Patience… and more patience… still more patience…
If only he'd had the stomach to keep them a few more years—help refine their Breathing, hone their craft—maybe things wouldn't have come to this.
Urokodaki Sakonji, in a striped haori of cloud-white and blue, walked ahead…
Roy kept an easy pace with Tanjiro behind him,
and behind them trailed a line of living souls standing at attention—an eerie sight.
"Slurp—" Makomo seized the chance as Tanjiro passed by, stuck out her little tongue, and licked the rabbit. Naturally, she licked nothing.
"I've never hated being a ghost more than today." Sabito seemed to hear her thought. He gave her a helpless look, then moved his feet to keep pace with Roy.
The boy was taller than his age should allow. With the basket on his back, every step looked pre-measured—advance or retreat, all under control. Clearly… not an ordinary person.
'He's been through brutal training too. In fact, judging from that speed earlier, his physical ability far outstrips mine—he's already near Giyu's level…'
The layman watches the spectacle; the adept sees the method. What Sabito could see, Urokodaki Sakonji would see farther and clearer.
"Master's interested." Makomo hadn't gotten a bite, yet she was cheerful. "Master has company now."
"And we have company too…"
Sabito, standing with the towering mass of Mount Sagiri at his back, gripped his tachi and cautioned, "Don't celebrate yet. They still have to pass the test."
Horse or mule, we'll know when we take it for a walk. The traps buried deep in Mount Sagiri aren't for show. With speed alone… there's no way to pass.
"Creak—" The wooden door opened. Urokodaki set his carving knife on the rack, shook off the snow, and went in.
Roy and Tanjiro stomped their feet, followed him, slipped off the basket, and handed over the rabbits.
A master swordsman isn't necessarily a great cook, but he is always a great knife hand. The half-roasted rabbits fell into his hands; Urokodaki sliced them into even cubes in a few deft cuts, splashed on sake to remove the gamey note, stir-fried with sauce, then set them over greens. In no time, a "beggar's braise of rabbit" had taken shape.
He slid the bedboard aside, set a brazier, and let the pot simmer. Soon it would be ready.
"Sniff… sniff…" Makomo twitched her nose, itching to pounce.
She knelt at Urokodaki's side. Across the brazier sat Roy and Tanjiro.
Sabito and the other souls drifted in through the walls, not pressing close—just dropping where they were. In moments, the cramped hut felt "packed" full, a warmth of another kind.
"Blub-blub…" The clay pot burbled.
With the work done, Urokodaki finally took a proper look at the brothers.
The Kamado siblings shared a touch of resemblance, yet their frames differed starkly.
Perhaps thanks to the "life energy" inherited from Minamino Hirochi, Roy looked sturdier than before; sitting cross-legged by the brazier, he had a stillness like a mountain, deep and immovable.
By contrast, bright-eyed Tanjiro was a bit green.
He mimicked Roy's posture, playing the "little adult."
"He won't do." After a pause, Urokodaki glanced at Tanjiro and spoke bluntly: "Too young to bear the regimen. Go home and build yourself up for three years."
"I'm not little!" At the hint of being split from Roy, Tanjiro bristled and flexed a bicep. "I already helped Nii-san slay a demon!"
What?!
In an instant, every gaze in the room swung onto him—an invisible pressure prickling Tanjiro's scalp, even though he couldn't see Sabito, Makomo, or the rest.
"You've already run into a demon?" Shinsuke had been lazing in a corner; at that, he squawked, swooped to hover over Tanjiro's head, and circled.
A gust of chill air—Tanjiro shivered down his spine.
Feeling Urokodaki's eyes lock onto him, the foolish otouto swallowed hard and forced himself to go on: "I couldn't help with the one in the mountain, but the one we met at the shrine last night—I did my part…"
'Not only did I "do my part," I hesitated so long Nii-san nearly smacked me dead with an axe…' he added silently. His right cheek still throbbed at the memory.
Urokodaki said nothing, held Tanjiro's gaze for a long moment… then turned his head. A whole row of disciples followed his glance to fix on Roy.
Tanjiro had said everything and nothing. What did "couldn't help with the one in the mountain" mean, exactly?
Shinsuke and Fukuda wanted to seize his ears and make him explain. This wasn't a joke. If he wasn't lying, it meant—
the quiet boy across from their master had soloed a demon.
And he'd done it without learning any "Breathing."
"Ooh~ he might be stronger than you, Sabito." Makomo's eyes sparkled, finally willing to drag her gaze from the pot.
'Stronger than even Giyu,' Sabito added inwardly without stinting praise.
Roy patted Tanjiro's back, telling him to relax. He set his hands together and spoke to Urokodaki with simple sincerity: "Demons eat people first; people slay demons after."
"My little brother is straightforward. Forgive him for the rudeness, Urokodaki-sensei."
Urokodaki stayed silent, studying Roy again. From a few words, he'd already sensed how unlike Sabito or Giyu this child was…
Too calm… too composed… too patient. A maturity wildly at odds with his age—startling to see.
"Though I don't want to admit it…"
"But I must say, you're very gifted."
"Maybe you really could kill it…"
After a long sigh, Urokodaki spoke.
Roy flicked a glance at Sabito; he knew perfectly well what "it" was—
the Hand Demon penned in Mount Fujikasane, the one that had eaten Sabito, Makomo, and every disciple of Urokodaki Sakonji.
That Hand Demon—Urokodaki's captive, and the root of his years of despair.
Urokodaki stirred the rabbit with a wooden spoon so it wouldn't catch.
He said to himself, "You have patience and talent, and you know when to advance or yield. Any other cultivator would have taken you in already. But I'm different…"
He set the lid, then lifted his head and met Roy's eyes, probing for any lie that might slip past him.
"Tell me your resolve. What sustains your choice to slay demons…"
Roy smiled.
The youth met his gaze without flinching and said, airy and frank: "Honestly, that's a dumb question…"
"If a demon chooses to eat people, it's already chosen death."
"Killing it is only right."
"Ooh~" Makomo's eyes danced; she tilted her head toward Sabito. "This one's even cooler than you…"
Sabito's pink hair fell over his shoulders; behind the fox mask, his eyes flared—two little bonfires, blazing bright!