After Sabito and Giyuu, exhausted, helped each other down the mountain, they saw two unfamiliar young girls outside the cabin.
They were dressed in mourning clothes; one was assisting Urokodaki-sensei with preparing meals, while the other sat by the door washing clothes.
Urokodaki-sensei, as usual, was silent. As the two brothers walked closer, they could only hear Haruto's helpless voice from his bed: "Didn't I tell you I'd introduce you to a trainer? You don't need to do these things..."
"You are seriously injured right now. We are just doing what we can to help." Seeing the two return, the pink-eyed girl washing clothes looked up and asked for the haori they were holding.
"No need to trouble yourselves!" Sabito panicked and shot Giyuu a look.
The latter put the sweaty haori back on and forced a polite smile.
Who knew where these two girls came from!
Makomo had just left! Had Urokodaki-sensei taken on new female apprentices already?
If Makomo found out, she might never say things like "I love Urokodaki-sensei the most" again!
After Haruto helplessly explained the situation to them, dinner was ready.
Sabito pulled up a stool and sat beside Haruto, holding two spoons. He would take a bite and then feed a bite to Haruto.
Makomo used to do this; although the Water Breathing Swordsmen were as gentle as water, Makomo was more meticulous when it came to caring for the sick.
After a reserved meal, Shinobu went outside and saw Sabito almost feeding rice into Haruto's nostrils. She stepped forward and took the spoon: "I'll do it, Urokodaki-san. You should eat properly."
Sabito hesitated, glanced at Haruto, and at his nod, handed the spoon to Kochou Shinobu.
Sigh.
Haruto sighed inwardly.
These stubborn sisters were truly unfathomable.
Before he agreed, they were so earnest, making it impossible to refuse.
Sakonji Urokodaki promised he would recommend them to a familiar trainer—he hadn't wanted to take on new apprentices in recent years.
After the matter was settled, they felt deeply indebted, as if everything they did carried a sense of atonement.
"Your muscle strength is too weak..."
He heard Sakonji Urokodaki talking to Kanae inside the house: "Without enough muscle, you can't cut off a demon's head, no matter how sharp the blade you wield.
If you don't cut off a demon's head with a nichirin blade, the demon won't die at night, and then it will be the Demon Slayer who dies.
You still have room to improve your height, but what about your sister? She's not tall, and her arms are slender. Even if she becomes a Swordsman, how will she survive the demon's claws?"
Shinobu's movements were quick. She seemed lost in thought, her expression somewhat vacant.
Fortunately, Haruto swallowed quickly, so he wasn't choked by the food spooned into his mouth.
"Perhaps it doesn't always have to be about who cuts off whose head, or who pierces whose heart."
Kanae replied softly: "Isn't there another way, to redeem them with medicine or something else, and turn them back into humans?"
"Redeem... demons?"
Sakonji Urokodaki fell silent.
"Urokodaki-sensei must think your sister is not right in the head," Haruto muttered softly.
To still speak of redeeming demons and turning them back into humans, even after both parents were murdered... she was simply the epitome of a saint.
Shinobu's hand paused, then she got up and left.
It turned out her bowl was empty. After refilling her rice, she returned and whispered, "That demon in the village with horns on his head..."
Her throat caught, and she sniffled before continuing, "His name is Murato Ichi, because he used to live in the first house entering the village. He was Father's closest friend since childhood."
Haruto turned his head slightly to look at her.
The girl's nose and eye sockets were red, and her amethyst eyes shimmered with tears. She was trying hard not to let her tears fall.
"Uncle Murato was a very warm and cheerful person. He watched us grow up, and our whole family loved him.
But a few years ago, he went up the mountain to gather herbs and disappeared. Everyone said he was eaten by wolves in the mountains. Who knew he would turn into a man-eating demon and return to the village a few years later?"
Crystalline tears fell to the ground, leaving shallow indentations in the dust.
"I didn't recognize him; my sister did." Shinobu raised her hand and wiped away her tears with her sleeve: "Our parents probably won't know that their beloved younger brother, Murato, really did return to the village.
My sister isn't indiscriminately kind. She just feels that Mr. Murato had his reasons. It's not these people who were turned into demons who deserve to die, but the demons who turn people into demons."
Haruto sighed softly.
"Separation and death must be very painful."
He looked at the sniffling girl: "But after becoming a Demon Slayer Swordsman, such separations and deaths become almost commonplace."
"But wouldn't it be better to prevent separation and death?" Shinobu shook her head stubbornly: "Killing one more demon means fewer broken families. Wouldn't that—be better?"
"Your sister is still talking about redemption!"
Kochou Shinobu turned her head to avoid the topic: "Do you want more?"
"Of course, this is just the beginning!"
Sakonji Urokodaki did not send the sisters away. Instead, he tidied up the empty room to the right of Makomo's room, allowing them to stay for a few days.
Haruto could tell that he wanted to change Kanae's unrealistic idea of "redeeming demons," but he didn't know how to bring it up.
"If there are demons who can resist eating humans, then they are worth redeeming."
Sakonji Urokodaki said, "But since they have already eaten humans, what is the need for redemption?"
"Demons that don't eat humans?" Haruto shook his head: "Do they exist?"
Humans and demons are not like humans and fish.
Humans can choose not to eat fish, but demons will eat humans.
Before the weather truly turned cold, Haruto was finally able to walk, enduring the pain.
Although he still needed assistance, the pain lessening day by day indicated recovery.
The only downside was that his muscles had atrophied quite a bit. It seemed he would need a period of physical training after a full recovery.
"Doesn't the Demon Slayer Corps have such a department?"
Kanae mused: "A unified medical department that can also formulate rehabilitation training plans after recovery—the Demon Slayer Corps should provide such a place."
"Medical-oriented members are hard to come by. Once you join the Demon Slayer Corps, perhaps you can propose to Ubuyashiki—the Master—to establish such a department."
He almost blurted out "Ubuyashiki kid" again. Haruto glanced at Sakonji Urokodaki and gave an awkward laugh.
"Perhaps that day will truly come..."
A day later, the Butterfly Sisters left, each with a letter of introduction written by Sakonji Urokodaki.
Sora brought back news that Makomo had passed the Final Selection and become an official Demon Slayer Swordsman.