Demon Slayer: The Forest Pillar

After bidding farewell to Gyoumei Gyoumei and the "gorgeous" Uzui Tengen, the Inui team brought Shinichi to the innermost part of the Ubuyashiki residence.

In front of the exquisite wooden house, there is a small open space paved with white stones. The round rockery stones surround a not-too-large pond. The clear spring water from the mountains keeps flowing into the pond. In the pond, a small group of cute round goldfish swim carefree.

Outside the courtyard wall, the wisteria flowers with fragrance are blooming. The scenery is not particularly gorgeous, but it makes people feel a rare sense of peace of mind, very comfortable.

"Ahhh!" Enji broke free from Shinichi's arms, shook his tail and ran to the edge of the pond. His two little eyes looked at the group of goldfish in the pond excitedly, which scared the originally carefree goldfish away.

"Enji! Stop fooling around! Come back!" Shinichi quickly turned around and scolded Enji. At this moment, a gentle voice suddenly sounded behind him, "Is it Shinichi?"

"Ah?" Hearing someone calling his name, Shinichi was stunned for a moment, and quickly turned around to see a thin boy under the eaves of the wooden house, smiling gently at him.

The boy, who was about the same age as him, was wearing a simple black long coat, a simple yellow belt around his waist, and a white coat with purple flowing fire patterns. His handsome face was slightly pale, but his pair of light purple eyes were very bright.

The moment he saw the boy, the hidden team members around Shinichi immediately knelt on one knee excitedly, "My lord!"

"My lord?" Shinichi looked at the boy in front of him in surprise.

"It's our first meeting. I'm glad to meet you, Moriki Shinichi-kun. I'm the head of the Demon Slayer Corps - Ubuyashiki Yoya." The black-haired boy bowed slightly and greeted Shinichi.

That's right, the person who appeared in front of Shinichi was none other than the contemporary Demon Slayer Corps' headmaster, Ubuyashiki Yoya.

"You are the Demon Slayer Corps' headmaster? So young?" Shinichi blurted out without even thinking. In his imagination, the headmaster who could control the Demon Slayer Corps, a huge curse, and fight against the vicious demons for hundreds of years, even if he was not a respected old wise man in his sixties or seventies, at least he must be a leader in his thirties or forties with courage.

But what about this young man in front of him who was about the same age as himself?

Shinichi's tone was very aggressive. Before Ubuyashiki Yoya spoke, the hidden team member who led Shinichi became excited, "Hey!! You guy! How can you talk to the lord!? It's so rude, bastard!"

Just now he respectfully called himself Mr. Moriki, but now he immediately changed his face and called him a bastard. Apart from anything else, this young lord is really respectable, Shinichi thought.

"You are too kind, Goto-kun. Thank you for your hard work. Please let me talk to Shinichi alone next." Ubuyashiki Yoya said gently.

The hidden team member named Goto heard the order of the lord and glared at Shinichi with dissatisfaction. The latter looked indifferent and left the Ubuyashiki residence angrily.

Soon, only Shinichi and Ubuyashiki Yoya were left in the open space, looking at each other face to face, and there was also a little Shiba Inu running wildly by the pond.

"What I said is correct. You are so young and you can become the lord of the Demon Slayer Corps. Can you control the Demon Slayer Corps?" Shinichi asked with a doubtful tone, crossing his arms.

Hearing Shinichi's words, Ubuyashiki Yoya was not angry, but smiled gently, then walked out of the eaves, sat down on the wooden steps, and patted the seat next to him, motioning Shinichi to sit down as well.

Shinichi had no concerns about the seemingly fragile lord in front of him, and walked to Ubuyashiki Yoya and sat down.

"My age is indeed a little young compared to you, Shinichi, but it is not uncommon in our Ubuyashiki family. In fact, I became the lord of the Demon Slayer Corps when I was four years old." Ubuyashiki Yoya said slowly.

"How old? Four years old?! Are there no adults in your family?" Shinichi was shocked. A four-year-old child became the lord of the Demon Slayer Corps. This is simply alarmist. A four-year-old child in a normal family who does not wet the bed is considered grown up, let alone becoming the lord of a huge organization with thousands of people.

"My family is indeed gone. My father chose to commit suicide at the age of nineteen because he cared too much about the sacrifice of the swordsmen. At that time, I was four years old and the last male in the Ubuyashiki family. So, I took over my father's duties and became the lord of the Demon Slayer Corps." When talking about this past event, Ubuyashiki Yoya's tone was a little heavy.

And Shinichi was a muggle. He seemed to have just poked the scar in someone's heart. Damn it! He really should...Death! Shinichi suddenly felt a surge of self-blame.

Seeing the unnatural look on Shinichi's face, Ubuyashiki Yoya added: "Don't get me wrong, Shinichi, I'm not complaining when I say these things, I'm just answering your question, Shinichi. In fact, Shinichi, I've also learned your story from Mr. Moriki Mitsuyo.

If we talk about age, aren't you younger than me, Shinichi? But what you did is amazing, you killed many evil spirits, and helped us kill the Lower String Four, it's really amazing."

After a moment of silence, Shinichi said softly: "It's nothing, I just wanted revenge for myself at the beginning, for my own selfishness."

Ubuyashiki Yaoya smiled and narrowed his eyes, saying gently: "Everyone has his own selfishness, without exception. Even I want to eliminate the ancestor of demons, Muzan Kibutsuji, and remove the family curse. No one is born selfless.

Many swordsmen who join the Demon Slayer Corps have the same bitter hatred for evil demons as you, Shinichi. From some perspectives, swordsmen are also selfish for their own revenge, but this is not a bad thing, right? We don't have to be too demanding of ourselves, just do our best."

Shinichi was a little speechless. He was comforted by the "young lord" who was almost the same age as him. He was really embarrassed.

"By the way, what did you mean by the curse just now?" Shinichi asked in confusion. When he was at the Moriki mansion, the old man did not tell him in detail about the Demon Slayer Corps. Shinichi had only heard about the head family of the Demon Slayer Corps, the Ubuyashiki family.

"This? That's a very old story." Ubuyashiki Yoya still kept smiling, his light purple eyes looked into the distance, his thoughts seemed to drift back to a thousand years ago.

A breeze blew, ruffling the boy's black hair, slightly revealing a small piece of purple skin on his forehead that was festering under the black hair.