The story of Gyomei Himejima before he joined the Demon Slayer Corps...
Was a tragedy that plunged abruptly from peaceful seclusion into the abyss.
Even now, that incident still weighed on his heart.
Just as he had discussed with Xia Xi before.
Gyomei's family had not been well-off when he was a child.
Like most people in the Far East in that era.
Poverty, illness, and hunger had been the main themes of his life.
His brothers and sisters had died one after another from illness and hunger when they were young.
He himself had lost his sight after a high fever in infancy.
Once he was a little older, he had gone to a temple deep in the mountains to become a monk.
Fortunately, the elderly monks there had treated him quite well.
Not only had they taken in this large boy with his enormous appetite, but they had also taught him to play an instrument called the shakuhachi.
He had grown up in an environment full of kindness.
And so Gyomei had been willing to pass his own kindness on to others.
After the elderly monks passed away one after another, the kindhearted Gyomei had begun taking in orphaned children from various places who had no one to rely on.
Just as the elderly monks had once done for him.
He had provided them with food, taught them to read, and given them a place to stay.
"We weren't related by blood, but we were like a family."
"We helped each other and lived peacefully."
"I thought... that was how I would spend the rest of my life."
At this point, both Shinjuro and Uzui frowned.
Neither could really imagine the big man before them supporting an entire temple's expenses on his own.
A blind monk, raising another