Unaware that he had already crossed into an entirely new world, Yorii Tsugikuni decided to continue searching for traces of demons, so as not to betray the gifts heaven had bestowed upon him.
Even if it took his entire life, he would find the source of demons and destroy it.
Yet Yorii Tsugikuni himself did not know whether he could still find that source.
If the other party truly wanted to hide, Yorii Tsugikuni knew full well that there was nothing he could do. That extremely coincidental encounter back then had been the best—and final—opportunity to kill him.
"Demons?"
"Is that the name of some Dangerous Species?"
"But Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni, are you planning to search for traces of those demons all by yourself?"
"The world is so big. Finding one specific Dangerous Species is very difficult."
Clearly, Sayo and Yorii Tsugikuni were not on the same wavelength.
Seeing the determination on Yorii Tsugikuni's face, Sayo gave a somewhat sly smile. "But if Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni makes a different choice, it might get you twice the result with half the effort."
Yorii Tsugikuni did not hide his emotions in front of Sayo and Ieyasu.
So, the observant Sayo quickly sensed the confusion buried deep within him.
That uncertainty over not knowing where the future would lead was heartbreaking. Since leaving her village, Yorii Tsugikuni was the first person Sayo had met who seemed so sorrowful.
Sayo wanted to help the man named Yorii Tsugikuni.
"Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni, come make something of yourself with us!"
Sayo looked at Yorii Tsugikuni with a brilliant smile. "Once we make something of ourselves, whatever Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni wants to do will become much easier."
"Many people will come help Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni. Then, you'll surely be able to easily find that Dangerous Species called a demon that you're looking for."
Sayo did not feel any fear toward the demons Yorii Tsugikuni spoke of.
As companions of Tatsumi, the original protagonist, who had set out to make something of themselves, both Sayo and Ieyasu possessed strength comparable to Tatsumi's at the beginning of the story.
They might not have been especially strong, but they were not weak either.
"Make something of myself?"
"No. Demons are far too dangerous."
After hearing Sayo's words, Yorii Tsugikuni shook his head without hesitation.
It was clear that Yorii Tsugikuni did not believe this cheerful girl and her companion could help him.
"Hey, hey, hey, Sayo and I are strong."
"Even a Class 1 Dangerous Species is something Sayo and I can hunt alone."
Seeing Yorii Tsugikuni reject Sayo, Ieyasu said indignantly from nearby, "Those demons you mentioned can't be Special Grade Dangerous Species, right?"
"As long as they're not Special Grade Dangerous Species, it doesn't matter how many there are."
Stranded on the Streets, With No Improvement in Their Situation
Dangerous Species were a specific power classification in the world of Akame ga Kill.
They were divided into Super Dangerous Species, Special Grade Dangerous Species, Class 1 Dangerous Species, and Class 2 Dangerous Species.
The gap between every rank of Dangerous Species was enormous.
Even weaker Class 2 Dangerous Species far exceeded the limits of what ordinary people could handle.
At the start of the original story, Tatsumi could eliminate a Class 1 Dangerous Species by himself, while Sayo and Ieyasu possessed strength comparable to his.
Presumably, eliminating a Class 1 Dangerous Species alone was not especially difficult for them.
In Ieyasu's eyes, Class 1 Dangerous Species were already incredibly, extraordinarily powerful. Things like Special Grade Dangerous Species and Super Dangerous Species were entirely legendary beings.
Being able to defeat a Class 1 Dangerous Species one-on-one was the foundation of Ieyasu's confidence that he could make something of himself in the Imperial Capital.
And it really was quite impressive.
"That's not what I meant."
"Although I don't really understand what kind of creatures Mr. Ieyasu calls Dangerous Species."
"The demons I'm talking about are absolutely different from what Mr. Ieyasu understands."
Yorii Tsugikuni wore a serious expression. "What I seek is an existence that completely transcends common sense."
"Something utterly incomprehensible."
Looking at the somewhat hot-blooded Ieyasu, Yorii Tsugikuni recalled his days in the Demon Slayer Corps.
The companions around him back then had also been full of vigor and hope, just like Ieyasu and Sayo now were. The corners of Yorii Tsugikuni's mouth unconsciously lifted slightly.
He revealed a faint smile that seemed incomparably gentle to Sayo and Ieyasu.
"O-okay."
"I think I roughly understand what you mean, Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni."
Looking at Yorii Tsugikuni's gentle smile, Sayo was briefly distracted.
It could not be helped. Yorii Tsugikuni was not bad-looking to begin with, and then there was that faint smile, gentle to the extreme.
Fine, Sayo admitted it. In that instant, her heart had stirred, and her pulse had quickened.
After coming back to her senses, Sayo's cheeks reddened slightly. She secretly took a deep breath to compose herself, then smiled at Yorii Tsugikuni. "But, Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni."
"I think having companions together with you can't possibly be worse than things are now, right?"
Yorii Tsugikuni's emotions had already returned to normal.
He no longer let his feelings show as plainly as he had at the beginning, without even thinking to conceal them.
Sayo could no longer feel the sorrow that seemed to seep into one's soul from Yorii Tsugikuni, but she did not believe what she had sensed from him earlier had been an illusion.
Sayo believed that Yorii Tsugikuni, who could reveal such sorrow, could never be a bad person.
As Sayo's words fell, Yorii Tsugikuni froze slightly.
"It definitely can't be worse than it is now?"
"Miss Sayo, what you said does seem to make sense."
