Kamamara stared at the stone reliquary in front of him for a while.
Then he stood, pulled a larger fragment of the broken scythe from his back, covered it with demonic power, and began digging beneath the reliquary.
Soil flew aside, and before long, he had dug out a deep pit.
He reached back, untied all the scythe fragments from his back, and tossed them into the hole.
Looking at the broken pieces of the scythe inside the pit, he paused.
A thin layer of demonic power gathered at his fingertips.
He raised his hand and pinched a strand of silver hair from the top of his head.
His fingers lightly swept across it, and the hair snapped cleanly.
He casually placed that strand of silver hair into the pit.
“I don’t know where you went,” Kamamara bent down and murmured softly to the stone reliquary.
“But they say hair is where the soul lingers.
I hope you can reunite with your mother.” After saying that, he filled the hole back in, burying the scythe that carried the previous owner’s memories and had been given to him by his mother, along with the strand of silver hair that represented his soul, beneath Priestess Nindō’s reliquary.
Kamamara patted the dirt from his hands and turned to leave, but his footsteps suddenly stopped.
His gaze swept over another stone reliquary standing beside Priestess Nindō’s.
After a moment of silence, he turned and walked into the nearby woods.
A short while later, he returned carrying a fresh bundle of wildflowers and gently placed them before that reliquary.
“Kamamara has returned,” he said softly.
“I hope the two of you can meet again in your next life.” He clearly remembered that when the previous owner had buried his mother, this stone reliquary had not existed.
But according to the tradition of this shrine’s priestess lineage, the one buried beside Priestess Nindō had to be her disciple, Priestess Aoi, the girl who inherited the shrine after the previous owner left.
That girl named Aoi had not only been the disciple of the previous owner’s mother.
She had also been the beautiful memory the previous owner had always kept hidden in his heart.
From the previous owner’s memories, Kamamara could feel the innocent affection between them.
His mother had clearly seen through it long ago as well.
It just so happened that Aoi had a decent talent for spiritual power, so Priestess Nindō had taken her in as a disciple.
Clearly, this girl named Aoi was the future wife Priestess Nindō had chosen for her child.
Unfortunately, the previous owner had never been able to accept his identity as a half-demon.
His inferiority and self-loathing had ultimately driven him to flee this place.
The two who had loved each other never ended up together.
Kamamara looked at the two stone reliquaries standing side by side, his expression carrying a trace of quiet regret.
If the previous owner had not been a half-demon, perhaps neither he nor his mother would have lived in such pain.
And maybe he and that girl named Aoi truly could have walked through life together.
After settling all the karma left behind by the previous owner, Kamamara no longer stayed.
He turned and left.
Sunlight passed through the gaps between the leaves and fell over the two reliquaries.
The wildflowers beside them trembled gently in the wind, as if quietly telling the hidden past buried by time.
— “Bang!” The heavy iron club smashed onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The sunken stone slab let out a groan under the weight.
Kamamara looked down at the swordsmith in front of him, who had been so frightened that he had collapsed onto the ground, and calmly asked, “Can you forge this into a katana?” “S-sorry!
This… this thing… I can’t work with it…” The swordsmith stared at the deep pit smashed into the floor by the iron club.
His Adam’s apple bobbed hard.
He propped himself up with both hands and shrank backward, his voice trembling.
“I see…” Kamamara frowned slightly, but he was not too disappointed.
Over this period, he had visited quite a few human swordsmiths, and all of them had given the same answer.
They could not work with it.
He did not force the issue.
He only nodded, then raised his hand and lightly tapped the iron club.
“Then do you know any truly skilled swordsmiths?
Someone who might be able to handle this thing?” “I do!
I do!” The swordsmith quickly nodded.
The fear on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by full admiration.
He sat cross-legged on the ground and spoke with animated excitement.
“There’s a master named Onimaru Masa in Akegawa Town.
He’s a very famous swordsmith!
“He once forged a renowned blade called Onikirite for General Minamoto no Okabe, who served the lord of the castle.
That general used the blade to cut off an oni’s arm, and that’s how the sword got its name!” “Onimaru Masa?
I understand.
Thank you.” Kamamara nodded and memorized the name.
Then, under the swordsmith’s shocked gaze, he lifted the enormous iron club, which an ordinary person could not even budge, with one hand and casually rested it on his shoulder.
“By the way, do you know anyone who can forge demon blades?” Although he did not hold much hope, Kamamara still turned back and asked before leaving.
“Demon blades?” The swordsmith froze for a moment, then shook his head.
“Humans can’t use demon blades.
Only yōkai can wield weapons like that.” He paused, then seemed to suddenly remember something and quickly added, “But forging a powerful demon blade is the ultimate dream of every swordsmith.
I heard that Onimaru-sama once searched for traces of a demon swordsmith.
He might know something!” A flash of surprise appeared in Kamamara’s eyes.
He had not expected to truly gain a lead.
He reached into his robe, took out five copper coins, and casually tossed them into the swordsmith’s arms.
“Thanks.
Consider this my payment.” Ignoring the swordsmith as he clutched the coins and thanked him repeatedly, Kamamara carried the iron club and turned to leave the smithy.
“Akegawa Town, huh?
I’ll go take a look.” He glanced at the remaining smithies in this forge town and decided not to keep searching.
He would head straight for Akegawa Town instead.
After visiting so many swordsmiths without finding anything, he had not expected to gain such a harvest this time.
Not only had he learned of a famous swordsmith, he had also found a clue about demon swordsmiths.
By now, a month had passed since he left the forest.
During this time, aside from occasionally entering the mountains to hunt yōkai and grind progress for the Eight Inner Gates Formation, he had spent the rest of his time moving between human towns, all to find a swordsmith who could reforge the iron club in his possession.
What he most wanted to find was actually the demon swordsmith who forged Tessaiga for the Great Dog Demon, Totosai.
He wanted to ask him to forge a demon blade.
Unfortunately, he could not find that top demon swordsmith of the Sengoku era at all.
He did not even have the slightest clue.
Besides, the original story had already shown that under normal circumstances, asking Totosai to forge a demon blade was far from easy.
Even when Sesshomaru had Tokijin forged in the story, he went to Totosai’s disciple Kaijinbo, not Totosai himself.
Even the Great Dog Demon’s son, Sesshomaru, had received that kind of treatment.
A half-demon with no status or background like Kamamara had even less of a chance.
Even if he really managed to find Totosai, he would probably return empty-handed.
By comparison, Totosai’s disciple Kaijinbo was his real target.
However, right now, Kamamara urgently needed a new weapon, so he had no choice but to settle for trying human swordsmiths first while also asking around for news about demon swordsmiths.
After all, as swordsmiths, they should have some connections with one another.
The chances of them knowing something about demon swordsmiths were much higher.
That was why he asked every swordsmith he met.
Today, he had finally obtained a lead.
No longer delaying, Kamamara quickened his steps and left the town, heading in the direction of Akegawa Town.
During this period, Kamamara had already figured out where he was.
He was currently in Sagami Province, just south of Musashi Province, where the plot of Inuyasha would begin.
Akegawa Town was the castle town beneath Akegawa Castle on the border of Sagami Province.
The journey was not exactly short.
Without transportation, it would take quite some time.
But he was not in a hurry.
He could simply walk there slowly.
Judging from the complete Shikon Jewel he had obtained earlier, although he did not know the exact point in time, the plot clearly had not begun yet.
Kikyo had probably not even met Inuyasha.
He still had plenty of time.