Chapter 80

Tap—tap—tap—

A sound of footsteps rang out; a train conductor was patrolling every carriage on the moving train.

But what he didn't know was that in a carriage not far ahead of him, a pair of eyes was staring fixedly at him.

After the inspection was finished, the conductor prepared to head back.

At this moment, the lights in the carriage flickered, and the atmosphere around them began to turn eerie.

That figure hiding in the shadows suddenly appeared, extended sharp claws, and instantly killed the conductor, blood splattering everywhere.

…………

"P-p-please... let me go...!!"

Crack! Crack!

The demon's neck was tightly gripped, emitting a crisp sound, unable to breathe.

The demon slayer known as the 【Grim Reaper】 before it was currently looking at the demon as if looking at an ant.

"Goodbye!"

Puchi!

He swung the Nichirin Scythe, beheading it under the demon's terrified gaze, turning it into ashes that dissipated into the air.

"This is the last demon in my jurisdiction. It has already been a day since Kyojuro went to execute his mission; now... it's about time I set off to check on the Mugen Train."

Immediately, he took out the 【Light Energy Flyer】 and strapped it to his back, put the Nichirin Scythe into the 【Nano Space】, and set off toward the location of Kyojuro Rengoku's mission.

After flying for more than ten minutes, he arrived at a small town near the train station.

"Forget it, since there's nothing else to do, I'll just look around."

He put the flyer back into the 【Nano Space】 and prepared to walk around.

"Help..."

Suddenly, he heard a cry for help; although the sound was very faint, he could still feel it was not far away.

He immediately followed the source of the sound, judged the approximate location, and rushed over.

When Zero arrived at the destination, he found a young woman lying on the ground, her clothes soaked in blood, and even her face had suffered heavy injuries!

He came before the woman to check the situation.

"She still has a pulse!" He hurriedly took out a medical kit from the 【Nano Space】 to perform emergency treatment.

Step! Step! Step...

Just as Zero was treating the injured woman, several footsteps came from behind him.

"Zero?!"

"Lord Zero Pillar?!"

The person who arrived was none other than Kyojuro Rengoku, and behind him followed two Kakushi members.

"You've come just in time; I have already performed some emergency treatment on her. Now, hurry and take her to a safe place to treat her wounds."

"Yes, Lord Zero Pillar!"

The Kakushi members carefully carried the woman on the ground on their backs and quickly left the area.

After the Kakushi members left, Kyojuro Rengoku couldn't help but ask, "Zero, why did you come here too?"

"There are no more demons in my sector, so I just came over to see if there's anything I can help with."

"Umu, that's good too. Since you've come, I can rest easy! Hahahaha..."

Kyojuro Rengoku laughed boldly; he trusted Zero one hundred percent.

"I'm going to patrol the vicinity to see if I can find any traces of that demon."

"Good, we'll regroup when dawn breaks. I will have 【Kaname】 lead you to me."

The one called 【Kaname】 was the name of Kyojuro Rengoku's Kasugai Crow.

"Hmm, see you later then."

The two parted ways, and Zero activated the 【Analysis Glasses】 to begin a carpet search...

Whether the demon was too cunning or on guard, after several hours of searching, he didn't find a single trace.

Looking at the rising sun not far away, he simply gave up for the time being and prepared to regroup with Kyojuro Rengoku.

"Caw! Lord Zero Pillar! Lord Rengoku asked me to come and lead you to regroup with him." A Kasugai Crow flew over from not far away.

It seemed this was Kyojuro Rengoku's Kasugai Crow—Kaname.

They say a Kasugai Crow's personality follows its master; Kyojuro Rengoku's Kasugai Crow was the same.

Its speech was also particularly loud and very bold.

"Fine, I understand." Subsequently, led by the Kasugai Crow Kaname, he headed to the location to regroup with Kyojuro Rengoku.

Before long, he arrived at a small restaurant.

At the entrance, Zero heard the cry of "Delicious" coming from inside the restaurant.

He pushed the door open and saw Kyojuro Rengoku sitting there, eating udon noodles in large mouthfuls, with at least ten empty large bowls already placed on the table in front of him.

However, this restaurant seemed to be doing poorly; there were very few people eating, only a small number of people.

"Delicious! Delicious! Hmm? Zero, you're here! Sit down and eat together; the udon noodles at this restaurant taste pretty good!"

Seeing that Zero had arrived to regroup, he invited him to sit down and taste the food together.

"Then I won't be polite." He immediately sat down opposite Kyojuro Rengoku.

