An unsettling village

Early the next morning, Kanzaki Kumo and Kuwajima arrived together at the foot of Mount Peach.

"No need to see me off, old man. I'll be back in a few days."

"You little brat... be careful out there."

"Don't worry."

After waving goodbye, Kanzaki Kumo boarded the carriage he had rented in advance.

Renting a horse alone would actually have been faster and cheaper, but Kanzaki Kumo was still young and barely a meter and a half tall. Although that was already quite tall compared with most children his age, at that height, his feet could only just reach the stirrups when he sat on horseback. Riding the whole way would have been rather taxing, and he also needed to conserve his strength in case anything unexpected happened.

Of course, those were all Kanzaki Kumo's stated reasons. The main reason was that it wasn't as though he had no money, so why make himself suffer?

Jigoro Kuwajima had spent most of his life in the Demon Slayer Corps and had been a Hashira for a long time. With little to spend money on in his daily life, he had amassed far more than an ordinary amount of savings.

Watching the carriage depart and the hand that reached out of its window to wave twice, Kuwajima could only turn back toward the mountain and quietly await Kanzaki Kumo's safe return.

Drawing back the arm he had waved goodbye to Kuwajima with, Kanzaki Kumo touched the Nichirin Blade hidden beneath his loose coat. This Nichirin Blade had once been Jigoro Kuwajima's personal sword.

Feeling the cold metal through the fabric and recalling the various sword moves he had practiced lately, Kanzaki Kumo actually found himself hoping he might encounter a demon along the way. The thought frightened him into hastily shaking his head.

You only have a little talent. You haven't even mastered Total Concentration: Constant. How can you let it go to your head? Kanzaki Kumo silently reminded himself.

His destination was still far away. Figuring he had nothing else to do anyway, Kanzaki Kumo began practicing his Breathing Style in the carriage, striving to master Total Concentration: Constant as soon as possible.

Total Concentration Breathing could be described as a massively enhanced version of deep breathing, specially adapted for another world. It allowed the user to draw in vast quantities of air in a short time and rapidly deliver its oxygen throughout the body through the lungs and blood, stimulating cellular metabolism with an ample supply of oxygen to strengthen the body.

This Breathing Style placed an enormous burden on the body, which was why Kanzaki Kumo had nearly passed out when he first attempted it.

Total Concentration: Constant meant maintaining Total Concentration Breathing around the clock without interruption, replacing ordinary breathing with it. Only by mastering this way of breathing did one gain the possibility of becoming a top swordsman.

At present, Kanzaki Kumo could only maintain Total Concentration Breathing while awake. The moment he fell asleep, he would drop out of Total Concentration.

Although only half a year had passed since he first encountered Breathing Styles, Kanzaki Kumo had already become proficient in every form of Thunder Breathing and developed his Total Concentration Breathing to this level. His talent was already quite impressive, but whenever he remembered a certain boy around his age who had taken only two months to become a Hashira after first picking up a sword, he could not help lamenting his own lack of talent.

Jigoro Kuwajima: So? If you lack talent, does that make me an utter dullard?

As Kanzaki Kumo devoted himself to practicing his Breathing Style, time slipped by, and evening soon arrived.

Seeing that the sun was about to set, Kanzaki Kumo asked the driver to find the nearest village where they could spend the night.

Following the map, the driver soon found a village beside a stream.

The village was small, seemingly home to only a dozen or so households, with wisps of cooking smoke drifting above the houses.

But a sweep of Kanzaki Kumo's eyes revealed that only about half the houses had smoke rising from them.

In other words, this already tiny village was actually half empty.

It stood right beside a stream, an ideal location for farming. Even if some people had come into a little money and moved to town, that should not have left half the entire village empty.

"Something's wrong."

That was Kanzaki Kumo's first impression of the village.

But seeing that darkness was about to fall completely, he touched the Nichirin Blade hidden beneath his coat and entered the village with the driver anyway.

Staying in a house was better than sleeping out in the wilderness.

Besides, there were plenty of possible reasons for the village's dwindling population, such as a natural disaster, bandits, or an epidemic. In any case, ordinary people faced threats from all directions in this day and age. Demons were only one of them.

Besides, he, Kanzaki Kumo, was no protagonist. How could he happen to run into a demon on his very first long journey? Could he really have that kind of luck?

Without realizing it, Kanzaki Kumo was furiously tempting fate in his mind.

Approaching a house with cooking smoke rising from it, Kanzaki Kumo stepped forward and knocked.

Soon, a haggard-looking woman cautiously opened the door a crack and warily sized up Kanzaki Kumo outside.

"Hello. Would it be possible to stay here for a night? I can pay." Kanzaki Kumo stated his purpose directly.

Resistance had flashed in the woman's eyes when she first heard his request for lodging, but at the word "pay," she hesitated. She looked Kanzaki Kumo over several times, taking in his spotless, like-new clothes and the sort of fabric ordinary people could not bear to spend money on, before slowly opening the door.

Only then did she notice another person standing behind Kanzaki Kumo. Judging by his clothes, however, he clearly was not wealthy, so she paid him no mind.

"The only empty room is the woodshed. You can make beds on the floor in there. Come in if you don't mind."

"That's fine. I'm not picky."

Kanzaki Kumo walked inside as he answered, and the driver could only follow.

"..."

The woman looked as though she wanted to say something, but ultimately said nothing. After closing the door, she went inside and brought out two sets of bedding.

A family that clearly was not well-off had two spare sets of bedding, yet despite strangers coming into the house, no one else had appeared to so much as take a look. Kanzaki Kumo felt increasingly certain that something was wrong with this village.

As for the driver, who had spent years scraping by in this world, cold sweat was already breaking out on his back.

Everything about this village is wrong!

The driver screamed inwardly.

If Kanzaki Kumo, his employer, had not still been there, and if the final payment, which made up most of his fee, had not been due only upon reaching their destination, he would have turned and fled.

Had he known, he would have driven a little slower so they could have stopped in the last town they passed. Then they would not have had to seek lodging in such an unsettling village. His employer had not even been rushing him...

Whatever the driver was thinking at that moment, as long as he still wanted to earn this money, he could only steel himself and stay.

But somewhat to both their surprise, the night passed exceptionally peacefully.

Early the next morning, Kanzaki Kumo left some money and departed with the driver.

He had originally wanted a hot breakfast, but seeing how the driver had spent a sleepless night on edge and the urgency in his eyes, he ultimately could not bear to put any further strain on the man's fragile nerves.

Outside the village, the driver breathed a huge sigh of relief at the sight of the carriage and horse tied to a tree, completely unharmed. Then he grabbed Kanzaki Kumo and raced toward the carriage. Intent only on leaving this damned place as quickly as possible, he could no longer spare a thought for whether he was disrespecting his employer. Even dragging Kanzaki Kumo along as he ran was only for the money's sake.