Why does the world show a health bar? !

Taking a rare vacation, Li Mo quickly detached himself from his work mindset. The responsibilities of a "Pillar" were heavy, especially during this time when the "Nine Pillars" were short-handed. The workload was immense.

From Li Mo's limited memory, over 300 days of the year were spent running around, dealing with demons that regular Demon Slayers couldn't handle. Honestly, it was exhausting. Demons that could kill swordsmen and required a "Pillar" to handle rarely stayed in one place. He often had to travel far and wide.

Despite all this running around, his attribute points hadn't increased on their own. In fact, Li Mo felt his stamina had improved somewhat.

—Is the increase in attribute points tied to life level progression? Does the required growth increase exponentially? That's how Li Mo understood it.

The difference between 18 points in strength and 17 points felt like a multiple.

"Stupid bird, I remember Makomo should be at Urokodaki-sensei's place during this time, right?"

Demon Slayers weren't slaves to a 24/7 work schedule with no rest. While the job often involved irregular hours, at least the rewards were substantial. Li Mo had seen some Demon Slayers motivated primarily by the monetary rewards for killing demons. Vacations were, of course, a must, even for the "Pillars."

Li Mo usually relied on his Kasugai Crow to remind him of his breaks. Over the past year, he had been busy leveling up by slaying demons. On his way to targets, he would often kill demons meant for regular swordsmen, all in the name of gaining experience.

Because of this, Li Mo's reputation among the Demon Slayers had grown significantly.

The surroundings of Mount Sagiri remained unchanged. Arriving early, Li Mo decided to hunt on the mountain. Perhaps because he hadn't been there in a year, the number of prey seemed to have increased. With little effort, he caught a fair number of wild chickens.

"Is Urokodaki-sensei home? I came to visit."

Urokodaki Sakonji's cabin, near the training grounds, looked the same as always. Li Mo called out before entering, but he was surprised to find two people inside—not Makomo and Urokodaki Sakonji, but two women.

One of them was Makomo, who said, "Ah, junior brother is back? Urokodaki-sensei is out. If you're looking for him, you'll have to wait a few days."

Li Mo didn't respond immediately. His attention was focused on the other girl—or rather, young woman, as she was taller than Makomo.

"Why is Kanaho-san here? I'm curious!"

Kocho Kanae, the daughter of a doctor, was one of the first victims Li Mo had saved. With the help of Himejima Gyomei, she and her sister had been introduced to different trainers for their respective training. Now, both sisters had passed the "Final Selection" and become Demon Slayers.

Li Mo casually found a spot to sit, right between Kocho Kanae and Makomo. He looked at Kanae with curiosity.

"Makomo and I completed a mission together and became friends. Since neither of us had any tasks, we decided to come here," Makomo explained.

Kocho Kanae added, "That's right. But Makomo-chan doesn't know this—after completing the mission, I went to see the leader first before accepting Makomo-chan's invitation to come here."

"Oh? Kanae-san met the leader? What kind of person is he?" Makomo asked.

"He's a very gentle person. Talking to him feels like soaking in a hot spring."

Kocho Kanae and Makomo began chatting, completely ignoring Li Mo. He scratched the back of his head, unfazed, and went to prepare the game he had hunted.

Urokodaki-sensei wasn't home, but Makomo was. The purpose of his hunt was to have Makomo cook a meal.

Processing the game was done outside. First, he boiled water to pluck the feathers and clean the meat. Li Mo was quite skilled at this, and soon the prey was unrecognizable.

"What are you doing here?" Kocho Shinobu approached Li Mo, looking down at him as he handled the chicken.

"Preparing tonight's meal. Oh, Shinobu-chan, you're here too? Let me see if you've grown any taller."

"I don't know why, but hearing you say that makes me very annoyed," Shinobu said. "It's been two years, and you're still the same as before?"

Li Mo washed his blood-stained hands and stood up to examine the young girl in front of him. Shinobu had clearly grown taller over the past two years, but not by much. She was still...

Before he could finish his thought, Shinobu kicked his leg. "Hey, are you thinking something weird?"

"To put it diplomatically, after two years, Shinobu-chan, your beauty remains unchanged."

Shinobu didn't seem to care. She kept her hair short, dressed in a boyish manner, and acted as masculine as possible. Beauty? Was that word even appropriate for her?

Her sister was the one who truly embodied "beauty."

"Diplomatically? I won't ask what that means. Is there an undiplomatic version?"

"Undiplomatically, Shinobu-chan, after two years, you still haven't grown much... Wait, don't draw your sword! I meant height! Height!"

Shinobu unsheathed her Nichirin Blade and swung at Li Mo, who effortlessly dodged, though his face showed a feigned look of panic.

How fake.

Shinobu immediately saw through Li Mo's act and sheathed her sword. "Your terrible acting isn't fooling anyone. I can't even hit you, so why are you pretending to be scared? By the way, why are you back? No missions?"

"Same as you and your sister—on vacation."

What a coincidence that everyone's vacation lined up this time. Just as I'm thinking of leaving, everyone gathers. Too bad Urokodaki-sensei isn't here.

Later, Li Mo learned from Makomo that Urokodaki-sensei had gone out to find new students to train. After Tomioka Giyu and Sabito passed the "Final Selection," he no longer had any students.

Trainers and swordsmen alike were always busy.

With the elder absent, the younger ones—even with a six-year age gap—could chat freely.

"Li-san, we'll be seeing each other more often from now on. The leader has tasked me with establishing a medical research clinic. The Butterfly Estate is being rebuilt," Kocho Kanae mentioned during dinner.

Li Mo asked, "What will the research focus on?"

"Hmm... mainly demons. For example, how to turn demons back into humans," Kanae replied with a smile.

Shinobu added, "I'll also be at the Butterfly Estate, researching poisons that can quickly kill demons."

So that's how the Butterfly Estate came to be? Li Mo thought for a moment. "Starting from scratch will be tough, won't it?"

"Not really. We're taking over someone else's research. It's just that the research has been stalled for many years. The leader also said I should collaborate with a professional," Kanae explained.

A professional? Could it be Tamayo? Possibly. Li Mo had been collaborating with Tamayo for a year. Involving Kocho Kanae and Shinobu made sense—their father was a doctor and pharmacist, and both sisters had received extensive education in biology. They were rare talents.

Kanae set down her bowl and chopsticks, resting her chin on her hands. Under the glow of the firelight, she looked at Li Mo gently. "Li-san, what about you? What will you do next?"

"Probably head to the Tokyo area. The Flame Pillar's wife isn't doing well, so he's going back home," Li Mo said, eating the meat from the pot.

He had learned about this a week or two ago. Once his vacation ended, he would rush to Tokyo to take over the Flame Pillar's duties.

Makomo tapped her bowl, expressionless. "It's dinnertime. Let's not discuss this."

Kanae blinked, as if she had discovered something interesting, and said cheerfully, "Oh? Is Makomo-chan getting jealous?"

"What are you talking about, Kanae-san?"

"Am I wrong?"

Even though Makomo was slightly older than Kanae, Kanae acted more like an older sister, completely dominating the conversation.

Shinobu muttered softly beside them, "Really, my sister is at it again."

Li Mo ate his meat, watching Kanae with curiosity.

She's not a pink-haired character, is she? Why does she seem a bit mischievous?