บท 30: Forging a Katana
"Are we about to have our tenth Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps?" Kagaya Ubuyashiki said slowly.
"If Oyakata-sama says so, we have no objections to having ten Hashira, but please follow the rules and kill a Twelve Kizuki demon!"
Rengoku said.
"Go flamboyantly kill a Twelve Kizuki demon!"
Uzui said to Lin Jiu, flicking the diamond earring by his ear.
"Are you going to kill that demon? Please, let me come with you!"
Shinobu's gentle smile vanished instantly at the thought of Doma, replaced by anger.
"Before that, you should make me a katana!"
Lin Jiu said. Without a Nichirin katana, he could kill ordinary demons, but dealing with a Twelve Kizuki would be problematic.
"Before Red selects the ore for the sword, we should decide on the group that Shinobu mentioned. The last selection test ended not long ago..." Kagaya Ubuyashiki sighed lightly. If he could choose, he wouldn't send those children to the mountain to die.
"According to Shinobu, that group seems to have decent strength. The last selection..."
Uzui hinted. He was referring to the selection test that included Sabito.
The most promising among them was Sabito, who tirelessly roamed the mountain to save other demon slayers injured by demons, almost single-handedly eradicating all the demons on Mount Fujikasane.
The current Water Hashira, Giyu Tomioka, was Sabito's close friend and was saved by him. Exhausted, Sabito encountered the Hand Demon captured and sacrificed himself.
Because of Sabito, no one else died in that selection. As a result, the weakest batch of Demon Slayer Corps members emerged!
Lin Jiu knew about this and did not comment. Even from a normal person's perspective, Sabito's sacrifice was meaningless! After joining the Demon Slayer Corps, they would still face demons. If they couldn't handle these weak demons in the final selection, they would only die a little later when facing the various types outside.
The high casualties among ordinary members of the Demon Slayer Corps proved this point. If Sabito, whose talent was no less than Giyu Tomioka's, had not died, how many more demons could he have killed? How many fewer people would have died?
Good character, but born in the wrong era. Lin Jiu took this as a lesson: he must preserve his useful body to create more value for Reincarnation Paradise.
"Mr. Red, what do you think?"
"I'll stand and watch!"
Lin Jiu answered succinctly, focusing on the light blue text in front of him.
[Hunter has completed Main Mission (1): Faction Choice. This mission has no rewards, and subsequent missions are now available.]
[Main Mission (2): Demon Slayer.]
Difficulty Level: LV.3.
Mission Brief: As a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, you should fulfill your duty and hunt demons!
Mission Info: Kill a certain number of demons by any means (0/10).
Mission Time Limit: 30 days.
Mission Reward: 1 Attribute Point, 2000 Paradise Coins.
[Hunter has successfully joined the Demon Slayer Corps. Faction Contribution Value is now available.]
[Demon Slayer Corps Contribution Value: 0. Contribution value can be earned by hunting demons.]
[Contribution value can also be used to purchase items within the Demon Slayer Corps or to forge weapons, etc.]
=========
The wealth of the Ubuyashiki family passed down for over a thousand years, was unimaginable. Additionally, they intermarried with the priest family, so there must be many treasures within the Demon Slayer Corps.
To kill demons, Lin Jiu directly asked for an item, and Kagaya Ubuyashiki was willing to give it to him. However, without being purchased through Reincarnation Paradise-certified contribution value, it couldn't be brought back to Reincarnation Paradise.
"I'll oversee it."
Giyu said coldly as they decided to initiate the assessment. After all, this was related to Sabito, and he was part of it. But he agreed with Uzui's point that those members were not worth Sabito's sacrifice, especially himself!
[Announcement: A Contractor has joined the faction. Given that the Contractor can influence faction balance, the balance mechanism is now active. There are now 5 slots available for joining the Demon Slayer Corps!]
This announcement was directed at all contractors in this world, a balance mechanism of Reincarnation Paradise to prevent one faction from becoming too weak.
Lin Jiu couldn't help but touch his nose upon seeing it. It seemed he wasn't strong enough after all! He couldn't single-handedly force all other contractors into the demon faction.
...
"Damn! What's going on? If it's like this, why did we foolishly put in so much effort to follow?"
The middle-aged man who had previously called Shinobu "sister" complained discontentedly.
