Meiji 38 (1905), the ancient capital of Kyoto.
Though the entire nation was abuzz with various news from overseas, the streets of Gion in Kyoto still bore a unique vitality where the charm of old and the trappings of modernity strangely coexisted.
At the center of that vitality stood a massive three-story wooden building that had risen as the wunderkind of Kyoto's commercial district: the Akatsuki (Dawn) Trading Company.
"Welcome! This is the Akatsuki Trading Company!"
"The Western textiles that just arrived are different right from their color, madam."
The first-floor shop was bustling with no room to step. From premium kimono fabrics to imported pocket watches, cosmetics, and even canned goods that had become precious due to wartime demand—it had everything, boasting a grandeur no different from a department store. No, it was a real department store. Japan's very first department store, in fact.
Originally, in 1904, some regional trading company would have built Japan's first modern department store, but here, they had built one a year earlier.
The clerks tirelessly tapped their abacuses, and customers held paper bags stamped with Akatsuki's crescent moon emblem.
In the middle of that busy shop, a woman stood on the spiral staircase leading to the second floor, looking down at the store.
"My, the sales flow is about 20% faster than usual today. I should contact the logistics warehouse to restock the silk inventory."
A woman wearing a blue kimono made of premium silk, elegantly waving a fan. The de facto manager and director of the Akatsuki Trading Company, Tamamo-no-Mae.
Her true form—luscious fox ears and a bushy tail—were perfectly concealed by Tamamo's magecraft. To human eyes, she was merely an unrealistically beautiful woman of devastating beauty.
As she descended the stairs, even customers selecting goods held their breath, their gazes stolen by her figure.
"Ohh... Is that the famous Director Tamamo?"
"They said she was Kyoto's number one beauty, but the rumors fell short."
Then, a young man in a greasy suit blocked her path. With servants in tow, he seemed to be the scion of a powerful conglomerate family in Kyoto.
"Excuse me. Your beauty is as dazzling as the rumors. I am the second son of the Nagamono family. Director Tamamo, please accept this card and join me for dinner tonight..."
The young man thrust forward a business card embossed with gold leaf, as if flaunting his wealth. The surrounding eyes focused.
Rumors were widespread that every notable man in Kyoto had once courted Tamamo and been rejected, so they perked up their ears to see how it would go this time.
Tamamo smiled, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she covered her mouth with her fan. The young man's face flushed red at that smile. But her reply was elegantly cruel.
"My, what a generous offer. But what can I do?"
Tamamo showed the gold ring on her finger before the young man's eyes. It was a ring with simple yet dignified craftsmanship.
"As you can see, I already have an owner, you see. My husband is terribly jealous. He's someone I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I doubt even your family's wealth could buy his toenails."
"Wha, what...!"
"Well then, enjoy your shopping."
Tamamo elegantly turned her body, leaving the young man frozen stiff behind her. Behind her back, sighs and jealous whispers poured forth—"So she was a married woman after all?", "What kind of man got a beauty like that!"—but she merely hummed a tune.
In the corridor leading to the annex inside the trading company, a different crowd had gathered.
"It's Master Oei's new work!"
"I heard this painting is '[Night View of Tokyo]', but it's already sold out?"
Inside the glass-walled studio, a woman with her kimono sleeves rolled up was applying brushstrokes. Ink splattered from the brush tip, carving waves onto the canvas that seemed alive and moving.
"Good, another one finished."
The genius hailed as the reincarnation of the artistic master Katsushika Hokusai, who passed away about 60 years prior: Oei (Katsushika Hokusai).
"Totosama, I'm going to paint more, so chase those noisy guys outside for me."
She grumbled to the small octopus (her father and true body, Hokusai) beside her, a brush still in her mouth. Her paintings were one of the Akatsuki Trading Company's most popular items, and her fame was already shaking all of Japan beyond Kyoto.
Thus, the Akatsuki Trading Company during the day was a symbol of utterly ordinary yet splendid success, filled with human desires and vitality.
As the sun crossed to the western mountains and darkness fell over Gion, the trading company's heavy main gate closed. Once all the human employees left and silence arrived, the human-repelling barrier cast over the entire building finally activated.
The magecraft Tamamo-no-Mae had used dissolved, and fox ears sprouted from her head. Her bushy tail slipped out from her kimono and swayed gently.
"Aah~ My shoulders are stiff! Pretending to be human and smiling for them is hard labor, I tell you. Mikon! Master, can you hear? This Tamamo was perfect again today!"
The place she headed was a tatami room located in the deepest part of the trading company. There, the true owners of this establishment, who had slept during the day avoiding sunlight, had gathered.
I sat at the head seat, setting down a teacup filled with red liquid—blood—and greeted her.
"Good work, Tamamo. Thanks to you, I don't have to worry about funding."
The past five years. After leaving Tokyo and settling in Kyoto, we had grown with literally unstoppable momentum.
Every night, I hunted down and devoured criminal organizations ruling Kyoto's back alleys and corrupt officials.
Netherworld Usurpation. That power expanded my vessel to its limits, and I was able to summon an additional five Servants.
Now, seven heroic spirits were by my side. Well, it's a shame I couldn't summon one from every class.
