The villagers headed towards the Kamado's residence. If what Nezuko had said was true than they would witness something that had never ever taken place in the village. A son that murdered his family in cold blood. This was what the villagers were thinking about the incident.
Nezuko was in a state of confusion and fear. She feared that her brother might still be waiting at the house. Since she was the only witness that saw the murder, he might come to kill her. But she couldn't understand why he killed all of them. Everyone was nice to him during those days when he was ill. Sure, supporting such a large family was a burden for him. But to kill them, to escape responsibility; Nezuko couldn't believe that. There need to be some other motive behind, she thought.
When they were about to reach the site, the men walked forward guarding Nezuko and the lady. Both the men were equipped with bamboo poles. Nezuko hid behind the woman. She was sure that Tanjiro was waiting for her. And would attack at once when he saw her. But Tanjiro wasn't there. Instead, there were four people dressed in black clothing around the house. Three of them had their faced covered with some cloth, so it was difficult to say whether they were men or women. The fourth person was different. She was young girl perhaps in her early twenties. Her hairs were in-between that of light blonde. She also dressed differently. She wore a black sleeveless jacket and a skirt that reach to her knees. Her waist was covered by a large ribbon tied as a bow behind her back. She wore black netted leggings and hand tights. She held a long sword. She was likely the in charge of the group.
Nezuko peeped out of the lady back. She saw the dead bodies of her siblings being carried out of the house. She frantically ran towards them. When suddenly one of the guards notice her and grabbed her by the wrist.
"Hey, why are you here? Don't you see we are doing something here?" that guard shouted.
But Nezuko wasn't listening she was trying to escape from his hold. The girl saw the commotion and asked the guard what the matter was. The village lady intervened.
"Excuse me, but she is the daughter of this family," She explained to them.
On hearing that, the guard's grip softens and Nezuko darted to the severed corpse of her mother. She had a huge chunk of flesh absent from her neck. One of her arms was missing. Her stomach was split open and her guts spilled out. Nezuko grabbing her mother's left hand cried. The bystanders watched at her with pity.
"So, there was a survivor left! It is both a fortune and misfortune to be alive at such a state," the girl said looking mournfully at Nezuko and the dead bodies.
"Can you tell us what had happened here?" the lady politely asked her.
"This is the work of a demon," the guard replied.
It was already dark. So, they hurried and brought the bodies outside. When the burial time came, Nezuko impeded them. The lady had to calm her down.
"Dear Nezuko, we need to give a proper burial to them. We must pay our respect to the deceased ones. So will you be kind enough to let your family be parted away peacefully." She asked Nezuko.
On hearing this Nezuko hugged her strongly and started to cry even louder. The lady hugged her too and sobbed lightly. The burial was done.
"It is already night fall. It is too dangerous to stay any longer in the mountains. We will stay in village for tonight. Tomorrow we will head back to the headquarters," the girl explained to the other three.
The village lady provided room for them to stay in her own house. Nezuko was also given a room, since she was still unstable and needed time to recover. The girl's name was Ume Shabana. She is the 'Beauty Hashira' of the Demon Corps. Someone had informed the headquarter of a travelling demon in that area, so she was assigned to find out and killed the wandering demon.
At midnight there was a knock on the door to Nezuko's room.
"May I come in?" a gentle voice asked her permission.
Nezuko looked at the door which was slightly opened. The voice came from the girl Ume. Nezuko nodded.
"You are Nezuko-san, right?" she asked with a warm smile. Nezuko nodded.
"Nezuko-san it might be hard for you, but if you know anything about the incident, please tell me," She implored her.
Nezuko at first was hesitant but finally told her about what happened when she arrived home. After listening to her story, she concluded.
"So, your brother turned into a demon and killed your family and ate them."
"But how come he had become a demon, he was a human till yesterday," Nezuko on the verge of tears questioned her.
"It is likely that your brother came in contact with a demon. And unbeknownst to him, demon blood was injected into him. Do you know anything strange that happened in the last couple of days?" she remarked.
Nezuko remembered about the drug that his brother had brought.
"Um, he told me that he brought a drug from a physician that arrived in the village a few days ago," she said.
Ume tried to assemble all these information and finally reached the truth.
"Now I understand. The wandering demon that we are chasing after disguised as a doctor and tricked your brother into drinking demon blood. After which your brother turned into a demon." She said as she nodded to approve her assumption.
Nezuko on hearing that started to cry.
"What am I supposed to do? My whole family was massacred. My brother turned into a demon and I'm all alone. I… I wish if I would have died alongside with them," Nezuko said as she was trying to control her disarticulated voice.
Ume felt pity for her. She could understand what it felt like having no one to care for. In her heart, she experiences the same amount of grief as Nezuko did. And by a sudden expulsion she grabbed Nezuko and hugged her tightly, pressing herself as close to her as she could.
"Nezuko san. You needn't worry I will protect you," she said as she hid her face behind Nezuko trying to conceal her own tears.
After that Nezuko felt asleep. Ume head back to her room. She sat near the desk. Pulled out a paper. And started writing a report about the incident.
12 September, 1920.
A family of five had fallen victim to a demon attack. The location where the incident took place is a house located in the mountain, a few miles away from the main village. Only the eldest daughter managed to survive. According to the witness she gave, she proclaims that her brother turned into a demon and killed the family. She also informs that a mysterious figure gave her brother a drug. It seems like that the boy was tricked into becoming a demon. It took five days for the demonification to complete, which seems quite unusual. The demon boy is missing and there is no solid evidence found near the site to determine his whereabouts. The mysterious figure that arrived at the village is most likely the 'wandering demon' that we are after.
Reported by-
Ume Shabana
(Beauty Hashira)
She rolled the letter and tied it with a pink ribbon. Then she opened the door. The time was passed midnight. Everyone had slept, including the three other demon slayers.
"Hyakimaru" she shouted softly; trying not to alarm anyone, who were still asleep.
A crow perching on a tree in the courtyard flew towards her and sat on her shoulder.
"Give this to Haripriya sama," she ordered the crow.
The crow grabbed the letter in its claws and flew at once. Ume headed back to her room and laid herself on the futon. But after a while she woke up and sat at the desk. She took a paper and started writing something. After she had finished writing, she finally slept.