"After-death Nen," as the name implies, is Nen that only activates after the user dies.
For example, the Kakin Empire's Second Prince, Camilla Hui Guo Rou, has the ability "The Cat Who Lived a Million Times"—it passively triggers upon Camilla's death, kills her murderer, and revives her.
Likewise, after Neferpitou was killed by a "Dark" Gon, they used after-death Nen—through "Doctor Blythe"—to keep manipulating their headless body to attack Gon until that body was utterly destroyed. There's also the after-death Nen Chrollo collected, "The Sun and Moon," and Hisoka's self-resuscitation gambit…
In short, after-death Nen is versatile: it can save the user, or exact retaliation. It tends to be intense, obsessive, and powered by fierce will.
But the person before them clearly wasn't that.
First, Minamino Hirotomo was just an itinerant peddler, not a Nen user.
Second, this is the Demon Slayer world inside Roy's cognitive ocean; as a native "local," without Roy's guidance he couldn't access Nen or do anything beyond his world's rules.
That leaves one possibility—he's a lingering soul.
A soul is the immaterial, supernatural component of a human being—the concrete manifestation of mind and will, apart from the body. You could tell because when Tanjiro tried to help Minamino up, his hands passed right through him.
A demon… just a different kind of demon, Tanjiro thought, staring at his hands phasing through Minamino. Having met demons like Sato Takeichiro and Dohihara—monsters with solid bodies—he didn't even know what to call this.
Minamino himself was cheerful—or perhaps, as a peddler who'd roamed far and wide, he'd long since learned to speak "human" to humans and "ghost" to ghosts. Smiling, he told Tanjiro, "Benefactor, don't let it trouble you. Killed by a demon as I was, to see the world one last time is blessing enough."
Just so: his remnant soul was fragile. A single cold gust made it visibly thinner.
"Nii-san, he's… he's fading!" Tanjiro panicked. He'd seen too many bones tonight; he couldn't bear to watch another "life" wither.
But was Minamino still a living life?
Roy considered… then quietly coated his right hand with Nen and, as Tanjiro had, reached to help Minamino.
To their surprise, Roy did lift him up. For a moment, Minamino seemed to gain "substance"—impossible as it was.
Startled, Minamino bowed again. "Thank you for the aid, benefactor. I feel much steadier now."
He truly did.
"Nii-san, he's really gotten a lot more solid…" Tanjiro circled him, wide-eyed.
Roy said nothing, but he could feel his aura being consumed. In other words, Minamino could only persist—briefly—so long as Roy kept supplying Nen. Once Roy withdrew that "feed," Minamino would dissipate.
At bottom, Nen stands on the six categories and unites vital essence, energy, and spirit—a reflection of emotion, will, temperament—all the "intangibles" that make a person… well, a person.
Put simply: it's an "I-think-therefore-it-works" power backed by stats and mechanics.
So… is it because of Nen that I can touch a soul?
Roy had the thought—and his panel flashed twice and popped up a new entry beneath "Nen Morphology":
Nen Property (Nature) Change!
He blinked. Was this a reward for slaying the demon? He remembered the book Great-Grandfather gave him mentioning "property change," but it hadn't taught how.
Perhaps Maha judged that, with Roy's nodes only just opened and his Nen undeveloped, it was too soon to dive into "property change," and so he'd given only half the content.
What Maha couldn't know was that Roy's Nen is the Door of Cognition—and from the very first dream he's been continuously exploring and developing it.
So… should he ask Maha for the second half when he returns?
After a few seconds' thought, Roy decided: no rush. One bite at a time, one step at a time. For now, raise his stats and master Sun Breathing—especially how to maintain Total Concentration.
A rush of thoughts passed; Roy came back to himself and told Minamino plainly, "Don't thank me yet—you will still disappear."
Minamino wasn't a Nen user, his body was gone, and after-death Nen couldn't resurrect him. The remnant soul existed only because Roy was feeding it Nen—and Roy couldn't sustain a stranger forever.
"I said seeing this world again was already fortune enough," Minamino answered with a gentle smile.
"But if you fade… that's truly the end," Tanjiro blurted, anxious at Minamino's calm.
"Quiet," Roy snapped, then regarded Minamino again—truthfully impressed that the man could face this end so serenely. "You are an optimist, sir.
"If you have unfinished business, say it. If it's within our power, we brothers will do our best."
"Nii-san is right. I'll help too," Tanjiro added—then clapped a hand over his mouth, peeking at Roy from the corner of his eye. Thankfully, Roy let it pass.
"There is one matter," Minamino said, gazing toward Mt. Sagiri, its slopes veiled in white. His knees softened, and he knelt again at Roy's feet. "I beg you, benefactor—take me to see my little daughter once. Then… I'll be content."
"How old is your daughter?"
"A year and a half."
"Can she say 'Papa'?"
"She can." Minamino's face lit. "She not only says 'Papa,' she's learned to walk. Every time I come home she climbs on my belly—'Papa, Papa'—drooling all over my face.
"I thought that when she's a bit older, I'd braid her hair in pretty little styles, take her to Tokyo to try the famous rice-cakes… and stop by the Mutō children's shop to buy her a few cute dresses—watch her preen in the mirror…"
He rambled on and on; he seemed to have endless things to say.
Roy didn't interrupt, just listened in silence—while beside him Tanjiro's tears flowed freely.
Dohihara's dying line—"This damned world!"—suddenly surfaced in Tanjiro's mind. The boy couldn't help touching the axe at his waist; the blade caught the moonlight and flashed a cold glint.
~~~
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