Chapter 97: Breaking 100 Physique × Roy's Evaluation
Thanks to "Saint Pariston" opening the way, Roy chartered the entire airship, all three decks, with only a single passenger.
It took about half an hour to sweep the vessel and confirm it was safe. Roy then sat cross-legged on a sofa in the VIP lounge to allocate points, while Gotoh stood guard at the door.
With a casual slap, he killed a fly that tried to slip into the room.
Crack.
The growth-limiting shackles snapped, and the familiar, ripping pain flooded his body. This time, Roy didn't go slow. He shoved all-in.
Fifty points of Life Energy burned at once. He grunted, nearly blacking out, and kept himself conscious by biting his tongue. He witnessed cells accelerate their division, bones thicken and lengthen, muscle fibers tear and reknit, hair shed and regrow. Then came a heavy thump.
His heart jolted.
Before the naked eye, a larger Roy sloughed off the old shell and stepped into a new body.
[Notice: Physique +50]
[Name: Roy Zoldyck]
[Physique: 75.7 → 125.7 (Note: 1 = ordinary human)]
[Manifest Nen Capacity: D− (170/10000) → D+ (200/10000) (Note: scaling uses Chimera Ants as reference… Elite Squad Leader = D, Squadron Leader = C, Royal Guard = B, Ant King = B+)]
[Potential Nen Capacity: D (236/10000) → D+ (8431/10000) (Note: scaling uses Chimera Ants as reference)]
Pop… pop… pop… Roy rolled his neck and stretched into the new frame. Joints crackled like roasting beans, drawing Gotoh's attention.
"Young Master, are you alright?" the butler asked through the door.
"I'm fine."
"Ah." The door slid open to Roy's sharp, heroic face.
Gotoh gave him one look and blinked. In a few seconds, the young master seemed taller and broader. The tracksuit he wore would need replacing again; the seams strained over muscles that looked ready to burst free.
"Let's eat," Roy said. His stomach rumbled like thunder. He needed fuel.
He pretended not to see the surprise in Gotoh's eyes and headed to the dining area.
The young butler fell in a step behind, watching the sturdy back before him, and for a moment, it was like seeing Silva again.
He thought, Young Master… you're growing too fast, far too fast.
Demon Slayer world.
The New Year had passed by more than a month.
Roy's sword work had stuck at fifty-nine thousand cuts and had not advanced for ten straight days.
The boy never complained, but everyone, from Sakonji Urokodaki to Makoto and Sabito, could clearly sense it. Eiichiro had reached the limit possible for his age.
Late at night, the boy slept soundly on the heated bed.
In a shadowed corner of the wooden house, an oil lamp flicked on. Beneath it sat an old man in a tengu mask, writing a recommendation letter.
As a former Water Hashira and Water Breathing instructor, Sakonji Urokodaki made a point of notifying Corps leadership—namely Kagaya Ubuyashiki—whenever he discovered exceptional talent.
Demons were strong in this era. One more prodigy meant one more sliver of hope.
Sakonji weighed his words carefully as he wrote. Beside him, a cool wind swirled ink over the stone as Makoto helped grind it. Further back, Sabito leaned against a pillar, observing from the side. As for Shinsuke and Fukuda, after formally reconnecting with Urokodaki, they had grown more disciplined, often lounging on the beams watching the room and rarely leaving the house.
"Hey, what rank do you think Master will give Eiichiro?" Makoto poked her head forward, curious as she watched Sakonji write. She noticed him pause at the end where he needed to assign Eiichiro's grade, and turned to ask Sabito.
Sabito, the fox-masked boy, shut his eyes, thinking. If judged by the Demon Slayer Corps rank ladder from lowest to highest — Mizunoto, Mizunoe, Kanoto, Kanoe, Tsuchinoto, Tsuchinoe, Hinoto, Hinoe, Kinoto, Kinoe — then…
"I'd place Eiichiro at Kinoe," he said after a careful assessment. "Below that, Slayers tend to have progressively less combat capability against demons, with the lower ranks often handling reconnaissance and logistics. By Hinoto and Hinoe, they can reliably support a Hashira in battle and contribute meaningfully. A Kinoe can usually solo ordinary demons—though the Twelve Kizuki are another matter entirely. As for Eiichiro…"
Sabito opened his eyes to the boy sleeping on the warm bed and said gravely, "At my peak, if I met him, I would be killed instantly. By strength and potential, he could solo the Lower Moons, Giyu mentioned. He should be graded Kinoe and treated as a Hashira candidate. There is no issue."
"Master, Sabito says Eiichiro is Kinoe," Makoto said the moment she finished. The breeze seized the ink stick and scribbled a tiny line of text on the table.
Makoto stuck out her tongue at Sabito and promptly sold him out. The fox boy smiled helplessly. He had no intention of taking it back. What he decided would not change.
Sakonji smiled and turned slightly. He knew Makoto was there. "And you?" he asked kindly. "Do you think we should mark Eiichiro as Kinoe?"
"I will do whatever Master says," Makoto answered without a thought, batting the question back. Another tiny line of text rippled onto the tabletop, ending with a playful little tongue-out face.
"Alright." Sakonji beamed and nodded after a moment. "Then Kinoe it is."
He dipped his brush and wrote a large Kinoe on the recommendation, then annotated it clearly as a Hashira candidate.
At the end, he thought for a moment more, then penned an appraisal. "Let the Lord be informed: if any are fated to slay Muzan Kibutsuji in the future, it will be my disciple — Eiichiro Kamado."
"In haste, leaving much unsaid."
"Night of the Twelfth of March, Sakonji Urokodaki."
He lifted the brush. The old master raised the page and dried the ink by lamplight. That one line of appraisal shone plainly in the glow.
Sabito and Makoto met each other's eyes with speechless faces, the same thought flashing through their minds. They had still underestimated Eiichiro's place in their master's heart.
The girl stiffly asked, "What rank is Brother Giyu?"
Sabito was silent for a beat, then uttered, "Hinoe."
A spring gust rattled the paper windows on Mount Sagiri, where the snow had not yet fully melted. The room sank into a long quiet.
Sakonji finished the letter, slid the window open, and let a crow in. He bundled Roy's daily training logs with the letter into a small bamboo tube, tied it to the bird's leg, and released it.
Caw. The crow dropped a black feather, then winged into the forest.
A few days later, it reached the Ubuyashiki estate and circled above.
It was midday. In the main hall, a Pillar Meeting was underway about a confirmed sighting of Upper Rank Three, Akaza, among the Twelve Kizuki. They were discussing a plan to hunt him when a crow's cry rang out.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki extended his arm. The crow perched upon it. He opened the tube and read. At the end, his pupils trembled, and he cast an unreadable glance at the kneeling Giyu Tomioka.
He paused the meeting.
The nine Hashira turned their eyes. The Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, spoke first. "My lord, what has happened?"
Kagaya fell quiet for a long moment and gestured for Giyu to step forward. "Giyu, read it to everyone."
"Yes."