"Boss, prepare another bowl of udon for my partner! And another one for me too!" Kyojuro Rengoku shouted.

"Understood."

While the boss was preparing, Kyojuro Rengoku said, "Zero, regarding this mission of mine, I feel it's not simple!"

"Hmm, indeed. I also felt that hint of an unusual scent! Although it's just a guess, I feel that this mission of yours is highly likely to be an Upper Rank!"

"Is that so? Hahahaha! Even so, I will not back down! I also really want to know what the gap between me and an Upper Rank is! But now that you are here, I am even more at ease!"

While the two were chatting, the restaurant boss also prepared two bowls of udon, placed them in front of the two, and said, "The noodles you ordered are ready."

"Umu, thanks! Itadakimasu... Delicious!"

Zero also picked up the udon in front of him and tasted it; the taste was not bad.

"Boss, the food you make tastes quite good. Why does business here seem to be not very good?" Zero asked while eating the udon, pretending to be casual.

"There's nothing to be done about it. For the past month, because of that so-called Ripper along the railway line, the flow of people has dropped significantly! It's made my employees bored to death!"

As he spoke, the restaurant boss picked up a newspaper to look at it and continued, "Just a few days ago, I heard that the train conductor on the train also met with an accident! And that thing called the Mugen Train has stopped running now!"

"And I also heard that at least 40 passengers have gone missing mysteriously! It's really not peaceful!"

Listening to these words, Zero fell into thought.

He guessed that the so-called Ripper should be the demon that caused the young woman to suffer heavy injuries last night!

But Zero's intuition told him that this matter was not that simple!

Perhaps the Ripper demon was just a decoy used to create chaos and cover people's eyes!

Or perhaps, it was preparing some kind of plan?

He made up his mind to check out that so-called Mugen Train at night!

The two chatted in the restaurant for a little while, and Zero left first, preparing to see if he could collect some useful intelligence.

Arriving at the train station, one could see a few scattered passengers waiting on the train platform.

Clearly, because of the Ripper, the train station had become somewhat deserted.

"Hello, miss, would you like to buy something?" Just as Zero was thinking, a girl's call came from beside him.

Turning his head to look, it was a little girl with braids and twin tails, wearing glasses and a small red hat. In front of her hung a large wooden tray filled with all kinds of food and small snacks; she looked quite cute.

"Little one, you've mistaken me for someone else."

"Ah?! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I... I thought you were..." The little girl only realized she had misunderstood after hearing the voice, and apologized repeatedly.

Looking at the little girl's embarrassed appearance, Zero couldn't help but laugh, but he didn't mind, after all, she wasn't the only one who would mistake his gender.

"Alright, alright, I don't mind. Help me get a bottle of soda."

"Okay." The little girl handed a bottle of soda to Zero and said, "That's 10 sen in total."

After taking the soda and paying the little girl, he asked casually, "Little sister, why are there so few people here? Logically speaking, the train station should have a lot of people, right?"

"Sigh..." The little girl sighed slightly and said, "I don't know either. Ever since those people went missing, the train station has become deserted..."

"Why would it be like this?"

"This... I... I don't know either... Sorry, I have to go now, I'm going back to help my grandma watch the shop." The little girl left in a hurry.

But Zero could see that the little girl seemed to be hiding something? Looking at her expression, it was more of vigilance.

Afterwards, he wandered around the vicinity. According to some information provided by Kyojuro Rengoku, this train station was the place where the conductor's remains were found.

But looking at the current situation, there wouldn't be any abnormalities for the time being, so he could only leave here and go elsewhere to wander around.

Wait until night, then come back here to check.

…………

At nightfall.

Kyojuro Rengoku arrived at the train station, and behind him followed a swordsman.

On the swordsman's shoulder stood a Kasugai Crow.

"This is the place where the conductor's remains were found. Umu, let's split up and check."

"Yes, Lord Flame Pillar!"

Just as the two of them were about to split up to investigate, Zero also arrived at the train station again and appeared behind them.

"Huh? You've come too?"

"Zero, you're here."

"Lord Zero Pillar."

"I couldn't find any useful clues during the day, so I decided to come here again at night to take a look," Zero said.

"Umu, then the three of us will split up and act, that way it will be faster."

Inside the train station.

The little girl who talked to Zero during the day was now sitting in front of the stall with a red bean bread in her hand, sighing helplessly.

"Fuku, don't sigh, hurry up and eat the red bean bread." The person speaking behind her was a white-haired old woman wearing glasses and holding a gourmet cookbook in her hand.

The little girl's name was Fuku, and that old woman was her grandma.

