Early the next morning, Kanzaki Kumo and Kuwajima arrived together at the foot of Mount Momoyama.
“No need to see me off anymore, Little old man.
I’ll be back in a few days.”
“Brat…
be careful on the road.”
“Don’t worry.”
After waving goodbye, Kanzaki Kumo boarded the horse-drawn carriage he had rented in advance.
In truth, renting a single horse would have been faster and cheaper.
However, Kanzaki Kumo was still young and barely stood at 1.5 meters tall.
Even though he was quite tall compared to most of his peers, at this height, he could only just barely reach the stirrups while sitting on a horse’s back.
It would have been somewhat exhausting to ride all the way, not to mention he needed to conserve his physical strength in case of emergencies.
Of course, those were just Kanzaki Kumo’s public reasons.
The main point was: it wasn’t like he lacked money, so why look for trouble for himself?
Kuwajima Jigorō had spent most of his life as a member of the Demon Slayer Corps and had served as a Hashira for a long time.
With few daily expenses, his savings were more than just substantial.
Watching the carriage depart and seeing the hand reach out from the window to wave twice, Kuwajima could only turn back and return to the mountain to wait quietly for Kanzaki Kumo’s safe return.
…
Retracting his arm from waving goodbye to Kuwajima, Kanzaki Kumo felt the nichirin blade hidden under his oversized coat.
This nichirin blade was once Kuwajima Jigorō’s personal weapon.
Feeling the cold metallic touch through the fabric and recalling the various sword techniques he had practiced recently, Kanzaki Kumo actually found himself hoping to encounter a demon on the road for a moment, which startled him into quickly shaking his head.
“You just have a bit of talent, you haven’t even mastered Total Concentration Breathing, Constant yet.
How can you get ahead of yourself?” Kanzaki Kumo muttered to himself in his heart.
Since the destination was still far away, and with the mindset of “might as well do something while I’m idle,” Kanzaki Kumo began practicing his Breathing Technique in the carriage, striving to master Total Concentration Breathing, Constant as soon as possible.
Total Concentration Breathing can be described as a super-enhanced and otherworldly specialized version of deep breathing.
It allows one to inhale a massive amount of air in a short time, rapidly delivering the oxygen within it through the lungs and blood to the entire body.
This stimulates the metabolism of all cells with sufficient oxygen, achieving the effect of strengthening the body.
This Breathing Technique places a heavy burden on the body, so Kanzaki Kumo’s first attempt back then had nearly caused him to pass out.
Total Concentration Breathing, Constant refers to maintaining Total Concentration Breathing 24/7 without interruption, letting it replace daily breathing.
Only by mastering this method of breathing does one have the possibility of becoming a top-tier swordsman.
Currently, Kanzaki Kumo could only maintain Total Concentration Breathing while awake; as soon as he fell asleep, he would exit the Total Concentration state. New chapters come out on NovelPing first.
Although it had only been half a year since he first encountered Breathing Techniques, being able to proficiently master all the forms of Thunder Breathing and train Total Concentration Breathing to this level meant Kanzaki Kumo’s talent was already quite good.
However, every time he thought of a certain boy around his age who could go from touching a blade to becoming a Hashira in just two months, he couldn’t help but lament his own lack of talent.
Kuwajima Jigorō: So?
If your talent is lacking, then I must be naturally dull-witted?
As Kanzaki Kumo focused on practicing his Breathing Technique, time gradually slipped away, and evening soon arrived.
Seeing that the sun was about to set, Kanzaki Kumo asked the Coachman to find the nearest village to stay for the night.
Following the map’s guidance, the Coachman quickly found a settlement located by a small stream.
The village wasn’t large, appearing to have only about a dozen households.
Wisps of cooking smoke drifted above the houses.
But with a quick glance, Kanzaki Kumo noticed that only about half of the houses had cooking smoke.
In other words, this already small village was actually half empty.
This place was right next to a stream, making it convenient for farming.
Even if some people had unexpectedly come into a bit of money and moved to town, it wouldn’t result in half the village becoming empty all at once.
“Something’s not right.”
This was Kanzaki Kumo’s first impression of the village.
But seeing that it was about to get completely dark, and feeling the nichirin blade hidden under his coat, he still led the Coachman into the village.
Being able to stay in a house was always better than sleeping out in the wild.
Besides, there were plenty of reasons for a village’s population to decrease, such as natural disasters, encountering bandits, or an outbreak of disease.
In these times, threats to ordinary people came from all sides; demons were just one of them.
Furthermore, he, Kanzaki Kumo, wasn’t some protagonist.
How could he happen to run into a demon on his very first long trip?
Could he really have that kind of luck?
Unintentionally, Kanzaki Kumo was frantically raising flags in his heart.
Approaching a house where cooking smoke was rising, Kanzaki Kumo went forward and knocked on the door.
Soon, a haggard-looking woman cautiously opened the door a crack, warily sizing up Kanzaki Kumo outside.
I can pay.”
Resistance flashed in the woman’s eyes when she first heard about staying the night, but she hesitated upon hearing “pay.” She repeatedly looked Kanzaki Kumo over, seeing that his clothes were clean and new, and the fabric was the type that ordinary people couldn’t afford.
Finally, she slowly opened the door.
It was only then that she noticed another person standing behind Kanzaki Kumo, but seeing that his attire clearly wasn’t that of a wealthy family, she didn’t pay him much mind.
“Only the woodshed is empty in the house.
You can sleep on the floor in there.
If you don’t mind, come in.”
“That’s fine, I’m not picky.”
Kanzaki Kumo responded as he walked in, and seeing this, the Coachman could only follow.
“…”
The woman seemed to want to say something but ultimately said nothing.
After closing the door, she went into the house and brought out two sets of bedding.
For a family that was clearly not well-off to have two extra sets of bedding, and for no one else in the house to show their face from start to finish when outsiders arrived—Kanzaki Kumo felt more and more that something was wrong with this village.
As for the Coachman, who had been knocking about in this world for many years, cold sweat was already breaking out on his back.
There was really something wrong with every part of this village!
The Coachman screamed in his heart.
If it weren’t for the fact that his employer, Kanzaki Kumo, was still here, and that the bulk of the final payment would only be settled upon arrival, he would have been ready to turn and run.
If he had known, he should have driven a bit slower so they could have stopped at the last town they passed.
Why did they have to stay in such a strange village?
The employer hadn’t even been rushing him…
No matter what the Coachman was thinking at the moment, as long as he still wanted to earn this money, he could only brace himself and stay.
But to both their surprises, the night passed exceptionally peacefully.
Early the next morning, Kanzaki Kumo left some money and departed with the Coachman.
Originally, he had wanted to have a hot breakfast, but seeing the Coachman’s terrified look from not sleeping well all night and those urgent little eyes, he ultimately couldn’t bear to continue stimulating the Coachman’s fragile nerves.
Coming outside the village and seeing the carriage tied to the tree was intact, the Coachman breathed a huge sigh of relief.
He then grabbed Kanzaki Kumo and ran quickly toward the carriage.
His mind was set only on leaving this godforsaken place as fast as possible, and he no longer cared about things like being disrespectful to his employer.
Being able to drag Kanzaki Kumo along was only out of respect for the money.