Minamino Hirotomo was an ordinary person, an insignificant speck of dust among billions of living beings. No one had ever cared about him except his family. Now there was one more person—Roy.
Carrying that copper coin, Roy walked through the deep, desolate Mount Sagiri. He opened the panel and added Minamino Hirotomo's "Life Energy" to "Physique."
[Reminder...] [Physique: 10.55→11.55]
"Hss... hss..."
Wisps of heat steamed from the top of his head...
Tanjiro trudged along behind him, stumbling over the uneven ground. At one point, he looked up... and was startled to see that Roy had suddenly grown a whole size larger. He hurriedly rubbed his eyes and looked again... Roy had "shrunk" back down, as if that earlier "swelling" had just been his foolish little brother's eyes playing tricks on him.
"Strange... Maybe I didn't sleep well last night and I'm seeing things?"
Tanjiro quickened his pace and circled around in front of Roy.
After taking a careful look, he noticed Roy's brows were furrowed, as if he still hadn't emerged from the shadow of Uncle Minamino's passing. He asked with concern, "Are you all right, Nii-san?"
Could he really say he was fine?
Roy couldn't agree with that. He was in excruciating pain, and just managing to walk... had nearly drained all his strength.
The instant increase in his physique had an immediate effect on his body... His cells divided faster, his bones grew denser and tighter, his blood vessels thickened, and his muscle fibers tore and regenerated...
This should have been a gradual process of "growth," unfolding imperceptibly over time. It might have taken a year, two years, or even five or six years for an ordinary person. Roy, however, had forced it all to happen in the span of a single breath.
The price he paid was—
He had to lean against a cedar tree and rest for a while.
"Here, have some water." Tanjiro took out the water flask and helped Roy take a drink.
Only then did Roy feel a little better. He patted Tanjiro on the back, glanced at the sky, and continued deeper into Mount Sagiri.
Mount Sagiri was famous for being shrouded in fog all year round. In winter, heavy snow fell and temperatures dropped below freezing. Sometimes, even ice fog appeared.
Tanjiro's nose was red with cold. He brushed the ice crystals from his hair, finding it hard to imagine anyone choosing to live in such a bitterly cold place. Even if they didn't go so far as Minamino Hirotomo and build their home at the foot of the mountain, it would still be much more comfortable.
"Nii-san, do people really choose to live here?"
"The mountain is hidden from the sun all year round. There isn't a single green plant in sight, and it's even colder than our home."
Their own mountain had no fog. They could build their wooden house facing the sun on a sunny slope, so at least the daytime wouldn't be too hard to bear...
"Hardship breeds greatness." Roy tossed Tanjiro a cryptic remark. As his gaze swept around, he glanced at a birch tree diagonally ahead to the right.
Two figures, one big and one small, stood on a branch of the birch tree. Their beautiful eyes, hidden beneath fox masks, flickered slightly...
They looked a little surprised...
"Hey, Sabito, did he notice us?" The smaller figure was a girl.
She wore a kimono patterned with flowers and looked about eleven or twelve. Her bare legs were exposed despite the cold season, and her fox mask sat crookedly atop her head. She froze when she noticed Roy looking her way.
"No one can discover us unless we approach them first." The older one was a boy, around fifteen or sixteen.
He wore a white outer robe over a haori patterned with interlocking hexagons in orange, yellow, and green. Long pink hair fell over his shoulders, and one corner of his fox mask was scuffed.
"That's true. Even Master Urokodaki can't see us."
The girl's mood sank when she mentioned her master. Many times, she had stood right beside him, watching him eat, sleep, carve, and stare into space... She had hoped that one day he would respond to her, but—
No matter how much she followed him, tried to get his attention, or called out to him, he never noticed her.
Maybe things would stay this way for the rest of her life...
"No, they won't." As if he sensed the girl's distress, the boy gently patted her head. "You have to believe in Master. Besides... isn't someone still determined to come and learn from him?"
"But Master doesn't want to take on students anymore..." The little girl named Makomo hugged her knees and crouched down. Her lovely green eyes dimmed...
"Master is heartbroken..."
"He doesn't want to see anyone else go to their death because of him..."
"That thing has eaten so many people. It's become harder and harder to deal with..."
"Even you..."
"That's right. Even I wasn't its match." The boy picked up where the girl left off. He lowered his head and watched Roy and Tanjiro pass beneath the birch tree, then fell silent...
A moment later, he vanished in a flash, and the girl disappeared with him into Mount Sagiri.
Roy noticed their movements. His ear twitched, making his sun-shaped earrings sway slightly. While they remained completely unaware, he committed their words to memory.
These were the purest souls, giving voice to the most genuine cries from their hearts...
Roy tightened the straps of the basket on his back and reached out to pull Tanjiro along. That idiot had stepped into a snowdrift by accident and had nearly twisted his ankle.
Fortunately, the farther they went, the wider the view became. Gradually, a faint ray of morning light filtered through the thick fog and into the dense forest. And...
Beneath the morning light,
an old man sat alone on a tree stump, carving.
The old man wore a Tengu Mask and held a carving knife and wooden mallet. "Kak, kak, kak..." He chipped away at the wood, never turning around when he heard movement behind him.
It was as if he had immersed himself completely in the world of art, trying to fill the cracks in his heart left by his wounds.
"Nii-san, there's someone here."
"I see him."
Roy stopped Tanjiro from trying to disturb the old man.
Instead, he set down the basket, took out a hoe, cleared a patch of ground, and started a fire to keep warm.
The water flask was empty, and Tanjiro had already given Roy a drink. Following his example, Tanjiro stuffed a handful of snow into the flask, threaded a branch through its handle, and hung it over the fire. Soon, steam bubbled from it.
"Why aren't they going inside?"
Just then, the girl who had disappeared appeared again. With her back to the old man, she sat with her chin in her hands, watching Roy and Tanjiro with curiosity in her eyes.
The boy wearing the fox mask with a scar on it stood beside her. In the dense forest behind them, more figures began to appear, indistinct and blurry.
Their faces were hard to make out, but each wore the same kind of fox mask. Some watched the old man carving; others leaned against the doorframe and dozed. One spotted a sparrow flying past and couldn't resist grabbing at it. And then there were those who...
Walked toward Roy and Tanjiro, boldly circling around them. But...
Roy cast them a seemingly casual glance. Startled, they stumbled backward several steps...
They nearly fell headfirst into the fire...
"Haha... Stop messing around, Shinsuke. You really think anyone can see ghosts?"
"Who's messing around!" The boy named Shinsuke scrambled to his feet, embarrassed. He defiantly waved his right hand in front of Roy's face. When Roy showed no reaction and kept his head down, focused on peeling a dumpling, Shinsuke finally relaxed. He turned and pounced furiously on the companion who had teased him...
"Fukuda, you lousy bastard! I'm going to tear your mouth off..."
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