's not just that," Kagaya whispered heavily. "I… saw something within Ritsuka."
Amane leaned closer. "What did you see, Oyakata-sama?"
Kagaya stared into the distance, his blind eyes shifting uneasily.
"When I first sensed his presence… I thought he was pure light. His soul felt clean, like that of a great Savior."
He paused, swallowing hard.
"But?" Amane prompted gently.
"But when I tried to peer deeper during today's meeting… I felt something else, Amane."
Kagaya suddenly gripped his wife's hand tightly. His hand trembled coldly.
"Behind that light… I sensed an overwhelmingly dense and silent darkness. I saw the shadows of billions of deaths clinging to his back. His soul… his soul is fractured. Like glass shattered thousands of times, then forcibly pieced back together."
His breathing grew erratic. Cold sweat beaded at his temples.
"And around him… I sensed the presence of terrifying beings. Entities on the level of gods, capable of destroying the world—yet all of them stood there to protect him."
Kagaya bowed his head, his voice trembling.
"But the most painful thing was his loneliness, Amane. The scream of his heart was so quiet, as if he were saying…"
"…There is not a single human on this earth who will ever truly understand me."
After speaking, Kagaya coughed and gasped, as though merely talking about it had drained all his strength.
"Oyakata-sama, please calm yourself… that was only a vision, not reality," Amane soothed gently, trying to pull him back.
But her words did not reach him. His mind remained trapped in the young man's suffering.
"He… Ritsuka… is like someone suffering from eternal exhaustion," Kagaya said emptily. "It feels like he wants to sleep… wants to close his eyes and never wake up. But the world forces him to keep moving. To keep walking on thorns without end."
His breath hitched. Slowly, tears poured from his sightless eyes.
"He's just a child…"
Kagaya sobbed.
For the first time in many years, the steadfast leader wept. He was used to hearing of his "children"—the demon slayers—dying in battle. But the sorrow he felt toward Ritsuka was different. It was not grief over death, but grief for someone living in hell.
Amane said nothing. She simply held his shoulders, letting him release the pain.
Then, the silence was abruptly shattered by the harsh flap of wings and a shrill cry from above.
"KAAK! KAAK! REPORT! REPORT!"
A Kasugai crow landed noisily on the engawa.
"THE FINAL SELECTION AT MOUNT FUJIKASANE HAS ENDED! ENDED!" the crow screamed.
"OUT OF DOZENS OF CANDIDATES, FIVE SURVIVED! FIVE SURVIVED! KAAK! A NEW GENERATION OF DEMON SLAYERS HAS BEEN BORN!"