"And, Master..."
It was another night like any other.
It must have been about a year since I left the Demon Slayer Corps.
That was probably the last time I visited the Ubuyashiki mansion.
The reason I was summoned was a sudden call from the Master of the Mansion.
He said that today, of all days, he absolutely wanted to see my face and talk.
I followed the servant who came to meet me at the mansion gates toward where the Master was.
By the way, I heard they had completed the new Ubuyashiki mansion, so why was he still at the old one?
Well, I didn't even know the location of that place, and I heard it's surrounded all around by wisteria trees.
I'm glad it's more convenient for me to meet him here.
The place the servant led me to was a garden paved with stones.
It was the very garden where we used to hold the monthly meetings.
On the veranda of that garden, the Master of the Mansion was lying down, and beside him sat Lady Ubuyashiki, nursing him.
This was macabre.
Just as Kokushibo said, the Master's body was almost in a half-corpse state.
The only parts not wrapped in bandages were his nose and mouth.
Inside, he was so mangled that it was hard to believe he was alive—it was literally a living corpse.
It was remarkable that he was still alive.
I forced myself to remain calm and approached the Master.
"Master..."
"Don't... come any closer..."
Suddenly, the Master spoke.
What the hell is this after calling someone over?
"Underneath here... there are piles of [Horokubi-biya bombs]..."
...Pardon?
"If they go off... the entire area around here... would be blasted away... that's how many there are..."
Piled underneath? He was talking about bombs?
My mind went numb, and I couldn't process what he meant.
Our Master can be eccentric, but he wasn't this insane.
He suddenly summoned me and prepared bombs?
And he was going to self-destruct with Lady Ubuyashiki?
My eyes darted around until they fixed on Lady Ubuyashiki's face, and then I understood why.
The muscles in her face were trembling.
She looked like she was hiding something.
So that's what's going on.
Oh, he's doing this again.
"Master, if you keep this up, I'm just going to leave, you know?"
I said curtly, and the Master turned his head toward me and answered.
"You... you aren't fooled..."
When I looked at his shameless face, I felt speechless.
No, seriously, there's a time and place for jokes.
He was playing around with his life as collateral.
Is he going crazy now that he thinks he's about to die?
I sighed and climbed onto the veranda, sitting beside the Master.
"Lady Ubuyashiki, you should try and talk him out of this."
"I did try..."
Lady Ubuyashiki averted her gaze and hesitated.
"He said something like he wanted to pull this prank once before he died..."
This person?
My head began to ache, so I buried my face in my hands.
Who in the world plays a prank at the expense of their own life because they think they're going to die?
I sure can't say anything to a living corpse.
"Master... what did you want to call me here for?"
"I just... wanted to see your face today... and talk..."
The Master smiled faintly and slowly spoke.
"Michikatsu... how long... do you think I... have left to live...?"
"Honestly, it's a miracle you're still alive."
I said matter-of-factly.
From what I observed using the [Revealed World], your insides were already a total wreck.
You were so close to death that you'd look like a corpse even if you were already gone.
Like Tsugikuni Yoriichi, I can't predict your lifespan with precision, but I doubt you'll make it through today.
...
Both the Master and Lady Ubuyashiki showed no reaction to my words.
They simply nodded in acknowledgment.
They already knew, and they just wanted to confirm it once more.
"Is that so..."
The Master spoke with difficulty.
"Death... death, huh... Michikatsu, what do you... think happens... when I die...?"
Well, I wondered.
Is there a world after death?
Maybe there's nothing—a void of nothingness.
Or perhaps there's a heaven for the virtuous and a hell for the wicked.
Maybe there's reincarnation, like the cycle of life, but it's hard to say since I haven't died.
"Well, at least it won't be hell for you."
"Hmm... probably not... The place... I'll end up... is hell, I suppose..."
Hell?
Lady Ubuyashiki looked at the Master with a face that said she couldn't understand what he meant.
I wore the same expression.
From the look on the Master's face, this didn't seem like a joke.
"Master, why do you think you'll go to hell?"
"I..."
