Tanjuro began to recover his health day by day. He was now well enough to co outside and chop firewood. But…
"Dear, we have a guest... huff..."
It seed that his body wasn't ruined by the Sun Breathing, but rather by being drained of energy by Kie. After a few days of listening to their amorous sounds, I couldn't take it anymore and imdiately called Tanjuro and Kie aside.
"You two, it's nice to see that you're a loving couple, but since this is a ti of recovery, I think it would be best if you restrained yourselves."
"S-So you heard us…"
"Yes, very clearly."
"Ahem... We'll be more restrained."
Tanjuro, his face red, cleared his throat, while Kie, terribly embarrassed, covered her face with both hands.
A month passed like that. Perhaps because I had been feeding him well, Tanjuro had gained weight and had started doing woodwork and household chores. But Kie was pregnant again. This couple was trying to form a soccer team with their children. It was truly absurd.
'Huh...'
Anyway, because of that, I was also looking after Kie's health.
"Hmm... The mother is healthy, and the baby is fine as well."
"Oh~ I see. Thank you. And Teacher Jin, now that I've recovered my health, I will teach you the dance and the breathing technique."
"Thank you."
Truthfully, I didn't need to learn anymore. While examining Tanjuro, I had already read his mories using [Mind Penetration] and knew them. Still, I wanted to see it in person at least once, so I didn't refuse.
Tanjuro brought out various things from the house and prepared in the clearing in front of the house. Kie and the children, familiar with this, helped Tanjuro. Then, as evening fell, Tanjuro dressed up in proper attire, ca out holding a wooden sword similar to a chokutō, lit the surroundings, and offered a prayer to the sky. Then, as the sun set, he finally began to dance.
The 'Hinokami Kagura' consisted of twelve forms in total, and he continued dancing repeatedly from sunset until sunrise the next day. I tried to stop him midway, but just let him be. The people of this era valued tradition, and I thought interrupting the ceremony might be considered extrely rude. Instead, I decided I would say sothing after it was over.
When the dance ended and Tanjuro was sitting and resting, gasping for breath, I spoke to him.
"I watched carefully. But you dance so hard that it puts a strain on your body. I hesitate to say this as it seems to be a family tradition, but in my opinion, for the sake of your health, it would be best to shorten the duration."
"I appreciate your words, but... this is the way it has been passed down through our family for generations. It's difficult to change easily."
As expected, he said sothing like that old-fashioned response.
"Has that tradition ever taken a life? You're healthy now because you received treatnt, but in a few years, you will collapse again and find yourself at life's crossroads. At that ti, you may not even be able to receive treatnt. And if, like this ti, your family spends a great deal of money trying to save you, the remaining family mbers will suffer in poverty for a long ti. If things go wrong, you could end up sacrificing not only yourself but your family as well."
"Th-That's true."
I convinced Tanjuro by presenting him with facts. He seed to reflect on it.
A few days later, I prepared to leave. Then Tanjuro, Kie, and Nezuko ca to with an unbelievable proposition.
"Teacher Jin, we are deeply indebted to you. So, please take Nezuko with you as a servant. Nezuko has also agreed. She is a smart girl, so I believe she will serve you well."
"What kind of nonsense is that? Nezuko is still a child."
When I looked flabbergasted, Nezuko, who was beside , said, "I will serve you well without causing any inconvenience. And I want to learn dicine from you and save people, just like you. Please, accept ."
From what I heard, while repaying a debt of gratitude was part of it, she also genuinely wanted to learn dicine. But I didn't plan to stay in the 'Demon Slayer' world for long. I intended to cooperate with the Demon Slayer Corps, learn various derivative breathing forms, deal with Upper Moon 1 (Kokushibo) to obtain Moon Breathing, and then quickly capture Muzan. So, in a way, Nezuko would be baggage.
"Hmm... Very well. But not as a servant—I'll take her as an assistant."
After thinking it over, I decided to take her. The reason was simple: because it was Nezuko.
"Wow~ Thank you, Teacher."
When I agreed, Nezuko and her family were overjoyed.
I waited for Nezuko to say a proper goodbye to her family. Tanjiro shed tears, looking very sad. Nezuko packed a simple bundle on her back and followed out of the house.
"Then, until next ti. And use this if you need it."
Before leaving, I handed Tanjuro a small box containing money. But Tanjuro refused to take it.
"Having already received so much kindness, I cannot accept this."
"Teaching the Hinokami Kagura was more than enough paynt. And your wife is pregnant, so you'll need the money."
Tanjuro eventually accepted the box reluctantly.
I left with Nezuko. Tanjiro's family waved to us until we disappeared from sight.
"Nezuko, stay healthy~"
"Nezuko, be sure to write~"
Nezuko, walking away, also looked back and waved to her family, tears streaming down her face.
Nezuko and I first went to a large city and bought clothes, underwear, and daily necessities for her. Then I bought a large bag and packed them. After that, we stayed at a hotel for a while, and I began teaching her the basics. It didn't take long, as her parents had already taught her so reading and arithtic.
During the remaining ti, I walked around the city, observing what was for sale in this era. Interestingly, I learned that automobiles imported from the West were also being sold. But they were incredibly expensive, used a hand-crank starter, and the seats were terribly uncomfortable. Plus, the sll of gasoline was overwhelming. And since Japan's roads were poorly maintained at the ti, the ride quality was truly the worst.
