บท 86: 86. Blacksmith Village

Sabito, Giyu and Makomo were shocked. Their mouths hung wide open as they stared at Shinobu.

Giyu pointed at the vial in Shinobu's hand, "That thing can regenerate severed limbs?"

Shinobu was amused by their shocked expression, she nodded, "Theoretically, yes."

Sabito snapped out and murmured, "How is that possible?"

Shinobu heard him, "It's not that hard, demons are able to regenerate themselves. This is their biggest advantage. The drug has an essential component that does the same thing, but the effects are quite limited. That's why I said theoretically."

Sabito and co. were awed, "Amazing."

Leo had little interest in their conversation, he asked Sabito, "When are you leaving for the village?"

Sabito was fiddling with the serum when he heard him, "Tomorrow."

Shinobu knew what they were talking about, "You are going to the Blacksmiths village?"

Leo nodded, "Yeah. I am interested in them, after all colour changing sword are unusual."

Shinobu agreed, she looked at others, "Are you staying for lunch?"

Giyu was the first one to answer, "Of course."

Leo and the rest erupted into laughter. The years have changed him into a glutton.

...

The next day.

Leo was walking towards the entrance when he came across Sanemi.

"Hey."

Sanemi simply nodded.

Leo wasn't surprised by his cold attitude, "Thanks for not judging Nezuko."

Nezuko was a demon and as someone who hated them to the bone Sanemi wanted nothing more than to cut them all to pieces. However he didn't judge Nezuko nor did he hold any animosity towards her.

Sanemi stopped, "Facts proved that some demons are different, I am not a fool to reject any help that would save one of our own in times of danger."

Leo knew what he was talking about. As a demon Lady Tamayo was able to create a simplified healing potion. This saved several slayers during critical times in the past year.

The rest of the walk was silent, soon they reached the entrance and saw Sabito. Tanjiro and Nezuko was also with him.

Leo was curious, "Why are you here, Tanjiro?"

Tanjiro was happy to see Leo, "My sword needs to be replaced."

He drew out his half broke sword.

Leo nodded, he knocked on a wooden box behind Tanjiro, "And why is this little fellow following us?"

Tanjiro was embarrassed, "I left her alone when I went out for missions so this time she didn't want to stay back, I am sorry."

Leo knocked his head, "Why are you apologizing? It's fine if she comes along."

Sanemi scoffed and didn't comment.

A kakushu came by and bowed, "My lords, shall we move."

Leo nodded, "Lead the way."

The journey took them several hours, and several kakushu took turns to guide them. In this way not many people would know of the blacksmith village's location.

Finally they reached their location. Stepping past a collection of trees everyone saw a large village. Smoke could be seen arising from some of the buildings down there.

So this is the blacksmith village.

As they got closer a tiny old man wearing a clown mask greeted them.

"Welcome to our village, honourable Hashiras. My name is Tecchin Tecchikawahara, I am the village chief."

Leo and the rest greeted him and followed. The chief led them to his house. He offered tea and got to the matter at hand.

"Tanjiro-kun, Hotaru will get to you once he is back."

Tanjiro asked in confusion, "He isn't here?"

The chief nodded, "Yes. He disappeared a few days ago. Don't worry, he does that often."

Saying upto here the chief looked at Leo, "Honourable Hashira, may I see your sword?"

Leo pointed to himself, "I am not a Hashira."

The chief shook his head, "No, you are. Oyakata-sama gave you that position more than a year ago."

Leo was surprised and he turned to Sabito for confirmation who scratched his head in embarrassment, "Oh, yeah, that happened. I forgot."

Shaking his head Leo gave his sword to the chief. He pulled out the sword, the blade was scorching red like a blazing inferno.

Tracing his finger on the blade he exclaimed, "As expected of the Awataguchi lineage! A nine by seven sword!"

Leo was interested when he heard the chief, "Lineage? Nine by seven?"

The chief collected himself and sheathed the sword, he carefully handed it back to Leo.

"Within our village there are different lineages. Each one has there own method of forging. Awataguchi is one of the most prestigious lineage. As for Nine by Seven it's the quality of a sword."

Hearing the chief's words Leo asked, "Does a lineage have anything to do with quality?"

The chief nodded, "Yes. Each lineage possess a well of experience from their predecessors. Their forging has gone through countless modifications and is perfect. Though there are different forging techniques, a weapons final form and strength is calculated by how many sets it can withstand."

"A set is nine strokes. Each strike evenly distributes the materials used and strengthens the bond between them. There are nine sets with nine strokes. The higher the set the stronger the weapon."

Leo rubbed his chin, he took Tanjiro's sword and asked, "What's the quality of this one."

The chief merely glanced at it for a moment and said dismissively, "Nine by Five."

Leo raised an eyebrow, "That's lower than mine by two sets."

The chief explained, "Please don't think misunderstand. Our village has always been providing the best weapons for slayers. An average blacksmith can create a Nine by Five without any problems."

"However that is a dividing line, From Nine by Six onwards a weapon intrinsically undergoes a change. Every material used has an essential role when it comes to the final form."

"Take your sword for example, it is made of one of the hardest ores but that alone isn't enough. Too much hardness will easily break, so softness, flexibility, pressure bearing, heat bearing and several other factors should also be considered."

"A swordsmith starts to combine all of this into one form at Nine by Six. All of the supplementary materials with different properties starts to change, they will merge into the core component, becoming a whole and thus improving the quality exponentially."

"Not every blacksmith can achieve this feat. Currently there are only five who can create a Nine by Six sword with fifty percent success rate, only two who can create Nine by Seven, with a success rate of twenty percent."