Emiya Shirou doesn't want to work overtime

In just seven days, Emiya not only killed a total of forty-two demons, but although those demons were weak, it was easy to defend against open attacks but difficult to guard against hidden ones.

Even the most ordinary demon, under the circumstances of a sneak attack, could easily cut off Shirou Emiya's head with a single swipe of its claw.

In the constant trials of life and death, Emiya was ambushed countless times, and each time he managed to turn the tables and kill his enemies.

But it was precisely because of this intense sense of oppression that Emiya gradually came to understand—

"Sword Breathing, Beast Form: Wolf Fang!"

Emiya Shirou, holding the toothed Nichirin Blade in both hands, charged swiftly towards the demon in front of him. A silver-white blade shot up from the ground like fangs, and the demon was completely cut into three pieces without any resistance. Then, its neck was severed by a single slash.

Compared to before, Emiya is now able to sense the surrounding battle scene even with his eyes closed; in simpler terms, Emiya has mastered Observation Haki.

However, unlike his Observation Haki, Emiya's perception was a conditioned reflex honed through constant battles.

For example, if someone were to ambush Emiya, he would feel a chill down his spine. Before he could even think, his body would either evade the attack or retaliate.

Then, construct a model of the battle in your mind.

It was as if another pair of eyes were observing the battlefield; even with his eyes closed, Emiya was able to unleash most of his power.

From that very first battle, Emiya realized that one's eyes can often deceive them.

Having experienced so many battles here, Emiya understands that the eyes can only perceive so much. They cannot sense everything around them like a satellite. If the enemy is hiding in the shadows, he can only react the moment he is attacked.

If it weren't for the fact that the demons here weren't as powerful as they should be, Emiya would have been ambushed and killed by them long ago.

The last remaining demon in the vicinity had its head slid to the ground as Emiya gently swung his katana.

Just then, a red light shone from the east, and the sun once again shone through the layers of leaves onto Mount Fuji, illuminating the faces of everyone participating in the trial.

Gradually, people emerged from Mount Fujiki. Some knelt on the ground as if they had lost their souls, while others casually threw their Nichirin Blades aside, shouting that they would not be members of the Demon Slayer Corps before running away. Still others celebrated loudly that they were still alive.

Emiya also emerged from within, followed by a timid-looking boy with blond hair who cowered behind him.

Emiya emerged like a celebrity, and within moments he was surrounded by a crowd.

"Thank you. If it weren't for you, I might already be..."

"Thank you for your help, Emiya-san."

"I have an eighty-year-old mother to support, and children to raise—"

Before he could finish speaking, a group of people stared intently at him, ready to pummel him if he dared to say he had an eight-year-old child.

Most of the people who participate in the final trial are around 15 years old. If you are an eight-year-old second child, then you are married at the age of seven, which is quite a crime.

In short, Emiya saved many people along the way at Fujikiyama, and because he attracted the attention of most of the demons, many people survived to the final round. There were still casualties, but they were not very serious.

Moreover, there have been instances before where only two people died during the entire trial, and everyone else passed the final trial.

As for Zenitsu Agatsuma, when Emiya found him, he was standing on a very tall tree, with several demons who couldn't climb trees below him...

They kept threatening Zenitsu from below, telling him to come down, but he just covered his ears and stayed perched in the tree.

Emiya didn't even know how to describe the scene.

He hadn't expected there to be ghosts who couldn't climb trees. Even if they really couldn't climb trees, they could still cut them down.

Ghosts can't be so weak that even trees can't be forcibly demolished, can they?

Without saying a word, Emiya dealt with them, and then he followed behind Emiya Shirou, saying that he could protect him.

Emiya, of course, did not refuse; he would save as many people as possible.

"Shirou!"

A familiar voice called out to him from behind.

Emiya turned around and saw Tanjiro waving his hand at him, looking disheveled.

Hitoe-no-miya waved back at Tanjiro.

After defeating the Hand Demon together, they rested for a while and then decided to split up. The probability of encountering a demon while traveling together was too small, and many demons would give up when they saw two demon-slaying swordsmen wandering around together.

After all, ghosts don't engage in team battles. They figured that if they went out on their own, they would face a 1v2 situation, which would put them at a huge disadvantage. So the ghosts decided not to provoke them.

This greatly troubled Emiya; if he didn't kill more, how could he save more people participating in this trial?

Emiya knew that simply rushing to save people would only be a temporary solution. If he killed all the demons on Mount Fujiki, wouldn't those people no longer be in danger?

However, in the end, Emiya was unsure whether he had actually killed all the demons.

Inspired by Emiya, Tanjiro also decides to travel around saving people and slaying more demons. He hopes that while passing the trials, he can also save more lives.

