Kochou Shinobu got up and walked into the courtyard.
Looking at the smiling Kochou Shinobu, Kamihara Tetsuya finally understood what it meant to hide a dagger in a smile.
Going out to bask in the sun, do you know how terrifying that is for a Demon?
"What's wrong? Come out!"
Kochou Shinobu said coldly, looking warily at Kamihara Tetsuya, who was still in the inner room, her small hand slowly moving to the hilt of her nichirin blade.
A murderous aura permeated the air.
Gyomei Himejima stopped chanting Buddhist scriptures, his muscles tensed, and an earth-shattering aura erupted from his body, the air around him seemingly solidifying.
In Kamihara Tetsuya's eyes, Gyomei Himejima in front of him seemed to transform into an insurmountable mountain.
If he made any rash moves, this mountain would tilt and fall, instantly crushing him to death!
"This is the strength of the strongest Pillar of this era..."
A chill ran down Kamihara Tetsuya's spine; Kokushibou had praised him as having the strongest human physique he had seen in 300 years, and he had once used a meteor hammer to blow off the upper body of Kibutsuji Muzan.
Compared to a Demon, Gyomei Himejima, who had trained his body to the extreme, was more like a monster.
Fortunately, he had already obtained a new trump card.
Kamihara Tetsuya slowly got up, his expression complex, and said, "Shinobu-Miss, though it's my guess, you don't think I'm a Demon, do you?"
"That's right!"
Since Kamihara Tetsuya brought it up himself, Kochou Shinobu decided to stop pretending, her eyes icy and full of killing intent.
Her elder sister, Kocho Kanae, had just been killed by a Demon, and her hatred for Demons had reached its peak, so Kamihara Tetsuya could be said to have walked right into the line of fire at this moment.
"No wonder your behavior tonight was so strange," Kamihara Tetsuya sighed.
"Tell me, what were you doing during the day? No, those things no longer matter. Stand in the sunlight, right now!" Kochou Shinobu coldly reprimanded, about to draw her nichirin blade.
Bang!
Gyomei Himejima clapped his hands together, the deafening sound causing both Kamihara Tetsuya and Kochou Shinobu's hearts to tremble.
Kochou Shinobu stopped drawing her blade.
"Kochou, he's only a suspect, it hasn't been confirmed yet," Gyomei Himejima said.
Kochou Shinobu's anger-clouded mind regained a sliver of rationality; if she were to draw her blade and Kamihara Tetsuya wasn't a Demon, how would they get along in the future?
Kamihara Tetsuya shook his head and said, "It's my fault for causing you this unnecessary misunderstanding."
Hearing this, a hint of wavering appeared in Kochou Shinobu's beautiful eyes, and in her mind flashed Kamihara Tetsuya's every word and action over the past half-month. Could it be that he really wasn't a Demon?
Immediately, her eyes became firm. Demons were despicable creatures skilled in lies; one should not easily believe even a single punctuation mark.
Unless the other party stood in the sunlight!
Under Kochou Shinobu's vigilant gaze, Kamihara Tetsuya moved, taking a step forward.
At this instant, time seemed to stand still.
Kochou Shinobu stared intently at Kamihara Tetsuya.
Finally, Kamihara Tetsuya's foot extended into the sunlight, landing without any abnormality. Taking another step, his entire being was bathed in the warm and comfortable morning sun.
"Impossible..."
Kochou Shinobu's eyes were dazed.
"Does this prove my innocence?" Kamihara Tetsuya asked, also letting out a sigh of relief.
Kochou Shinobu had no leisure to reply.
First, probing with words, then bringing out Wisteria Flower poison, inviting Rock Pillar · Himejima Kyoumei over, forcing Kamihara Tetsuya to appear in the sunlight—and it turned out he wasn't a Demon at all, everything was just her wild speculation.
Such a grand display, wasting manpower and resources.
Thinking of this, Kochou Shinobu was so ashamed she wished she could find a hole to crawl into.
No matter how miraculous a Blood Demon Art a Demon possessed, or if they could disguise themselves as humans, or even be immune to Wisteria Flower poison, sunlight was an existence that Demons could absolutely not come into contact with!
Even Demon King Kibutsuji Muzan couldn't do it!
Kamihara Tetsuya appearing in the sunlight proved that he couldn't be a Demon!
Kochou Shinobu bent at the waist, bowing ninety degrees, and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I misunderstood!"
Kamihara Tetsuya looked down at the bowing Kochou Shinobu, the corners of his mouth curving upwards, harder to suppress than an AK47.
Originally, he had already prepared to use his last resort.
Admitting he was a Demon and bringing out the sleeping Kocho Kanae as a shield would allow him to survive temporarily.
But the sleeping Kocho Kanae couldn't stand up and explain, and once the Demon Slayer Corps found Tamayo, his fate of being killed wouldn't change at all.
It could only be used to buy time, and then find an opportunity to escape during that process.
If it failed, Tamayo would be exposed, everything would go awry, and he might even cause Kocho Kanae's death.
So this was a method that could only be used as a last resort.
That was a close call!
Fortunately, Kochou Shinobu had given him an assist.
Kamihara Tetsuya's gaze fell on the contract on the table in the inner room. He hadn't expected that the last step to joining the Demon Slayer Corps was to sign a contract, information that wasn't present in the original timeline.
It seemed there was a slight difference in how support staff and swordsmen joined.
The moment he signed that contract, the dog system's panel popped up.
"[Congratulations to the host for joining the Demon Slayer Corps. Phase One complete. Congratulations on obtaining 'Immune Constitution'!]
After two months, he finally stood in the sunlight again, no longer subject to the damned restrictions of a Demon's physique.
Kamihara Tetsuya smiled meaningfully and said, "It's good that the misunderstanding is cleared up. I also made a mistake by not telling you what I was doing outside during the day."
Kochou Shinobu shook her head. That was Kamihara Tetsuya's personal privacy; what right did she have to ask him?
"Sigh!"
Kochou Shinobu sighed, "Gyomei-san, I'm very sorry for troubling you to come all this way."
The terrifying aura around Gyomei Himejima dissipated. "It's good that you're alright, namu amida butsu."
"Hmph!"
Kamihara Tetsuya took a deep breath of the fresh morning air; a warm current flowed through his limbs. The feeling of overcoming the sun was truly wonderful, and even the scent of the Wisteria Flowers in the courtyard didn't seem so pungent anymore.
"Kamihara-san, I hope you don't blame Kochou. She just doesn't want to repeat Kanae's mistake," Gyomei Himejima said.
Kamihara Tetsuya asked, "Kanae-Miss's mistake?"
"That child was overly gentle. She believed that Demons were once the same kind of beings as humans and felt sympathy for them, wanting to become friends with them. Even when she had to slay a Demon, she believed it was to free the Demon from sorrowful karma," Gyomei Himejima explained.
The Kochou sisters' home had once been invaded by a Demon, and their parents were killed. It was Gyomei Himejima who arrived and slew the Demon, and it was he who recommended a trainer for the two, allowing the sisters to become swordsmen and join the Demon Slayer Corps.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration for the Kochou sisters to call him their godfather!
"So she was killed in a battle with a Demon," Gyomei Himejima's voice was like booming thunder, suppressing the anger in his heart.
Kamihara Tetsuya: "..."
He really couldn't refute that.