Unexpected Encounter

Near the small town, in the forests of another deep mountain.

"Is this okay?"

Riezel appeared, holding a freshly made scabbard in his hand.

It was a scabbard as black as Hermit, coated with a layer of resin on the surface.

It was the result of his nearly two-hour journey through the mountains.

In order to create a scabbard that could contain Hermit, Riezel used magic to decompose, extract, and refine several types of resin, ultimately refining a highly heat-resistant organic material. In the process, he even managed to synthesize a high-density iron similar to tungsten.

By combining the two, he finally created this scabbard.

*Click*

Riezel slid Hermit, which had been emitting heat constantly, into the scabbard, causing it to emit a slight sound.

Hermit's blade was neither too long nor too short, perfectly fitting into the scabbard, leaving only the hilt exposed.

"Good..." Riezel smiled contentedly.

The feeling of creating his own weapon was different from simply receiving one made by Tsubaki for him.

'Now that the problem about my weapon is settled, and the evolution of Sun Breathing has been completed exactly as planned, I guess I've pretty much done what I wanted to do in this world, huh?'

If there was anything regrettable, it was not being able to level up.

Before dimensional travel, Riezel intended to gain enough high-rank excelia to level up to Level 6 in this world. Unfortunately, this world wasn't like the world of Danmachi, with plenty of monsters to defeat.

Not only were demons truly scarce, but they were not particularly powerful either.

In the eyes of the people of this world, the existence of Upper Ranks was already terrifying. But to Riezel, even a Level 4 demon, before evolving his Sun Breathing, could be easily defeated with a flick of his hand, let alone now.

Even the legendary Demon King and the Upper One, who surpassed the rest of the Upper Ranks in strength, were probably only at Level 5 or 6, roughly on par with him in level.

If so, how could ordinary Level 5 be his opponent now?

If he just wanted an opponent, he might be able to achieve it, but what he wanted was an enemy from whom he could gain high-rank excelia.

What kind of enemy could provide high-rank excelia?

Stronger than himself!

Because of this, Riezel felt he might not be able to level up to Level 6 in this world, and as a result, what he wanted to do here was basically over.

Not only had his status reached its limit, but the growth potential of his current level had also been fully maximized. Apart from leveling up, there was really no way for him to make any significant progress now.

In such a situation, Riezel still had nearly three months left before the end of this dimensional travel.

What he could do next was probably just pass the time.

'During these idle times, practicing swordsmanship and magic might raise 'Swordsman' and 'Mage' by one or two ranks, and... maybe I can encounter that Demon King?'

'The progenitor of demons who have lived for a thousand years should be considerably stronger than the Upper One. Considering the Upper One is likely a Level 5, I suppose that Demon King would be a Level 6?'

'But even if he's a Level 6, it probably won't bring any high-rank excelia...'

Finished pondering, Riezel sighed.

"What should I do...?" Riezel muttered in loss as he walked along the mountain path, his sword hanging by his waist.

Suddenly, he halted in his tracks, furrowing his brow and glancing in a particular direction. He instinctively rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw it.

"Please wait a moment!" 

A voice interrupted him just before he could unsheathe his sword.

"We mean no harm!"

It was a voice that sounded youthful yet elegantly mature, with a charming tone, along with a melodic voice.

A moment later, two people appeared without warning in the direction Riezel had been observing.

It was a combination of a young man and a woman.

The young man was dressed neatly and looked quite proper, like a wealthy son of a wealthy family. His hair was meticulously groomed, but his face had a hint of viciousness, emitting an aura of someone not to be trifled with.

On the other hand, the woman was beautiful, with black hair styled into a large, low bun. Her complexion was pale, yet her lips were rosy. She wore a deep purple kimono adorned with wavy patterns of light purple branches and red flowers. A beige obi was tied around her waist, making her look like a lady from a wealthy family.

The impression they gave was that of siblings, with the elder sister standing in front and the younger brother a step behind and to the side, clearly subservient to the former.

As this sibling-like duo suddenly appeared before him, Riezel's eyes flickered imperceptibly.

He already figured out their identities.

"Greetings, Sir Tsugikuni Yoriichi."

Greeting Riezel, the beautiful woman in the kimono bowed her head.

"...I didn't expect to be noticed before revealing ourselves."

