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Shinobu Kocho smiled mysteriously. "Because Alex is a godslayer. He's someone who's actually killed a god."
"What? A godslayer?"
For a moment, everyone sucked in a sharp breath.
They had all assumed Alex was just a mage who knew a bit of magic, someone whose strength was about on par with theirs, maybe even weaker.
But none of them had ever imagined that he had slain a god.
A god. A being straight out of legend.
If he could kill gods, then just how terrifying was his strength?
As that thought sank in, wild joy erupted in everyone's hearts.
With a godslayer as an ally, what was a mere Kibutsuji Muzan supposed to be?
"Amitabha… this is truly astonishing," Gyomei Himejima said, hands pressed together. He was so shocked that even his usual tears had stopped.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki came back to his senses as well, his face lit with excitement. "Wonderful. It seems the mission to slay Kibutsuji Muzan will finally be completed in my generation."
The meeting went on for quite some time. After it ended, Kagaya formally announced the two new Hashira to the Demon Slayer Corps.
Among the older members of the Corps, the news of the Flower Hashira's return caused just as much shock.
They clearly remembered her death. How could she be alive again?
Unfortunately, this was information far above their clearance. Kagaya had no intention of explaining it to them.
If word spread that Alex possessed resurrection magic, the entire Corps would descend into chaos.
Kanae's revival quickly reached Kanao Tsuyuri, who was out on a mission at the time. She finished her task at top speed and rushed back immediately.
As for Alex, he temporarily settled down at the Butterfly Mansion.
Kagaya had offered to arrange better accommodations for him, but Alex declined.
In his eyes, the best place in the entire Demon Slayer Corps was the Butterfly Mansion.
There were the Kocho sisters, the little nurse Aoi Kanzaki, and the three adorable girls, Sumi, Kiyo, and Naho.
So many girls of all ages, just looking at them was pleasing to the eye.
No way was he going to live with a bunch of grown men instead.
Once everything was settled, Alex began training Shinobu and Kanae in earnest.
After joining the Hestia Familia, Shinobu rarely went to Orario, but she never stopped killing demons.
She had participated in the last War Game and updated her Blessing along the way.
Her current Blessing level was Lv.2. Combined with her breathing techniques, her overall strength had already reached the level of an Upper Rank demon, making her the strongest Hashira in the Corps.
Even so, she was still a step short of being able to handle Upper Rank Two, Doma.
She needed to become stronger.
As for Kanae, although she had been a Hashira before her death, more than four years had passed. Compared to the current Hashira, she had fallen far behind.
So Alex contacted Hestia through the chat group, got a Blessing gift pack, and brought Kanae into the Familia as well.
Kanae herself did not understand what a Familia was yet. She simply thought the Blessing was one of Alex's special abilities.
Next came Alex's brutal training regimen.
Leveling up a Blessing did not require killing monsters alone. Daily training and cultivation were also recorded as experience.
With his wide array of healing spells and magic, Alex trained the two women mercilessly.
As long as they did not die, he would train them until they nearly did.
Physical exhaustion, muscle damage, injuries. One healing spell and they were restored, then straight back to training.
This training method came straight out of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.
Using healing magic to push the body to its absolute limit.
Of course, this was torture for Shinobu, whose weakest point was physical strength.
Naturally, Alex did not focus only on strengthening their bodies. He also taught them battle aura and swordsmanship.
Breathing techniques were low-level stuff anyway. Compared to the battle aura and sword arts from the Mushoku world, they were nothing special.
Both women understood the difference immediately. They abandoned breathing techniques altogether and switched to aura and sword training.
Under Alex's guidance, their strength grew rapidly. It changed so fast that it was obvious even day by day.
A week later, Kanao finally returned from her mission.
The moment she saw Kanae, she threw herself into her arms.
The girl who rarely spoke actually called out, "Big sister."
Kanae was overjoyed to see her adopted sister again.
Seeing this, Alex gave Shinobu and Kanae a full day off so the three sisters could reunite properly.
After one day of rest, training resumed.
