Kiyohiro and I spent over a month traveling back to Tachibana territory.

  Actually, the journey wasn't that far, but experiments along the way delayed us.

  These experiments were somewhat cruel to demons. Kiyohiro first tested how long demons could last in sunlight.

  I could smell the blood scent on demons. Based on the intensity of this smell, I could tell whether they'd eaten many or few people.

  Generally speaking, the more people they ate, the longer they could last in sunlight.

  Not that they wouldn't get hurt—just that even injured, they retained mobility. Before the sun killed them, they could struggle to crawl into darkness and escape death.

  Demons who'd eaten few people couldn't move once sunlight hit them. Within seconds, they'd burn like dry kindling, quickly becoming charcoal.

  Through some torture and rigorous experiments, Kiyohiro confirmed this threshold was around five people.

  Demons who'd eaten over five people would reach a new level of strength.

  Next was testing their regeneration speed.

  How long to regenerate severed hands and feet?

  What about severed arms or thighs?

  Which body parts could maximally delay their recovery speed?

  Kiyohiro's mind was meticulous. Once he decided to thoroughly understand something, he wouldn't miss any detail.

  The demons I'd captured cursed at first. After days of torture, they began crying, repenting for eating people, begging me for a quick end.

  Fortunately, clansmen were waiting for him to bring good news. After several experiments, Kiyohiro decided to speed up and return first. He'd handle family matters before anything else.

  These years, these noble families seemed somewhat fallen.

  Since the warring clans didn't even care about the Emperor in the capital, they certainly wouldn't care about these old ministers' dignity and glory.

  But however fallen, the Tachibana household still owned vast territory—continuous fertile land. They'd built magnificent, grand castles on their domain. Quite spectacular.

  But sorrow perpetually shrouded this castle, never dissipating.

  Shortly after entering the territory, a group of riders galloped over with news for Kiyohiro.

  During his absence, his nephew, born just months ago, had died young.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Such tragedies were countless in the Tachibana household. Kiyohiro had clearly grown somewhat numb to hearing them... Beyond "I understand," he couldn't say anything else.

  What followed were their family affairs. I shouldn't interfere, and Kiyohiro didn't intend to involve me.

  He politely asked me to stay in comfortable guest quarters for a few days, arranged two maids to care for me, then threw himself into family matters.

  Both maids were only in their teens. One named Shiratake, one named Hinayuki—quite refined names.

  But they weren't actually from minor nobility. They were residents of the territory, sent by their parents to serve the Tachibana household.

  Though they'd received elegant names, like me back then, they were somewhat clumsy yet lively and innocent.

  I was so much older than them, I couldn't help treating them like granddaughters. Every day I lovingly patted these two halfway-granddaughters' heads, thinking Kiyohiro was truly a formidable person.

  Just from my brief mentions of my background, he could accurately find these two maids who'd please me, rather than choosing the Tachibana household's better-trained, more proper maids.

  Since he was so capable, suppressing opposing voices in the clan probably wouldn't be difficult, right?

  Fighting demons, sparing no cost to exterminate them—sounded like an impossible mission.

  If this lasted a few years, fine. But if it took decades, even centuries, could pampered nobles really accept it?

  If some would step forward, others would harbor false hopes, trying to continue living peacefully under such protection.

  That wouldn't do. Without the entire clan's strength, wanting to fight demons with long lives and power was pure fantasy.

  I coldly observed Kiyohiro's next plans. Actually, this wasn't really a test for him—just the most basic requirement for opposing such demons.

  Though I was stupid back then, after living so many years, I wouldn't easily entrust my faith to an unreliable child.

  Kiyohiro understood this clearly. So he didn't bring me to help persuade clansmen. He had to unite the entire clan with his own strength.

  I didn't wait long. Just seven days later, Kiyohiro invited me to meet.

  He'd tied his hair up in a topknot, changed into dark-colored clothing. He suddenly looked like an adult rather than a youth.

  "Sorry to keep you waiting," Kiyohiro said in a resonant voice. "I've 'cleaned up' the clan. From now on, the Tachibana household will no longer exist. Only the Ubuyashiki household."

  The Ubuyashiki surname was also the shrine priest's suggestion. To let Tachibana children survive, even auspicious gestures couldn't be neglected.

  I nodded silently. Kiyohiro suddenly performed a deep bow to me.

  "From today, except for the demon's origin, the Ubuyashiki household will cast everything from the past behind us. Our descendants need only remember the mission of slaying demons," he said. "Even so, I have an unreasonable request."

  His sudden deep bow startled me. My hand shook, spilling half my tea.

  I was still pondering whether to bow back when I heard his next words.

  "What do you want me to do?" I was surprised.

  Besides helping kill demons and leading from the front, I had no other skills.

  "I think exterminating demons won't be accomplished in a day. Perhaps in my generation, even for generations after, we won't see success."

  He said very calmly, "But even if it's a dream, I want to entrust the future to you. You're the only witness to the Tachibana household's end. Could you inherit this surname?"

  I tilted my head, not quite understanding his insistence.

  Though I'd read a few books, I was ultimately a villager's daughter. I couldn't carry grand ideals of family and nation in my heart like him.

  So adding a surname wasn't difficult. Tachibana Chihaya sounded nice—much better than Tonko.

  "Just this?"

  Hearing I didn't object, Kiyohiro's face showed some smile. "Yes, only this. If one day demons are extinct, I hope you'll tell them about today. The Tachibana ancestors never shamed their descendants."

  Fine. I agreed. If one day no demons existed in the world, I'd tell Ubuyashiki descendants that their ancestor, Tachibana Kiyohiro, was a remarkable person.

  With his own strength, he suppressed the entire clan's opposition. With that frail body, he shouldered the mission of demon slaying.

  He was the Demon Slayer Corps' first Master.

  ~~~~??~~~~~~~~??~~~~

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