97th Leader

The Kasugai crow zoomed ahead with noticeable speed, Inei halted in his tracks, clearly bewildered.

'I did not know that ravens could fly that fast'

Scratching his head, he continued forward. Inei knew there was trouble ahead, but even without the crow marking him, escaping was not an option.

'It must've gone to inform them of my arrival... Sigh, this had gotten messier than I imagined'

Alas, there was nothing he could do, if he chose to flee, he would be hunted down by hundreds of Demon Slayers, ready to serve justice anytime, anywhere.

As he pictured the event, a shiver ran down his spine. The mere thought of dying before achieving his goal sounded horrid, even for him.

As he took slow steps, he tried to recall what Urokodaki once said about the Master, it was something about not angering the man... or something very similar to it.

'Ah... I can't really remember what he said... It was just a sentence or two. What was it?'

Inei felt like the words were at the tip of his tongue, but he just couldn't remember it, his memory was clouded by mist.

Shaking his head, he raised his head. The village was really close, a hundred meters or more away, the landscape became more clear, and it truly was a thing of beauty.

The wooden houses, the land rained of Sakura petals, a small stream ran beside the village, it looked peaceful and gentle.

One might think that.

But Inei knew that it was far from a village for him, it was probably going to be his prison, for the rest of his life if he did not do something.

'But what can I do? The only way I see is to convince this Master... but how?'

He racked his brain, trying to come up with something, anything! But the longer he thought, the more questions rose, none with answers.

'To hell with this!'

Inei stopped his train of thought, the village was steps away, he could see Humans ahead, they appeared as though they have been waiting for someone... It wasn't such a puzzle for him to guess who.

Inei stood before them, their eyes were fierce, brimming with energy, a hint of anger and hatred deep inside them.

"Inei Tatsumi of Raiken, I assume?"

A woman with a good build stepped forward from the many present, her fists clenched and her demeanor hostile.

Inei nodded, he was not in the mood to talk, meeting the Master was now his top priority, messing around with these fools did not fit him.

"Follow me"

She spat, her tone venomous. That single action caused Inei to be on high alert, his hands were soon tied by two men, and was forced to walk behind them.

'It might be hot news by now'

Inei concluded, not that he minded all the gazes following him as he walked through the Village, but the fact that he has been held a prisoner was disturbing... very disturbing.

It was also clear that his age did not help in the least, these people only saw a murderer, whether a child or an adult did not matter, justice was equal to all.

'They sure are confident I won't break these ropes, it is so frail... Poor guys, they lack resources, large organization my ass'

He tried to humor, but that did not work well... He wasn't funny in the first place to begin with.

"Move"

Inei got pushed, glancing behind, his gaze met a man with a short stature, even shorter than him.

"What are you looking at... I said move!"

The man tried to push him again, but Inei stood there, not even budging. The short guy stared at him in disdain, Inei scoffed and continued to walk.

'Weak'

He thought, these people were not his match... yet, they were superior to him... for now.

He could feel something whispering to him, telling him to let loose and wreak havoc, killing everyone suppressing him. Of course, he could not do that, so he had contain his demons, cage them deep inside his mind.

"Kneel"

"Huh?"

Not giving a second more, Inei was pinned down and restrained against his will, he relaxed his muscles and co-operated, only after confirming he had given up did these people let go of him.

The sunlight fell on him, sweat ran down his neck as he waited for the Master to appear, but he did not.

Minutes ticked, but there was no sign of the man, the clouds covered the sun, Inei fully embraced the shade after being burnt under the blazing star.

Inei opened his eyes as the door creaked, a man, his face covered by a white cloth, walked at the entrance of the house before him.

He shook his hands in the air, shooing away the people beside him.

"B-But Mas--"

"Leave, this matter is none of your concern"

The Demon Slayers that escorted Inei grimaced, they all threw resentful glances toward him before marching back with heavy hearts.

Inei however, ignored their looks, his gaze was focused on the man... or to be more exact, his voice.

'Something's really wrong with that vocal cord of his, no way a voice like that exists... I got a really bad feeling about this guy'

His voice was gentle, so gentle that it seemed fantastical, but within it was something more deep, the depth of it seemed endless like the universe itself.

Inei's instincts were warning him against this man, he did not trust humans, not in the least when it was for the first time.

"I am the 97th leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, my name is Kagaya Ubuyashiki, commonly addressed as Master"

That man introduced himself, his tone not even containing a bit of iniquity, not even a spark of hatred was carried as he spoke.

But Inei did not care about his tone or anything, he could very well be faking his voice even.

"Inei Tatsumi"

The man nodded his head.

"Before we speak any further, I will ask a single question, depending on your answer we shall proceed... Understood?"

"Ok"

Ubuyahsiki cleared his throat, he aloof gaze fell on the child kneeling before his very eyes.

"What did you feel after sacrificing that innocent human?"