"Hmm... there are no customers today either..."

"I've told you many times, it's dangerous after dark. You wait until noon tomorrow to come and help; demons will appear at night."

"There aren't any demons, right?! What kind of nonsense are you spouting again? We have to work hard to sell bento now! Mom's belly is big now, and the restaurant Dad opened isn't doing well..."

Fuku's grandma put down the book in her hand and said, "Leave these things to the adults to worry about. Grandma will handle the morning and night alone."

"What if you get attacked by the Ripper, Grandma?!"

"If I can block the disaster for you, it's worth it."

"Grandma!"

Just as the granddaughter and grandmother were chatting, three figures appeared in front of them.

These three were naturally Zero, Kyojuro Rengoku, and that swordsman.

The three of them hadn't found any useful clues at the train station, and upon hearing the sound here, they rushed over to check.

"Good evening! What a beautiful night with a bright moon! I am looking for demons; have you seen any demons?" Kyojuro Rengoku asked.

This scared the swordsman, and Zero was also somewhat helpless; he didn't expect Rengoku to ask them so directly.

"Lord Rengoku, you are too straightforward!!" The Kasugai Crow shouted.

When Fuku's grandma saw Kyojuro Rengoku, her eyes seemed somewhat incredulous, and the figure of a person appeared in her mind...

Seeing this, Fuku immediately stood up and blocked the space between Kyojuro Rengoku and her grandma, though her body was trembling slightly.

"Demons? Talking about such inexplicable things, what do you want? Don't come over..."

"Dangerous! You're shaking like that, your precious red bean bread is going to fall!"

"!!!" Zero was shocked; was the focus of attention off track?

"Don't come over!!" Fuku was so scared that she threw the red bean bread in her hand, hitting Kyojuro Rengoku in the face.

Kyojuro Rengoku wasn't angry at all; instead, he took the red bean bread off his face and took a big bite: "Delicious!!"

"I don't know about any demons, how could such a thing exist?!"

Seeing this, Fuku's grandma extended her hands, placed them on Fuku's shoulders, and said, "Fuku, don't be afraid, he's definitely not a bad person!"

At this time, Zero also spoke up: "Sorry, my partner's personality is just that bold, but he definitely has no malicious intent. We just came over to investigate; if we scared you, I apologize to you on his behalf."

"It's you!" Fuku recognized Zero; he was the boy who bought her soda in the morning.

After calming down, Fuku said slowly, "Sorry, I've been very nervous lately because of the Ripper incident."

Kyojuro Rengoku didn't care about what just happened and said, "According to what I just heard, you made the bento before dawn and then brought it here to sell, right? Thank you very much! People like you must absolutely not suffer any harm! Rest assured, we will resolve the Ripper matter..."

"Who exactly are you..." Regarding Kyojuro Rengoku's strange behavior, although Fuku was still a bit nervous, she began to trust him in her heart.

She believed he wouldn't harm her or her grandma.

"Then, farewell!" After saying that, he turned and left.

Just as the three were about to leave, Fuku suddenly shouted, "Um... this... can I ask you... to buy a box of bento?"

"Indeed, since that's the case... I'll take them all!"

Just like that, Kyojuro Rengoku bought all the bento, and the three of them walked out of the train station carrying the bento.

"Umu, this way there will be good gifts to give to the Corps. Next, leave it to the two of us, you've worked hard!"

"Yes, I understand, Lord Flame Pillar, Lord Zero Pillar, please be careful, both of you."

After Fuku packed her luggage, she prepared to go home early with her grandma.

"Who exactly were those three people? Although I'm quite happy that they were willing to buy the bento..."

"Hurry back, Fuku, I have a very bad premonition, my spine is chilling."

"Grandma?"

…………

When Kyojuro Rengoku brought Zero to prepare to board the train, Zero was somewhat puzzled: "Rengoku, why do we have to take this train?"

"This train is a returning train, going directly to the Mugen Train side. We are taking this train to find it."

"Uh..." Zero was speechless. He grabbed Kyojuro Rengoku, who was about to board the train, and said, "The Mugen Train is no longer in the depot."

"Is that so?"

"Yes, I already investigated this matter during the day. According to the results I investigated, the Mugen Train was transported to a fully equipped repair shop this morning; it seems they are preparing to resume operation."

"Umu, I see, I was careless, hahahaha!"

"Let's go, starting from this direction, it shouldn't take long to reach the Mugen Train repair shop."

Subsequently, led by Zero, Kyojuro Rengoku ran wildly while carrying the bento, heading toward the Mugen Train repair shop.