"At least there are still five slots, right?" said one of the contractors from a five-person adventurer team, casting a cold glance at two solo contractors.
With these words, the atmosphere became tense. The three temporary adventurer teams each kept to themselves, and the two solo contractors distanced themselves from them.
Aside from the lone contractor from Dragon Brother's team—Balone—the other solo contractor wielded a shield in one hand and an axe in the other, suggesting he was a front-line fighter. Balone speculated that he was likely a member of an adventurer team but couldn't enter the same world due to level restrictions.
The situation escalated further. The five-person temporary adventurer team was just the right size, so someone among them began to sow discord within the seven-person temporary adventurer team. The effect was significant; as they were a temporary group, mistrust was already prevalent.
Among the seven-person temporary adventurer team, a male contractor wielding a greatsword couldn't stand the atmosphere any longer and complained, "Staying here is pointless. We might as well join the demons! At least as demons, we can still..."
He wanted to say they could at least survive, but before he could finish, a blue light flashed, and the sound of water flowing echoed in everyone's ears.
The greatsword contractor's eyes widened in disbelief as he realized he was dying. A blood mark appeared on his neck, and then his head fell off! The person who struck him coldly sheathed their blade and silently observed all the contractors present.
"It seems your talk of a deep-seated blood feud and irreconcilable enmity isn't true! I hope his remarks don't reflect your thoughts!"
Giyu Tomioka's cold words brought immense pressure on everyone present!
"Those who want to participate in the assessment, stay. The rest, leave!" Giyu was simply not good with words; he wasn't truly cold. His tone indicated that the greatsword contractor's words had genuinely angered him!
Contractors only saw the choice of factions and the completion of tasks. The first choice was the Demon Slayer Corps simply because they didn't want to become demons who couldn't see the sunlight. But now, joining the Demon Slayer Corps had become much more difficult, and turning into demons to survive was not unacceptable!
There must be a way to revert to normal in the Reincarnation Paradise, as long as they survive till the end and return to the Reincarnation Paradise.
In this world, especially among the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, everyone had a deep-seated grudge against demons. And because Giyu chose to come here for his close friend Sabito, he was even more enraged! Such remarks were more hateful than those forced to become evil demons. Traitors were always the most despised!
After Giyu's words, a five-person adventurer team left directly. The seven-person—now six-person—adventurer team seemed to have internal conflicts, with five leaving and one staying. Balone and the other solo contractor both chose to stay.
So now, eight contractors were competing for five slots to join the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Follow me!"
Giyu didn't look at those leaving and led the remaining eight in the opposite direction from where Shinobu had taken Lin Jiu.
After leading them to the place, Giyu left. Someone explained the rules, which they already knew, and then they were sent up the mountain.
"The entry test requires us to survive here for seven days? Won't our mission fail then?" exclaimed a female contractor from the five-person temporary adventurer team.
The team leader, a contractor dressed as a samurai, stopped and said to the other seven, "Precisely because of this, we must unite to complete the mission. We need to kill all the demons here within the time limit to finish the assessment early!"
"What about the slots?" asked the contractor who remained from the six-person adventurer team with a sneer.
"First, clear out the demons. Then it's up to everyone's abilities. Otherwise, no one will complete the mission! If anyone wants to quit and switch factions midway, we won't stop them!" said the samurai contractor.
Everyone nodded. This was the best method. If they delayed any longer, their main mission would fail. They had already spent half a day since arriving in this world, leaving them with only 36 hours. They had to give it their all to have a chance!
...
Yesterday, after selecting the sword-forging ore, Lin Jiu had been waiting at the headquarters. Even if the headquarters notified the Swordsmith Village to expedite his katana, it would still take five days.
"Red, the results of that group's assessment are out. Quite fast, right? Unfortunately, only five passed..."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki said as he walked slowly toward Lin Jiu, who was practicing basic swordsmanship in the training ground.
"I'll go check it out!"
Lin Jiu knew they would find a way to pass the test within the day. Otherwise, their mission would fail, so their passing wasn't surprising. The only way was to clear out all the demons!
The most threatening demon to these contractors, the Hand Demon who had eaten fifty people, had been eliminated recently when Tanjiro took the test. The contractors working together could eliminate these leftover demons in a short time.
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