Looking at Sayo's expectant expression, her gaze, and her unreserved kindness, Yorii Tsugikuni smiled again.
In truth, Yorii Tsugikuni, who had been born with markings and the Clear World, understood Sayo's thoughts very clearly.
A city this prosperous could not possibly be without demons.
Yorii Tsugikuni decided to stay in this bustling city for a while before leaving to continue searching for the source of demons.
While chatting with Sayo, Yorii Tsugikuni occasionally found himself wondering.
Who had been the last person, like Miss Sayo before him, to offer him kindness without reservation?
Yorii Tsugikuni chose to stay with Sayo and Ieyasu for a while.
However, with no money on him, Yorii Tsugikuni could only wander the streets aimlessly with Sayo and Ieyasu. After wandering for most of the day and eating almost nothing,
they could only find a relatively clean place to sit down.
Although Yorii Tsugikuni had joined them, Sayo and Ieyasu's situation had not improved at all.
It was still much like in the original story. Penniless, they could only rest on the streets.
Since there was nothing else to do, Sayo, Ieyasu, and Yorii Tsugikuni continued chatting.
Among them, Ieyasu, still dissatisfied that Yorii Tsugikuni had looked down on his strength during the day, began asking him what exactly these so-called "demons" were like as Dangerous Species.
If the setting had been more suitable, Ieyasu would have loved to personally show Yorii Tsugikuni just how strong he was.
Ieyasu was extremely confident that, with his record of defeating Class 1 Dangerous Species alone, he would definitely make something of himself in the bustling city of the Imperial Capital.
"Demons are actually impossible to kill?"
"Now that you put it that way, Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni, they do sound frightening."
Listening to Yorii Tsugikuni's simple introduction to demons, Ieyasu subconsciously shrank his neck. "Eating people is one thing, but they even have Blood Demon Arts? How can there be such dangerous Dangerous Species?"
Ieyasu was, after all, merely a boy leaving his village for the first time.
Yorii Tsugikuni had only briefly introduced the traits of demons, yet that was enough to frighten Ieyasu.
The rest was actually manageable. The main problem was that they ignored most physical attacks and possessed Blood Demon Arts. Those two things were simply too difficult to deal with.
After all, in the world of Akame ga Kill, those who possessed special abilities similar to Blood Demon Arts were almost all Imperial Arms Users.
"They do seem pretty terrifying."
"But where exactly is Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni from?"
Sayo nodded in agreement as she looked at the somewhat frightened Ieyasu, then turned toward Yorii Tsugikuni and asked curiously, "I've read some books introducing Dangerous Species."
"I've never seen anything about the 'demons' Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni described."
Unlike the unlearned Ieyasu and Tatsumi, who was still on his way.
To ensure that she, Ieyasu, and Tatsumi could make something of themselves in the Imperial Capital and resolve the difficulties facing their hometown, Sayo had thoroughly prepared herself in every aspect.
In terms of actual combat strength, Sayo might have been somewhat weaker, but knowledge was another matter. As the elders in Sayo and Ieyasu's hometown said, strength alone was not enough to make something of oneself.
So Sayo had enriched herself with knowledge as much as possible.
If not for her overly simple upbringing and lack of wariness, perhaps she really could have made something of herself.
It might not have been obvious in the original story, but killing a Class 1 Dangerous Species alone was truly impressive.
Ieyasu's Challenge
Overall, during the time they had spent with Yorii Tsugikuni, the thick-skinned Ieyasu was one thing.
But Sayo was, after all, a girl with a more delicate mind.
By now, she had more or less noticed that something was off about Yorii Tsugikuni.
If, when they had first met Yorii Tsugikuni, she had felt that his temperament was utterly out of place with his surroundings, as though he and the world belonged to two entirely different parts.
Then now, Sayo felt that some of Yorii Tsugikuni's understanding was also out of sync with what she knew. On certain particular matters, Yorii Tsugikuni's perceptions differed noticeably from hers and Ieyasu's.
"My hometown is Asakusa, in Tokyo."
"However, after I grew a little older, I no longer lived in Asakusa."
Hearing Sayo's question, Yorii Tsugikuni smiled faintly.
Up to this point, although he occasionally felt that conversations with Sayo and Ieyasu would suddenly stall, Yorii Tsugikuni had not noticed anything strange.
After all, the world was simply too vast.
Yorii Tsugikuni knew that his Fusang Country was no more than a tiny nation in comparison to the world.
As for why, after being resurrected and reborn, he had appeared in this bustling city called the Imperial Capital, and why his formerly aged body had returned to its peak condition.
Yorii Tsugikuni had no way to understand those things either. He could only set aside matters beyond his comprehension and refrain from thinking about them.
Unlike modern people, Yorii Tsugikuni, a man from Fusang's Warring States period, did not possess an especially strong thirst for knowledge.
If Yorii Tsugikuni's wife had not been hunted down by demons.
Perhaps Yorii Tsugikuni would never have become the legend of the Demon Slayer world. He might have merely lived out his life as the most ordinary of ordinary people among the countless masses.
"Tokyo, Asakusa."
"I've never heard of those place names."
Sayo thought back for a moment.
Among the more famous places within the Empire's territory, there was no city or location called Tokyo.
With that, Sayo roughly confirmed one thing: Yorii Tsugikuni probably came from a very small place.
"Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni should be quite strong, right?"
"Since there's nothing to do anyway, why don't you spar with me, Mr. Yorii Tsugikuni?"
Before Sayo could say anything more, Ieyasu beside her could no longer sit still.
Before you continue