"Whoa—"
"What a huge wild boar!"
"Eiichiro, did you guys stumble into a boar's den or something?"
"Shut up, Shigeru. Father said wild boars are fierce beasts, and we should stay away if we see one... Eiichiro, this boar must've died after running into a tree, right?"
Ran into a tree? Roy only knew that wild boars had a habit of rubbing against trees.
He smiled and patted Takeo on the head. "My Takeo's the clever one."
Kamado Takeo puffed out his little chest and declared proudly, "See? I told you I was right."
He was instantly met with a chorus of eye-rolls.
"Ri... right... You're the clever one..." General Nezuko sprang into action to discipline her little brother. Poor Takeo had been feeling proud one moment, only to be dragged away by the ear the next.
Their mother, Kie, smiled and shook her head. She came forward to help Roy remove the basket from his back and asked with concern, "You're not hurt, are you?"
Roy shook his head and handed over the muntjac he was holding. Then, following Tanjiro, he brushed the snow off his clothes and stepped onto the veranda.
A brazier burned in one corner of the veranda, with a pot of hot tea warming on top. Tanjuro sat beside it, wrapped in a thick quilt. When he saw Roy come up, he beckoned him over.
Roy walked over and sat beside him.
Tanjuro handed him a cup of hot tea and said gently, "Thanks for the effort, Eiichiro."
"It was nothing... Tanjiro helped me, so it wasn't much trouble." Roy took a small sip of the hot tea, giving Tanjiro half the "credit."
Tanjiro was playing with Delia in their grandmother's arms. Hearing Roy, he scratched his head sheepishly. "I didn't really do anything. Nii-san did all the work."
The brothers understood each other without a word. Neither mentioned their encounter with the Demon, so as not to frighten their family, especially their younger siblings.
But Tanjuro was perceptive.
He knew Tanjiro too well to think the boy would lie.
That meant... the muntjac, the pheasant, and the wild boar, which stood as tall as a person, had all been taken down by Roy.
Yet a boy of barely ten could hunt a wild boar all by himself...
Tanjuro gave Roy a long, searching look. The boy calmly sipped his tea, then found a spare hand to play with Delia, whom Tanjiro had brought over. For a rare moment, he could enjoy some peace and quiet.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long... Kie soon called him into the kitchen.
"Eiichiro, Tanjiro, come help butcher the boar..."
"Coming~" The brothers left the veranda, followed by two little shadows.
Takeo and Shigeru called out, "I wanna watch them butcher the boar..."
Their short legs moved faster than anyone else's. In the blink of an eye, only Tanjuro, Nezuko, who was looking after Delia, and their grandmother remained in the main room.
"Ah-ba... ah-ba..." Delia couldn't talk yet. She often sucked on her fingers as if they were a teat.
Nezuko patiently kept taking her little hands away.
Tanjuro leaned by the brazier, warming his hands. Every so often, he stared at the snow drifting down in the courtyard, lost in thought.
Before long, the moon was high overhead. The rich scent of meat wafted through the air, filling the little house.
For once, they had meat for dinner.
After that, no one had time to talk. They grabbed their bowls and gobbled down their food, afraid of wasting even a second.
By the end, everyone but Roy had eaten until their bellies were round.
Even Tanjuro had an unusually large helping.
"Ow~ I'm so full I'm gonna burst! Takeo, rub my tummy for me." Shigeru lay flat on his back, rubbing his belly and "wailing." Takeo was sprawled out beside him in the same way.
Kie wanted to tell them to sit properly, but she couldn't bring herself to. She only glared at them before telling Roy and Tanjiro to take the two boys to bed.
Nezuko had already begun helping Kie clear away the dishes.
Seeing that, Roy nodded and picked up Takeo and Shigeru, one in each hand, then carried them toward the side room next to the main house.
By then, the night had grown darker.
Takeo and Shigeru played around for a while before falling fast asleep.
Tanjiro, too, had lived through a day more exciting than his entire childhood. Exhausted in body and mind, he rubbed his eyes, wished Roy good night, and crawled under the covers.
"Phoo~"
The oil lamp went out. In the darkness, Roy was the only one still awake.
He waited for a figure, and in time, that figure appeared.
Before long, a familiar cough came from outside the window. Tanjuro's shadow appeared faintly on the paper screen.
He said nothing, lingering by the wall for a while, as if he had no intention of coming in. Before long, he turned to leave, wrapped in his thick coat.
Roy suddenly called out to stop him.
"Father, isn't there anything you want to ask me?"
A wild boar as tall as a person wasn't something an ordinary boy could take down... Roy could have dressed the truth up as a lie and convinced Tanjiro that he had learned those killing techniques in a dream.
But he wasn't sure he could tell the same lie a second time and fool Tanjuro.
After all, though he seemed frail, Tanjuro was the only person in the Demon Slayer world who had awakened the "Transparent World" without being a swordsman!
It was thanks to his guidance that, three years later, Tanjiro would first step into the realm of the "Transparent World" while pursuing Upper Rank Four, Hantengu.
So when Tanjuro heard Roy speak,
his body clearly went still. He fell silent for a long while before smiling and saying, "No."
This time, it was Roy who fell silent... If he'd still been holding on to a glimmer of hope that Tanjuro might not have noticed anything unusual, that was no longer the case.
Roy searched for the right words. In an instant, a dozen plans came to mind, only for him to dismiss every one of them.
Finally, he steeled himself and decided to tell him everything. "Father probably wants to know how I managed to hunt a wild boar by myself. I'll tell you now—"
"I don't."
A calm but firm voice cut Roy off.
Tanjuro repeated himself. "I don't want to know."
Then silence fell once more...
Through the paper window, Roy could only make out...
The man stood in the wind and snow, gaunt and frail, a pair of sun earrings swaying in the breeze. He looked as though he might be blown over at any moment.
After a long while, he added with unusual firmness, "Eiichiro, I know you're my child."
"You love your grandmother, your mother, and your younger siblings..."
"That's enough for me."
"As for your secret..."
Tanjuro pushed aside the window and smiled at him. "Whenever you want to tell me, you can tell your dad."
Roy's eyes suddenly stung. He wanted to say something.
His mother, Kie, appeared from who knew where.
The usually gentle woman slapped Tanjuro's hand away from the window, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him outside.
Through the wall, Roy could faintly hear her scolding Tanjuro, seemingly blaming him for making trouble and letting the boy get cold.
Don't even say it... "Brr..."
A gust of cold wind blew in. It really was a little chilly.
Roy hunched his shoulders and burrowed under the covers, leaving only his eyes exposed. He stared blankly at the dark ceiling beams.
Sometimes, something beautiful could be so beautiful that it felt unreal.
Roy thought it would be nice to just lie there lost in thought until dawn, at least—
Then he wouldn't have to wake up and face another home... That home was powerful and wealthy, with over a hundred servants. One order from him, and he could have the butler die for him!
And yet he had to face, every day, a cold father, a twisted mother, warped brothers, and a grandfather who killed people daily.
"So why did I end up here?"
"And why do I have to leave?"
Roy kept asking himself...
At last, he narrowed his eyes and found his answer.
"Right... It's so I can grow stronger and kick that family flat on its back!"
"And become its true master!"
Before you continue