Walking along the road to the suburbs with a logistics corps member named Tazuko Hayakawa, Lexon asked, "Have you investigated at all?"
"I have." A voice came from under Tazuko Hayakawa's mask. "The first disappearance of a Shika family member occurred after a certain transaction with a merchant."
"And the merchant?"
"Vanished. Not a trace to be found."
"Is there anything unusual about the Shika family?"
"Quite a few members of the Shika family have disappeared. The clan is currently in a state of panic, and some people, unable to bear it any longer, have already left the family lands."
"I see. I'll take it from here."
"We're counting on you." Tazuko Hayakawa bowed respectfully again.
To shorten the travel time, Lexon specifically asked Tazuko Hayakawa for the location of the Shika family estate, planning to head there first on his own.
After all, Tazuko Hayakawa was just an ordinary person, and her pace was too slow.
"I'll go on ahead," Lexon said to Tazuko Hayakawa.
"Very well."
Then Lexon activated his breathing technique, his figure moving forward like a phantom. When he passed by pedestrians, they thought it was just a gust of wind.
At Lexon's speed, he soon arrived in front of a large estate.
"There's a scent." Lexon twitched his nose.
The keen sense of smell he had signed in for from Tanjiro and Urokodaki Sakonji picked up the scent of a demon.
"There really is a demon."
He knocked on the door.
A woman in a red kimono opened the door and walked out. Seeing an unfamiliar person, she couldn't help but ask, "Who are you?"
"I am here to solve the problem of your family's disappearing members."
Hearing Lexon's words, the woman's face lit up. "Please, come in, come in."
'Tazuko Hayakawa must have spoken with the Shika family, which is why they aren't on guard.'
Lexon didn't hesitate and stepped inside.
"I'll take you to a room to rest first, then I will report to the family head," the woman said, leading Lexon to a clean room and asking him to wait there.
After Lexon nodded, she bowed and left.
He didn't have to wait long before a man with a stern face came to the door of his room.
"Hello, sir. I am the head of the Shika family, Masakazu Shika."
"Come in."
Lexon and Masakazu Shika sat facing each other.
"Sir, you must be a member of that 'Demon Slayer Corps' organization."
Lexon nodded.
"Recently, several members of my family have disappeared. Although I believe it to be the work of thieves or family rivals, my wife feels it is the work of a 'demon,' and thus requested your presence," Masakazu Shika said slowly, his words revealing a hint of mistrust towards the person before him.
'That's right. Information about demons is suppressed. For most people, it's just a folktale without any concrete evidence. Otherwise, the Demon Slayer Corps wouldn't be a civilian organization with only a few hundred members.'
Lexon understood what Masakazu Shika meant. He believed that things like demons were just hearsay, and that he was just a charlatan.
"Where is your wife?" Lexon asked.
Since this person didn't believe, it was better to find someone who did.
"My wife is resting, which is why I came," Masakazu Shika said. "I will give you some money, sir. Perhaps you would be willing to turn back?"
"Ha," Lexon couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"What are you laughing at?" Masakazu Shika's voice turned cold in an instant, his attitude changing abruptly.
"I just find it interesting," Lexon said playfully, propping his chin on his hand. "Hey, head of the Shika family, tell me, would something like this happen? The head of a family, who doesn't believe in the existence of 'demons,' would he personally come to greet me just because his wife thinks so?"
"You!" As if provoked by Lexon's words, Masakazu Shika's face flushed with anger, and he slammed his hands on the table and shot to his feet. "If you don't want to leave, then don't ever leave! You damn—"
Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a chill on his neck. Looking down, he saw that the blade of a deep blue sword was already resting against his throat.
"You're clearly human, so why are you doing things for a demon?" Lexon whispered into Masakazu Shika's ear.
"You... you..." Masakazu Shika's voice trembled, and he couldn't form a complete sentence.
"Do you want to die?" Lexon had a smile on his face, but the words he spoke were like the cold wind of a winter month, chilling to the bone.
"I don't!" Masakazu Shika shouted.
"Then talk. What's the situation with the Shika family?"
"I can't tell you! I'll be killed!" Masakazu Shika cried out in fear.
"I don't know if you'll die after you talk, but if you don't, I will definitely cut you down with one stroke."
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
Lexon withdrew his blade and sat back in his original spot, the same gentle smile on his face.
Masakazu Shika, however, did not dare to sit down again. He shrank back and spoke meekly, "I am indeed the head of the Shika family, but I am the successor after the last head died. The previous head made a porcelain trade with a mysterious merchant, but he didn't expect the other party to be a man-eating demon. He was eaten alive by that demon. Then, that demon threatened me to do things for him, to cover up his man-eating."
'So it's a demon that practices sustainable development.'
Lexon thought. A normal demon would just eat people without a second thought. This demon must have known that if its man-eating was exposed, it would attract the Demon Slayer Corps to come and exterminate it.
"Originally, a few people disappearing every once in a while wouldn't be a problem, but I don't know why, that demon's appetite has been growing larger recently, and too many people have gone missing. I couldn't cover up the news, and your arrival must have been the doing of someone in the clan."
"Hah," Lexon sneered. "So your job is to clean up the demon's mess?"
"I was threatened, I had no choice," Masakazu Shika said, his head bowed.
"To tell you the truth, I can actually smell the scent of a lie. Your other words are fine, but on the matter of being 'threatened,' you're lying."
Hearing this, Masakazu Shika looked up in astonishment.
"Let me guess. You're not the successor at all, but a scumbag who threw in his lot with a demon to become the family head, serving him like a dog."
"You came to see me directly and used words with obvious loopholes to make me suspicious, then faked anger to force my hand. It was most likely to see if the Demon Slayer Corps really had any strength. If they did, you would use the 'threatened by a demon' story to get them to kill the demon. If not, you would choose to eliminate or drive away the demon hunter and continue working for the demon."
Speaking of this, Lexon couldn't help but think of Tanjiro. If he had encountered this situation, he most likely would have fallen into the trap, sparing the other party after they threw out their nine-parts-truth-one-part-lie story of being "threatened by a demon" and begged for mercy.
After all, although Tanjiro's sense of smell was keen, it had not yet reached the level of Lexon's, which was a fusion of both his and Urokodaki Sakonji's.
"And that's not all I can smell. There's also the scent of a demon rushing this way at high speed!"
Lexon's words stopped there.
Instantly, the air in the entire room seemed to congeal, becoming so oppressive it was hard to breathe.
Masakazu Shika didn't move, the surprised expression on his face turning somewhat sinister.
"Bang."
The door was suddenly smashed open, and a foul stench rushed in. A large mouth full of minced meat lunged towards Lexon's face.
"Water Breathing, Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust."
Before the calm words were even finished, the tip of the azure blade had already shot out swiftly. Like a pebble sinking into the water's surface, it violently pierced the attacking demon's neck, generating ripples around it.
The tip of the blade severed the demon's neck, and its head flew up, its ferocious expression forever frozen on its severed head.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]