This time, there was one more participant: Kanao Tsuyuri.
Alex had her abandon breathing techniques as well and switch to battle aura and swordsmanship.
From then on, their days followed a simple routine. Physical training, aura and sword practice, then sparring with Alex.
Before anyone realized it, a month had passed.
That was when the mission involving the Mugen Train finally arrived.
The Demon Slayer Corps had already sent people to investigate, but nothing unusual had been found.
Left with no other choice, they decided to send Hashira.
This time, the mission team consisted of the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, along with the main trio: Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Inosuke Hashibira.
The situation was strange and reeked of danger.
Kagaya wanted to send more people, but the Corps was already stretched thin.
They were protecting the entire country, and almost every member was tied up with their own mission.
In the end, Kagaya could only approach Alex, asking him to pause the training of the three sisters and have two of them assist with the Mugen Train mission.
The three sisters could not all leave together. The Butterfly Mansion treated injured Corps members daily. If they all left, there would be no one to handle the wounded.
After considering it, Alex accepted the mission in their place.
He had Shinobu and Kanao remain behind to continue training, and took Kanae with him to carry out the mission.
After a month of extreme training, Kanae had completely maxed out her Lv.1 stats.
All she needed now was one major adventure, a true feat, to level up.
Alex remembered that the Mugen Train arc involved two demons. Enmu, Lower Rank One, and Akaza, Upper Rank Three.
If they defeated both, Kanae should be able to level up.
…
The Demon Slayer Corps headquarters was hidden deep in the mountains. After leaving, Alex and Kanae had to walk out on foot.
Alex could fly, but Kanae could not.
He could carry her, but that would be far too improper.
They walked for nearly an entire day before finally leaving the mountains.
Thanks to her recent training, Kanae's body had been strengthened significantly, and she did not feel tired at all.
Still, after a whole day without food, hunger caught up to her.
"Should we find somewhere to eat?" she asked.
Alex looked around. "This place is pretty remote. No houses nearby. Let's just eat here."
As he spoke, he pulled a blanket from his Unlimited Blade Works storage and spread it on the ground. Then he took out some snacks and drinks.
Kanae watched with envy. "Is that magic too? It's so convenient."
"No need to envy me. You have a Blessing now as well. When you level up, you might awaken space-type magic or skills," Alex said as he took off his shoes and lay down on the blanket.
Kanae's face immediately filled with anticipation.
She took off her shoes too and sat down, picking up a bag of chips.
"How do you eat this?" she asked, puzzled.
The snacks and drinks Alex brought out were all modern products he had taken from the Godslayer world.
Although the Demon Slayer timeline was Taisho-era Japan, very close to modern times, many modern snacks had not appeared yet.
Alex took the bag from her, tore it open, and handed it back.
Kanae took a chip and popped it into her mouth. Her eyes lit up instantly.
"This is delicious. What is it?" she asked in delight.
"Potato chips. In the eyes of future people, junk food," Alex replied with a smile.
"How can something this good be called junk food?" Kanae asked in surprise.
"Because people in the future have far more and far better food choices. Fried foods like this are considered unhealthy, so they get labeled as junk," Alex explained.
He opened a bag for himself as well and started eating.
"Future people are really particular," Kanae sighed. "I'm suddenly a little jealous. Never having to worry about food or clothing."
Alex just smiled and said nothing.
A certain saying came to mind. Being full with nothing better to do.
When people are hungry, they only have one problem. Once they are full, countless problems appear.
Suddenly, Kanae seemed to realize something. "Wait. You're from another world, right? Then how do you know so much about the future? Could it be that your so-called other world is actually the future?"
Seeing how sharp she was, catching onto the inconsistency from a casual remark, Alex could not help but admire her. She really was worthy of the title Flower Hashira.
"Another world is not the future," he said casually. "But Shinobu does not just know me. She has met many friends from other worlds. Some of them happen to live on a future version of Earth."
"Shinobu is that amazing?" Kanae covered her mouth with her hand, eyes wide in shock.
Clearly, her little sister had been keeping quite a few secrets from her.
"..."
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