Yeah... Do you need a reason to slay demons?
When it comes to life and death, it's either you die or I live. Back then, Sabito warned Giyu like this.
Giyu carried it out well afterward, but unfortunately... even though he passed the test, he also missed the chance to avenge for him, Makomo, and all the fellow students inside the house.
So, over the years, Sabito waited, Makomo waited, Shinsuke, Fukuda, Inoue... all waited....
Now, it seems we finally see a glimmer of hope.
Urokodaki Sakonji was silent for a few seconds, suppressing a laugh...
Should we say young people have no idea, or are they arrogant?
Anyway, except for the last Ubuyashiki, no one has dared to insult him to his face for over a decade.
That time, he was resolute in his hatred, and ended the bait set up by Ubuyashiki prematurely with one stroke, causing the Demon Slayer Corps to miss an opportunity to pursue Upper Moon Two: Doma.
"If everything in the world were as simple as you say, the Demon Slayer Corps wouldn't have been entangled with demons for so many years."
The Old Water Hashira poured a cup of hot tea and pushed it over... Tanjiro already drank his fill outside the courtyard, thanked him, and didn't drink.
But not Roy, who just went through a round of growth and felt a severe deficit in his body, not only hungry but also thirsty, so he gladly accepted Urokodaki's offered kindness.
He took a shallow sip, tested the tea's temperature, and then tilted his head back to drink it all.
The mountain wild tea wasn't rich enough, but certainly wild enough... Roy pushed the cup back and asked for another from Urokodaki, then said, "In my view, the reason they have been entangled for so many years is still because neither side is strong enough."
"If one side were absolutely strong, the balance would break instantly."
"Hashira" versus "Upper Moon"... Small fry against small fry... With Ubuyashiki leading the Demon Slayer Corps, they appeared to be at a disadvantage, but because of the lingering power of Tsugikuni Yoriichi and the existence of Sun Breathing, Kibutsuji Muzan has always been cautious and dared not recklessly sweep through, leading to today's stalemate.
Urokodaki simply passed the teapot to Roy, clearly unwilling to say more on this topic.
He went to the kitchen, washed a few potatoes and cut them, threw them into the pot, and said leisurely, "Every one of my students needs to pass the test."
"After lunch, you can take a trip to Sagiri yama, and if you return by evening."
"I'll take you as my student."
"Hehe... there's a good show to watch." Shinsuke abandoned Tanjiro and circled around Fukuda, with Fukuda finding him annoying and pinching his neck with a wrestling hold. After a long time, they remembered the "main matter", and the two of them looked at Roy with a mischievous grin...
Since Sabito's death, Urokodaki Sakonji had been heartbroken, intensifying the traps and pitfalls to put an end to his idea of taking more students... Therefore, the mountain now called Sagiri yama might as well be renamed "Life-taking Mountain", as aside from presetting a few routes for villagers climbing the mountain, the rest are either "Blade Net" or "Sword Array"....
Sabito once followed him and was terrified, which led to much teasing by Shinsuke and others—
If their great vendetta couldn't be avenged, it was all because of him and Makomo, driving the master mad...
Moreover...
It's winter now, with already short daylight, and Urokodaki Sakonji's requirement for Roy to return by evening was much shorter than the whole night's time given to Tanjiro in the original story.
That's good too... Roy simply stood up, leaving under everyone's gaze, opened the door, and walked out...
"Sorry... I'm in a hurry, I'm going now."
"Aren't you going to eat?"
"Who said I'm not eating?" The boy didn't look back, disappearing into the wind and snow, "By the time you finish cooking, I should be back."
"....."
"Hey—this guy... he's too reckless!"
Shinsuke and Fukuda exchanged glances in dismay... The demons, both you and me, soared out in unison...
Makomo noticed the somewhat solidified gaze Urokodaki Sakonji had towards the door, and discreetly nudged Sabito with her finger: "Hey~ should we go over and have a look ourselves?"
"Don't you have high hopes for him?"
"What if..."
"There won't be a what if." Sabito slightly tightened his grip on the tachi, saying blandly: "A man should be responsible for his words."
"If he can't make it, that's his problem."
Besides...
"With Shinsuke, Fukuda, and Inoue following, it shouldn't reach the point where he loses his life....."
Sabito added in the end,
Unexpectedly, just as he finished speaking....
A few gusts of ominous wind blew, and Shinsuke, Fukuda, and others who went out to watch the fun were all blown back, supporting their knees and gasping for breath while complaining: "My god~ I'm exhausted. That guy's speed is too fast, can't keep up at all."
This...
Actually... lost him?
Sabito was a bit dumbfounded.
He stretched his neck, unbelievingly looking out the door, with Makomo beside him stifling her laughter with her hand.
...
At least people shouldn't stumble over the same pit twice, a saying Kamado Tanjiro once shared with Roy.
It just so happened his other father, Silva, also told him something similar, only with "twice" changed to "once"... Summing up to—
"An assassin only needs to make one mistake to die!"
Just like now...
If it weren't for Roy's quick reflexes, he would have been tripped by ropes ambushed among the shrubs, falling into a "blade pit".
And yet, just five minutes after his "boasting", he'd already stepped on seven sword arrays, encountered ten wooden stakes falling from the sky, and was ambushed by ubiquitous grass ropes eight times....
Lucky for him, his foolish younger brother believed in his protagonist status to manage survival. Otherwise, any other person would have died a hundred times over.
"Swoosh——"
He summoned "Snake Life" to shatter the last log flying towards him...
Roy stepped to the panel's cue...
[Cue: Snake Life +1]
He stomped off the accumulated snow on his foot, reappearing in the sight of Urokodaki Sakonji, Sabito, Makomo, and the living souls like Shinsuke Fukuda.
Even his hair hadn't frosted from the short time he's spent in the mountains. Just like that, he sat boldly, greeted by a tearful-eyed Tanjiro.
The downside of a too-keen sense of smell is that even if he couldn't see Sabito and others, Tanjiro could faintly sense a strong sinister aura, which instinctively made him uncomfortable, especially with having to face Urokodaki Sakonji, whose expression was completely obscured by a Celestial Dog Mask.
Tanjiro nearly clung to Roy's leg, saying with a tearful voice: "Niisan, don't leave me alone again."
"Alright."
"You leave first thing in the morning."
Tanjiro: "...."
He felt like he heard the sound of his heart breaking... That Niisan who hurt him, completely ignoring him,
reached out to lift the pot lid, seemingly only having eyes for the food.
"Gulp..."
In the clay pot,
The rabbit meat, soft and crumbly, seemed about to fall off the bone, and the potatoes were just right, neither hard nor soft enough to become mush...
As if it were celebrating Roy's return, impatient to enter his stomach.
"Master, can we start eating now?" The young man smiled at Urokodaki Sakonji, the sun-and-mountains earring hanging below his earlobe swaying slightly...
Urokodaki Sakonji was dazed for a moment, as if he was still coming back to his senses, after a while nodding, asking his name.
"Kamado Eiichiro... Master may call me Eiichiro..."
The youth replied...