Icy fingertips pressed against Haruto's face, pulling his eyelids down.
His mouth was pulled open, revealing neat teeth.
Then came his ears, his hairline, his fingernails... In Tamayo's hands, Haruto felt like a dog undergoing an inspection, being checked for the purity of his bloodline.
After the battle with Douma ended, Gyomei Himejima, after asking about the combat characteristics of this Upper Rank Demon, rushed back to the headquarters to synchronize this hard-won information about the demon with Kagaya Ubuyashiki.
Kochou Shinobu, who arrived later, turned pale when she learned that her sister Kanae and Haruto had fought fiercely with an Upper Two Demon for a long time and almost died at Douma's hands. She hugged Kanae and refused to let go.
She always felt that if she let go, her sister would truly leave her—that's what Shinobu said.
Haruto rested on the ground for a long time. The effects of the demonization medicine faded from his body, and soreness plagued his muscles, but he was still smiling happily, happy that he had once again kicked over someone's bento box.
He sent the Butterfly Sisters back to rest, and then limped to Tamayo's residence in Asakusa.
After a long and thorough examination, during which Yushiro's eyes seemed about to bore two holes into Haruto, Tamayo finally let out a sigh of relief and wiped her hands with a wet towel.
Haruto looked at her with shining eyes: "No problems, right? No problems, right?"
Tamayo pondered for a moment, then looked up and said, "Prepare for surgery."
"Eh? What surgery?"
"Your palm. The reason for the unbearable pain is that although the epidermis has healed, the penetrating injury inside still exists; it just isn't bleeding anymore. We need to cut open the skin and then apply medicine... We still need to thoroughly research why such a situation occurs after taking the medicine..."
Tamayo thought for a moment: "Also, the frostbite on your face, although it has completely healed now, you'd best wrap your face tightly when winter comes, otherwise you will suffer greatly."
"Besides these?" Haruto's mood relaxed slightly.
"For now, rest assured. From your physical manifestations, you haven't turned into some strange species other than human or demon... Genya's blood is very stable in your body."
"For now..." Haruto gave a bitter smile, shook his head, and stopped thinking.
As long as Kibutsuji Muzan lived in this world for one day, Demon Slayer Swordsmen would never be worthy of thinking about words like "later" or "future."
Tamayo got up to fetch medical supplies from inside the house. Yushiro, with an adoring gaze, watched her enter the inner room, then turned his head to look at Haruto, his expression immediately changing drastically.
Swish, swish, swish... He knelt before Haruto, staring intently at him, and asked, "How does it feel?"
"Uh..." Haruto hadn't expected Yushiro to also care about his body, and he felt a bit apologetic towards him. After all, because of Yushiro's rude attitude, Haruto had always secretly called him 'Little Green Hair' in his mind: "My body is fine, it's just my palm is a bit..."
"Who cares if your body is fine!" Yushiro gritted his teeth: "I mean! Lady Tamayo's hand actually caressed your face—damn it, you should commit seppuku to thank Lady Tamayo for her grace!"
"..."
Haruto raised his face, his expression frozen.
You're something else, Little Green Hair.
[Yushiro, inheritor of Sichuan Opera's face-changing art in Neon Country]
[Hashira of Food: You call that a caress?]
[Isn't this level just perverted?]
[Yushiro: Lady Tamayo looked so beautiful today... Even pulling open someone's eyelids and tearing open someone's mouth, she's breathtakingly beautiful... Lady Tamayo will be even more beautiful tomorrow, won't she...]
...Although he resisted with all his might, Haruto had to return to the Swordsmith Village as quickly as possible.
A swordsman without a nichirin blade is like a beast without fangs and claws, lacking sufficient self-preservation.
To deal with Haganezuka Hotaru, who was sure to go crazy, he bought enough mitarashi dango.
After a year, Master Godo had barely changed.
Seeing that Haruto had returned alone again this year, the old man sighed deeply: "To forge a nichirin blade that won't break for you, Haganezuka went into seclusion in the mountains."
"Master Godo~" Haruto scratched his head awkwardly: "I..."
"Master Godo."
Eh? Was that an auditory hallucination?
Haruto raised his palms and clapped them twice near each ear to test his hearing: "Did my ears perhaps have a problem?"
"Master Godo."
That thin, sharp voice came again from below. Haruto looked down and saw a small child standing with his hands on his hips, looking at them.
The child appeared to be about six or seven years old, wearing a small Fire Man mask on his face, with a head of black hair simply tied into a ponytail with a thin hemp rope, trailing behind his head.
He wore a sleeveless vest with the large characters "Fire Man" written on it.
"It's Kotetsu," Master Godo greeted him familiarly: "Everything you need is on the table."
"Who is this child?" Haruto looked at Master Godo in surprise: "Is he your new apprentice, Master?"
The child named Kotetsu turned his face towards Haruto: "Certainly not.
Are you... the apprentice Master Godo talks about who will never find a wife and be a bachelor all the way to hell?"
—Silence—
"..." Haruto puffed out his cheeks and looked at Master Godo.
"..." Master Godo awkwardly turned his head away.
"I say, you're quite rude, aren't you, kid!" Haruto extended a finger and lightly poked Kotetsu's mask: "How can you speak like that at such a young age!"
"Slap!" Kotetsu raised his hand and quickly slapped Haruto's fingertip away: "It's rude to point at people with your hand!"
"Hitting people with your hand is also rude!"
"Arbitrarily accusing others of being rude is even ruder!"
Haruto squatted down and argued with the child for a while before straightening up: "Is it Kotetsu from the Tekkawa family? You've grown so big?"
Haruto had a strong impression of this child.
His ancestors were renowned blacksmiths during the Warring States Period, but due to many traditions being lost over the years, by his father's generation, they could no longer hope to match the skills of their ancestors.
After Kotetsu's father died young from illness, Kotetsu grew up with difficulty under the care of the villagers. Haruto had seen him many times in the village.
Kotetsu huffily adjusted his mask and went inside to retrieve the forging blueprints that Master Godo had already placed on the low table.
"Thank you, Master Godo."
"Aren't you eating here?"
"No need, today I still want to quickly look at these blueprints." Kotetsu shook his head: "After all, I'm the only son left in the family, so I still need to work hard."
Kotetsu, clutching the blueprints, trotted away. Master Godo looked at his retreating figure and said with a sigh, "His father wasn't very old either... I didn't expect him to... so soon..."
"Master."
"Hm?"
Master Godo turned his head, looking at his apprentice with a crumpled face: "...Eh?"
"'Never find a wife and be a bachelor all the way to hell'... Did that really come out of your mouth, Master!"
"I, I was just joking! Who told you to still be single at 18!"