Brutal Hammering of Kaigaku

He stacked the thick logs from his shoulder neatly onto the woodpile in the restaurant's backyard.

Kujo Tachibana slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, looked at the short but rugged-looking old man behind him, and said with a smile:

"Old man, I've done so much work for you, surely that covers my meal tab by now?"

Inoue Shogo let out a cold "humph" and retorted indignantly:

"Kid! Do you have any idea how many expensive ingredients you devoured in that one sitting?"

"Want to leave? Work for another six months!"

Having said that, Inoue Shogo hurried back toward the restaurant, leaving Kujo Tachibana absolutely no room to argue.

Although Kujo Tachibana could eat enough for three people in one meal, he could do the work of five or six men on his own; even if he had to pay him a wage later, the deal was never going to be a loss.

Kujo Tachibana watched Inoue Shogo's retreating back and rolled his eyes helplessly; he knew exactly what that old man was plotting!

It had been two months since he left Toyama Prefecture, and in those two months, Kujo Tachibana hadn't even caught a glimpse of a demon, let alone the Demon Slayer Corps.

His money had long since run out, and after two months of Bear Grylls-style wilderness survival, Kujo Tachibana felt he was practically a special forces operative.

It was fine in areas with a healthy ecosystem where he could hunt wild animals, but things became rather eerie once he reached the vicinity of Peace Town, and he couldn't figure out why.

In the forest outside the town, Kujo Tachibana hadn't even spotted a single mouse.

There were barely any fish in the river, either!

After going nine meals without food in three days, a desperate Kujo Tachibana finally entered the town, ate a meal he couldn't pay for, and was forced into labor to pay off his debt.

However, it was precisely for this reason that Kujo Tachibana suspected something was wrong with this place.

There was a high probability that a vicious demon was living nearby!

Otherwise, Kujo Tachibana couldn't find any other explanation.

If there was a demon, Kujo Tachibana believed the Demon Slayer Corps would eventually find their way here.

And so, under the guise of working off his debt, Kujo Tachibana waited for the Demon Slayer Corps to arrive while spending his days chopping wood in the mountains and searching for traces of a demon.

Having practiced the sword for so many years, Kujo Tachibana truly wanted to find a demon and test his skills.

That afternoon, as usual, Kujo Tachibana was in the restaurant's backyard, splitting the logs he had chopped into uniform pieces of firewood.

Just as Kujo Tachibana was focused on his "wood-chopping" swordsmanship, a series of urgent cries echoed from the road outside the wall.

"Someone, please help me! That kid ahead is a thief, don't run... stop right there..."

"That was all my money..."

"Gods... won't someone please help me..."

The owner of the voice was a woman in her thirties with a sallow, malnourished complexion; she leaned against the wall with one hand and clutched her chest with the other.

Panting heavily, she struggled to chase after the boy in black ahead.

Kaigaku gripped the faded, white-worn cloth bag tightly in his right hand, sprinting forward frantically while gasping for air and glancing back from time to time.

Seeing the woman falling further and further behind until she collapsed on the ground, unable to continue the chase, Kaigaku couldn't help but laugh triumphantly.

Ever since that night when he led the demon to the temple where Himejima Gyomei and the orphans lived just to save his own life, Kaigaku had left Himejima Gyomei's free canteen and returned to a life sustained by theft.

However, the current Kaigaku had become much "smarter."

He no longer targeted healthy people; wherever he went, Kaigaku would go to the local clinic and lurk quietly by the entrance, picking his targets.

The woman today was one such target.

To ensure he wouldn't be eaten by a demon, he had to become a "Demon Slayer"!

And throughout his journey to find the "Demon Slayer," Kaigaku had been doing exactly this.

Kaigaku ran out of the town, hands on his knees, gasping for air while cursing:

"That pig-headed woman."

"Even if I left that money for you, it wouldn't save your life!"

"Better to let me have it; you might as well just lie there and rot."

"Sigh!" Kujo Tachibana couldn't listen any longer; he let out a sigh and slowly stepped out from behind a tree in front of Kaigaku.

