No, something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong.
The samurai-haired man gazed at the youth opposite him, whose forehead was patterned with strange red markings.
The lackeys behind him were still cheering for him, but in that moment of triumph, a thread of unease had already woven its way in.
“Is the kid holding a wooden sword?” one of the lackeys asked from behind.
The girl opposite stood with her finger pressed against her lips, smiling broadly. “That’s right, he’s super fierce! He only draws his sword when there’s blood involved; for dealing with you lot, a wooden sword is quite enough. You wouldn’t want to die so easily, would you?”
The lackeys were silent for a moment before retorting in a cacophony of anger.
“How arrogant this woman is…” “I hope you don’t cry when it’s your turn to dance!” “There are plenty of ways to humiliate her.” “Don’t think you’ll die easily!”
The samurai-haired man grew increasingly suspicious.
He swept his gaze over the red-haired youth once more, unmoved. The girl’s confidence clearly stemmed from him, but he looked so frail, with no calluses on his hands from practicing martial arts where on earth did she get this confidence?
He took a step back and gave a signal to his most trusted confidant. The clever youth immediately stepped forward. “Hey! Hand over that potato, I want to inspect it. Who knows if you’ve tampered with it!”
The youth took the potato, squeezed it, took a large bite, and chewed. “Mm, seems fine. But I’ll be the one to throw it.”
Doing whatever it took to win was normal; if he were someone who followed the way of the samurai, he wouldn’t be bullying unarmed commoners to begin with.
“So, is that really what you think?”
A clear, melodic voice rang out.
The youth had suddenly started speaking.
“Of course.” “Boss, don’t let him die yet; it’ll be even worse if he watches it happen, right?”
The lackeys behind the samurai-haired man spoke in a truly malicious tone to boost their boss’s morale.
The red-haired youth’s eyes grew even redder.
Without a word of warning, the clever youth tossed the potato low. His mouth curled into a cunning smile. In this way, there was no way that…
The youth’s figure flickered and vanished in an instant, followed by a gale-force wind that swept past him, impossible to resist. His cheeks stung, and he couldn’t even keep his eyes open.
And the samurai-haired man not far from him, because he was slightly further away, managed to catch a glimpse of the red afterimage as the youth began his movement.
Everything he saw next was merely a chaotic blur that defied human vision.
The potato in the air seemed to disappear in an instant, and so did the youth.
Suddenly, a heat radiated from his neck. The air, compressed with heavy pressure, pushed into his lungs, and his body temperature rose sharply.
He stiffly and sluggishly rotated his eyeballs, catching only a wisp of dark red hair.
When… when did he get so close?
For a samurai who licked blood off the blade, being approached without any awareness was no different from being dead.
The explosion of power was completed in an instant; the youth arrived in a flash. Everything happened suddenly, and everything stopped abruptly.
Time seemed to stretch out.
It was only after an eternity that the samurai-haired man saw the dark, red hair that had crossed over his own float down and settle against his cheek once more.
In reality, he was the fastest reactor in the scene; the proximity of death had forced him into a “life-flashing-before-eyes” state.
The movements of the others seemed to have slowed down, but the youth’s figure remained impossible to capture, moving faster than the Grim Reaper himself… he had been dragged into a space that only he could experience.
In this space, all he could do was tremble uncontrollably.
As the youth’s profile reflected in his eyes once again.
From his slightly parted lips came a bone-chilling sound of exhaling. A wisp of white mist, carrying an intensely searing temperature, slowly dissipated in the air, for he could feel that heat.
Is this even human breathing?
Then, the youth slowly turned those transparent, crimson eyes—which reflected nothing, like a dead object to stare at him.
“I won, right?”
The voice reached his ears. His fragile nerves were booming; blood flowed like an opened pump, rushing violently to every part of his body.
Only then did his body react.
Trembling and surrender.
So terrifying. He killed me. He killed me in a single stroke.
“Bo, Boss?”
“Boss!”
He could no longer hear anything; he didn’t even realize he had collapsed to the ground.
Relying on instinct, he covered his neck, trying to stop the blood from gushing out after the incision…
He looked down; his hair had been sliced off onto the ground. The next second, it should have been blood.
In front of him were a pair of the most ordinary straw sandals. White socks were tightly bound to his calves with cloth strips, and they were turning to face him.
Damn it… is this the last thing I see in my life? He lifted his head with great effort.
The wooden sword dangling down was burning, inch by inch, into charcoal black, with faint sparks of embers still remaining on the tip.
At this moment, he realized:
This youth is a monster.
He recalled the evil monsters he had seen in the dark while wandering, the ones with red eyes and drooling mouths that tore human bodies apart.
He fled.
This scene had drained all his fighting spirit. It was impossible for humans to defeat such a monster!
This youth… perhaps he was one of them.
Unfortunately, it was too late to realize it now.
Although being cheated made me a bit angry, I still trusted that Tsugikuni Yoriichi could win!
I saw him rotate his wrist with elegance and speed—his movements were invisible—and the potato in the air turned directly into shreds.
Did it even seem cooked?
Looking again, he was already beside the samurai-haired man.
It was obvious.
