As a servant of the Zoldyck family, one was proud.
As a Zoldyck, one was even prouder.
Once, Zeno had thought himself a proud man, and he had remained so from then until now.
But looking at the boy before him, who was almost the spitting image of his younger self save for his hair color, he had to admit that he'd been too modest.
"Heh heh heh..." Zeno stared at Roy and chuckled in a low voice. "Freedom... It's a very costly thing."
"Most people can only dream of it. I hope you get what you want."
"I'll do my best."
"Is that so?"
Zeno gave him a long look.
"Doing your best won't be enough. You'll have to fight for your life."
With that, he clasped his hands behind his back and drifted past Roy... His toes never seemed to touch the ground. His figure flickered... then flickered again... as if he were teleporting. Soon, he was out of the corridor and gone.
Roy stood there, wrapped in the sunset, and watched silently for a while. Then he set off too, flickering... then flickering again, heading away from the direction Zeno had gone and "floating" toward his bedroom.
The road to the summit began with mastering Shadow Step.
"Seventeen thousand eight hundred and twelve..."
"Seventeen thousand eight hundred and thirteen..."
"Hey~ Sabito, I can't keep count anymore..."
In the Snow Country, inside Roy's Cognitive World,
Makomo stuck out her little tongue and complained... Beneath the birch tree, the boy kept bringing his blade down, one swing after another, like a tireless machine. Again and again, he challenged everything she thought she knew.
"Then don't push yourself." Demons weren't human and had no physical bodies, so she couldn't exactly use a pen to keep track.
Sabito understood how Makomo felt. Swinging a sword tens of thousands of times was hard enough; even counting that high was a test of willpower and focus for an ordinary person.
The only one to blame was Eiichiro. The guy was just too far outside the bounds of reason.
"No, I'll keep going a little longer. I'm almost at twenty thousand." The girl patted her cheeks, cheering herself on.
Since she was willing to stick with it, Sabito wisely didn't try to dissuade her. After all... compared to Shinsuke, Fukuda, and the others, who had long since grown numb to it, Makomo was already remarkably persistent.
"Eighteen thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight..."
"Nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine..."
"Twenty thousand!"
The blade sank into the wooden post, splitting it in two. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, reflecting Roy's slightly flushed face and making him look even more heroic.
In six days, Roy had gone from ten thousand swings to twenty thousand, accomplishing the goal he'd set for himself. He'd completed Ten Thousand Swings twice in a single day.
And this still wasn't his limit.
"Tomorrow, add another two thousand."
Urokodaki Sakonji emerged from the woods and, as he had each of the past few days, said the same thing to Roy.
It was hard to make out the old man's expression beneath the Tengu Mask, but Sabito and Makomo, who had spent so much time with him since childhood, could faintly sense from the way he clasped his hands behind his back that he wasn't nearly as calm inside as he seemed.
"Master wants to see where Eiichiro's limit is," Makomo whispered.
"Don't you?"
"I do... But if he does any more, I won't be able to keep count..."
Makomo grumbled to Sabito.
Sabito smiled and shook his head. This time, Giyu didn't pop into his mind.
Three thousand swings at the peak of one's abilities were nothing like twenty thousand swings before reaching one's limit.
Sabito was almost certain that once Eiichiro left the mountain, he'd give everyone a shock, whether they were Demons or members of the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Maybe Master is hoping for that too..."
Sabito glanced silently at Urokodaki Sakonji... The old Water Hashira left them with a simple "Dinner's ready" and turned to go.
His back seemed unable to withstand the erosion of time, and was beginning to stoop.
[Prompt: Swordsmanship +17]
Another night passed. The wooden clock in the corner chimed.
Nearly drained dry, Roy ate a quick dinner with Urokodaki Sakonji, then climbed onto the heated kang early.
He slept until dawn. When he opened his eyes again, he was back on Kukuroo Mountain... and felt that familiar exhaustion that made him "lose interest in everything."
Fortunately, after several days of adjusting, he'd gotten into the habit of staying in bed a little longer, waiting for the exhaustion to fade completely before getting up for his run.
Thanks to mastering Shadow Step, Roy was getting faster and faster. Even though he deliberately kept his pace in check, he still raced past the Ancient Castle and the Butler Villa and reached the Testing Gate at the foot of the mountain before the sun rose above the horizon.
"Good morning, Young Master." Zee spotted him from a distance, took off his hat, and bowed.
Roy nodded at him, his gaze passing over Zee's high hairline and flicking beyond him. Then came a deafening crash. The Testing Gate, which outsiders called the Gate of Hades, swung open three sections, and a figure stepped out.
"Good morning, Young Master Illumi." Zee took off the hat he'd just put on.
Illumi held a human head in his hand and walked straight past him. He tossed it aside, and Mike came running at the smell, swallowing the head in one gulp.
"That wasn't even enough to get stuck between my teeth..." Mike glared at Illumi in dissatisfaction, as if complaining...
It had rushed over in a flurry, only to leave in disappointment.
Illumi ignored it, treating its resentful gaze like air. He fixed his eyes on Roy, who was heading back, and said, "Starting today, I have eighty-one wins too."
Clearly, the head he'd just fed to Mike had belonged to the Emission Nen user who'd blocked his path at Heavens Arena.
What a pity...
"They weren't consecutive wins."
Roy glanced back and kindly reminded him. Then, with another flicker, he raced up the mountain.
A vein bulged on Illumi's forehead. He glared at Roy's retreating figure and shouted, "Just you wait!"
His hands quietly clenched into fists.
"Heh..." Roy's only response was a soft laugh and the fading of his figure.
Whether Illumi came after him or not, Roy would still be here. They lived under the same roof, so what was the point of saying "just you wait"?
If he had the nerve, he could come at Roy anytime.
Roy's earrings fluttered as he ran. He returned to his bedroom two minutes faster than expected, took a shower, then sat at the dining table to wait for Gotoh to serve breakfast.
Today's sandwich was cheese-flavored.
As he browsed the notes his great-grandfather had given him, he listened to Gotoh report the day's training plan. Only when he heard Gotoh mention "the master" did he close the book and look up.
"The master called. He'll be home tonight, and he plans to test the Young Master first thing tomorrow morning."
The young butler pushed up the gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose and said with some concern, "So I suggest the Young Master cancel today's training and spend the day resting."
The training plan was set in stone. If Silva didn't say so, who would dare cancel it?
Roy finished his sandwich, pulled out a napkin, and wiped his mouth unhurriedly. "No need. Tell Luke to wait in the training room. Whether he can knock me out today is still up in the air."
As he spoke, he glanced at the panel.
[Constitution: 12.05→13.05]
After several days of practicing Sun Breathing...
He'd successfully raised it by one point, which was like adding another ordinary person to his body. That meant...
He could probably last longer.
Before you continue