Yuko asked, "You saw it with your own eyes?"
The two brothers looked at each other, a little embarrassed. "Well… not exactly. But the whole city is talking about it. It can't be false, right?"
Yuko: "..."
"I just heard you say that three people died. Do you mean three people died at that Shindō-style dojo?"
Both of them hurriedly waved their hands. "No, no! It was five or six, I think!"
"…?"
"The three who died were dojo masters! And there were also two apprentices, I think."
It was obvious—they were just spreading rumors they had heard.
Still, the general direction of the information was probably correct.
Asking around was itself a way of gathering intelligence. What might sound useless to one person could become extremely valuable to another.
Three dojo masters…
Yuko's thoughts sank slightly. "So you mean other dojo masters were also targeted?"
"Yeah! It's only been a few days—three dojo masters in the city are already dead."
The other added, "Four days."
Basically, one death per day.
"All of them died at night?"
As soon as Yuko asked this, the two men looked at her as if she were an idiot.
But since she was paying them, they didn't dare say it out loud.
"All at night. And they were all killed in the dojo's training hall."
"Everyone says that demon was a battle maniac when he was alive."
That matched… her impression of 'Akusa'.
Her entire understanding of 'Akusa' came from the Flame Hashira's compiled footage: short pink hair, blue-black tattoo markings, bare hands and bare feet, with the air of a hard-core martial artist.
It was only after living here for several hundred years that she finally understood that those tattoos symbolized a criminal—proof that he had committed some kind of crime in life.
"Were there any eyewitnesses?"
The two brothers exchanged blank looks.
Alright—so that question had been pointless.
Just as Yuko was about to stand up and leave, one of them uncertainly asked his companion, "Hey… isn't the daughter of the Shindō dojo master still alive?"
"Right, right! The master's daughter is still alive!"
"And that girl is a real beauty too~"
Speechless, Yuko raised her hand to interrupt them. "Which road leads to the Shindō dojo?"
"Over there." The two of them pointed in the same direction.
Yuko took a deep breath. "Thanks."
She'd lost out.
Even though she didn't really need the money, she still felt like she'd been cheated.
Following the direction they pointed, Yuko asked a few people along the way and soon arrived at the entrance of the Shindō dojo.
The pedestrians she questioned all showed clear reluctance and avoided speaking more than necessary. The kinder ones at most gave her a vague direction.
The front gate of the Shindō dojo stood wide open—empty and deserted, with not a single person in sight.
A faint smell of blood lingered in the air. Following the scent, Yuko made her way to the training hall.
Even before she reached it, she could faintly hear sounds coming from inside.
After a moment's hesitation, Yuko stepped in.
On the wide training grounds, a small, slender figure was half-crouched on the floor, wiping something away.
Yuko swept her gaze around. The dark red blood had only just dried not long ago, splattered everywhere like a slaughterhouse. The floor was shattered in several places, broken into deep pits.
Clearly, a shocking battle had taken place here last night.
Unless the bodies had been deliberately dismembered, there was no way such a vast amount of blood could have been spilled.
Yet this kind of destruction… didn't look like a one-sided massacre.
It was a battle.
Only a fight between two sides could have caused this much devastation.
Noticing movement behind her, the small figure turned around.
It was a girl of about fifteen or sixteen, looking at Yuko with a blank expression. Her eyes were filled with sorrow.
Yuko stepped into the hall. "Hello."
She had barely finished greeting when the girl silently turned back and continued wiping the floor.
Yuko slowly walked up in front of her.
"Although this may be very rude to ask…"
"Did you happen to see what that demon looked like?"
Under Yuko's gaze, the girl drew in a deep breath. The very next moment, she forcefully exhaled through her nose, lowered her head again, and continued wiping.
That meant she was furious—but she was suppressing her anger rather than venting it at Yuko.
The girl's emotionless voice rang out. "So what if I saw him?"
"And so what if I didn't?"
"Can you help me take revenge?"
Yuko's wine-red twin pupils fixed on the girl. "Short pink hair. Criminal tattoos."
The girl's heart clenched with a sharp jolt.
Yuko's pupils contracted slightly. So she did know.
This girl wasn't strong. She had likely learned a bit of self-defense, but without a doubt she would never be able to defeat a normally built man—much less evade a demon's attack.
"You know him?!" The girl suddenly raised her head, grabbing Yuko by the collar with both hands. Tears streamed relentlessly from her eyes, while the rage on her face spiraled completely out of control.
"Where is he! Where is that monster?!"
Yuko's wine-red eyes reflected in her gaze, and the girl froze.
Yuko slowly pressed her hands down and returned her own words to her:
"So what if you know?"
"Can you kill him?"
The tension in the girl's body slowly drained away.
Yes… so what if she knew?
The heart that had just burned with fiery hatred suddenly fell silent again.
The girl spoke coldly, "You're not from the Demon Slayer Corps, are you?"
"They came to see you?"
"…Yes."
"No."
...
"You're not going to ask what they said?"
"They're no match for that demon. Even if they find him, they won't be able to stop him."
"Then what about you?"
"I can."
The girl looked over with hope in her eyes. Her lips trembled twice before she steadied herself and began to speak.
"When the other two dojo masters were killed, I already tried to persuade my father to leave."
"But he didn't listen."
Yuko narrowed her eyes slightly. "So yesterday, he was waiting for that demon here on purpose?"
The girl sobbed softly. "Yes. He thought it was just someone pretending to be a ghost."
"You were there too?"
"My father originally sent me to stay at my aunt's house, but I was too worried and ran back in the middle of the night."
"What did you see?"
"My father was fighting that demon…" The girl's face turned pale. "The arm my father cut off healed instantly."
To be able to wound an Upper Rank Three demon—even if the demon wasn't serious—that dojo master must have possessed some real skill.
"That demon saw you," Yuko said without hesitation.
Since the girl had noticed him, it made no sense for him not to have sensed her.
Unlike Doma, who fought like a 'mage,' 'Akusa' was clearly a battle-crazed close-combat fanatic. There was no way he wouldn't notice her.
"Yes, he saw me."
"But you didn't die."
The girl's tears washed through the dried blood on the floor. Choking back sobs, she said,
"I was so scared that I knelt at the doorway. I couldn't stand up until after he left… I could only watch helplessly as he ate my father."
---
Currently at chapter 300 for advance chapters
https:// ko-fi.com/rabi08