"Money, money, money... Are you not a fox but a money bug? For my Tenkafubu (Rule the Realm by Military Force), I need more new-model firearms and gunpowder, yet the budget is too tight! What do you take this Demon King of the Sixth Heaven for!"
A girl in a red military uniform.
Oda Nobunaga grumbled while tapping an empty manju plate. She showed immense interest in modern firearms, especially machine guns, and was eyeing my wallet covetously.
"Nobbu, don't be so greedy. It's money everyone worked hard to earn. And right now it's for preparations, not for your hobbies. It's easy to get guns since there's a war on outside, but the quantities aren't that large."
At my words, Nobunaga puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms.
"Tch, such a tightfisted Master. When we go to Tokyo, I'll demand they erect my statue in Ginza."
"Seriously?"
"It's a figure of speech, got it? Sigh, bring more manju over here."
Nobbu is mainly in charge of the weapons we've collected, the firearms. Oni don't die from them, but they certainly take damage. Well, the bullets aren't made from ore like Nichirin Swords, but we have to find meaning in dealing damage even if they regenerate.
She doesn't need guns herself, but it's her hobby and there will be people to use them later.
And, an oni languidly tilting a sake cup in the corner of the room.
"Aah... Our Master here truly has a checkered fate, doesn't he? Despite being an oni who isn't like an oni, he commands oni, acts human, and amasses money. It makes perfect drinking talk. By the way, Kyoto's blood is too clear, it's boring~ I wonder if Tokyo's blood would be a bit thicker and sweeter? Master?"
A sweet and dangerous voice.
Shuten Douji. Standing at the peak of oni, she looked at me as if I were an interesting toy, yet with a strangely affectionate gaze. Unlike me, she was drinking real sake, not blood.
"Blood needs to be aged a bit more, doesn't it, to drink right away?"
"I'm thirsty, that's why."
"Then~ Shouldn't you eat it with a snack? He~re, have some jerky. I was gonna eat the dried stuff, but you have it, Master~"
"No snacks. I just ate."
"Aww~ Don't be like that, I wish you'd spend more time with me~"
As Shuten cozied up to me with a coquettish act, the sound of a scabbard rattling and a laugh could be heard.
"Ahaha! My lord! Yet another oni creature forgets its place and clings to you! Shall I cut off its head? Huh? If I cut the neck, it'll become very quiet."
A samurai girl with a ferocious expression and ferocious words while smiling, Ushiwakamaru, fiddled with her scabbard.
"My oh my~ Wanna have a go with me? I'm not drunk enough yet~ Let's do it later, later. Shouldn't we play hot~ly with our Master tonight too?"
"Ahem, you finally say something sensible. We should save our strength for pointless things for later."
"Why are you two teaming up on this, you guys."
Tonight's going to be tough too. Maybe it's better to just do it underground during the day. It's not like I can go out anyway. Originally, we all have to stay indoors during the day. Of course, with Tamamo's magecraft or Shuten wrapping us in a sake mist, we can be active briefly even during the day, but there's no need to go that far.
Then, the door in a corner of the room opened, and she emerged with steam, wiping off moisture.
"I'm done washing. Who's next to bathe? Will Master bathe in the water Okita used?"
The Shinsengumi swordsman known as the sickly pretty boy, Okita Souji. Originally, she would be sickly and constantly coughing up blood, but because she's an Assassin and not a Saber, she had no such demerit.
Of course, it's the normal Assassin version, not the swimsuit version. Now that I think about it, Shuten was originally an Assassin too, but she manifested as a Berserker.
Hokusai also entered the room, and with everyone gathered, I broached the topic.
"It's about time we head to Tokyo."
Silence followed my words. Soon, Kiyohime, who had been sitting beside me pouring blood from a bottle, asked.
"Finally... we're going, Master?"
The legal wife (self-proclaimed) who never left my side, Kiyohime, asked while folding her fan. The blue flames smoldering in her pupils had grown much deeper and hotter than five years ago.
"Yeah. With this trading company's financial power and information network, your combined strength, and my own growth, it's enough now."
To be honest, our current military strength might be overkill.
Because each one is a calamity-level power.
But I didn't let my guard down. The opponent is a millennium-old monster, Kibutsuji Muzan. And monsters like Upper Rank One, Kokushibo, are holding the line.
"And as per our existing policy, we'll avoid getting involved with the Demon Slayer Corps as much as possible. They'd call us oni and point their swords at us. We, as a third force, will hunt the oni from within the darkness."
"Heh~ Those guys who use that Breathing, you mean? I wonder how they'd compare to the Genji guys~"
Shuten Douji giggled.
"Tamamo, the preparations to move the company's headquarters to Tokyo?"
"Already done, Master! I've purchased a building in the best location in Ginza. I've also prepared a fallout-shelter-grade living facility underground that completely blocks sunlight."
Tamamo proudly flashed a V-sign. As always, she's utterly reliable when it comes to money and magecraft.
"Good. Then we depart in half a month. Let's charter an entire night-time train car for the move."
I got up from my seat and opened the window. I looked up at the moon hanging in Kyoto's night sky.
The weak oni who fled like a hunted animal five years ago no longer exists.
"Tokyo. Now there's no reason to fear Muzan, but it's time to grow stronger by hunting oni, not humans. We should start hunting the Twelve Kizuki."
Now, it's time for us to become the hunters.