Giyu Tomioka felt something constantly poking his face, and the sting made him open his eyes.
The last thing he remembered was Charles, a vein bulging on his forehead, bringing a knifehand down; then he blacked out.
Glancing at the kasugai crow pecking his face, Giyu stood up and said, "Kansaburo, please go report what happened here to the Master."
The kasugai crow, looking every bit senile, gave a caw and spread its wings to fly off.
Giyu sighed and looked up at the dim sky.
He wasn't as calm as he appeared. Though he didn't believe a demon would give up eating humans, the sight of Nezuko and Tanjiro leaning on each other had indeed moved him.
So he had hesitated, which was why Charles knocked him out so easily.
Even so, Giyu wondered what choice he would have made had he not been knocked out.
He shook his head, casting off the extra thoughts. As a Hashira of the Corps, he must not waver.
...
On the handcart, Charles, Stella, and the Kamado sisters all sat together, and of course Tanjiro was the one pulling.
The cart's handles were tied with rope, and the loop went over Tanjiro's shoulders.
Walking through snow is laborious enough, never mind hauling a heavy cart. Tanjiro's face flushed scarlet, his eyes nearly bulging.
White vapor puffed from his nostrils, and he felt as if even his muscles and bones were creaking audibly.
Charles always acted decisively. Since he'd promised to train Tanjiro, they were starting immediately.
Back at the Kamado home, Charles had knocked Giyu out and then helped Tanjiro bury his family. After that, Charles set out with Tanjiro on a journey of training.
The journey's destination was, of course, to find Muzan Kibutsuji and cut down that source of every evil.
Along the way, Charles would teach Tanjiro how to fight and grow stronger, and every demon they encountered would serve as his sparring partner.
Training began with building physical capacity, since strong physicality is the foundation of all technique.
Tanjiro's stamina was actually decent. Though he'd never trained formally, he had learned the Breathing Styles and had long done the labor of felling wood and burning charcoal.
But that was far from enough. Never mind fighting demons—he couldn't even achieve Total Concentration Breathing yet.
Sun Breathing is the strongest style, but it is also the most domineering and the hardest to master.
A century ago, that generation of swordsmen developed other Breathing Styles under Yoriichi Tsugikuni's guidance precisely because they couldn't learn Sun Breathing.
In the original story, even after completing Water Breathing: Constant training, Tanjiro couldn't fight with Sun Breathing for long and had to develop a mixed Water–Sun method.
Right now, Tanjiro couldn't even maintain Total Concentration for a standard style, let alone Sun Breathing.
And this kind of conditioning has no shortcuts; you can only endure the pain.
To adapt to pain, the muscles, nerves, bones, and even the organs will naturally keep strengthening. Put simply, training is trading pain for power.
Fortunately, Tanjiro was a tough, tenacious young man. Though his steps faltered, he never stopped moving forward.
On the cart, Stella was combing Nezuko's hair as if dressing a doll, while Nezuko sat quietly, letting Stella fuss over her with a blank look.
Hanako Kamado watched her once-gentle older sister behave like a child and couldn't help looking saddened.
Before they set out, Hanako had fully recovered and woken up. After learning what had happened at home, the girl showed great strength.
Perhaps gentleness and resilience had flowed through the Kamado blood since Sumiyoshi Kamado.
Hanako remembered her mother standing in front of her, so rather than dwelling on grief, she focused on her life now and the family she had left.
Charles patted the little girl's head. "Don't worry. Your brother will definitely turn her back. Isn't he working toward that right now?"
Nezuko leaned in too, stretching out a small hand to pat her sister's head.
As he took in the warm scene, Charles suddenly turned and shouted, "Tanjiro, your breathing rhythm is off!"
"I got it!"
Tanjiro answered and hurried to correct his breathing.
The so-called Breathing Styles are special ways of breathing that draw in more oxygen to condition and strengthen every organ.
Mobilizing the entire body and pouring it into the breathing to push the effect to its limit is what's called Total Concentration Breathing.
Even without Total Concentration, using a Breathing Style offers great conditioning. But the method is completely different from instinctive respiration, placing a real burden on the body.
Especially in this bitter cold, the air itself is frigid, yet the Breathing Styles demand you inhale far more of it.
The human respiratory system can adjust the temperature of inhaled air, but there are limits.
Tanjiro felt as if his lungs were frostbitten, ready to explode at any moment. That was why his breathing had just fallen out of sync.
Prompted by Charles, he quickly adjusted.
And so, shouldering that constant sense of near-death, Tanjiro pulled the cart down the mountain.
Charles's goal for him was to stop only upon reaching a populated place, and a small village lay ahead.
It was the Taisho era. The Meiji Restoration had made several of the island nation's big cities unprecedentedly prosperous, but rural areas like this remained backward.
The village consisted of very traditional wooden buildings, but the villagers weren't particularly xenophobic.
Although Charles's group looked rather odd—and perhaps because the sight of an exhausted, overworked Tanjiro was too pitiful—the villagers still took them in.
Training must be done in moderation; otherwise, instead of growing stronger, the body will break down. That's also why normal training isn't very efficient.
But with Charles around, why would that be a problem?
After downing a vial of a vitality potion Charles had formulated, Tanjiro was amazed to find his fatigue and soreness gone.
The rest he'd been hoping for vanished, replaced immediately by Charles's combat drills.
"The movements of the Hinokami Kagura are the sword forms of Sun Breathing. What you need to do now is apply them in combat."
"Your form's sloppy again. Didn't I tell you to maintain balance in a fight?"
"Don't forget to coordinate your breathing. A normal human body can't compare to a demon. Only when your Breathing is running can you go toe-to-toe with one!"
As Charles spoke, his wooden sword slammed Tanjiro, sending him flying.
Tanjiro got up with a wry smile. It was training, but he genuinely felt like Charles might kill him at any moment.
Even so, after hearing Charles's guidance, he answered with renewed vigor, "I understand. Please continue!"
______
(≧◡≦) ♡ Support me and read 20 chapters ahead – patreon.com/Mutter
Every 100 Power Stones = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.
Every 5 reviews = 1 extra chapter on Saturday.