But I thought it might be usable if I modified it, so I bought one imdiately. Perhaps because they saw as a Westerner, they didn't overcharge , but the price was still high. And since I couldn't stay at a hotel indefinitely, I also purchased a two-story building with a yard and opened a clinic. I already had dical knowledge stored directly in my brain from the nanomachines, so I didn't think there would be a problem.
For the first few days, there were no patients at all. So, in the anti, I began modifying the car. The exterior didn't change much, but the interior was state-of-the-art. I completely overhauled it, reinforcing the chassis, upgrading the suspension, adding smart start, noise reduction, panel reinforcent, seats, and so on. After finishing, I duplicated the completed car several tis with [Material Duplication] and stored them in my inventory. I planned to simply replace it if it broke down.
I also went to Mount Yoko, analyzed the Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand, and made a Nichirin Blade. Naturally, this ti too, I arranged the atoms evenly and even gave it enhanced durability, creating the strongest Nichirin Blade. As ti passed that way, patients gradually started coming to the clinic, and word spread that I was "too good at fixing people," so the number of patients steadily increased.
So, during the day I treated patients, and in the evenings I slowly began teaching Nezuko dicine as well. Having treated patients with the help of my abilities and gradually incorporated dicine into my treatnts while teaching Nezuko, I was able to acquire a [dicine] ability. Because I already had the knowledge, I was able to obtain it at A-rank imdiately.
A year passed like that. During that ti, I wondered if I might see a demon, but I didn't see a single one. It seed they weren't the type to be easily spotted. Instead, I heard rumors of young won disappearing or people dying here and there.
Nezuko and I bought gifts in the city and drove to Tanjiro's house. Nezuko was very excited to be going ho after a long ti.
"Are you that happy?"
"Yes, Teacher. I'm very happy. I want to see my family quickly."
"You bought a lot of sweets too. Your younger siblings will love them."
"That's right. I'm also looking forward to seeing my siblings' happy faces when they get the sweets."
Thanks to the car, it didn't take long to get there. The roads were bad, but thanks to my modifications, traveling wasn't very uncomfortable. The problem was that since Tanjiro's house was in the mountains, I had to park the car nearby and then walk up the mountain carrying the gifts.
Tanjiro's house was still raising chickens; in fact, the number of chickens seed to have increased.
"Father, Mother, I'm ho."
"Oh~ You've co! It's been a long ti, Teacher."
"Long ti no see."
This ti, Tanjuro ca out to greet us warmly instead of his wife. As we entered the house, Tanjiro's younger siblings crowded around, welcoming Nezuko warmly.
"Wow~ Welco ho, big sis!"
"Big sis! I missed you."
Inside, Kie, who was caring for the baby, saw us and greeted us warmly. Tanjiro was nowhere to be seen—he must have gone sowhere again.
Nezuko distributed the gifts she had brought to her family. The younger siblings were especially delighted with the sweets. We sat in the room and talked about what had happened in the anti. They said they occasionally butchered chickens from the coop and sold the eggs and chickens to help with the household finances. After recovering his health, Tanjuro worked hard at woodcutting and occasionally caught ga, so it seed the children were growing up healthy without going hungry.
"By the way, where is Tanjiro?"
"Ah~ Tanjiro went to the village to sell charcoal. He should be back soon."
It seed Tanjiro was still selling charcoal, even though the family's situation had improved. I thought it was necessary to tell them about demons, so I called Tanjuro outside and spoke to him.
"Is that true?"
"Yes, it is. Especially Muzan—if he finds out that the 'Hinokami Kagura' exists, he won't leave your family alone. The reason our family's transmission was cut off is also because of that."
I added a slight lie to make my story more convincing.
"Then, what should we do?"
"First, I think it would be best to hide those earrings. And..."
I handed Tanjuro two pre-made Nichirin Blades.
"This is..."
"This is called a Nichirin Blade. It's made from Scarlet Crimson Iron Sand, which has the property of absorbing sunlight, so it can neutralize a demon's regeneration ability. And if you cut off a demon's head, you can kill them."
"I see."
"But rember, so very powerful demons may not die even if you cut off their heads, so you need to be careful."
"Understood."
After warning him, I gave him the address and a rough map of my clinic, along with a key.
"If sothing happens, you can send your family here. I may be away due to other business, so I'm giving you the key as well."
Tanjuro thanked . "Thank you for going through so much trouble for us."
"Not at all."
As the conversation ended, I saw Tanjiro coming up the mountain.
"Father! Oh, Teacher, long ti no see. Does that an Nezuko ca too?"
"Yes, it's been a while. Nezuko is inside, so go on in."
At that, Tanjiro happily entered the house. Nezuko and I stayed at Tanjiro's house for about three days, then returned to the clinic.
Three more years passed like that. Nezuko and I made sure to visit Tanjiro's house at least once a year to see the family. Thanks to my [Teacher] ability, Nezuko's dical skills improved enormously. Although she was still too young to make diagnoses, she was at a level comparable to most doctors.
I was also able to raise my [dicine] ability to S-rank. And sothing also happened at Tanjiro's house: a year ago, Kie beca pregnant again. That Tanjuro fellow was truly sothing else.
'Goodness... Is he seriously thinking of forming a soccer team, not joking?'
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