That Year, I Kept My Hands in My Pockets, Clueless About Everything × Urokodaki Sakonji's "Compromise"

Yeah... Did you need a reason to kill demons?

It was a matter of life and death. Either you died or I did. That was what Sabito had told Giyu back then.

Giyu had carried those words with him ever since. It was just a shame that, after passing the test, he'd also lost his chance to avenge himself, Makomo, and all their fellow students inside the house.

So all these years, Sabito had waited. Makomo had waited. Shinsuke, Fukuda, Inoue... they'd all been waiting.

Now, at last, it seemed they could see a glimmer of hope.

Urokodaki Sakonji fell silent for a few seconds, then laughed in a suppressed voice...

Should he call the boy clueless, or arrogant?

Either way, apart from the previous head of the Ubuyashiki family, no one had cursed him to his face in over a decade.

That time, driven by his hatred of evil, he'd cut down a decoy the Ubuyashiki family had set up, causing the Demon Slayer Corps to miss a chance to pursue Upper Rank Two, Doma.

"If everything in the world were as simple as you say, the Demon Slayer Corps wouldn't have been tangled up with demons for so many years."

The old Water Hashira poured a cup of hot tea and pushed it over. Tanjiro had already drunk his fill outside the courtyard. He thanked Urokodaki, but didn't drink.

Roy, on the other hand, had just gone through a period of growth, and his body was badly "depleted." He was hungry and thirsty, so he readily accepted Urokodaki Sakonji's kind offer.

He took a small sip to test the temperature, then tipped back his head and drained the cup.

The mountain tea wasn't very rich, but it was certainly wild... Roy pushed the cup back and asked Urokodaki Sakonji for another. Only then did he say, "In my opinion, the reason this has dragged on for so many years is that neither side is strong enough."

"If one side had overwhelming strength, the balance would break at once."

"Hashira" against "Twelve Kizuki"... fodder against fodder... The Demon Slayer Corps, led by the Ubuyashiki family, seemed to be at a disadvantage. But the lingering influence of Tsugikuni Yoriichi and the existence of Sun Breathing had always made Kibutsuji Muzan wary, keeping him from wiping them out recklessly. That was what had created the stalemate they were in today.

Urokodaki Sakonji simply handed the teapot to Roy, clearly unwilling to say more on the subject.

He went into the kitchen, washed and chopped a few potatoes, and tossed them into a pot. "Every one of my disciples has to pass a test."

"After lunch, make a trip to Mount Sagiri. If you can get back by dusk..."

"I'll take you on as my disciple."

"Heh... This is going to be fun." Shinsuke abandoned Tanjiro and flew circles around Fukuda. Annoyed by him, Fukuda grabbed him by the neck and gave him a good thrashing. It took them both a while to remember the "important thing." Then they watched Roy with matching smirks...

Ever since Sabito's death, Urokodaki Sakonji had been heartbroken. He'd become even more ruthless about digging pits and setting traps, all to keep himself from deciding to take another student... So Mount Sagiri might as well have been renamed "Death Mountain." Aside from a few routes he'd laid out for the villagers heading up the mountain, the rest of it was nothing but "blade traps" and "sword formations"...

Sabito had once followed him up there to take a look and been horrified. Shinsuke and the others never let him hear the end of it—

If they couldn't avenge themselves, it would all be the fault of him and Makomo for driving their master mad...

Besides...

It was winter, and the days were short to begin with. Urokodaki Sakonji wanted Roy back by dusk, giving him far less time than the whole night Tanjiro had been given in the original story.

That was fine by Roy... He stood up without hesitation, ignoring all the eyes on him, opened the door, and walked out...

"Sorry... I'm in a hurry, so I'll go now."

"You're not going to eat?"

"Who said I wasn't?" Without looking back, the boy disappeared into the snowstorm. "By the time you finish cooking, I should be back."

"..."

"Hey—this guy... he's way too cocky!"

Shinsuke and Fukuda exchanged bewildered looks... The other ghosts did the same, glancing at one another before following after him in a rush...

Makomo noticed Urokodaki Sakonji's gaze lingering on the doorway. She quietly poked Sabito with a finger. "Hey, should we go take a look too?"

"Aren't you the one who thinks so highly of him?"

"What if..."

"There are no what-ifs." Sabito's grip tightened slightly around his katana. "A man should take responsibility for what he says."

"If he can't pass, that's his problem."

Besides...

"With Shinsuke, Fukuda, and Inoue following him, they shouldn't let him get himself killed, at least..."

Sabito added at the end.

But just as he finished speaking...

A few gusts of cold wind swept in. Shinsuke, Fukuda, and the others, who'd gone out to watch the fun, all flew back in. They leaned on their knees, panting as they complained, "Good grief, I'm exhausted. That guy was so fast, we couldn't keep up at all."

What...

Had they... lost him?

Sabito looked bewildered.

He craned his neck and stared out the door in disbelief. Beside him, Makomo covered her mouth, snickering.

A person shouldn't fall into the same trap twice. That was something Roy's father, Tanjiro, had once told him.

As it happened, his other father, Silva, had told him something similar, except "twice" became "once"... The gist was—

"A single mistake can cost an assassin his life!"

Like right now...

If Roy hadn't reacted quickly enough, he would've tripped over a rope hidden in the bushes and fallen into the "Blade Pit."

And barely five minutes after making his "bold declaration," he'd already stepped into seven sword formations, been hit by ten logs dropping from above, and been ambushed eight times by ropes hidden everywhere...

Good thing his idiot younger brother had the protagonist's plot armor. Otherwise, anyone else would've died a hundred times over.

"Shhk—"

He unleashed "Snake Awakening" and shattered the last log flying straight at him...

Roy listened to the system's notification...

[Notification: Snake Awakening +1]

He stomped the snow off his boots and appeared again in the sight of Urokodaki Sakonji, Sabito, Makomo, Shinsuke, Fukuda, and all the other spirits.

His hair hadn't even been in the mountain long enough to gather frost. He plopped himself down, large as life, and was greeted by a teary-eyed Tanjiro.

Tanjiro's overly sensitive sense of smell had its downsides. Even though he couldn't see Sabito and the others, he could still sense a heavy aura of death, which instinctively made him uncomfortable. On top of that, he had to face Urokodaki Sakonji, whose face was completely hidden behind a Tengu Mask, making it impossible to read his expression.

Tanjiro almost grabbed Roy's leg. His voice was choked with tears. "Nii-san, don't leave me alone again."

"Okay."

"You're leaving first thing tomorrow morning."

Tanjiro: "..."

He could almost hear his heart breaking... His Nii-san, the one who'd hurt him, didn't care about him at all.

He lifted the lid off the pot, as if food were the only thing on his mind.

"Gurgle..."

Inside the clay pot,

the rabbit meat was tender and nearly falling off the bone. The potatoes were just right, neither firm nor mushy...

It was as if the meal were celebrating Roy's return, eager to make its way into his stomach.

"Master, can we eat now?" The boy smiled at Urokodaki Sakonji. The Sun and Mountain Earrings dangling from his earlobes swayed gently...

Urokodaki Sakonji seemed dazed for a moment, as if he hadn't come back to his senses. After a long pause, he nodded and asked Roy his name.

"Kamado Eiichiro... Master, just call me Eiichiro..."

The boy said it just like that...