I am not, by any means, a virtuous person.
Looking back at my past life, the only good deed I can recall was helping an elderly man push a cart full of scrap paper. Beyond that, I was too busy struggling for my own livelihood to even consider charity.
Indeed,
This is nothing more than venting my rage.
Moon Breathing, Second Form: Pearl Flower Moongazing
With a continuous sweep of the blade, I cleave through the sprawling thicket of hair encroaching from every direction.
"It is useless! Useless! You cannot kill me with something like that!"
Our dear Demon sensei once said that they cannot be killed unless by sunlight or a specific type of weapon... correct?
That means no matter what I do to this wretch right now, it will not die.
In that case, this is perfect...
A training dummy!
This is a magnificent opportunity to hone my swordsmanship, is it not?
Aside from my bouts with Uzui, I have never engaged in a life-or-death duel with a real blade.
After all, Yoriichi is far too terrifying to spar with seriously.
Moon Breathing, Third Form: Loathsome Moon, Chains
Closing the distance, I unleash two rapid slashes that carve across the Demon‘s face.
The Demon sneers even as its flesh begins to knit back together.
But I could do this all day.
Do not underestimate the stamina I forged by running through the mountains while maintaining Total Concentration Breathing.
Moon Breathing, Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Incessant
I unleash a barrage of vertical crescents, mercilessly shredding the Demon‘s body into ribbons.
The Demon's body regenerates once more.
However, perhaps because I severed so many parts at once, its recovery has become sluggish.
After hacking it apart a few more times, I began to see its limits. This creature‘s regeneration is not particularly fast.
Unless it is simply reattaching its head or limbs like it did earlier, it cannot heal instantaneously. It requires time.
Furthermore, if multiple points are severed simultaneously, the delay grows even longer.
Oho.
First Form, Second Form, Third Form, Fourth Form, Fifth Form, and Sixth Form.
I cycle through all six forms of Moon Breathing I have developed.
The Demon continues to regenerate defiantly, but it matters not.
I will simply keep cutting.
In fact, the repetitive strikes allowed me to spot the flaws in my own technique, giving me the chance to correct them. It was actually beneficial.
Perhaps I should take this chance to create a new Form?
The Demon's attempts to evade were flashy but predictable, far easier to track than Uzui‘s refined movements.
One. Three. Seven. Five. Four. Ten.
Besides, I had already deciphered this creature‘s rhythm through the Score within the first ten minutes.
Though, after an hour of relentless hacking, the edge of my Nichirin Blade had become completely chipped and dulled.
Whoosh!
"Perfect timing."
Uzui tosses me a fresh sword.
And so, the slaughter resumes.
After nearly two hours, the Demon finally seemed to sense that something was wrong.
It began to shrink back, its movements hesitant.
Where do you think you‘re going, my punching bag?
We haven‘t finished playing yet.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
Uzui cuts off the escape route by detonating several explosive firecrackers.
I take the opportunity to lop off the Demon‘s head one more time, then use my two dull, broken swords to pin its severed torso firmly to a tree.
Its struggling is grotesque, but I need it to stay still for a moment.
The Demon panicked, trying to widen the distance between us.
"The distance between us is meaningless. Look. Even now, if I so choose..."
Schlick!
My blade reaches your head easily, doesn‘t it?
"Gyaaaaaaagh!!! Help me! Save me!"
The mountain woods gradually lightened as the dawn began to break.
The sword piercing the Demon‘s face remained embedded in the tree.
"Gieeeeeee..."
With the arrival of the morning twilight, the Demon dissolved into ash and vanished into the wind.
"Everything has been settled. The girl is physically unharmed, though she seems to have no memory of the time she was abducted."
"..."
"As for the boy... at the very least, I was able to find a memento of his. I have already delivered it to his family."
"..."
"Lord Michikatsu?"
"Ah...? Yes..."
"Did you hear me?"
"Yes, I heard. I... I apologize."
An apology slipped out unexpectedly.
It was because I had burdened Uzui with the task. I had asked to go alone to deliver the boy's memento to the grieving family.
I simply couldn't bring myself to face them.
"There is no need for that."
"....."
"You look as if you have something to say. Speak it plainly and flamboyantly."
"Uzui."
"Yes."
"That Demon... it told me. It said it was eating the boy while someone was passing by nearby. But I didn't hear a thing."
"...It did say that."
"If I had just swept through the area with Moon Breathing from the start, would that child have lived?"
"..."
"I wonder... if I should have just swung my sword blindly on the mere assumption that a Demon was present...?"
"..."
"I..."
"Lord Michikatsu."
"..."
"You know well that these 'what-ifs' are meaningless. We did our best."
"....Even so."
I might have saved him.
If I had searched just a little harder.
If I had carved up the woods with Moon Breathing from the beginning.
No, if I had simply concluded it was a Demon's doing from the very start.
Maybe that boy wouldn't be dead.
"Lord Michikatsu."
With a sigh, Uzui stepped forward and pulled me into an embrace, burying my face against chest.
Startled by the sudden physical contact, I tried to pull away, but held firm.
"Lord Michikatsu, sometimes you seem like a grown man, and yet at other times, you are such a child."
Well, including my past life, I lived over twenty years as a modern man before reaching fourteen in this life.
If we're counting total years, I'm technically older than you, Uzui.
"The family members... they thanked me. They were grateful that at least something of his was returned."
"..."
"They didn't scream or pour out any resentment or anger at us."
"Is that so?"
"So, do not carry this guilt. Do not try to bear everything alone. You are not special; you are merely a common human being like any other. You are just a regular person who happened to learn a Breathing style."
True. I suppose that makes me feel a bit better...
But Uzui, your chest is surprisingly bi—
Uzui Ei looked down at Michikatsu, who had fallen asleep with his face buried against chest.
It was no wonder he was exhausted, having spent the entire night pinning down a Demon until dawn.
Their bond had lasted fourteen years.
In many ways, they had spent more time together than with their actual families.
Uzui remembered the day they met. had fled suffocating clan, evading pursuers, only to find being used as a shadow-double for the eldest son of the Tsugikuni family. Just as was lamenting lot in life, met Michikatsu.
Yes, this man was different.
Despite being a child, he acted with the maturity of an adult, yet he still possessed a child‘s vulnerability.
When his twin brother—a potential rival for the head of the house—was about to be driven away, Michikatsu didn't celebrate. Instead, he cursed the cruelty of the clan.
Though he was the heir to a noble samurai house, he treated a mere shadow-double like Uzui as a friend.
He had even risked the wrath of his father, accepting beatings to visit and care for the brother everyone else considered lowly.
Even when he realized that Yoriichi possessed talent far beyond his own, he didn't succumb to jealousy—though he did feel fear.
He masked that fear with a pretense of strength; he was a man who could be petty, yet bold and unpredictable all at once.
It was as if his very way of thinking belonged to a different world.
At times, he felt alien; at others, he felt strangely comfortable.
Sometimes an adult, sometimes just a boy.
But at the very least,
Uzui believed that being by this man's side was far more flamboyant and fulfilling than anything her own clan could have offered.