Chapter 32 — The Power of a Smile
The next day, outside Sendai City, at the House of Wisteria Blossoms.
Although Asuka had been badly injured this time, the timely treatment from the Kakushi and the demonic power he had stolen from Rokuro had greatly accelerated his recovery.
Wrapped head to toe in bandages, he looked thoroughly miserable.
Yet in truth, he could still move without much difficulty.
Sitting at the entrance of his room, he politely greeted a few members of the Kakushi before gazing toward the distant skyline of Sendai.
The unrest from the previous night had not stopped.
Even from this quiet house outside the city, he could hear the faint echoes of shouting and chaos drifting from within the streets.
Asuka found himself thinking of Asano Mori, who had been gravely wounded.
I wonder if he received treatment…
"Hey! Mr. Asuka!"
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a familiar voice called out.
He turned his head.
It was Yuka.
"…You. Why are you here?"
"…Because this is my home."
"Hm?"
Seeing the surprise on his face, Yuka hurriedly explained.
"Well… technically it's my uncle's house. He once received help from your Demon Slayer Corps, so now he runs it as something like a recovery home."
She led Asuka through several other rooms in the courtyard.
Just as she had said, there were other patients resting there—people with gaunt faces and weak bodies.
"Besides helping Demon Slayers, we also take in workers who have nowhere else to go," Yuka said quietly. "We try to help them recover… though sadly, the results aren't always very good."
"Asano?" Asuka asked calmly.
He had not seen any sign of Asano.
Yuka nodded and led him deeper into the compound.
In a quiet corner room, they finally found him.
Asano lay asleep.
Thanks to medicine provided by the Demon Slayer Corps, his breathing was steady and calm.
Asuka unconsciously let out a small sigh of relief.
Then he looked at Yuka.
"This place belongs to the owner of Sanmonji, doesn't it?"
"Huh? You guessed?"
"Yeah. It has the same style as the bookstore," Asuka replied flatly.
He was still practicing how to make small talk.
The two of them chatted casually as they walked back out to the courtyard of the recovery house and sat down beneath a covered corridor.
"What happened to last night's unrest?" Asuka asked.
"Did things calm down in the end?"
"…They did," Yuka said slowly. "But something about it was strange."
She glanced toward the distant city of Sendai before lowering her voice.
"Mr. Asuka… those heartless men from yesterday…"
"They're all dead."
"Dead?" Asuka frowned. "How?"
"They say the protesting workers completely lost control and stormed into the dyeing company."
"You know what they found?"
Remembering the scene, Yuka shivered.
"Those corrupt bosses had apparently inhaled some kind of drug or ointment… something awful."
"They were all dazed and limp, sprawled across the sofas!"
"The workers were already furious. When they saw those men still indulging themselves even while everything was burning down around them…"
"They snapped."
Yuka hugged her coat tighter, trembling slightly.
"The scene at the end was horrible… People really went mad."
"Of all times to be like that…"
Drugged? Paralyzed?
Something about that didn't feel right to Asuka.
He remembered those cold violet eyes.
Could it have been her?
…Hard to say.
But if it had been him…
Asuka touched the bandages around his body, a cold gleam flashing in his eyes.
"If they chose to side with demons," he said quietly,
"then they're no different from demons themselves."
"If they lived, they would only keep devouring others."
"Being killed is the best outcome for them."
"My, my… violence is not allowed, you know."
"Ah! Hashira-sama!"
A gentle breeze swept through the courtyard.
In the next moment, Shinobu Kochō appeared without warning.
All the Kakushi members—and even Yuka—immediately greeted her and bowed respectfully.
Only Asuka simply turned his head and raised his bandaged arm in greeting.
"Looks like you're recovering quite well," Shinobu said with a smile.
"I thought you'd be bedridden for weeks."
"Thank you for your concern."
"How are your lungs?" she asked. "Does it hurt when you breathe?"
"No."
"…Mr. Asuka, you shouldn't be so cold," Shinobu said lightly. "People might end up disliking you."
"Is that so? I'll keep that in mind."
In truth, Asuka was speaking that way deliberately.
He was testing something.
He could clearly feel the woman's spiritual pressure.
Beneath her gentle smile, her suppressed emotions churned violently.
If she's so angry inside…
why pretend to be gentle?
He couldn't understand it.
Letting go of the probing attitude, Asuka bowed respectfully to Shinobu.
"Good day, Hashira-sama. Thank you for your help."
Shinobu tilted her head slightly, puzzled by his sudden change in tone.
But she didn't pursue the matter.
Instead, she asked Yuka to bring some oral medicine while she walked around Asuka, examining his injuries.