I spoke according to the draft I had prepared in my head, deliberately saying:
“Heh, I think the difference is clear enough now, isn’t it? For the sake of your lives, you’d better keep your promise. Otherwise, he only used a wooden sword just now. If he draws the one at his side, you all…”
I didn’t continue.
Because it didn’t seem necessary anymore.
The lackeys behind him looked panicked, and their boss, whom they were so proud of, was now kneeling on the ground, clutching his neck with both hands.
Sudden illness? What’s going on?
I walked over, full of confusion, and vaguely smelled a scent of charcoal and something foul in the air.
I looked at the samurai-haired man, the corners of my mouth twitching—it couldn’t be, could it?
Wait, weren’t we the ones threatened with seppuku if we lost?
The samurai-haired man’s hair was scattered, and the small topknot behind him had fallen to the ground.
Was this Yoriichi’s doing?
I couldn’t help but look at him and found that the expression on his face was quite remarkable; the corners of his eyes and brows were as cold and sharp as an unsheathed blade.
I had never seen such an expression on his face before; this had completely exceeded my expectations.
After a while, the samurai-haired man muttered in a daze:
“I… am I not dead?”
I looked at him there wasn’t a single scratch on his body. Actually, I didn’t even need to look; I knew Yoriichi wouldn’t kill anyone for no reason.
So I nodded. “Mm-hmm, you’re alive.”
He looked like someone awakened from a nightmare; he suddenly started touching his neck up and down, then sat down on the ground in a state of collapse.
“I won, right?”
His tone was cold. I didn’t know that this was the second time he had asked.
The samurai-haired man stammered in terror, “Ye—yes, you won.”
My word, he even learned how to be threatening!
The lackeys were stunned. Only the youth who threw the potato walked back with the same foot and hand, looking like his soul had left his body.
Looking strangely at the youth and the boss, I was too lazy to pursue their cheating and decided to finish what I had to say.
I crouched down. “Violent thoughts can only be met with more violent means…” I looked at the terror in his eyes which had lost their luster of course, it wasn’t directed at me.
I continued, “You should be able to understand how sad a principle this is, right?”
Then I picked up his severed topknot.
This part wasn’t in the original plan, but the effect was surprisingly good. It seemed the samurai-haired man truly cherished his hair.
I handed it back to him, attempting to turn foes into friends. “Er… here, take it; if you glue it back on, it should still be usable?”
We were taken to the government office by the belated samurai on the grounds of “gathering for a brawl.”
The hoodlums carried their boss and slipped away quickly… truly experienced.
Only Yoriichi and I were brought in. You guys aren’t arresting the people who actually broke the law?
I used a bit of juggling to fool those hoodlums the “scary sword” didn’t exist anyway and after some smooth-talking and bribery based on reading the situation, we were quickly released.
He said, “Megumi seems very skilled at these things.”
“It’s all for survival! Survival!”
He wasn’t being sarcastic, was he?
However, today’s events gave me a summary of my experience:
First, people are cunning. If Yoriichi hadn’t been so strong, we might have suffered a loss. I need to think thrice before acting in the future.
Second, Yoriichi is a “weapon of mass destruction,” better not to use it lightly.
I always felt like that samurai-haired man looked like he would be left with a lifelong shadow?
Come to think of it… I peered at him curiously, what exactly did he do? And so, I asked.
“I only severed his topknot.” He answered calmly.
I didn’t think he would lie to me, so I rested my chin on my hands. “Really? Come to think of it, why did you do that at the time?”
He took out that wooden sword, held it with both hands, lowered his eyes, and said, “Megumi’s goal was to protect those vendors; therefore, it was necessary to demonstrate the strength to protect others. I thought… this might be better.”
“Indeed. Although, I’m not that noble; I just wanted to do business in peace.”
Actually, defeating the samurai-haired man head-on would have been the best way, but it would have made Yoriichi uncomfortable, so I used this compromise instead.
He didn’t like hurting others.
But, “Both liking and disliking are important emotions.” I patted his shoulder and said, “There’s no help for it! In many cases, people have to live while holding on to feelings of dislike doing jobs they don’t like, pleasing people they don’t like… and so on.”
Yes!
My eyes were complex. Kind and innocent as he was, he would eventually become the pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, picking up a real Nichirin sword to slaughter evil demons.
But… demons were also once human! I truly didn’t know what kind of emotions he would be wielding his blade with at that time; surely not happiness.
Might as well guide him a little in advance.
“Mm, um, how were you feeling just now?”
“Fear, and also a bit of nervousness…”
Eh? I thought it would be reluctance.
“I understand the nervousness.” I muttered. “Fear?”
“Mm, afraid of losing.”
“Ah?” I laughed immediately. “Impossible! How could you lose?”
I was completely in the dark when it came to combat talent, so I had used the safest method. The person who could slice up the Demon King, what problem could he have cutting a potato?
He lifted his head and asked, “Why… does Megumi have so much confidence in me?”
“Because…” You’re on a whole different atmospheric layer!
He added immediately, “I couldn’t do it. I was afraid that if I lost, Megumi would be treated as they said…” His tone was extremely dejected.
“It would be very shameful, wouldn’t it? Clearly, I had promised to do this, but I ended up regretting it at the last minute. Compared to Megumi, who was so calm and composed, I am simply… a coward.”