Muttering unhappily, the young man at the woman's side didn't bow like her.

"Your ability to obscure others' vision and create illusions, while rare, is unfortunately useless in the 'world' I currently perceive." Riezel remarked casually as he glanced at the young man.

"Tsk."

Upon hearing Riezel's remark, the young man clicked his tongue, his attitude was somewhat unpleasant.

"Yushirou, show some manners."

Seeing the young man's attitude, the woman scolded him gently, furrowing her lovely brows.

"Yes, Lady Tamayo."

To the woman's scolding, the young man named Yushirou begrudgingly complied and immediately changed his bad attitude, becoming obedient.

Riezel released his hand from his sword hilt, looking interestedly at the two 'humans' standing before him.

No, these two were not humans.

"You're demons?"

Indeed, the pair before him, one male and one female, were definitely not humans but demons. After all, the ability just now to obscure vision and create illusions was undoubtedly a Blood Demon Art.

"Sorry for visiting you in this manner."

Apologizing, the woman named Tamayo bowed her head again to Riezel.

"Please forgive us. This area is near the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps. If we were to expose ourselves recklessly, it could lead to unnecessary misunderstandings, so we came in this way."

Tamayo's words were sincere, making one involuntarily feel a sense of trust in her. Of course, for any other Demon Slayer, it would be impossible to trust her under any circumstances.

She was a demon, a man-eating monster, the object of intense hatred for everyone in the Demon Slayer Corps. Except for people like Tanjirou, who was kind-hearted and had rather special experiences, probably no one would feel a sense of trust toward her because of her sincere words.

If Riezel didn't know the origins of these two demons, he might have felt the same.

"So, Miss Demon, did you specifically come near the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps like this just to see me?" Riezel asked while raising his eyebrows.

From the moment Tamayo appeared, she called his fake name in this world, so it was obvious she had come for him. As for how she could find him and the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps, he wasn't surprised.

After all, he knew that the woman who looked like a rich lady before him, though a demon, was hostile to the Demon King and had some connections with the Ubuyashiki family. She probably knew about his existence because of this.

As Riezel was thinking like that, Tamayo spoke up.

"I did come to see you, Sir Tsugikuni." Tamayo gazed at him with a serious expression. "Ever since I learned of your existence from Tanjirou, I have been restless. In the end, I made up my mind to come and meet you."

"From Tanjirou?" Riezel was surprised. "Not from the Ubuyashiki family?" 

"Yes." Tamayo nodded and began explaining. "Tanjirou and I are old acquaintances, we have been in touch with each other. In his last letter, he mentioned you, praising you as a great swordsman who can easily slay Upper Ranks."

"I see..." Riezel nodded, then changed the topic. "Still, you shouldn't have come just because I can slay Upper Ranks, right?"

"That's part of the reason..." Tamayo fell silent for a while before continuing. "I have been searching for someone who can oppose the Demon King, so your strength is also one of the reasons that brought me here."

"However, that's not the main reason, is it?" Riezel stated calmly.

His gaze seemed to penetrate everything, giving Tamayo a glimpse of this rumored great swordsman's abilities.

Although this made her feel a bit wary, it was mostly reassuring.

For her, who was in opposition to the Demon King, the more complex Riezel was, the more reassured she felt.

For this reason, Tamayo finally revealed her true reason for coming here.

"After learning of your existence, I have indeed been restless... Tsugikuni Yoriichi, this name carries such weight for me, and for Kibutsuji Muzan."

Her words made Riezel cast a meaningful glance at Tamayo.

"Have you met Tsugikuni Yoriichi?"

Although asked as a question, Riezel's tone was affirmative as he already knew the answer.

"...Yes." Tamayo did not deny it. "I have seen Tsugikuni Yoriichi, the great swordsman who resembled a god of fire. I witnessed the scene where he almost killed Kibutsuji Muzan with my own eyes."

It was clear from her words that Tamayo had perhaps lived longer than any current Upper Rank.

During the Sengoku period, she was already a demon, with a history of following the Demon King.

Consequently, she was the only one who witnessed that 'scene'.

Tamayo witnessed the encounter between Yoriichi and Muzan, and the unforgettable battle that ensued afterward, their first and last memorable battle.