"Welcome back"

A clear, ethereal voice pulled everyone back from their feelings of gratitude.

"It would be wonderful if you could come back safely."

"First, let's distribute the Demon Slayer Corps uniforms to everyone."

"We will first measure the body's dimensions, and then engrave the rank."

The two women took turns speaking, one sentence at a time.

The people around him also quieted down for once.

"Crack! Crack!"

Accompanied by the black-haired girl's two claps, one after another, iron crows flew down from the sky and landed on their shoulders.

"Iron Crow? Isn't that a sparrow?"

Standing next to Emiya, Zenitsu Agatsuma stared in disbelief at the little sparrow that had flown into his hand.

"So, next—"

"What a joke!"

An extremely irritable voice came from the side.

A man with a dark mohawk and a scar on his right cheek that extended to his nose walked toward the white-haired woman in front of him with a fierce look.

"not good!"

The man struggled to grab her head, but before he could reach it, a strong hand gripped his arm tightly, rendering him immobile.

"What do you want to do!"

Emiya looked at the man in front of him with some anger.

He didn't know why the man was angry, but the girl hadn't done anything wrong; she was just following the rules and hadn't done anything out of line.

"cut!"

After several unsuccessful attempts to break free from Emiya's grasp, he could only retreat.

When Emiya saw that he was backing down, he released his grip.

"Then, please choose the tamahagane from here to forge your Nichirin Blade."

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The First Mission

As the day of the final selection drew to a close, Emiya also received his own Nichirin Blade.

To the regret of both the swordsmith and Emiya, the color-changing blade did not change color at all in Emiya's hands.

Even when Emiya used his breathing techniques to perform various different breathing techniques, the color-changing blade remained unchanged.

Emiya could only watch with a look of apology as the sorrowful swordsmith departed.

Although Emiya doesn't have much need for Nichirin Blades, it's more convenient to have a ready-made weapon than to reproject a weapon for each battle.

Compared to projection magic, sword breathing is more like a technique that Emiya developed by interpreting and modifying those techniques.

When using projection magic, Emiya's techniques are mainly based on other people's ideas, with only a small amount of his own understanding. However, when using sword breathing, most of his understanding is combined with a few techniques from other people.

It's like the difference between Emiya using the Stone Axe to shoot down a hundred heads and using Gan Jiang and Mo Xie to shoot down a hundred heads. They are the same technique, but the way they are used and understood are different.

"Ga! Ga! Ga!"

After only a few days of rest, after receiving the Nichirin Blade, a crow flew down from the sky and landed on his shoulder.

This is a communication device given to Emiya after the final selection.

"Shirou Emiya! I'm relaying orders! Head to the town to the southeast. Residents living near the fields have been hearing sounds of some creature feeding every night, and there have been frequent disappearances of villagers there recently!"

"Hey, the bird is talking!"

Emiya had always thought that the way to deliver missions was like sending messages by carrier pigeon, but he never expected that the message would be delivered directly through words.

"It's basically confirmed that there's a ghost over there; we need to get there quickly."

After the final selection, Emiya had nowhere to go, so he found an inn in a small town nearby and stayed there, waiting for the Nichirin Blade and the mission to arrive.

He quickly packed his things and prepared to head in the direction Iron Raven had indicated.

Instead of wandering around aimlessly searching for demons, becoming a member of the Demon Slayer Corps and completing the missions they issue is much simpler.

Keep in mind that Emiya had searched all over the country for a month without finding any trace of the demon, but less than a day after the incident, the Demon Slayer Corps quickly arrived, brought the situation under control, and killed the demon.

Emiya didn't think he played a significant role in that battle; he believed that Mr. Rengoku alone could have easily resolved the situation.

Aside from its slightly troublesome abilities, that ghost was no match for Mr. Purgatory in any way; it was basically unable to harm Mr. Purgatory.

While Emiya was lost in thought, he soon arrived at the town that Iron Raven had mentioned.

It was only just approaching noon, and the sounds of various vendors calling out their wares filled the streets. The bustling crowds made the whole town look very prosperous.

However, for Emiya, who was already familiar with top-tier bustling areas like Yukaku, the level of bustling activity here was only average.

It hasn't reached the point where people are packed together yet.

"Iron Raven said the sound of eating was coming from the fields, so the ghost's hiding place should be nearby."

He could only make a preliminary judgment about the ghost's location based on the information he received.

At this moment, Emiya was quite envious of Zenitsu and Tanjiro.

One of them could pinpoint the ghost's location by listening, and the other could trace the ghost's trail by kissing it with his nose.

Emiya felt that if he had their talent, he wouldn't be searching here without any clues.