Roa had no idea about the series of interesting events happening far away. After finishing his meal, Kanroji Mitsuri suddenly mustered the courage to ask Roa, "Um, Mr. Roa, do you… do you have any free time?"
Roa looked at her in surprise, wondering why she had such a strong reaction.
Kanroji Mitsuri, who had finally mustered her courage, blushed and said loudly, "I, I'd like to invite you to my house, um, to stay for a while. You said you're currently homeless, right?"
Roa smiled, rubbed his nose, and said to Kanroji Mitsuri, "No, no, I still have some tasks to take care of. I wouldn't want to trouble you."
Kanroji Mitsuri looked dejected but then seemed to remember something and asked curiously, "Tasks?"
Roa nodded and, after a moment of thought, said to Kanroji Mitsuri, "Miss Kanroji Mitsuri, do you know that there are creatures lurking in the darkness of this world? They were once human but have lost their humanity. They are beasts in human skin, hiding in damp, dark places during the day and coming out at night to devour people."
Kanroji Mitsuri looked shocked. She showed a frightened expression and said seriously, "Those creatures? They eat people?"
Roa nodded and pointed to himself. "My father, my mother—they may have already fallen victim. These creatures are dangerous, and I can't bear to see more people suffer the same fate as me."
Kanroji Mitsuri's expression softened, and she said to Roa in a gentle voice, "It's okay. I don't know what to say, but I believe that someone as outstanding as you will surely stand up to protect more people."
Roa smiled, stood up, and looked at the blue sky and white clouds outside. He said to Kanroji Mitsuri, "The future is long, Kanroji Mitsuri. You are a special person. I believe that with your talents, you won't stay here forever. If you're interested, you can join the Demon Slayer Corps. I might join them in the future, and we can meet there."
Kanroji Mitsuri was stunned. She seemed to have heard of the Demon Slayer Corps before. She nodded, smiled, and bowed deeply to Roa. "I will catch up to you, Mr. Roa. Please, stay alive. If I join the Demon Slayer Corps, could you spend some time with me then?"
Kanroji Mitsuri's forehead began to sweat again. Realizing she had said something strange, she quickly explained, "I don't mean anything by it. I just want to spend more time with you, that's all."
Roa's mouth twitched. This girl was getting stranger by the minute. What did she mean by "spend more time"?
He could see the young girl's feelings, but time was short, and the tasks were heavy. He'd deal with the future when it came.
Roa sighed helplessly and didn't say anything more. He stood up and bid her farewell, "Well, it's time for me to go. Good luck, Miss Kanroji Mitsuri."
He reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins, the currency of this era, which resembled ancient Chinese copper coins. Roa wasn't sure how much he had spent, so he asked the middle-aged man, "Boss, how much is it?"
The middle-aged man smiled and said, "Let's call it 100 coins."
Roa nodded, took out 10 coins worth 10 each from his bag, handed them to the middle-aged man, and then said goodbye with a smile.
After Roa left, the middle-aged man looked at Kanroji Mitsuri with exasperation. "You really are something. I finally found you such a good prospect, and you just let him slip away like that."
Kanroji Mitsuri shrunk her neck and made a playful gesture. She explained to the middle-aged man, "I really liked him. And he said he didn't mind me eating a lot. He even said some encouraging things to me."
The middle-aged man shook his head helplessly. He didn't know what else to say, but these matters were ultimately private, and he couldn't interfere further.
Thinking this, the middle-aged man smiled and asked her, "Kanroji Mitsuri, what would you like to eat? Just these sakura mochi won't be enough, right?"
While 50 sakura mochi would be a feast for an ordinary person, for Kanroji Mitsuri, it was just a light snack, an appetizer.
Kanroji Mitsuri stuck out her tongue. It was clear that she was holding back her desire to eat more.
In truth, Kanroji Mitsuri was afraid that eating too much would scare him away.
After leaving the restaurant, Roa continued walking along the street.
He didn't encounter anyone particularly special along the way. He wandered around, taking in the local customs and scenery of this era in Japan.
As the afternoon sun set, Roa's mission officially began.
He carried a Japanese katana he had bought f a blacksmith's shop, slung it across his waist, and walked boldly down the road.
The demons in the town weren't too rampant during the day, but at night, it was a different story.
In the more remote areas of the town, it was likely that a man-eating demon was hiding.
And the number of demons in this world was far from small. In this small island nation, there were countless families who had fallen victim to demons.
Roa's mission was to kill demons.
With his current strength, as long as it wasn't an Upper Moon, he could easily handle them.
With the katana slung across his waist, he walked boldly through the quiet night.
In the distance was the bright moon, but its light didn't bring any sense of purity.
In this era, the night was filled with creatures more evil than wild beasts.
Roa wandered around the town but didn't find any traces of demons. This was slightly unexpected. He had thought that such a large town would have some incidents, but after asking around during the day, he hadn't heard of any families suddenly disappearing or being wiped out.
So, he decided to head for the mountains.
If there were no demons in the town, there would definitely be some in the mountains—and not just one or two.
Weak demons liked to prey on people in the mountains. These demons weren't particularly strong, but for ordinary people, they were a nightmare. If an ordinary person encountered one, it would almost certainly end in tragedy.
