At the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters, Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat on the veranda, bathed in moonlight.
Caw caw caw!
A crow flew into the yard and landed beside him.
Amane Ubuyashiki took the report from the crow and read it carefully. "The demon in Hisayama has been defeated."
"Mr. Aomura's efficiency is amazing!" Kagaya Ubuyashiki smiled gently.
Amane Ubuyashiki hesitated. "Mr. Aomura killed a human during the mission."
"Who was it?" Kagaya Ubuyashiki's expression didn't change.
Amane Ubuyashiki briefly described Tohara and added, "The two Demon Slayers who took the mission reported their views. They thought he deserved to die and supported Mr. Aomura's actions."
She read Yuma Mizuno and Kei Takamoto's words from the report.
"So he was a man who deserved to die."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki nodded slightly.
He knew Aoki's ideals weren't the same as the Demon Slayer Corps'.
The Demon Slayer Corps only wanted to kill demons and protect humans. They didn't interfere in human conflicts.
But Aoki didn't mind killing evil humans.
He didn't think Aoki was wrong, and he didn't think he had the right to criticize him.
...
Yuma Mizuno and Kei Takamoto waited anxiously for the aftermath of Tohara's death.
They had defended a "murderer," so they had to take some responsibility. They were also worried about the support, whose name they didn't even know.
But things didn't go as they expected.
Days passed.
They weren't questioned or punished. No one even mentioned Tohara's death.
They gradually forgot about it, only talking about it occasionally.
...
Aoki wasn't surprised by Kagaya Ubuyashiki's decision.
He traveled around, becoming a demon-hunting expert.
With the Demon Slayer Corps' information, he hunted demons much more efficiently.
But leveling up was slow.
His earlier prediction had come true.
After reaching level 13, experience gains dropped sharply.
[Killed a demon, gained 15 experience.]
Aoki looked at the system notification and sighed. He thought, and the blue screen appeared.
[Name: Aoki]
[Strength: 19]
[Constitution: 18]
[Intelligence: 19]
[Agility: 19]
[Class: Hunter, Aberrant Demon, Martial Artist]
...
[Aberrant Demon]
[Quality: ★★]
[Level: lv14 (87/1400)]
[Skills: Demon Blood IV, Space Traverse, Transparent World, Devour Demon II]
[Mission: Upper Moon's End (1/3)]
[Free Skill Points: 2]
...
[Martial Artist]
[Quality: ☆]
[Level: lv3 (11/300)]
[Skills: Martial Heart, Combat Instinct, Body Control (Not Learned), Unyielding Will (Not Learned)]
It had been three months since he started working with the Demon Slayer Corps.
After three months of hard work, Aberrant Demon and Martial Artist had each leveled up once.
Martial Artist had gained 1 free stat point at level 3. Aoki added it to Constitution.
Aberrant Demon had gained 2 free stat points at level 14. He added them to Strength and Intelligence.
Devour Demon had reached the requirement in those three months, gaining 1 Agility and 1 free skill point.
Compared to three months ago, all his stats were 1 point higher. He was stronger.
He had saved 2 free skill points.
He could learn the next skill at level 15.
But...
"1300 more experience to go."
Aoki looked at the system panel, speechless.
Experience had dropped after level 13. He thought it was bad, but level 14 was a nightmare.
Demons that gave double-digit experience were rare. Many demons gave zero experience!
Objectively, it made sense.
He was as strong as Kokushibo.
Many demons couldn't withstand a single attack. Why would they give much experience?
But subjectively, the low experience gain was frustrating.
1300 experience didn't seem like much, but at this rate, it was a despairing number.
Aoki calculated quickly.
He gained about 20 experience per demon.
With the Demon Slayer Corps' full support, he could kill about one demon every five days.
Without rest, it would take about... 300 days to reach level 15.
Aoki was silent.
One level took a year!
Even if he calmed down and grinded slowly, level 15 might be possible, but what about later?
There were a limited number of demons. He didn't know if there were enough demons to grind.
Even if there were, it would take a long time.
Aoki took a breath. "There are two ways. First, target the Upper Moons. Second, hunt faster."
Gyutaro and Daki had given him 1500 experience. The other five would give even more.
Even if the experience decreased as he leveled up, it would still be good.
But Upper Moons were hard to find. He would have looked for them already if they were easy to find.
The Demon Slayer Corps' investigation of the Eternal Paradise Cult hadn't found anything.
Finding Upper Moons was luck.
The second choice was to hunt faster.
He spent most of his time traveling.
Even though he had a lot of stamina and used Space Traverse often, traveling took a lot of time.
Was there a solution?
Yes!
Aoki looked at the Aberrant Demon skill list.
Level 2 Space Traverse could create space marks.
Space Mark Traverse ignored distance and used little energy.
With that skill, he could hunt demons quickly.
But learning Level 2 Space Traverse cost 4 skill points.
He only had 2.
He could save enough by level 15.
He needed to reach level 15 to learn Level 2 Space Traverse.
He had to grind for the experience to reach level 15.
Aoki rubbed his lips. "I feel like learning Transparent World first was a mistake."
He had focused on increasing his fighting power. He hadn't expected the experience gain to drop so much!
He had even ruled out Level 2 Space Traverse, which didn't directly increase fighting power.
Caw caw caw!
A crow's cry interrupted Aoki's thoughts.
"Another mission so soon?"
"Northwest!"
"Northwest, Mount Otake, Twelve Kizuki!"
"Go there quickly!"
"Go there quickly!"
"Twelve Kizuki?" Aoki perked up.
A big fish had finally come.
He was wondering how to get the experience for level 15.
This mission was perfect.
"Twelve Kizuki, I wonder who it is? I hope it's an Upper Moon!"
Aoki set off.
He couldn't let someone else get there first.
---
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