Demon Slayer: The Forest Pillar

"Shinichi! Shinichi! There is a mission! There are frequent disappearances in Gunma Prefecture, Tokyo. It is suspected that there are evil spirits. Please go to Gunma Prefecture immediately to investigate!"

On the eaves, Shinichi's 鎹鎹騎英三 opened his mouth and loudly conveyed the order. In front of Yingsan, the red and green two-color Nichirin sword stopped in front of a wooden stake.

Shinichi turned his head, and his green and pink eyes flashed a hint of understanding, "It's been more than ten days, is there finally a mission?" Sheathing the sword casually, Shinichi grabbed the green haori hanging on the branch on the side and set it neatly.

Two Nichirin swords of different lengths were inserted into the belt, and they grabbed the neck of Enji who was grinning at Eizo. Two minutes after receiving the order, Shinichi carried Enji out of the door of his residence in the Demon Slayer Corps, which shows that he had been prepared for these days.

The first mission of Moriki Shinichi, the second-class swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps, officially began.

"Shinichi is a very decisive guy. I'm still thinking of sending him off. However, he must be very powerful to become a second-class swordsman. I wish him all the best." Hidden Team member Goto looked at Shinichi's back and silently blessed him.

Although they didn't spend much time together, Goto became one of Shinichi's few friends in the Demon Slayer Corps. Well, maybe it's more appropriate to describe him as the only one, because Shinichi has never had much contact with other people.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

These days, in addition to relying on a pair of legs, the most popular means of transportation is probably a horse-drawn carriage. Although there are trains, they are only available in big cities. Don't even think about it in the mountains where the Demon Slayer Corps is.

Fortunately, this country is not big. Even if he relies on his legs and a horse-drawn carriage, Shinichi arrived at his destination, Gunma Prefecture, in two days.

The Takayama Village under Gunma Prefecture is the place where disappearances frequently occur. Because of the dense forests here, many villagers in Takayama Village are hunter families who rely on hunting for a living.

Recently, many cases of missing hunters have occurred in Takayama Village. Not just one or two, but more than a dozen or twenty hunters have disappeared in the mountains and forests, including some old hunters with decades of hunting experience.

Takayama Village has also organized search and rescue teams to search in the mountains, but in the end they found nothing. Even a search and rescue team composed of four most experienced hunters could not get out of the mountains and forests.

These disappearances are definitely not caused by wild animals, because even the king of beasts, the tiger, cannot deal with so many hunters, so there is only one possibility in the end.

Shinichi, who arrived at Takayama Village, quickly found the village chief to inquire about the situation, and this gray-haired village chief seemed to be an experienced person.

Because when the village chief saw the Demon Slayer Corps uniform under Shinichi's feather weave and the two Nichirin swords hanging around his waist, he did not show a surprised expression, but instead told Shinichi in detail the specific details of the recent disappearance case.

"It is hard to believe that the two brothers Nakano and Nakata would also disappear. After all, their ancestors are genuine samurai families. Although the family is now in decline, their family's samurai heritage has been passed down to this day. The martial arts and swordsmanship of the two are quite powerful, so it is absolutely impossible that wild beasts are rampant." The gray-haired village chief of Takayama Village said solemnly.

Shinichi sat opposite the village chief, stroking his chin in thought, "Village chief, you seem to know who I am, right?"

The village chief of Takayama Village was not surprised to hear this. Looking at Shinichi's uniform, he nodded and said with great emotion: "More than ten years ago, I was fortunate to meet the demon hunter swordsman of your Demon Slayer Corps. Otherwise, my family and I might have died in the mouth of an evil demon.

Who would have thought that the legendary story was actually true, and there were really terrible evil demons in the world. Fortunately, in reality, there are also brave swordsmen like you in the Demon Slayer Corps. Darkness fights against demons to protect people's safety.

In fact, I suspected that demons might be the cause of the disappearances in the mountains, but it was just a guess. After all, unless you see it with your own eyes, it is impossible for people to believe in the existence of demons. Until I saw you, the boy, I was basically sure that the guy in the mountain must be a demon. "

Shinichi looked at the village chief with some surprise. He didn't expect that the village chief and the Demon Slayer Corps had such a connection, but it was good. With the cooperation of the village chief, it would be easier for Shinichi to carry out the task.

According to the information provided by the village chief, the existence of the demon can basically rule out the forests to the north and west of Takayama Village. To the east is the main road leading to Numata City. Only the forest to the south of Takayama Village is left. Those hunters basically disappeared in this forest, and the search and rescue team that entered this forest did not come back.

After roughly determining the location of the demon, Shinichi has alwaysThe village chief made a request: "In this case, village chief, I would like to ask you to do me a favor."

The village chief nodded, "Please tell me, I will do my best to fulfill any request, just please help us get rid of this evil demon!"

Shinichi stood up, the sun blade on his waist collided and made a clicking sound, and the green feather woven also swung gracefully, "It is my duty to kill the demon, don't worry, village chief, my request is actually very simple.

In order to avoid attracting the demon, please organize people to close all the entrances to the forest south of Takayama Village and don't let anyone enter the forest.

I will solve this demon before dawn tomorrow and bring peace to Takayama Village!"

"I understand, I will do it right away."

Without further delay, after saying goodbye to the village chief, Shinichi immediately took Yuan Er to the forest south of Takayama Village,

Above the head of the man and the dog, the crow Ying San flapped his wings, ready to pass on information about the demon at any time.

Shinichi ran quickly with his knife in one hand, his deerskin boots stepped on the soft ground, and inevitably a lot of mud and grass debris stuck to the soles of his boots.

Before it was completely dark, Shinichi successfully reached the forest in the south. What he saw was a large area of ​​endless tall trees. No wonder most families in Gaoshan Village are hunter families. With such a wide forest, it is a pity not to hunt and cut wood.

But it is not good news that the forest is too dense. If he only relies on one person to search slowly, I am afraid that Shinichi may not be able to search the entire forest in seven days and seven nights.

However, Shinichi will not really search slowly. He squatted down, picked up a green grass from the ground, closed his eyes slightly, emptied his heart, and began to operate with a strange breathing frequency, listening to the sound of the vitality of all things breathing.

"Forest Breathing·Type 8·Xiaoxiao Forest Eyes!"

Soon, Shinichi opened his eyes, and the green pupil of his left eye shone with light, reflecting a large area of ​​vibrant vitality in Shinichi.

Although it was blurry, he was sure that the evil ghost that caused more than a dozen hunters to disappear was in this forest! Because in Xiaoxiao Forest Eyes, deep in the forest, the vitality of the forest, which should have been stable and gentle, seemed to be stirred up by some existence, like waves constantly surging.