"AHHH—!"
With a yell, Tecchin released Hermit's handle he was holding and blew on his burnt palm.
"Chief!"
"Are you okay, Chief?!"
"Burned? How?"
All the swordsmiths immediately gathered around their village chief, blowing on his palm along with him.
A group of burly men wearing masks crowding around a small elderly man, blowing on his hand, looked bizarre no matter how one viewed it.
"I told you not to touch anything other than the scabbard."
Riezel reached out and took Hermit back from Tecchin.
"What's going on?"
Although his palm was red and blistered, Tecchin couldn't care less about this and quickly asked Riezel.
"Why is the handle of this sword so hot?"
"Not only the handle, but the blade also has high temperatures." Riezel explained. "It's a characteristic of this sword."
As for why it was this way, he certainly couldn't say.
Should he tell Tecchin that he had used magic to forge this sword, causing it to transform into first-class special equipment?
It wasn't a matter of whether Tecchin could understand or not; it was a matter of whether Tecchin would think he was a lunatic.
Fortunately, Tecchin was only concerned about the sword right now, as his curiosity and thirst for knowledge had been ignited.
"Can you use this sword?" Tecchin asked eagerly. "Can you unsheathe it and let me see?"
Riezel didn't answer but instead acted immediately, drawing Hermit from its scabbard.
In the next moment, visible waves of heat emanated from it, causing the air to shimmer slightly.
All the swordsmiths stared at the sword, their eyes wide open.
Not only the swordsmiths but even the members of the Demon Slayer Corps who had come with Riezel and Kagaya were whispering among themselves as they stared at Hermit.
"What a beautiful sword..."
"Look at the cracks covering the blade... they're like glowing veins..."
"Hey, the pattern near the hilt looks mysterious, like a divine spirit descended from heaven..."
"Is that the head instructor's Nichirin Sword?"
"It looks sick!"
As the members of the Demon Slayer Corps expressed their thoughts one after another, the swordsmiths crowded closer to Hermit.
"Wow! Both the blade and the scabbard look flawless! You wouldn't even guess they were handmade!"
"What's this material? It's giving off serious heat!"
"What kind of iron is this blade made from? It's holding up against crazy temperatures and not deforming at all!"
"Amazing! Like, seriously amazing!"
Eventually, the swordsmiths were going wild, shouting and clapping their hands. Some even knelt before Hermit like cult believers, their attitudes fanatical and devout.
Riezel was certain that if the blade's temperature weren't so high, making it unbearable for even these men accustomed to working at furnaces, one of them would have already grabbed it without thinking.
In the Swordsmith Village, not only did these swordsmiths dedicate their lives to their craft, seeing it as their purpose, but they also constantly sought to create excellent swords and improve their skills.
Nonetheless, they were just ordinary people.
They didn't have blessing, 'Blacksmith' development ability, or magic. With their purely human capabilities, no matter how skilled, they could only produce ordinary swords.
Their highest achievements, placed in the world of Danmachi, were weapons that were near third class, not even qualifying as special equipment. In the Akasha Continent, they weren't even considered magic weapons, just ordinary iron.
Such weapons struggled to cut through rocks, and their sharpness was their only notable quality.
For this reason, when Riezel presented Hermit, which was equivalent to first-class special equipment, it was akin to displaying a legendary artifact.
Tecchin gazed at the beautiful blade of Hermit for a while, then spoke to Riezel.
"Lord Head Instructor, is this sword for sale?"
As it turned out, Tecchin wanted to buy it.
Unfortunately—
"No."
Riezel refused without hesitation.
"Please reconsider!"
Tecchin grabbed onto Riezel, pleading.
"Sell it to me! I'll treat it as a family heirloom, allowing future generations to study it! Maybe one day, we can recreate the forging technique and improve the world's swordsmithing and blade quality by several steps!"
"Yes! Sell it to us!"
"Name your price!"
"I'll even build a shrine for you at my house and pray for your long life every day!"
"Me too, me too!"
All the swordsmiths shouted, some even offering money.
Despite this, Riezel remained firm.
"No, just give it up."
Riezel sheathed Hermit, finally lowering the surrounding temperature.
The nearby members of the Demon Slayer Corps sighed in relief and wiped their foreheads, realizing they were drenched in sweat.
Seeing Tecchin and the others still not giving up, Kagaya spoke up.
