Chương 85: Divine Blades and a Swordsmith

Just as Hotaru Haganezuka was about to go on a rampage, Cael suddenly drew the two Hestia Blades at his waist.

"Aaaaaah! You cannot kill him, Captain! Mr. Haganezuka does not mean any harm!" Tanjiro was startled and quickly hugged Cael's arm.

"Was I wrong to say the sword he forged was bad? In front of these two swords, any ordinary blade is trash. Open your eyes and look." Cael raised the Hestia Blades with perfect confidence. His voice was even louder than Haganezuka's. The furious Haganezuka froze mid-charge as he saw the swords in the hands of the boy who had broken his blade. His eyes bulged. Such sharp edges. His skin hurt just from looking at them. And that intense sword pressure. That light. Was this what a true legendary blade felt like?

"Th-this... this sword... this sword..." Haganezuka scrambled to Cael like an obsessive craftsman who had seen a treasure and reached out to touch it.

"Divine swords! Divine swords! No human could forge swords like these! This feeling of spirit within the blades. Do they have sword spirits from myth?"

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

"Well? Compared with them, your sword was trash, wasn't it?" Cael puffed out his chest and looked down at Haganezuka confidently. These were divine weapons forged by the god of smithing. They might not have sword spirits, but they recognized only Cael as their master, and no one else could use them. Ordinary humans could not fully understand what kind of swords they were. It was like a Lv. 1 small fry looking at a Lv. 10 or even Lv. 100 opponent.

Either way, all they could tell was that it was far stronger than them.

"It was... trash." Haganezuka deflated and lowered his head, then suddenly lifted it again. His eyes blazed like searchlights.

"Brat, lend me those swords so I can study them for a few days. No, a few years. I will return them after a few years." As he spoke, his hands reached for the Hestia Blades.

"Dream on." Cael pulled the swords back with lightning speed before Haganezuka could pounce. His smile curved upward. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Do you want to forge swords like these?"

"Of course. What will it take for you to lend them to me?"

"Lending them is impossible. But I can let you see more swords like these. Maybe then you can forge something similar. Interested?" Cael smiled and patted Haganezuka on the shoulder. By Orario standards, the swordsmiths of the Demon Slayer world might not even count as third-tier smiths, but in this world they could forge color-changing swords that killed demons. Their potential was undoubtedly strong. If all these swordsmiths joined Hestia Familia, perhaps one day they could produce a third-tier master smith.

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Captain, are you trying to have Mr. Haganezuka join Hestia Familia?" Tanjiro asked.

"What is Hestia Familia? Explain carefully. Are there many incredible smiths there?" Haganezuka immediately became energetic and pressed for answers.

"Lucky Tanjiro, explain it to him," Cael said with a grin.

"You scared me. I thought Captain was going to attack Mr. Haganezuka." Tanjiro breathed out in relief, then explained everything to the swordsmith in his fanatical state.

"So, a lot happened..."

"Aaaaaah! Gods! Falna! So that is it. No wonder, no wonder. Take me there. Right now. Immediately. Take me to meet the god! I need Falna this instant!" Haganezuka grabbed Tanjiro's shoulders and shook him wildly, steam puffing from his nostrils.

"Mr. Haganezuka, you are not surprised at all?" Tanjiro's eyes spun from the shaking.

"Surprised? After seeing those swords, would any swordsmith believe they had nothing to do with a god? Even the famous swordsmiths of the Warring States period could never forge divine weapons like those." Haganezuka stared at the two sheaths at Cael's waist, breathing hard through his nostrils and twitching his fingers as if he wanted to touch them. Tanjiro looked at him and wiped sweat from his forehead.

"Hurry and take me there, Captain."

"You started calling me Captain very smoothly. You really are obsessed with forging good swords." Cael broke into a sweat.

"Swords are my life. Forging swords is my life. Improving my craft is how I live. Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Haganezuka stamped his feet in fanatic impatience.

"Do not rush. You can bring the other swordsmiths too, right?"

"Of course. They will definitely be willing."

"Then we need to wait until the Hashira can go together. For now, we are going to discuss something with the Sound Hashira."

"Lucky Tanjiro, lead the way."

"Eh? My family name is Kamado, Captain."

"I know. Where I come from, lucky people are sometimes compared to koi. So Lucky Tanjiro is perfectly reasonable. Lead the way." Cael patted Tanjiro's shoulder.

"Is it because of my Skill that he gave me that nickname?" They arrived at a building surrounded by wooden posts. The posts were filled with countless small holes, with a few kunai still stuck in them. In the sitting room, four people knelt on cushions. Cael held a warm cup of tea and slowly explained his plan.

"That is my plan. As long as we reveal that Nezuko is not afraid of sunlight, Muzan Kibutsuji will definitely show an opening while trying to take her from us. We might even lure out some Upper Ranks and eliminate them."

"Honestly, with my current strength, I can make any demon bleed flamboyantly. But capturing one alive is much harder than killing one. If a demon insists on running, I am not absolutely confident I can hold it," Tengen said with his arms folded.

"What if Shinobu's poison lets us capture one alive?" Shinobu had the Pharmacology Master and Toxicology Master Skills. Her wisteria extract could be strengthened beyond its original level. Originally, even an Upper Rank injected with wisteria extract would have its strength greatly reduced and might be unable to fight properly. Then what about a super-enhanced version?