"Then let's walk together, Lexon!" Kyojuro called out to Lexon.
Lexon gave a slight nod and fell into step beside Kyojuro Rengoku.
"By the way, is it alright for you not to wear the uniform?" Kyojuro suddenly asked on the way.
"It should be fine. The Master didn't require it, after all," Lexon, who was used to not wearing the uniform, said with a shrug.
"I think it's better to wear the uniform properly!" Kyojuro said seriously.
"Next time. It's too much trouble to go back and change now that we're halfway there," Lexon replied casually.
"The other Hashira might have an opinion!" Kyojuro Rengoku didn't force Lexon to change but gave him a reminder.
"Yes, it's no problem," Lexon said.
The two of them strolled leisurely and arrived at the Master's estate.
As soon as they stepped into the courtyard, they found that many people were already waiting there.
It seemed the two of them were the last to arrive.
In an instant, the gazes of everyone in the courtyard were drawn to them.
"So everyone has already arrived!" Kyojuro Rengoku said loudly, full of spirit.
"Good day, Mr. Rengoku," Shinobu Kocho greeted with a gentle smile.
"Rengoku is as spirited and flamboyant as ever!"
A stout man with long white hair tied in a ponytail, a jeweled ornament on his forehead, and red, radiating makeup around his left eye spoke with a haughty expression. He wore a modified Demon Slayer uniform that left both of his arms bare.
This man was the Sound Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tengen Uzui.
Lexon's impression of him was a guy who used to be a ninja, now a demon-slaying swordsman with "flamboyant" on the tip of his tongue.
But speaking of Tengen Uzui, the most unforgettable thing was, of course, that this guy had three wives and, in the original story, lived to the end, happily ever after with them.
"Rengoku, you're late."
On the branch of a tree in the courtyard, a man with mismatched eyes—one green, one gold—a bandaged mouth, and a white snake coiled around his neck, suddenly spoke. He wore a black and white striped haori over a proper Demon Slayer uniform, and his words held a hint of blame.
This man was the Serpent Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Obanai Iguro.
"My apologies!" Kyojuro Rengoku replied in a booming voice.
"Who is that?" Obanai's sinister gaze shifted to Lexon, who was standing slightly behind Rengoku. "Your successor?"
"No, he is a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps!" Rengoku replied.
Obanai Iguro's mismatched pupils suddenly became as sharp as a snake's. He pointed at Lexon and said, "This is a matter that only Hashira are qualified to participate in. Ordinary members of the Demon Slayer Corps cannot take part. Moreover, as a swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps, he doesn't even wear the uniform. He is undisciplined and requires punishment!"
'Mr. Iguro is so strict! So cool!'
Not far from the tree, a girl with cherry-pink hair that was green at the tips of her bangs and braids, light-leaf green eyes, and a beauty mark under each eye, was thinking foolishly as she gazed at Obanai Iguro with an infatuated look.
She wore a snow-white haori. Underneath it was a rather revealing, open-chested uniform and a short skirt, which had been modified by the Demon Slayer Corps' tailor on their own initiative. Her legs were covered by a pair of green-striped stockings.
This young lady was the Love Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Mitsuri Kanroji.
Just as Obanai finished speaking, Shinobu covered her mouth slightly and said with a smile, "He's the corps member I was just talking about, you know."
"Oh?" Tengen Uzui exclaimed. "He's the Demon Slayer Corps member who harbored a demon and confronted Shinobu in violation of the Corps' rules?"
"Then he also needs to be judged just like this little brat," Obanai's finger, which was pointing at Lexon, wavered, but his gaze shifted to the unconscious and bound Tanjiro in the courtyard.
Lexon saw that Tanjiro's injuries had started to recover, so he felt a little relieved.
"Lexon, did you harbor a demon and violate the Corps' rules?" Kyojuro Rengoku, standing beside Lexon, looked as if he had discovered a new world and asked with great excitement.
Lexon nodded slightly. "I did."
"Then you must be judged! And beheaded along with the demon!" Rengoku's expression didn't change at all; he was just as spirited.
'You really don't hold anything back, do you.'
Lexon lowered his eyes and shot Kyojuro Rengoku a sideways glance.
'Just a moment ago, we were laughing and talking so happily.'
"Harboring a demon cannot be permitted!" As if feeling a little embarrassed himself, Kyojuro added another sentence.
"That's right! Let me flamboyantly chop off both their necks! I'll make their blood splash more flamboyantly than anyone else's, flamboyantly so!" Tengen Uzui said, his head held high with pride.
"Ah, what shabby children. How pitiful. Just to have been born is pitiful enough..."
A tall, monk-like man said sorrowfully, tears streaming down his face.
His eyes were blind, showing only the whites. There was a long scar on his forehead, and he wore a string of red prayer beads around his neck. On his brown haori were written the six characters for "Namu Amida Butsu."
This was the Stone Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Gyomei Himejima.
"Let me kill you..."
As Himejima spoke, he clasped his hands together, a long string of prayer beads hanging from them. His expression was one of compassion for all living things, and tears flowed down his face.
"What was that cloud called again..."
An expressionless boy with long black hair that was mint-green at the tips and light blue eyes murmured, looking up at the sky.
This boy was the Mist Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Muichiro Tokito, a supreme genius who had become a Hashira after holding a sword for only two months.
"But he is very strong, you know," Shinobu once again fanned the flames. It seemed that she was a little unhappy about their previous confrontation, so now she was venting her feelings.
Shinobu was just this kind of woman, a little black-bellied.
"So what if he's strong? Harboring a demon is unacceptable. No matter how strong he is, he must be dealt with," a cold voice came from under Obanai Iguro's bandages.
To be honest, in his heart, he didn't think Lexon could be that strong.
A corps member who wasn't even a Hashira, and he had never heard any famous news about this member named Lexon before.
"We should wait for the Master to decide," Giyu Tomioka, who was standing far from the crowd, alone, spoke up at this moment to help Lexon and the others.
"This is not a matter that needs to trouble the Master. We Hashira can make the decision," Obanai Iguro immediately retorted.
"A flamboyant on-the-spot execution."
"Let the pitiful ones depart from this world."
"But if this boy was taking a demon on a mission, the Master should have known about it, right? If we make a decision on our own, wouldn't that..." Mitsuri Kanroji looked at Tanjiro and then offered a different opinion.
Instantly, the crowd fell silent.
"Then let's wait for the Master's decision," Kyojuro Rengoku said.
The other Hashira tacitly agreed with this decision.
"However, he should come over here and wait for judgment like this kid," Obanai's sharp, snake-like eyes shot towards Lexon.
After all, they were both offending members. Tanjiro's current situation and Lexon's were clearly quite different.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]