"Huh? Hot springs? What's a hot springs?" Yuichiro looked at his master in confusion, while Muichiro beside him also wore a puzzled expression.
Seeing these two clueless children, Shinichi was momentarily speechless, not knowing how to explain it.
However, Shinobu smiled at them and said, "Hot springs are like big pools of water. The water is always nice and hot, and it feels really good to soak in them~"
Muichiro tilted his head, "Soaking in hot water? Are we supposed to cook ourselves?"
Shinichi, "...Haven't you been to the Swordsmith Village?"
Setting aside the joy of the journey for now, the lineup for this Demon Slayer Corps operation was truly impressive.
They were divided into two routes.
One team was led by Shinichi and included four Hashira : himself as the Forest Hashira, Shinobu the Insect Hashira, Yuichiro the Maple Hashira and Muichiro the Mist Hashira.
They would begin their investigation and search from Kyoto Station.
The other team was led by Tomioka Giyuu, along with Rengoku Kyojuro and Iguro Obanai.
They would start their investigation from Kanagawa Prefecture.
There were countless other demon slayers of various ranks and covert operatives as well.
Mobilizing seven Hashira at once was a very rare occurrence in the history of the Demon Slayer Corps, which showed how much attention the Master was paying to this operation.
Shinichi and Shinobu's group didn't take long to arrive in Kyoto, reaching there in the afternoon after receiving the letter from Chinatsu.
They successfully met with Ryukawa Chinatsu there.
However, before entering the meeting hall, a small incident occurred.
The guards outside the hall clashed with the Demon Slayer Corps members led by Shinichi.
The guards mistook the sword-carrying Demon Slayers for troublemaking ronin and tried to forcibly drive them away.
Shinichi didn't humor them.
He frowned and gave a signal and the already angry Demon Slayer members immediately step forward and hang several of the gate guards on the door.
Soon after, the alarmed Chinatsu arrived in time to stop this farce.
She warmly invited Shinichi's group into the hall, leaving the guards hanging on the gate grimacing and struggling to climb down.
In the spacious living room, Shinichi looked around at the decor with some emotion.
Goodness, although he didn't understand it, those gilded sculptures, exquisite ornaments and abstract paintings were clearly the possessions of rich people.
Chinatsu, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, wore a simple but well-fitted Western-style long dress.
She personally poured tea for Shinichi, Shinobu, and the Tokito brothers.
"Shinichi-kun, it's been so long, but you're still as young and handsome as ever," Chinatsu said, half-joking and half-serious.
After years of ups and downs in the business world, she was no longer the shy girl in a green kimono from the Moriki mansion.
She had become a powerful woman controlling tens of thousands of employees and even half of the country's economic lifelines.
However, although things had changed, Chinatsu's kind attitude towards Shinichi remained the same.
So, Shinichi's response was also very casual, "Yeah, sometimes I find it troublesome too. It's hard to mature even if I want to. But you, Chinatsu, this living environment of yours, even gods would find it hard to compare. By the way, what's with that painting behind you? Why is there a circle-shaped poop hanging there?"
Chinatsu casually glanced at the painting Shinichi was pointing at, "Oh, that? It's some kind of cloud or something painted by some foreign artist. I don't really know either. I heard it's quite artistic, so I bought it at an auction for 10,000 yen."
"Pffft!" Yuichiro, who was drinking tea on the side, spat it out directly.
His somewhat childish face showed an unbelievable expression.
"Cough cough, how much? 10,000 yen? My father couldn't save 100 yen even after chopping wood for a year, and this poop is worth 10,000 yen?"
Not just the innocent Yuichiro and Muichiro, even Shinichi and Shinobu were shocked.
All they could say was that art is art when you can't understand it.
As time slowly passed, there seemed to be no end to Shinichi and Chinatsu's casual chat.
Shinobu, unable to join the conversation, could only watch from the side.
'Well well! Shinichi-kun, you big blockhead, when did you become such a chatterbox? Calling her "Chinatsu" so intimately?'
Gradually, the smile on Shinobu's face became harder to maintain, even becoming somewhat stiff.
Yuichiro was the first to notice something was wrong with Shinobu.
Feeling the invisible murderous aura emitted from her, Yuichiro shuddered, then saw the faint blue veins popping out on Shinobu's forehead.
'Oh no! Master, danger danger!'
However, Yuichiro's efforts to hint and warn Shinichi through facial expressions were completely ignored by him, who was engrossed in the conversation with Chinatsu.
Until...
"Haha, Maru-ni? I don't even want to talk about him. He can't just be described as 'round' anymore, he should be described by his head. He's so chubby now, he pants after running just a few steps... OUCH!"
Shinichi was talking cheerfully when suddenly his expression changed and the sharp pain in his waist made him suck in several breaths of cold air.
Ignoring the hand that was pinching hard enough to make the back of her hand bulge with blue veins, Shinobu's face showed no sign of anything amiss.
Her beautiful face wore a perfectly appropriate smile, "Oh my, Shinichi-kun is talking too much. Chinatsu-san, shall we discuss more important matters? After all, our Demon Slayer Corps' essential work is hunting demons~ Don't you agree, Shi-ni-chi-kun?"
Shinichi, "It hurts!"
Chinatsu who witnessed the whole scene, thought to herself.
'Pfft, I want to laugh so badly, but I must hold it in. To think Shinichi-kun would be manhandled by such a petite and cute girl, it's quite a gap moe. Well, Mitsuyo-sama should be relieved now. It seems there's no need to worry about the successor of the Forest Breathing.'
(Yuichiro's inner thoughts: "? Why are you looking at me? I'm using Maple Breathing now. Let Master and Shinobu-senpai work hard on producing a successor for Forest Breathing!")
After this joke interlude, Shinichi hissed in pain, rubbing his poor waist and glared at Shinobu several times, both aggrieved and confused.
Even now, he didn't know why Shinobu suddenly acted this way.
All that can be said is that Shinichi truly deserved it.
Naturally, all Shinobu could respond with was a pretty eye roll.
However, the topic returned to the main track.
Chinatsu had someone bring out the prepared materials, which contained detailed information about each missing worker and police officer, including approximate locations, times, search results, and so on.
"Please feel free to search. I've already contacted the Kyoto Police Headquarters and all local police departments will fully cooperate. Also, I'm not sure if demons have any resistance to modern weapons, but just in case, I have a security team from my Moriki Financial Group that can help," Chinatsu said sincerely.
Shinichi frowned, "Modern weapons?"
Soon, Shinichi saw the modern security team Chinatsu mentioned.
Looking at the double-barreled shotguns with barrels as thick as thumbs that these burly men were carrying, Shinichi was somewhat speechless.
This era had truly changed.
Of course, that was just a passing thought.
Although modern firearms were quite powerful, their lethality against demons was ultimately limited.
At most, they could only restrain some weak demons.
However, Shinichi didn't refuse Chinatsu's help.
After all, investigating such a long stretch of railway line would be difficult with just a few dozen people from the Demon Slayer Corps.
The demon hunting operation along the railway line from Kanagawa Prefecture to Kyoto officially began!