"I'm not taking it."
Kastro was a good opponent. They had crossed paths a year ago, when Kastro had lost to him and become the stepping stone that helped him rack up eighty-one consecutive wins in Heavens Arena.
A year had passed. Kastro was still the same Kastro, but Roy... was no longer the person he had been.
To be precise, from the day he opened his Aura Nodes, the two of them had no longer belonged to the same world.
"Not just Kastro," Gotoh reported, browsing through some recently gathered information. "There's also Wing."
"After losing to Young Master, he disappeared for nearly a year. Apparently, he's developed a Nen Ability and made it to the 200th floor."
"A few days ago, he even sent Young Master a message to say hello."
Had he really disappeared? Probably some old hand had lured him away because of his baby face and forced him into a master-and-disciple Contract.
Now that he'd chosen to show himself again, he'd clearly been trained by Biscuit into the person she wanted him to be.
Roy thought about it without any malice and asked, his expression as calm as still water, "What did he say?"
"He said he wants to see Young Master in the sky."
"The sky?" Roy smiled noncommittally. "Even if he succeeds in challenging the floor master, that doesn't mean he'll be able to stand tall in the sky."
"Besides..."
Roy narrowed his eyes meaningfully. "From what I know of him, he'd never say something like that."
"Chances are, he was forced to..."
Heh... Shingen-ryu versus the Zoldycks?
Neither side was the type to back down easily...
"Then... should Young Master reply to him?"
Gotoh took out his phone. Every contact Roy had given out was his.
"Have you found any results from the doctors I asked you to contact?" Roy didn't answer directly.
Gotoh replied truthfully, "Two are confirmed. I'm still in contact with one, and the other is a little far away, though fairly close to Heavens Arena."
"Then we'll visit them along the way."
"Yes."
Gotoh jogged to catch up with Roy. Master and servant walked one behind the other, but along two separate paths, toward different forks in the road.
"Whoosh—"
Roy tossed Snow Walk to the young butler to oil.
The boy returned to his bedroom, took a quick shower, and brought up the panel to study it closely while dinner was being prepared.
[Name: Roy Zoldyck]
[Constitution: 11.75 (Note: An ordinary person is 1)]
[Nen Ability: "Gate of Cognition"]
[Nen Ability Form Transformation: Beginner (10/100)]
[Nen Ability Nature Transformation: Awaiting activation]
[Breathing Style: "Sun Breathing": Beginner (30/100)]
[Combat Experience: Lv. 2 (35/100)]
[Swordsmanship: Lv. 1 (10/100)]
[Applied Techniques—Shadow Step: Mastered (99/100); Rhythm Echo: Mastered (84/100); Snake Awakening: Beginner (98/100) (Note: Applied techniques are ranked by proficiency: Beginner, Mastered, Advanced, Perfect)]
[Titles: "Nen Ability" Rookie Just Starting Out, Green Plant Waiting to Put Out New Shoots]
From "sprout" to "green plant"—was that a decent amount of progress?
Roy wasn't sure... He only knew that his training still needed to focus on two things—
One, "Nen"; two, "Breathing Style"...
"Nen" was the foundation, while "Breathing Style" boosted his stats. He had to work on both, and get good at both. The most obvious improvements in his "techniques" were...
"My Shadow Step and Snake Awakening are about to break through. It'll happen either tomorrow or tonight."
Learning Zetsu let him sense the trajectory of a swinging whip by distinguishing the scent of Nen, but whether he could dodge it still depended on his own speed and reflexes.
Since his father had intended to test him by making him take three lashes, Roy didn't want to, and would never accept it.
That night, after dinner, he closed his eyes and entered the Demon Slayer world.
The snow kept falling, showing no signs of stopping.
After Tanjiro left, one corner of the heated floor lost a living person and gained several curled-up demons.
Urokodaki Sakonji had gotten up early and made porridge. As he'd grown old, even getting a full night's sleep had become difficult. Dozing off now and then had become the norm.
Roy opened his eyes at the smell of food and saw a pair of beautiful eyes staring right at him, wide with curiosity, as if wondering why he didn't blow snot bubbles when he slept.
"Makomo, don't mess around." Sabito leaned against the doorframe with his arms folded.
Makomo glanced at Roy helplessly, waved her hand in front of his eyes, and, when he showed no reaction, got up and put on her clothes as usual. Bored, she drifted over to Sabito.
"He really can't see us," Makomo said.
"You've known that for ages."
"Oh, right~"
The girl pouted, abandoned Sabito, and followed Roy to the kitchen.
She pricked up her ears...
She heard the boy lean against the doorframe just like Sabito and silently watch Urokodaki Sakonji for a while before saying, "Master, I want to practice with a sword today."
Swordsmanship, aside from Breathing itself, was another key to mastering a Breathing Style.
Roy thought it was time to follow Tanjiro's example in the original story and begin his own Ten Thousand Swings—in other words, swinging his sword a thousand times every day.
"Did you forget what I told you the day before yesterday?" Urokodaki Sakonji asked, his back to Roy as he peeled a potato.
It was now the Taisho era, before Showa and after Meiji. In winter, getting a bite of fresh greens was about as likely as finding a gold bar on the road.
Steamed potatoes and rice porridge would be breakfast today.
"I didn't forget." Roy deftly opened a cupboard, took out two sets of bowls and chopsticks, and placed them on the table.
"Master said I'm not allowed to touch a sword until I've grasped Breathing."
"But I've learned it now."
The boy smiled and used Zetsu.
In an instant, he drew the "aura" leaking from his body back inside and perfectly sealed his Aura Nodes, blocking its escape... At that moment, it was as if he had vanished from the room. If Sabito and Makomo hadn't been right beside him, watching him the whole time...
They really wouldn't have known that someone named Roy was in this Small Wooden Cabin, which held so many of their childhood memories!
"Fusing with nature?"
"Whoa—Fukuda, look what I found!"
"Why are you making such a racket? Demons need to sleep too, you know."
Shinsuke had been perched idly on a beam. Seeing what had happened, he hurriedly shoved Fukuda.
Poor Fukuda nearly toppled off the beam. He was so angry he almost tried to strangle Shinsuke on the spot. But then he remembered that he was a demon and could float, so he suppressed the urge to kill the fool. He followed the direction Shinsuke was pointing, and his tiny, beady eyes immediately widened.
"It's only been a few days... How did he learn Breathing already?" Fukuda shrieked, leaping down from the beam and circling above Roy's head...
"Whoosh~" A chill wind swept past...
The demons, stunned, circled Roy as if he were some strange new curiosity.
Sabito and Makomo stood nearby and quietly exchanged a glance, each seeing a hint of astonishment in the other's eyes.
The latter mischievously poked Sabito. "Hey~ Ten days."
Sabito shook his head with a wry smile. He'd known Eiichiro was fast, but hadn't expected him to be this fast. A thought suddenly crossed his mind—
"If Giyu found out that someone had grasped the secrets of Breathing in just ten days..."
"His expression would surely be quite interesting..."
Perhaps much like their master right now... whose hand had stopped moving as he peeled the potatoes...
Before you continue