She paid special attention to the heavy bandages around his chest.
Although she was a Hashira, Shinobu was quite short.
To make it easier for her to inspect the wounds, Asuka leaned down slightly.
His nose ended up almost touching the butterfly-shaped hair ornament in her hair.
He inhaled faintly.
His expression immediately grew more serious.
The smell…
It's the same scent as Fujiyoshi.
The smell of a dye workshop.
Noticing his gaze, Shinobu looked up toward his jaw and chuckled softly.
"My, what a perceptive young man…"
She finished checking the bandages.
"Well then, your wounds are healing remarkably fast," she said pleasantly.
"It's quite astonishing."
"Rest for a few more days and you should be completely fine."
"Hashira-sama," Asuka said. "May I ask you something?"
"No."
"Did you go to the dyeing company last night?"
"…Mr. Asuka," Shinobu replied sweetly, "you shouldn't interrogate girls like that. People might dislike you."
"I just want to know one thing."
"Were they all killed?"
"…Eh?"
Shinobu seemed genuinely surprised by his question.
Asuka continued calmly.
"The bodies at the shrine… if I'm not mistaken, they were offerings provided by the people behind the demon."
"People who cause so many deaths are no different from demons."
"Not a single one of them should be spared."
"They should all be killed."
Having once lived as a "sacrifice," treated like livestock and toyed with at will, Asuka knew that kind of life all too well.
That helplessness—
that despair—
The constant dread of never knowing when one's life would be taken was far more terrifying than death itself.
He understood that feeling completely.
So when Yuka described what had happened to those men, Asuka felt neither fear nor unease.
If anything, he thought they had died far too easily.
Looking at the seriousness in Asuka's eyes, Shinobu Kochō spoke calmly.
"I didn't kill those people, Mr. Asuka."
She reached into her sleeve and took out a broken test tube.
The liquid inside had long since evaporated.
On the wooden stopper was a small engraved seal.
It resembled a blooming lotus, intricately carved with elegant lines.
At the center of the lotus was an elaborate Sanskrit character.
When Shinobu had broken into the dyeing company the night before, she had indeed considered subduing those men and handing them over to the protesters—letting them suffer the consequences of their crimes.
But in the end, she never had the chance.
Among the group was a human trafficker named Morii.
The moment he saw Shinobu, whether out of sheer panic or desperation—
He suddenly tried to use the high-concentration narcotic hidden on his person to subdue her.
The crude attack was easily avoided.
Instead, his own companions ended up inhaling the drug.
Only after examining it carefully did Shinobu notice the peculiar seal.
It was the emblem of the "Eternal Paradise Faith"—a minor religious sect with little public reputation.
The cult was said to specifically recruit young women.
In recent years, troubling rumors had begun circulating.
Women who joined the sect often disappeared without explanation.
The Demon Slayer Corps suspected demons might be involved and assigned Shinobu to investigate.
But so far, the investigation had produced no real progress.
It seemed that Morii had long been supplying the cult with kidnapped women through human trafficking.
If the protesters hadn't stormed the building so quickly, Shinobu had intended to interrogate him further.
She slipped the broken test tube back into her sleeve and looked at Asuka sincerely.
"Even though those people were truly awful," she said gently,
"Demon Slayers must never raise their swords against ordinary humans."
"So please remember that too, Mr. Asuka."
"Violence is not allowed."
"…I understand."
"You really mustn't," she said lightly. "You need to promise me."
She extended her hand and hooked her little finger around Asuka's.
The gesture surprised him.
Her hand was remarkably light, nothing like the hand of someone who wielded a Nichirin blade in battle.
"The swords of the Demon Slayer Corps exist to slay demons," she said softly.
"They must never be used to harm ordinary people."
"Do you understand?"
"…Alright."
Looking at Shinobu's gentle smile, Asuka reluctantly agreed.
But if he ever encountered someone who truly deserved death—
He knew he would not hesitate.
After their brief promise, Shinobu prepared to leave the recovery house and head back into Sendai to continue investigating the situation.
"What about the Master's mission?" Asuka asked, calling out to her back.
"That demon hasn't been killed. Won't it just move somewhere else and cause more trouble?"
Shinobu paused and turned slightly, still smiling.
"Life is full of regrets, Asuka."
"You've already done more than enough. Don't blame yourself."
"When you meet him again…"
"Just kill him then."
"And one more thing."
"You should smile more."
Sunlight spilled down across her butterfly-patterned haori, scattering brilliant colors.
For a moment, Asuka found himself strangely dazed.
"When a smile becomes a weapon…"
"Even death will bloom."