Meanwhile, on the other side, the long-deserted Rengoku family estate suddenly welcomed an extremely important guest today.
"Father! Father!"
Kyojuro's younger brother, the young Senjuro, ran quickly through the corridor of the courtyard, shouting loudly:
"Master Oyakata-sama... he's here!"
"What did you say?"
Upon hearing this, Shinjuro, who had been lying in his room drinking himself into a stupor, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up.
He subconsciously wanted to go out to greet the visitor, but the next second, he lay back down again.
"What is he here for? Tell him, I'm not—"
"It's been a long time, Shinjuro-senpai."
Before Shinjuro could finish speaking, the door to his room was pulled open.
Ubuyashiki Kagaya, who had been so eroded by the curse that he could barely walk, entered the room escorted by Himejima Gyomei.
He lowered his head and looked at Shinjuro, who lay on the bed with his back to him and remained silent. He simply smiled and sat down on the cushion beside him.
"In the near future, the final battle between the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons will soon arrive."
Without any unnecessary words, Ubuyashiki cut straight to the chase.
"I have decided that when the time comes, I will use myself as bait to lure Muzan Kibutsuji out into the open.
Then, with my death, I will ignite the final flame that will inspire the swordsmen to fight.
If nothing unexpected happens, by that time, my wife, my two children, and I should all die together.
But considering that in the worst-case scenario, the Demon Slayer Corps may still need someone to command the battle,
I want to arrange for Kiriya to leave first. This child will not die with us.
He will survive and, at the most critical moment, shoulder the heavy responsibility of commanding everyone.
Shinjuro-senpai, I need your help."
Calmly looking at Shinjuro, who still had his back to him and showed no reaction, Ubuyashiki continued:
"When the time comes, I will arrange for someone to secretly bring Kiriya to you. You may take him anywhere to protect him.
Everything will be up to you, Shinjuro-senpai. I entrust this child's safety to you."
After saying this, Ubuyashiki did not wait for Shinjuro's response. He simply stood up slowly with Gyomei's support and turned to leave.
"Master Oyakata-sama."
Just as Ubuyashiki was about to walk out the door, Shinjuro finally spoke up behind him, stopping him.
"Will you continue to fight?"
"Yes."
Hearing the question from behind, Ubuyashiki nodded gently, his tone soft yet firm.
"No matter what situation I face, I will fight to the very end, regardless of the cost."
"..."
Time continued to pass. As Tamayo's drug research gradually approached its final stages, Ubuyashiki also gave the swordsmen, who had been training continuously for many days, a full two-day holiday.
During these two days, everyone could go wherever they wanted to relax and have fun.
There were no restrictions on location or spending. If anyone needed money, they could come to Ubuyashiki at any time to ask for it.
After the two days, everyone had to return to the Demon Slayer Corps to prepare for the final decisive battle.
Without a doubt, these two days were the last free time that Master Oyakata-sama had specifically left for the Demon Slayer Corps members.
This upcoming final battle would certainly be an extremely difficult fight.
In this battle, many, many Demon Slayers would surely die.
So, if there was anything still weighing on their minds, they should use this last bit of time to settle it...
Among them, Shinobu Kocho, after the holiday began, immediately ran back to Tokyo to find Akaza.
"Hakuji! Come quickly! I have something important to tell you!"
"Huh? Shinobu? Wait, hold on! I'm still in the middle of class right now!
Everyone! Please wait a moment! The teacher will be right back!"
Rushing into the classroom, Shinobu dragged Akaza, who was in the middle of giving a lecture, away in front of the students' bewildered faces. She took him straight back to her office.
"Listen, Hakuji, I don't have much time, so I'll try to keep this brief."
Closing the door, pulling the curtains, and pushing the still-bewildered Akaza into a chair, Shinobu sat behind her desk with a serious and earnest expression.
"A few days ago, I went back to my family's ancestral estate and searched everywhere. Guess what I found?"
"What did you find?"
Made nervous by her reaction, Akaza subconsciously lowered his voice and leaned his head in closer.
"A large box hidden in the attic of my family's estate... filled with many notebooks!"
Shinobu also leaned in, covering her mouth with her hand as she whispered in his ear.
"Oh~~"
Leaning back slightly, Akaza took a deep breath, then his expression became even more bewildered.
"So... what's the use of that?"
You suddenly dragged me out of class, didn't even let me finish teaching, just to tell me this?
"Of course it's useful! And it's extremely useful!"
Slamming her hand on the table so hard that Akaza jumped, Shinobu immediately stood up and shouted at him:
"Hakuji, you don't understand! Those notebooks are densely packed with records of my clan's ancestors' experiences in cultivating and searching for the Blue Spider Lily over hundreds of years!
Hundreds of years of experience, you know! Basically every possible method you could think of to cultivate the Blue Spider Lily, my ancestors have already tried!
Just reading through all these notes took me several days!"
As she spoke, Shinobu pointed to the dark circles under her eyes.
"I see. So, did you gain anything from it?"
Akaza asked curiously.
To say that Akaza didn't care about the Blue Spider Lily at all would be a lie. After all, he now had a fulfilling life and had Koyuki as his beloved partner.
If it were possible, he actually very much wanted to overcome his weaknesses—sunlight and the need to consume humans—and truly be together with Koyuki.
"Well, not really..."
Letting out a deep sigh, Shinobu sat back down in her chair and said helplessly:
"Over the centuries, my ancestors had already tried every possible method they could think of. They even traveled across mountains and rivers, searching every remote corner of this country.
But the Blue Spider Lily, it's like a legend that doesn't exist. It never showed up, no matter how hard they searched... However!"
Her tone suddenly changed, her expression turning excited again. Shinobu placed both hands on the desk.
Looking at the puzzled Akaza before her, she said excitedly:
"The failures of my ancestors also made me realize a very important piece of information!"
"W-what information?"
"The Blue Spider Lily cannot be obtained through scientific means! If we want to find it, we must rely on... mysticism!!"
"...Huh?"