Minamino Guangzhi is an ordinary person, the most inconspicuous speck of dust among billions of beings. Except for his family, no one would care about him, but now there's one more person—Roy.
Roy, carrying that Copper Coin, walked through the deep, lonely Sagiri yama, opened the panel and added Minamino Guangzhi's "Life Energy" to "Constitution."
[Reminder...]
[Constitution: 10.55→11.55]
"Sss... Sss...."
Wisps of hot air steamed from the top of his head....
Tanjiro stumbled along behind him, and at one point looked up... surprisingly found that he had suddenly inflated, hurriedly rubbed his eyes, looked again... Roy had "shrunk" back, as if the previous "expansion" was merely a trick played by foolish Mamen Beans on his eyes, mistakenly seen.
'Strange... Did I not sleep well last night and got confused?'
Tanjiro quickened his steps, walked in front of Roy,
looked carefully, and then found Roy frowning, seemingly unable to walk out of the shadow of Uncle Minamino's dispersal, and asked with concern, "Are you okay, Nii-san?"
Should he say he's fine?
Roy couldn't agree. He was in terrible pain and struggled to walk... almost exhausting all his strength.
The instant increase in Constitution directly reflected on his body as... accelerated cell division, increased bone density tightening up, cardiovascular thickening expanding, muscle fibers tearing and regenerating...
This should have been the "growth" process slowly developing over time, possibly taking a year, two years, or even five or six years for ordinary people, but Roy forcibly went through it in one breath.
The price paid was—
He had to rest briefly against a cedar tree.
"Here, have some water." Tanjiro took out a water bottle and gave Roy a sip.
Roy then felt a little better, patted his back, looked at the sky, and continued to move deeper into Sagiri yama.
Sagiri yama is famous for being shrouded in fog all year round, with heavy snow in winter, temperatures dropping below freezing, and sometimes even ice fog phenomena.
Tanjiro's nose was blushing red from the cold, wiped the ice flakes off his hair, hardly imagining what kind of people would choose to live in such a harsh place. At least, learning from Minamino Guangzhi to settle at the foot of the mountain would be much more comfortable.
"Nii-san, would anyone really choose to live here?"
"This mountain never sees the sun all year round, not a single green plant can be found, it's even colder than our home."
The mountain at home has no fog, the wooden house facing the sun is built on a sunny slope, at least the daytime isn't too hard...
"Hardship creates greatness." Roy tossed a simple sentence to Tanjiro, glanced at the birch tree diagonally in front.
On the branches of the birch stood two figures, the eyes under the Fox Masks lightly flickered...
A bit surprised...
"Hey~ Sabito, did he discover us?" The smaller one was a girl.
She was wearing a kimono with floral patterns, about eleven or twelve years old, bare-legged against the season, the Fox Mask crookedly slanted atop her head, paused for a moment upon noticing Roy's gaze.
"Unless we deliberately approach, no one can discover us." The larger one was a boy, about fifteen or sixteen years old.
Dressed in a pure white coat with an inner weave of orange, yellow, and green tortoise shell pattern haori, a head of pink long hair draped over his shoulders, a scar brushed one corner of his Fox Mask.
"Indeed, even Master Urokodaki cannot see."
Speaking of their master, the girl became a bit gloomy, thinking of the several times standing beside her master, watching him eat, sleep, carve, and stare idly... hoping one day he might respond, but—
No matter how she followed, reminded, or called out, he was completely unaware.
Perhaps life will be this way...
"No, it won't." Sensing the girl's strangeness, the boy gently pats her head: "Have faith in Master Urokodaki, Makomo, look... there are still people insisting on learning from him, right?"
"But, Master doesn't want to take any more..." The girl named Makomo hugged her knees and squatted down, her beautiful green eyes dimming....
"Master is heartbroken..."
"He no longer wants to see people die in vain because of him..."
"That creature has devoured so many people, becoming increasingly difficult to handle..."
"Even you..."
"Yes, even I am no match for him." The boy picked up where the girl left off, looking down as Roy and Tanjiro walked past the birch tree, fell into silence...
In no time, their figures flashed, disappearing deep into Sagiri yama one after the other.
Roy took note of their actions, his ear moving slightly, causing the Sun Earrings to sway gently, memorized their words while remaining unnoticed.
This was the purest soul, expressing the most genuine cry....
Roy tightened the back basket on his shoulders, reached out and pulled Tanjiro, who accidentally stepped into a snow pit, nearly twisting his ankle.
Fortunately, the further they walked in, the wider the view became, gradually allowing a glimpse of the morning light filtering through the thick fog, and...
illuminated by the morning light,
sitting alone on a tree stump, an old man carving.
The old man wore a Celestial Dog Mask, held a carving knife and mallet, "ka~ ka~ ka...." chiseling away wood shavings, oblivious to the sounds behind him.
As if fully immersed in the world of art, the only way to mend the cracks formed in his heart due to injury.
"Nii-san, someone's here."
"I see."
Roy stopped Tanjiro's attempt to disturb them.
Instead, he unloaded his back basket, took out a hoe, cleared a space, and started a fire to warm themselves.
The water bottle had run dry, and after feeding Roy a sip earlier, Tanjiro imitated him by packing snow into the bottle, using a branch to suspend it over the fire. Before long, steam began to bubble up.
"Why didn't they go in?"
At this moment, the disappearing girl reappeared, lounging against the old man, observing Roy and Tanjiro with curiosity filling her eyes.
Beside her stood the boy marked with the scarred Fox Mask, within the dense forest behind, shadows gradually appeared.
These figures, indistinct, wore unified Fox Masks, either watching the old man carve, leaning against the door snoozing, or grabbing at a sparrow passing by, more extreme...
They approached Roy and Tanjiro, daringly circled them, ending up...
terrified by Roy's seemingly casual glance, stumbling backward in haste....
almost tumbling headlong into the fire...
"Haha... cut it out Shinsuke, do you really believe anyone can see ghosts?"
"Who's playing around!" The boy named Shinsuke scrambled up from the ground, dissatisfied, waved his right hand in front of Roy's eyes, seeing him focused on peeling a dumpling, only then relaxed, turned, and fiercely lunged at the companion who teased him....
"Fukuda, you wicked fellow, I'm gonna rip your mouth apart...."