"Please don't make things difficult for him." Kagaya said gently. "We have a very important battle coming up. Head Instructor Tsugikuni Yoriichi is our ace and hope for the Corps. It would be unwise to let him lose his important sword at this time."
His words finally calmed Tecchin down.
"Then, at least tell me who forged this sword..."
Tecchin seemed genuinely eager to study Hermit's forging method.
"I don't know that either..." Riezel answered calmly, naturally avoiding trouble by calmly fabricating a lie. "I came across this sword by chance."
"Is that so...?"
Tecchin couldn't hide his disappointment.
Only Kagaya gave Riezel a meaningful look.
Kagaya knew that Riezel's sword wasn't obtained by chance but through Riezel's own efforts.
Before, Riezel had requested a large amount of Scarlet Crimson Iron Sands and Scarlet Ores from the Demon Slayer Corps, which he certainly used to forge this Nichirin Sword for himself.
Needless to say, Riezel should know very well how this sword came to be, and it was even possible that he forged the sword himself.
Nevertheless, when asked how Riezel accomplished it, Kagaya didn't know and didn't intend to press for details.
Since this was Riezel's secret, if he didn't want to say it, the Demon Slayer Corps would never force him to.
As a result, Kagaya helped Riezel escape from the troublesome situation.
"First, arrange for the Corps and the people who came with us to rest at their accommodations." Kagaya instructed. "Also, please help receive the people arriving later."
Tecchin seemed quite dejected but still agreed.
With the help of the locals, everyone quickly moved into the Swordsmith Village.
===
In the following weeks, every so often, the Swordsmith Village would welcome a group escorted by the Hashira, allowing them to settle in the village.
Meanwhile, the members of the Demon Slayer Corps, who had been wandering around the world, received a summons from Kagaya, gradually gathering back at the Swordsmith Village.
With the demons' activities becoming so abnormal, it was difficult for the members outside to have any gains. Since hunting demons had become much harder than before, it was better to call them back, prepare well, and wait for the upcoming decisive battle.
Kagaya had already discussed this with the Hashira. While they were conducting their training to awaken the three special abilities, the other members of the Demon Slayer Corps would also undergo comprehensive pre-war special training.
For this, Kagaya and Tecchin jointly developed a forest area near the village, intending to establish a temporary training ground for the Demon Slayer Corps.
Everything was in full swing, and the Swordsmith Village had turned into a large base of operations where Demon Slayers could be seen running around, passing messages to each other.
On the other hand, Riezel found himself once again surrounded by the swordsmiths.
"Please, let us see your sword!"
In the house assigned to Riezel, it was common for several swordsmiths to come by frequently, dropping to their knees in a formal bow right at the entrance, begging him to let them see Hermit.
Some of these people had seen the true form of Hermit at the village entrance before, while others who hadn't seen it arrived upon hearing the news, seemingly eager to lay eyes on the much-lauded sword that had captured the entire village's admiration.
The former group sought an opportunity to observe Hermit, hoping to learn a bit about swordsmithing from it and improve their own swordsmithing skills.
The latter group was a mix of genuine curiosity and disdain, thinking the former group was brainless fools.
After all, their village had many great swordsmiths who were considered the best in the world.
How could anyone possibly forge a sword that would make them feel inferior?
It had to be a scam!
As some in the latter group thought themselves extraordinary and considered their abilities extraordinary, quite a few were merely unconvinced by the rumor.
Yet, after seeing Hermit, the next day, they also became regular visitors at Riezel's house, bowing deeply like devout believers.
Gradually, whether it was the swordsmiths of the Swordsmith Village, the members of the Demon Slayer Corps, or even ordinary villagers, everyone came to know one thing—the head instructor of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tsugikuni Yoriichi, possessed a divine sword.
Yes, a divine sword.
At least, the swordsmiths who had seen Hermit all firmly claimed that such a sword was definitely not something a human could forge because only a god could create such a sword.
All of this eventually led everyone to refer to Riezel's Hermit as a divine sword, and the name of Hermit was recorded in the Swordsmith Village's history.
Decades later, it would surely become a true legend.
After a week of this chaos, Riezel's house finally welcomed a group other than the fervent swordsmiths, the Hashira.
"Time for special training!"
"Can we start?"
"Let's train already!"
Clearly, they were already impatient.
Seeing the Hashira like this, Riezel didn't delay any longer.
"Alright, let's go."