"Whoa—"
"What a huge boar!"
"Big Brother, did you two poke a whole boar's nest?"
"Shut it, Shigeru. Father said boars are beasts. If you see one, avoid it... Big Brother, this one must've run into a tree and died, right?"
Run into a tree? Roy only knew boars liked to grind their tusks on trunks.
He chuckled, ruffled Takeo's hair, and praised him. "My Takeo sure is clever."
Takeo puffed out his little chest. "See? I told you."
That earned him a chorus of eye-rolls.
"Sure, sure, sure. You're the clever one..." General Nezuko personally hauled in her little brother; poor Takeo went from smug to ear-pinched in one second.
Mother Kie smiled and shook her head, stepped up to help Roy shrug off the basket, and asked, concerned, "No injuries?"
Roy shook his head, passed her the roe deer, then brushed snow from his clothes alongside Tanjiro and climbed to the veranda.
In one corner a brazier glowed. A pot of hot tea warmed on top. Wrapped in a thick quilt, Tanjuro sat beside it; seeing Roy come up, he beckoned.
Roy sat by his side.
A cup of hot tea passed over. Tanjuro said gently, "Good work, En'ichiro."
"It was fine. Tanjiro helped. Didn't take much effort." Roy sipped, giving half the "credit" to Tanjiro.
Tanjiro, fussing with baby Hanako in Grandma's arms, scratched his head, embarrassed. "I didn't do much. Brother handled everything."
The brothers were of one mind. Neither mentioned the demon, so as not to frighten the younger ones.
But Tanjuro's mind was sharp.
He knew Tanjiro wouldn't lie.
Which meant the roe deer, the pheasants, and that boar as tall as a man had all been taken down by Roy.
A child barely in his teens, hunting a boar alone...
Tanjuro gave Roy a long look. The boy drank tea with a calm face, free hand teasing the baby that Tanjiro had brought over, stealing a rare moment of peace.
It didn't last. Kie soon called them into the kitchen.
"En'ichiro, Tanjiro, come help with the boar."
"Coming!" The brothers hopped off the veranda, two little shadows trotting behind.
"I wanna watch the butchering!" Takeo and Shigeru whooped.
Their short legs churned faster than anyone's. In a blink, only Tanjuro, Nezuko, Grandma, and Hanako remained in the main room.
"Ah-ba... ah-ba..." Hanako still couldn't speak, forever sucking her fingers like milk.
Nezuko kept patiently pulling the tiny hand away.
Tanjuro warmed his palms over the brazier, now and then staring at the snow drifting through the courtyard, lost in thought.
Before long, the moon climbed high. Rich meat aroma swelled and filled the yard.
Dinner—meat, for once.
No one had time to talk. Bowls in hand, they shoveled it in, racing the seconds.
In the end, everyone except Roy stuffed themselves round-bellied.
Even Tanjuro, rarely, had a second bowl.
"Oww—I'm bursting. Takeo, rub my tummy," Shigeru flopped on his back and "howled," with Takeo sprawled the same way beside him.
Kie wanted to scold them about manners, but couldn't bring herself to. She only shot them a glare and told Roy and Tanjiro to put the pair to bed.
Nezuko stepped in to help Kie clear the dishes.
Roy nodded, grabbed one boy in each hand, and carried them toward the side room next to the main house.
Night deepened.
Takeo and Shigeru fussed a bit, then sank into sleep.
Tanjiro, after a day more exciting than his whole childhood to date, was spent; rubbing his eyes, he wished Roy good night and dove under the covers.
"Pfuh—"
The oil lamp blew out. In the dark, Roy alone stayed awake.
He was waiting—for a silhouette. It came.
Soon a familiar cough sounded outside. Tanjuro's shadow formed, faint, on the papered window.
He stood silently by the wall for a while, made no move to enter, and at length, quilt over his shoulders, started to leave.
Roy called out.
"Father, you have nothing you want to ask?"
A boar as tall as a man isn't prey an ordinary boy can handle... Roy could wrap the truth in a lie for Tanjiro, call them skills learned in a "dream."
But he wasn't confident he could do the same to Tanjuro.
After all, behind that frail look, he alone in this world had awakened the "Transparent World" without being a swordsman.
It was his teaching that let Tanjiro, three years later while pursuing Upper Rank Four, first step into its realm.
Hearing Roy, Tanjuro's figure clearly paused. He was silent a long time, then smiled slightly. "Nothing."
This time it was Roy's turn to be silent. If he still had a sliver of hope just now that Tanjuro might not sense anything amiss, that hope was gone.
He groped for words, thought up a dozen plans, then threw them all out.
Fine—tell it straight. "You want to know how I hunted a boar alone. I'll tell—"
"I don't."
A quiet but firm voice cut him off.
"I don't want to know," Tanjuro repeated.
Silence fell again.
Through the paper you could make out a thin man standing in wind and snow, sun-earrings swaying, as if a gust might topple him.
At length his tone turned unshakably firm. "En'ichiro, I know you're my child."
"You love your grandmother, your mother, your younger brothers and sister."
"That's enough."
"As for your secret..."
Tanjuro lifted the window and smiled at him. "Tell your father when you want to."
Roy's eyes heated. He meant to say something.
Kie appeared from somewhere, slapped Tanjuro's hand off the window frame, pinched his ear, and dragged him away.
Through the wall Roy could just make out her chiding—blaming him for making trouble and letting the boy catch cold.
A gust whistled. 'Brrr.' It was cold indeed.
Roy hunched his neck, burrowed under the quilt, left only his eyes out, and stared at the dark beam overhead, dazed.
Sometimes goodness feels unreal.
If he could stare like this until dawn, that would be fine. At least—
He wouldn't have to wake to the other house—vast, with hundreds of servants, where a single order could send a butler to his death—
Yet with a cold father, a deranged mother, a twisted brother, and a grandfather who killed every day.
'So why am I here?'
'And why must I leave?'
Roy asked himself again and again—
At last he narrowed his eyes and found his answer.
'Right—become strong enough to kick that house over with one strike.'
'Become the true master.'