Demon Slayer: Upper 0 seems to be a waste

125 pillar collection

This was definitely the most oppressive scene Tanjiro had ever seen.

Mr. Busikawa and Mr. Giyu were in a stalemate. Mr. Iguro stood behind Mr. Busikawa with his arms folded. The atmosphere there was almost frozen.

Miss Shinobu was talking to Miss Kanroji, and as for Mr. Beimingyu, he just stood there doing nothing and Tanjiro felt his breathing became heavy.

Why would this group of people appear here? Wasn't he called here to have a chat with the lord? Why are there so many pillars here? If this group of people wanted to have a meeting, then why was he here?

Tanjiro felt like his brain was working so fast it was almost smoking. The last time he saw this group of people in such a state was at the Hashira Council Meeting. It was the right decision not to bring Nezuko along this time.

"Kamado boy! You look like you've recovered well!"

The familiar voice instantly perked up Tanjiro. He turned his head as if he had found support, and as expected, what appeared in his sight was a pair of big eyes that were a hundred times more energetic.

"Purgatory... sir?"

All it took for the change from joyful opening to hesitant whisper was the appearance of a second man with bold hair color and big eyes. Tanjiro raised his head to look at the taller man, then looked at Mr. Rengoku who was walking towards him, and his eyes widened.

Who's that? Someone from the Purgatory family? It looks like that! Ugh! And it smells strongly of alcohol!

"This is my father, the former Flame Pillar. He was invited here by the Lord! Father! This is the young man Kamado! I mentioned him to you before! He's a very promising junior!"

Rengoku introduced himself naturally, and Tanjiro also turned his gaze over formally.

"Hello, Mr. Rengoku! My name is Tanjiro Kamado!"

"knew......"

Unfortunately, the other party seemed to have no interest in him, and was even unwilling to give him any glances. Mr. Rengoku seemed to be used to this. Tanjiro felt that it was not polite to speculate about the other party's family members in his heart, so he had to pretend not to notice and looked away. Only then did he notice that the boy named Tokitoru had also come here without knowing when.

There are already eight pillars here now...so why is he here? Shouldn't he leave first?

"Mr. Rengoku just said... your father was invited here by Mr. Ubuyashiki...?"

Tanjiro's constantly working brain slowly grasped a key piece of information.

"Yes! Aren't you invited too?! It is said that this time they have very important news to tell us! So not only have they called back all the Pillars, but they have also invited the seniors who were once Pillars. That's how father was called here!"

Rengoku held his arms high and spoke seriously. His loud voice made Tanjiro feel at ease, but he also realized belatedly that something was different.

If they were discussing something important... why did they invite him? Was it something related to Nezuko? But then why did they invite Mr. Rengoku's father... And from what Mr. Rengoku said, it seems that more than just the former Flame Pillar was invited; others were also invited.

This made him even more confused. If it was such an important matter, why was he called?

"Should I leave here first? Since the guests invited are all so important, should I come later?"

Tanjiro asked Rengoku uncertainly, and the other party blinked and shook his head affirmatively.

"Since the Lord has invited you here, he must have something important to tell you! How can you leave?"

"But now it doesn't seem like I should be staying here at all..."

Tanjiro scratched the side of his face with his fingers, his voice sounding a little uneasy. They were all about the Pillars, and it didn't seem like this was about Nezuko. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like he needed to avoid this situation. Just like the last time they talked about Nezuko, wasn't he asked to leave early?

"No. You have to stay this time."

The old voice was a little hoarse, but extremely reassuring. Tanjiro turned around almost in shock.

"Mr. Urokodaki?!"

There was a hint of surprise amidst the uncertainty, and his emotions could be easily seen from his expression and tone.

"Sakonji...were you also called to Ubuyashiki?"

Purgatory's tone was far from cheerful.

"Makijuro. It's been a while. I didn't expect to have the chance to meet again after retiring... You've also seen that child, right?"

Urokodaki only tilted his head slightly, and the expression on Makijuro's face changed from surprise to irritation to indifference in just a short moment.

That kid? Tanjiro quickly grasped the crux of the matter this time.

If it is a child, from his perspective, there is only one answer that he can think of the fastest, but he is not sure whether the answer he thinks of is correct.

But if it really was the boy he was thinking of...it wouldn't be surprising that he would be here.

It's not surprising that these columns are gathered here...after all, it is the first moon at zero.

Zero, what does that mean? No one knows. All the Demon Slayers have known for centuries are the Twelve Moons, the Upper Six, and the Lower Six.

But why an Upper Zero suddenly appeared, no one knew. Even Mr. Ubuyashiki, when he heard the news, just said calmly that he had never heard of such a thing before.

But if it was really about Rinkou... why did they call Mr. Urokodaki and Mr. Rengoku's father?

Could it be that they too had encountered Rinko? How could that be possible...

"Mr. Urokodaki, the child you are talking about is..."

Although such an inquiry might be a bit rude, Tanjiro still hoped to get some information before the meeting began.

"You guessed right. Tanjiro. It's Rinko. I've seen that kid before you came..."

Mr. Urokodaki nodded slightly, but the moment he opened his mouth, the aura around him became much heavier.

"But I didn't realize he was a demon at the time. It was only after I met Nezuko that I realized many things about that child didn't make sense. After that, I reported everything about him to the lord."

Urokodaki's tone was downcast. Tanjiro had rarely seen him speak like that. Even the scent emanating from him hinted at sadness and loss. Tanjiro didn't know if that loss was because his former child had turned out to be a demon, or because he hadn't recognized it and missed the chance to kill it early.

It wasn't just Mr. Urokodaki who had such a reaction. Mr. Rengoku's father, another older Mr. Rengoku, exuded a smell of anger when he came. Although it gradually faded later, it was still very clear. But now, since Mr. Urokodaki said Rinkou's name, that anger has completely dissipated and turned into an unimaginable great sorrow, even exceeding the smell he smelled from the Lower Moon Five when he was on Spider Mountain.

What a heavy taste.

Now Tanjiro can be sure that Mr. Rengoku must have seen Rinko as well, and may have even been with Rinko longer than any of them. A deep bond has developed between them, so he was so sad after the truth was revealed.

Tanjiro could completely understand that kind of sadness. He had similar feelings when he realized that Rinko was a ghost. They had only been together for a short time, but he was already so sad. How much more so for others who had been with Rinko for a longer time...

Although he roughly understood why he was invited, Tanjiro was not at all happy about his gain.

He wanted the demons to disappear, but he didn't want Rinko to disappear. This was a very contradictory idea, and it was difficult to tell others. The pillars would probably find it difficult to agree with his unorthodox ideas...