A Thousand Faces, A Thousand People X Illumi's Gaze

Minamino Hirotomo finally stopped speaking. He sighed with regret, the wrinkles on his face deepening.

Humans are emotional creatures... how could anyone truly achieve absolute detachment when faced with such a situation?

In his modest home, not only was his daughter waiting for him, but his wife, his mother, and all his relatives and friends—both familiar and distant—were worrying about him...

Yet, look at him now... nothing more than a lonely, wandering ghost living under someone else's roof.

"You are fortunate, yet unfortunate." Roy remained silent for a long time before reaching out to help Minamino Hirotomo up, saying with a solemn expression, "I accept your request."

"Tanjiro, bring your water flask."

"Alright."

Although Tanjiro did not know why his older brother needed the flask, he obediently carried the oil lamp through the wind and snow and into the shrine.

Roy held Minamino Hirotomo's hand, wrapping his lingering soul in Nen, and followed silently behind.

Stepping over the high threshold, he extended his foot to pull the shrine doors shut, blocking out all the wind and snow.

"Wail~" The cold wind whistled across the foothills like the howling of ghosts.

The shrine had been cleaned, and with the scent of blood gone, it looked brand new.

Roy split a piece of broken wood for firewood and lit a bonfire, and soon the room was as warm as spring.

At this moment, Tanjiro brought over the water flask.

Roy unscrewed the cap, took out his own flask from his robes, and poured all the water into Tanjiro's flask. Leaving only an empty one, he said to Minamino Hirotomo, "For tonight, I must ask you to make do inside this flask."

"When dawn breaks, I will take you to find your family."

"I am troubling you, Eiichiro-sama." Minamino Hirotomo bowed in a salute.

When he looked up again, he had transformed into a faint glimmer of light, following Roy's manipulation of "Nen" as he slipped into the flask.

"Pop~" With a soft, muffled sound, the stopper was pressed into place...

Roy then smiled and said, "It is no trouble; we were heading to Mount Sagiri anyway, so this is just on the way."

The flask trembled slightly, as if in response...

Tanjiro leaned in, peering and poking at it; it was his first time seeing the miraculous sight of a person being stored inside a flask.

He couldn't help but ask curiously, "Nii-san, can people be stored in flasks too?"

"People cannot, but demons can." Roy swatted Tanjiro's small hand away and tucked the flask into his robes, using a trace of Nen to keep it warm.

Thinking about Tanjiro's question, the first demon that popped into his mind was the Upper Rank Five of the Twelve Kizuki—Gyokko.

In the original story, Gyokko could not only shrink his body to hide inside a pot but could also enlarge himself by molting, clearly possessing extraordinary talent in the realm of "space."

"Oh~ I thought you could store me in there too, so I could follow Nii-san anytime, anywhere."

Tanjiro was clearly disheartened, sulking off to the side in disappointment...

Roy flicked two rice balls at him, hitting him on the head.

His foolish little brother really thought his water flask was the Purple Gold Red Gourd, actually believing he could suck people in just by calling out a name?

What a flight of fancy...

The night grew deeper, and the wind and snow outside showed no signs of stopping.

Roy and Tanjiro ate the rice balls and drank some water by the bonfire before laying out their bedding on the floor.

The blanket was one Kie had stuffed into the basket to cushion the charcoal; once the coal dust was shaken off, it served as a quilt.

After finishing his rice ball, Tanjiro lay down beside Roy, turning on his side to watch the dancing flames. He said in a daze, "Nee... Nii-san, do you think the world outside is very cruel..."

Whether it was the woodcutter eaten by Sato Takeichiro or Minamino Hirotomo, whose intestines were ripped out by Dohi, Tanjiro had seen too many dead people these past few days... and witnessed the terror of the evil demons...

He tossed and turned, unable to sleep, staring at Roy with wide, glistening eyes.

Roy folded his hands over his abdomen and simply closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep.

A thousand people have a thousand faces; everyone's perception of the world is different. Perhaps in the eyes of some, this place is hell, but from another perspective—standing from the viewpoint of the evil demons led by Muzan—what hell... it was clearly a paradise.

A paradise where blood-food was everywhere, ready to be taken and consumed at will.

"Hmph..." Receiving no answer, Tanjiro grunted and turned away in a huff.

Roy couldn't be bothered to engage him; he tried to empty his mind and soon drifted off to sleep.

The familiar sensation of falling returned...

The young man opened his eyes once more, back in his familiar bedroom.

This night was both long and short, as if nothing had happened, yet as if everything had. Only the grandfather clock chiming in the corner reminded Roy...

It was four in the morning; time to go for a run.

Heat is the only word for it...

Roy put on his vest and shorts and wove through Kukuroo Mountain, admiring scenery completely different from that of the Demon Slayer world. He still felt a bit dazed, as if he hadn't yet pulled himself out of the world he had just perceived.

It wasn't until he reached the mountainside and saw the lights on in the butler's villa that he realized many people were already beginning their busy day.

He could even faintly smell the aroma of toasted bread drifting from the kitchen... Roy suddenly snapped back to his senses, his pace never faltering as he continued to run toward the foot of the mountain.

"One kilometer, two kilometers... My pace seems to be a bit faster than before this time..."

Thanks to the aid of his breathing technique and the progress made in Shadow Step, Roy clearly felt his speed had increased. He opened his panel and took a quick glance—

[Constitution] had grown from 10.05 to 10.55... equivalent to adding "half a normal person" to his previous foundation.

Not bad; it wasn't a massive leap, but it had finally broken through the bottleneck...

A faint arc tugged at the corners of Roy's mouth, his mood lifting slightly. With wind beneath his feet, he arrived at the security room in the blink of an eye.

"Good morning, Young Master." Zebro, who guarded the security room, was not yet the "tank-top old uncle" he would later become. In the prime of his life, his hair was still mostly intact, though his hairline had receded severely, showing a clear trend toward becoming a "Mediterranean" style.

He removed his hat to salute Roy.

Roy returned a smile and was about to leave when a loud "BOOM!" echoed out.

The mountain gate, which symbolized the "absolute power" of the Zoldyck family, had been pushed open from the outside in—three doors deep!

The mountain gate, also known as the Testing Gate, consisted of seven doors from top to bottom. The smallest door weighed two tons, and the weight doubled for every subsequent door pushed open. Being able to push open three doors meant the intruder possessed a staggering fourteen tons of strength!

"Welcome home, Young Master Illumi."

Having just saluted Roy, Zebro had to remove the hat he had just put back on to salute Illumi. He noticed with some surprise that this was the first time he had encountered both young masters at this hour.

"BOOM!" The mountain gate slammed shut with another thunderous sound...

Illumi walked in with an expressionless face, completely ignoring Zebro.

A pair of hollow eyes locked onto Roy...

"Just letting you know..."

"I have also opened my aura nodes."