Seeing the mission duration was only three days, Takeru was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected such a short stay in this world.
"Demons..." Seeing the word mentioned in the mission, Yukino couldn't help but shudder. Despite her decent strength, she felt an instinctive fear toward such beings.
"Captain, I'm counting on you, desuwa!" Seeing the mention of demons, Sylphin's smile froze. She immediately turned to Takeru.
If the mission mentioned demons, they undoubtedly existed. Sylphin was quite afraid of such creatures.
Woo!
Just as Takeru was about to speak, a train whistle sounded. Looking toward the source, Takeru saw a somewhat old-fashioned train with the characters [Infinite] on the front.
Checking his belongings, Takeru found only a train ticket and nothing else.
"That must be the Mugen Train. Let's board." After a glance, Takeru addressed the two.
"Okay." Hearing Takeru, they naturally agreed. Though aware a Demon might be aboard, the mission required boarding the train.
"Th-this... this creature! It must be this land's master, sent to notify the people!" Just as Takeru's group prepared to move, a loud voice shouted.
A young man wearing a boar's head mask, bare-chested, stood nearby.
"This length! This intimidation! No mistake! It seems asleep now, but don't let your guard down!" The boar-headed youth stared warily at the train.
"What is that? A Chuunibyo?" Yukino muttered, staring at the bare-chested, masked figure.
She then noticed the swords at their hips.
"No, no, it's a train! Don't you know that?" The blond-haired boy in a yellow haori next to the boar-head sighed.
"Shh! Stay calm! I'll take the lead!" Ignoring the blond, the boar-headed youth drew his blades, ready to attack.
"Wait, Inosuke! It might be this land's guardian deity! And attacking suddenly isn't good!" The boy with deep red hair and red eyes, a scar on his forehead, quickly stopped Inosuke.
"Ohohoho! You really are Chuunibyo, aren't you?!" Hearing their conversation, Sylphin approached them with a laugh.
"Chuunibyo?" Inosuke and Tanjiro looked puzzled.
"Wow! A beauty! I'm Agatsuma Zenitsu! Please marry me!" The moment Zenitsu saw Sylphin, he dropped to one knee and grabbed her hand.
The sudden move caught everyone off guard.
Sylphin quickly pulled her hand back. "I'm sorry, I don't like delinquents. Just so you know, only someone like the Captain is worthy of me, desuwa!"
'De-delinquent?!' Hearing this, Zenitsu froze in place.
"Ughh! Boar Rush!" While everyone was distracted, Inosuke suddenly charged headfirst toward the train...
"Stop that! It's so embarrassing!" Noticing Inosuke's action, Zenitsu forgot about being rejected and yelled angrily.
Beep Beep!
Security guards quickly blew their whistles.
"What are you doing?!" Two guards rushed over, noticing the swords. "Officers! Call the officers!"
"Bad! Bad! Bad!" Hearing the guards, Zenitsu yelled, dragging Inosuke and Tanjiro away...
"That speed..." Yukino was surprised. While perhaps not surpassing her own, it far exceeded an ordinary person's, especially while dragging two others.
"They must be Demon Slayers. Their goal is clearly this train too. We might cooperate later. Let's board first." Takeru said calmly.
He was, of course, familiar with them: Kamado Tanjiro, Agatsuma Zenitsu, and Hashibira Inosuke.
"Alright." Hearing Takeru, Yukino nodded and boarded the train.
They found empty seats and sat down.
"Takeru, what do we do next? Look for the demon? But we've never seen one. Are they like ghosts?" Yukino asked worriedly.
"No need to rush. Since the side mission is to protect passengers, the demon will reveal itself eventually. We can wait quietly for now." Takeru replied calmly.
Besides ordinary passengers, Takeru noticed several children looking nervous… clearly guilty of something.
Expanding his Observation Haki, he also sensed a person in another carriage radiating fiery energy.
Takeru knew this was the Flame Hashira, Rengoku Kyojuro, known for his optimistic, fiery personality. He remembered Rengoku's final battle, protecting everyone against Upper Moon Three, Akaza, ultimately succumbing to his injuries.
'Saving Rengoku's life would likely be a side mission. Defeating Akaza would certainly yield significant rewards.'
As he pondered, Takeru noticed Tanjiro and the others boarding the train at the last moment. As the train moved, they searched for something.
"Wahaha! So fast!" Inosuke, acting like a country bumpkin, excitedly yelled at the train's speed, drawing stares.
"Sorry! Sorry!" Zenitsu apologized profusely.
"Enough already! Come here, idiot!" Zenitsu whispered, dragging Inosuke away, leaving behind disdainful looks.
Seeing this, Takeru shook his head in amusement.
"By the way, give me your tickets." Takeru suddenly said to Yukino and Sylphin.
"Okay." Without hesitation, they handed their tickets over.
Using Gyo, Takeru detected a faint, sinister aura on the tickets. He realized their tickets, like the others', were a trap.
He remembered clearly: the writing on these tickets contained the blood of Lower Moon One, Enmu. Once punched, it would activate a Blood Demon Art to induce sleep.
Thinking this, Takeru examined the ticket's design and used Nen to create three identical replicas. He then returned the tickets to the girls, who accepted them puzzledly.
"The tickets were tampered with. I replaced them." Takeru explained quietly.
Hearing this, they were stunned. They didn't expect that the Reincarnation Space had given them booby-trapped tickets...
Meanwhile, Tanjiro's group approached the Flame Hashira. His sheer presence intimidated them upon arrival.
"Delicious! Delicious!"
"Is that... the Flame Hashira?" Seeing Rengoku's appearance, Zenitsu wondered if they had the wrong person.
Tanjiro, hearing Zenitsu, nodded dumbly. He remembered Rengoku's scent and had seen his picture.
"Isn't he just a glutton?"
"Um... excuse me..." Despite Rengoku's... demeanor, Tanjiro stepped forward to greet him.
"Delicious!" Rengoku seemed not to hear, continuing to devour his meal.
"Rengoku... Rengoku-san!"
"Delicious!" Hearing his name, Rengoku finally turned and boomed.
"Yes, we understand that very well." Tanjiro nodded awkwardly.
Only after Rengoku finished over ten bento boxes did he properly begin conversing with Tanjiro.