Roa walked along the rugged mountain path, guided by the faint moonlight. The dim moonlight couldn't illuminate the path very well, but Roa's vision was excellent. Even with just a little light, he could see clearly.
The mountains in Japan weren't particularly high, mostly just tall hills. As he walked halfway up, he saw a brightly lit area in the distance.
Roa's eyes lit up. In situations like this, there were usually two possibilities.
One, it was a woodcutter's house, and the family was safe. Two, the family had been wiped out, and a man-eating demon was inside.
Roa raised an eyebrow. He thought the second scenario was more likely. A remote mountain, a light in the middle of the night—these were the perfect ingredients for a horror story.
Roa walked straight toward it. The sound of his footsteps crunching on the dry, yellow leaves echoed through the quiet night.
As he got closer, he could feel an evil aura. The air even carried a faint smell of blood.
Although he had mentally prepared himself, the reality still made him feel a bit nauseous.
He continued forward with a blank expression and soon stopped in front of the house.
It was a small hut with a dim light inside. Firewood was stacked outside.
Roa took a few steps forward and was about to knock on the door when it creaked open. Standing in the doorway was a woman. Roa raised an eyebrow. Had his luck with women been too good lately? Why did he keep encountering female demons?
The female demon, as expected, was beautiful—fair-skinned and delicate. She wore a headscarf, and her features were quite attractive. She didn't immediately pounce on Roa or say she wanted to eat him. Instead, she politely bowed and smiled, saying, "I've cooked something delicious inside. Would you like to join me?"
The demonic aura emanating from her was overwhelming. There was no doubt that the "delicious" thing she mentioned was nothing good.
Roa gripped the hilt of his katana and said coldly, "Today, either you die, or I live."
The female demon paused, pondering whether those two statements meant the same thing.
But she didn't dwell on it. Her beautiful face instantly twisted, her mouth splitting open as a long tongue slithered out. Her nails grew longer, and she let out a sinister laugh. "You're not one of those annoying Demon Slayer brats, are you? You don't have that disgusting aura. Instead, you have a… a tempting scent that's hard to resist."
Roa didn't waste any words. With a swift motion of his right hand, her head fell to the ground. Her expression remained the same, still showing a hint of pleasure, as if she was eagerly anticipating her next meal.
Roa expressionlessly severed her limbs, turning her into a limbless torso. Since he hadn't mastered the Breathing Techniques yet and his katana wasn't a Nichirin Sword, he couldn't completely kill her.
But even so, tormenting her was still easy.
After all, he was almost at the level of a Sword King. Dealing with a low-level demon was no challenge.
With a blank expression, he kicked her head into the room and walked inside to see if there were any survivors. One glance, and Roa's frown deepened.
As expected, the pot was boiling with something gruesome. The room was filled with the stench of blood, and a blood-stained axe lay on the ground. The bodies had already been boiled to a pulp.
This was the first time Roa had seen something so horrifying. Suppressing the urge to vomit, he stepped out of the room. He expressionlessly picked up the female demon, who was still snarling, "You brat, you're just a kid who hasn't even grown hair yet. Watch how I devour you."
Roa slapped her a few times, then took out a rope he had bought from the market. Following the usual procedure, he tied it around her neck to silence her, then tied her limbs to a tree. Holding her head, he continued deeper into the mountains.
There was no way this mountain had only one demon. He was sure of it.
With a beautiful woman's head hanging from his waist, Roa's mood improved slightly. At least he had some company during this lonely night—even if it was just a head.
Roa had just been at the mountainside, but as he reached the summit, he found another small hut. However, compared to the previous one, this one seemed much more cautious—the door was tightly shut, and the inside was pitch black.
Roa knocked on the door, but there was no response.
He called out, "I'm a kind-hearted person. Are you in trouble? Like, have you encountered any man-eating beasts? I'm hunting them down. Can you open the door and tell me where they are?"
Silence. Complete silence. Of course, if Roa could actually convince them to open the door with just that, it would be a miracle.
It was clear that the person inside knew about the demons. Roa shrugged. If they were this cautious, they were probably fine.
After a moment of thought, he said to the house, "I've already dealt with the demon on the mountainside. But one person has already been killed. Were they related to you?"
At these words, there was a sudden sound of something falling inside. Roa's words had clearly struck a nerve.
Roa hadn't expected them to actually be related. He thought for a moment and said, "Well, if they were, I'm sorry for your loss."
Roa wasn't particularly good at comforting people. After saying this, he prepared to continue on his way. But then, a somewhat elderly voice came from inside the house, sounding tired, "Don't go any further down the mountain. Turn back. There's a very powerful demon down there. You won't be able to handle it."
Roa's interest was piqued. He asked, "A very powerful demon?"
But the person inside said nothing more.
Roa didn't press further and continued on his way.
He was curious about what this so-called "very powerful demon" could be.
Carrying the demon's head, Roa continued forward. As he went further, there were no more obvious houses—just wilderness. Following the rugged path downhill, he occasionally passed a few abandoned houses that had clearly been deserted for a long time.
Finally, Roa stopped at a temple at the foot of the mountain. The temple wasn't particularly large, but it wasn't small either. Although the surroundings were still in ruins, there was miraculously a light burning inside.
Another set of keywords.
Wilderness, temple, midnight, oil lamp.
Nine times out of ten, this was a bad sign.