In the end, Xia Xi was invited into the room by the father and son.
Kiseki Tokito's attitude toward Xia Xi was fairly pleasant, courteous with a measure of caution.
As for Yuichiro's expression...
He looked exactly like someone who had just swallowed his anger.
Yet because of his mother's illness, he had no choice but to bow his head to this stranger.
Yuichiro cared deeply about his family.
The reason he opposed his father joining that so-called Demon Slayer Corps...
Was that he believed, from the bottom of his heart, that they were merely trying to recruit a few able-bodied young men as cannon fodder.
These days, he had heard plenty of nearby townspeople talking about forced conscription.
Descendants of the strongest swordsman from centuries ago.
Possibly possessing considerable talent as swordsmen.
To him, it was all a pack of lies.
If their ancestor had really been that amazing, how had they ended up cutting firewood for a living deep in these remote mountains?
Never mind becoming a peerless samurai.
Surely they could at least have gone to a big city and opened a dojo teaching kendo.
But what was the reality?
Their family struggled even to stay fed and clothed.
Yet however unwilling he was, the thought of his mother's increasingly weak and suffering body...
Still forced him to shut his mouth.
Xia Xi watched the two leading the way.
He could not help grumbling inwardly.
All he could say was that Amane Ubuyashiki's approach to persuasion was lacking.
Perhaps she had spent so long in a lofty position that she no longer quite understood the most genuine needs of these impoverished people at the bottom.
Things like a samurai's honor and the righteous cause of demon slaying...
Were far too distant for an ordinary family struggling to