He caught his breath and continued.
"To fight the inevitable death from Kibutsuji Muzan... to link the cause that would lead to the end... I balanced the lives of countless children on a scale... and I chose the former..."
He was talking about the pre-reform Selection Exam.
No matter what words you attach to it, it's an indefensible blot on the Demon Slayer Corps.
"There's no denying that it was a grievous fault."
I didn't try to deny it.
After all, it was a stain on the Corps.
How could the Demon Slayer Corps, whose purpose is to save lives, kill people?
"Yes... though every prophecy up until now has lied to me never... I clung to that future as if it were my only hope... and drove countless children to their deaths..."
And my denial probably wasn't what the Master wanted to hear.
"Even if that future were true... no one... should have the right to weigh... human lives on a scale..."
I wasn't saying his choice was good, but it was probably an inevitable one.
Kibutsuji Muzan was a monster with near-zero chance of defeat, even if you combined Breathing, [Hyeokdo], the [Revealed World], and [Spots].
And that was a time before Breathing had advanced.
Even if Muzan's strength among demons hadn't reached its peak, the Demon Slayer Corps had no Breathing techniques back then.
How great must their despair have been?
He must have cursed the prophecies as well.
He surely wanted to break that vicious cycle.
But the despair that was Muzan was too overwhelming to break.
So when nothing else could yield an answer, you'd grab at any straw.
That straw was the Selection Exam.
He's just missing a few screws, but he's not truly evil.
He remembers the names of all the Corps members—those still active, retired, fallen in duty, and those who died in the Exam but hoped to die trying.
He said he couldn't wield a sword himself, and he took the names of those who fought to stay and those who fought to leave with him—how could someone like that be evil?
"A conviction that brooks no doubt is evil. For justice to be justice, you must never cease doubting your own convictions. But Master, you never stopped doubting."
I have no intention of comforting him.
That's not what he wanted.
These are just my thoughts.
"You doubted and doubted again. If a cause was ever disrupted, you used that as an excuse to stop it immediately, didn't you?"
He reformed the Selection Exam the moment the cause was broken, so it couldn't have been something he wanted.
The one who suffered most from placing two lives on the same scale was probably the Master himself.
The one who would most have wanted to let go was the Master.
Because he chose the future lives on the scale, he could live—but the vengeful spirits of the children who died in the Exam must have trampled relentlessly on his shoulders.
It must have been unbearably heavy.
But he didn't let go.
Even though he could have let it go, even though he was in that position, and even though no one would have blamed him, he decided to carry it all.
"I don't think you're evil. You just made a mistake."
The Master fell silent at my words, and then he allowed a faint smile.
"Is that so... Then it cannot... be avoided... that I go to hell..."
It was a self-deprecating remark, but he looked strangely relieved.
I wasn't sure if this was what he wanted to hear.
...
If only.
Just if.
If there had been someone by his side who understood him.
Not someone who believed in him unconditionally.
Not someone who admired him without question even though he couldn't wield a sword.
Someone who told him it was an illusion.
Someone who told him he didn't have to cling to that straw anymore.
If only someone had said that.
Maybe the ending would have been different, even if just a little.
Of course, I don't mean to disparage the Hashira.
They must have been helpless too.
With nothing else, they had no choice but to believe in that uncertain future to slay the despair called Muzan.
It's kind of bittersweet.
The Master, with a carefree look on his face, struggled to speak.
"Michikatsu... I'm glad... I saw your face... today after all..."
He slowly raised his hand, and I took it.
"Thank you, Michikatsu... for appearing before me... for meeting with Rengoku Tenjuro... for keeping our promise... for remaining human no matter your form..."
He gave a faint smile.
"Thank you."
A year ago, I practiced saying goodbye to you.
I never thought I'd see the result of that practice so soon.
Only a year.
Isn't it... too soon?
I smiled faintly as I looked at him and spoke.
"Thank you for everything, Master of the Mansion."
He closed his eyes with a smile as he bid me farewell.
His entire life had been filled with the pain of the curse and the burden of guilt.
But his final smile was one of great relief.