Until you break the last sword (ENG) (BokuAka)

17. Flame

The morning passed without the slightest worry, as it turned out that the tolerance of the elderly guys' bodies to alcohol is quite good, because they did not show even the shadow of a bad feeling. Unfortunately, the time of our carefree and extremely pleasant rest was over and we had to leave Sumi again. As we decided, the next time we will return here after defeating the enemy lurking in the forest. We can't drag this mission out indefinitely, after all, we don't know when he will set out again for a new victim.
It was already midday, we did not want to set off in the morning, after all, we had already thoroughly checked the area yesterday, and as we all know, rest before a fight is the most important thing.

- Today you will finally see how great Akaashi's swords are! - Suddenly Bokuto threw up, thus breaking the momentary silence that had fallen between us. He made me uncomfortable, I still don't consider my work to be particularly good. But they are not bad either, since they do not fall apart in the hands of the white-haired man as they did before, and I want to forge him a weapon that will not crumble so quickly.

- Let's see what you've got there. - With a quick movement, the black-haired man took the sword the boy had hanging at his belt. He took it out of its scabbard to then carefully examine it from all sides. - It's fine, but I think I prefer mine. - He commented and put the katana back in its former place.

- Akaashi you heard! You're great! - Golden-eyed patted me firmly on the back, he was visibly pleased with how his friend had assessed my sword. I don't understand where his reason for happiness came from, but if another hunter matched it, maybe I could seriously increase my clientele one day? Who knows, I'd be happy to do so as long as my only client allows me to do so. After all, I am his private blacksmith, he may not want my work to end up in the hands of others.

- Kuroo, like you, comes from a blacksmith family. - Kenma started as usual speaking in his usual quiet voice, the other two men went ahead and we had a chance to talk. - Only that he did not want to accept the fate they wanted to heap on him and rebelled by becoming a demon slayer, if you saw what a stir he caused in the town when he took me with him. - The whole outline of the story caused me no small amount of surprise, is that why Bokuto finds his opinion on the sword I forged so important? Also, he's had it instilled in him from childhood how to make weapons? - Except that, he hates to mention situations from back then so if anything, I didn't tell you anything. - His explanation really gave me a lot, I should probably not look at myself with such a critical eye and appreciate the blades I create.

- We're here guys, just don't stray too far or I'll kick you if you get lost! - Communicated to us Tetsurou, about whom we just did not talk at all, we accelerated our pace a little to be sure not to be left behind. After all, we know perfectly well that he would seriously be able to hit us, and this isn't just a rip-off.

- I understand, it will stay between us. - I answered him in a whisper, slightly bending my lips into a smile. The part of the forest we had just entered I already knew quite well and it was no different from the rest of the forest, the same density of trees, the lack of any plant species unique to this place and only one factor that distinguished this zone, and that was of course the numerous traces of battle. Broken branches, gouged trees and the most obvious one, the traces of blood of our fallen collaborators, or perhaps of the demon that haunts this place? I have no idea, after all, even if we meet him, he won't even have a single scratch after these encounters. Their unearthly fast regeneration is another factor making them so different from humans and also adding to the difficulty of defeating them.
We chose a place to spread out our belongings; after all, we don't want to carry all our luggage during a fight. Kenma and I squatted down on the stump of a tree that had been cut down not long ago and leaned against each other's backs. A suitable place to set up turned out to be a tiny field in the middle of the forest, we were surrounded by trees and it was the only thing we could see when we looked around. I looked up, at least a piece of sky is visible and there isn't that slowly fading green everywhere. I closed my eyes and breathed quietly, this is only the beginning and I would already be eager to get back. I hope that everything will go our way and that no one will suffer any serious injuries during this duel, but we will find out after the fight or during it.