After waiting at the main gate for a while, Si Shu began to feel a bit puzzled. He had never been to Sunlight Mountain and had no idea how to get there. Moreover, since this wasn't a mission issued by the system, he had no prompts or hints.
Just as he was considering whether he should go find Ubuyashiki Mitsuya and ask for a guide, a voice suddenly called out from behind him.
Turning around, he saw the flame-haired Rengoku Toujurou and the female Water Hashira walking toward him. After a brief chat, Si Shu told them about his plan to head to Sunlight Mountain.
"Sunlight Mountain? That place isn't on the way to our destination," Toujurou said, rubbing his chin, seemingly hesitating on whether to take Si Shu there first. If they took a detour, there was a risk that they wouldn't be able to complete their own mission on time. But letting Si Shu, who had never been there before, go to Sunlight Mountain alone was obviously out of the question.
Just then, Toujurou's eyes lit up. With a quick movement, he pushed a person who had been standing behind them forward. It was only then that Si Shu noticed a young woman had been with them the entire time. She looked to be seventeen or eighteen years old, with her hair tied up in a petal-shaped bun and her clothes adorned with sakura patterns.
"Mie, change of plans! You'll take him to Sunlight Mountain now," Toujurou said with a hearty laugh, patting Inoue Mie on the shoulder as if he had no idea how much trouble this would cause her.
"Lord Flame Hashira! This mission was personally ordered by the Master for me to complete with two Hashira!" Mie said, somewhat angrily. She pouted and stomped her foot in protest. "This mission is crucial for my promotion to the rank of Hashira!"
Si Shu's eyebrow raised with interest. In the reforms he had discussed with Mitsuya, one of the points was to increase the number of Hashira from five to nine. From Inoue Mie's words, it seemed she was one of the candidates. And for someone to be working alongside the Flame and Water Hashira... aside from the Love Breathing style that would only appear centuries later, she had to be a user of Flower Breathing.
Though he wasn't certain, Si Shu felt his guess was more than likely correct. After all, under normal circumstances, the Hashira were all users of different Breathing Styles. Since the five main Breathing Styles already had Hashira, new talent would have to be selected from users of derivative styles.
After some coaxing from both Toujurou and the Water Hashira, Inoue Mie reluctantly agreed to the task.
"Then we have a deal! You two Hashira must explain this clearly to the Master," she said, shaking her small fist in a threatening gesture.
Toujurou laughed and promised he would explain everything properly. Seeing that Mie had been persuaded, he turned to Si Shu.
"Mie is a user of one of the derivative styles, Flower Breathing. She's a very trustworthy swordsman."
Si Shu's heart skipped a beat; he knew he had guessed correctly. The young woman before him was the first-generation Flower Hashira, the user of Flower Breathing.
After saying a quick farewell to the Water Hashira, Toujurou departed. Watching the two of them leave, Inoue Mie couldn't help but grumble, "Honestly... even though I'm technically the Water Hashira's subordinate, it always feels like I work for the Flame Hashira."
Si Shu shrugged. He knew this was just standard procedure for Toujurou. Aren't all the Rengokus like that?
After watching the two Hashira leave, Inoue Mie turned to Si Shu with a smile. She was a little embarrassed that he had seen her true, complaining side upon their first meeting.
"Let me introduce myself properly. I'm Inoue Mie, a user of Flower Breathing." "Si Shu," he replied. "A user of Sun Breathing."
Upon hearing Si Shu state his name, Inoue Mie's beautiful eyes suddenly went wide. She let out a small gasp, her gaze filled with astonishment. As a Hashira candidate, she was naturally privy to a lot of information that she hadn't known before. And of course, she knew about the key figure behind the Demon Slayer Corps' recent reforms: Si Shu.
She had imagined Si Shu would be a tall young man in his twenties, or perhaps a calm, middle-aged man in his thirties or forties. But the reality of the eight-year-old before her was a massive shock. To be a core figure in the Demon Slayer Corps at such a young age... it couldn't help but make Inoue Mie feel as if she had wasted the past ten-plus years of her life.
"I'm not quite what you imagined, am I?" Si Shu said with a sly grin, having seen right through her thoughts.
Realizing her thoughts had been exposed, Mie's face flushed red with a touch of shyness. She pursed her lips, and her hands fidgeted in the air, revealing her flustered state.
Si Shu just smiled and shook his head without saying a word, turning to walk out the gate. Seeing this, Inoue Mie hurriedly followed after him, calling out loudly.
"Hey, wait for me, Lord Si—Lord Si Shu!"
Hearing such a title for the first time, even with Si Shu's composure, he was taken aback. He stumbled, nearly falling flat on his face.
During the journey to Sunlight Mountain, Si Shu finally managed to convince Inoue Mie to drop the "Lord Si Shu" title. It wasn't that he couldn't accept it, but having a seventeen-year-old girl call an eight-year-old "Lord" just felt a little weird to him.
Nodding with satisfaction, Si Shu finally turned his attention to Sunlight Mountain. After walking for so long, they were almost at their destination. After observing the surroundings, Inoue Mie pointed toward Sunlight Mountain's direction.
Following her finger, Si Shu saw a mountain peak that soared into the sky. There wasn't a single cloud above Sunlight Mountain; the sky was clear for miles, allowing the sun to shine on every part of the peak without leaving any blind spots. It was said that everything produced on this mountain contained the energy of the sun. The raw materials for Nichirin Swords were sourced from this very mountain.
Seeing Sunlight Mountain with his own eyes, Si Shu was certain this was the place he was looking for.
"Not far ahead, there should be a small outpost of our Demon Slayer Corps," Inoue Mie said with delight, shading her eyes with her right hand to get a better look. "There it is!"
Sure enough, a few hundred meters ahead, a small village appeared. The two looked at each other and quickened their pace. After traveling for so long, they were both eager to find a place to rest properly.
The moment he stepped into the village, the system's voice suddenly sounded in Si Shu's mind.
[Host has entered the Sunlight Mountain area. Hidden Mission unlocked.]
"Holy crap? A hidden level?"
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