He twisted his neck and cracked the knuckles of his fingers, switching between his left and right hands.

Kujo Tachibana looked at this "scum of the earth."

Feeling the palpable "malice" radiating from Kaigaku.

This was the first time in Kujo Tachibana's decades of life, across both his past and present, that he had felt the evil of humanity so profoundly!

When he watched the anime in his past life, Kujo Tachibana had simply disliked this character.

But today, the moment Kujo Tachibana truly saw Kaigaku and felt it!

The character so foul it made him want to retch.

Kujo Tachibana could no longer control his rage!

"If I don't beat you into a cripple today, I'll have wasted my meals!"

Seeing Kujo Tachibana emerge from behind the tree with clearly "ill intentions."

Kaigaku was startled and hurriedly asked:

"Who are you?"

Kujo Tachibana didn't waste any more breath on him, slamming a fist straight into Kaigaku's nose bridge, cursing while still feeling unsatisfied:

"I'm your father! Today, your father is going to beat you to death, you unfilial brat!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Kujo Tachibana kicked Kaigaku in the stomach.

It left Kaigaku completely dazed; clutching his bleeding nose with one hand and his churning stomach with the other, he rolled on the ground...

The next second, Kujo Tachibana's toes rained down upon Kaigaku's body like a storm. No matter how Kaigaku struggled, Kujo Tachibana's feet always found their mark exactly where he intended.

Kaigaku curled his body up, writhing on the ground like a worm, begging for mercy intermittently:

"Don't... don't hit me anymore... I'll give you all my money... I have a lot of money on me..."

Kujo Tachibana took a deep breath and hoisted Kaigaku up with one hand.

With eyes swollen shut to mere slits, Kaigaku reached out with trembling hands and pulled several money pouches from his person.

Seeing Kujo Tachibana take the pouches, Kaigaku finally breathed a sigh of relief, then lowered his head to hide the unmasked, venomous look in his eyes.

"Go, please, just take the money and go..."

I will definitely, definitely kill you in the future!

While Kaigaku prayed in his heart for Kujo Tachibana to leave quickly, he was also desperately etching Kujo Tachibana's appearance, voice, and even his scent into his mind.

Feeling the resentment radiating from Kaigaku into the air, Kujo Tachibana smiled coldly and whispered:

"Kaigaku, are you feeling particularly resentful toward me in your heart right now? Wishing I were dead, or even wanting a demon to eat me?"

Upon hearing Kujo Tachibana's words, Kaigaku's body stiffened!

He couldn't help but think in terror:

He knows my name!

He knows everything!

He's going to kill me!

The fear of death made Kaigaku tremble uncontrollably.

As if Kujo Tachibana possessed mind-reading powers, he leaned down and whispered into Kaigaku's ear:

"Heh, don't worry, I won't kill you."

Kujo Tachibana wasn't lying to Kaigaku; he truly couldn't bring himself to kill a "human child."

Kaigaku should be grateful that the status of "child" was what kept him alive.

Before Kaigaku could rejoice for long.

Kujo Tachibana whispered into his ear once more: "But I will ruin you."

As soon as he finished speaking, Kujo Tachibana raised his right fist, protruding the knuckle of his middle finger, and lightly struck the "load-bearing wall" of Kaigaku's lungs.

He couldn't hit this too hard; if he did, Kaigaku might actually kick the bucket.

Still want to learn the Breath of Thunder? Eat sh*t! Kujo Tachibana cursed in his heart.

Following this, Kujo Tachibana tucked the crippled Kaigaku under his arm and headed toward the medical clinic in Peace Town.

At this moment, Kaigaku was casting a look of unmasked resentment toward Kujo Tachibana.

Although he didn't yet know what Kujo Tachibana had done to him!

But Kaigaku believed that this "devil" would never do anything without a reason.

"Why are you looking at me like that? You're making me look like the villain!"

"Get it straight, you're the one who's the villain!"

Kujo Tachibana grumbled, giving Kaigaku another slap.