Chapter 149: Is This Really Okay?
For two straight days, Akira sat in deep meditation, his breathing steady and his focus turned entirely inward. Yet, the elusive threshold of the Transparent World remained firmly out of reach. No matter how he adjusted his senses, he simply couldn't find the trick to shattering that final bottleneck.
Just as frustration threatened to set in, a crow arrived bearing a message from Kagaya. Amane was fully prepared, and it was time for them to set off for the Tokito brothers' residence.
Taking a slow breath, Akira opened his eyes and temporarily suspended his training. He decided it was best to relax a little. Perhaps stepping away and clearing his mind would allow a new perspective to naturally surface. After all, a supreme technique like the Transparent World relied heavily on one's state of mind; it wasn't something that could be bullied into submission through blind, dogged practice alone. If sheer stubbornness were enough, a battle maniac like Akaza would have mastered it centuries ago.
Early that morning, Akira arrived at the serene grounds of the Ubuyashiki Estate.
After politely exchanging a full display of formal etiquette with Kagaya, Amane, and their household, he finally stepped up to board the pre-prepared carriage.
However, as soon as Amane and her two accompanying daughters, Nichika and Hinaki, climbed inside, they froze. Their eyes immediately locked onto a highly suspicious object taking up a significant portion of the carriage floor.
It was a massive, heavy-duty sack—easily large enough to fit a full-grown person inside. To make matters worse, a thick, heavy bundle of coarse hemp rope rested right on top of it.
"Mr. Kanzaki, this is...?" Amane's usually composed tone wavered, carrying a distinct hint of confusion and a heavy trace of suspicion.
She couldn't help but wonder if Akira planned to simply stuff those two young boys into the burlap sack and drag them back to headquarters if peaceful negotiations failed.
It was true that Akira generally carried himself with an easygoing, gentle demeanor, earning him a stellar reputation throughout the Demon Slayer Corps. However, there were always whispers. Aside from the rank-and-file members who were bitterly jealous that he 'kept' several beautiful young girls at the Butterfly Mansion, there were also the terrifying rumors of his disciplinary methods—namely, stringing up disobedient, wounded slayers from the ceiling to use as human swings.
Looking at the sheer size of the sack and the heavy rope, it was entirely too easy for Amane's mind to wander toward some rather unpleasant scenarios.
"This? It's just something I prepared for what's coming later," Akira replied casually, taking his seat.
He completely missed the dark direction of Amane's thoughts, and his vague answer only served to deepen the suspicion pooling in her chest.
"What exactly is coming later?" Amane pressed, her posture stiffening slightly.
Her husband absolutely did not want to use violent coercion to 'invite' these children into the Demon Slayer Corps. If that were the plan, her presence on this trip wouldn't even be necessary., resorting to kidnapping would severely damage the moral foundation of the Corps.
"Right, we'll need to take a slight detour to Mount Fujikasane first," Akira said, nodding as he mapped out the route in his head. "I'm going to grab a sufficiently weakened demon from the mountain and bring it along with us."
"That's not right, we shouldn't—wait, what?"
Upon hearing his affirmative response, Amane had instinctively prepared a polite but firm lecture to dissuade him from kidnapping children. But as his actual words registered, she froze, tilting her head in sheer bewilderment.
"Uh... Lady Amane," Akira blinked, finally realizing the massive misunderstanding as he looked at the matriarch, and then at the two little girls beside her who were staring at their laps in secondhand embarrassment. "You didn't actually think I was going to use this bag to kidnap the Tokito brothers, did you?"
"I apologize for misunderstanding your intentions, Mr. Kanzaki," Amane said. Fortunately, she possessed impeccable emotional control. After a brief, delicate cough to clear the awkwardness, she smoothed her expression and returned to her usual dignified self. "But could you explain why you intend to bring a live demon to invite those brothers?"
Since he specifically mentioned finding a weakened demon on Mount Fujikasane, and given her absolute trust in his overwhelming strength, Amane wasn't worried about their safety. She was simply baffled by his logic.
"Based on the intelligence Brother Kagaya shared with me, a large part of the reason those boys—especially the older twin, Yuichiro—are so fiercely resistant to us is that they fundamentally don't believe demons exist. That disbelief naturally makes them highly suspicious of the Corps as a whole, viewing us as a dangerous, delusional cult."
Akira leaned back, crossing his arms as he recalled his previous discussions with Kagaya regarding the Tokito twins.
From those talks, Akira had learned that the younger twin, Muichiro, was actually quite receptive to joining. Despite his young age, Muichiro possessed a pure, deeply empathetic heart. Upon learning that monsters existed and that the Demon Slayer Corps fought to protect the innocent, his immediate instinct was to offer his help.
Yuichiro, however, possessed a much more cynical and guarded mindset. He flat-out rejected the existence of demons and fiercely opposed the idea of his only remaining family joining an unknown, highly dangerous organization. That protective paranoia was exactly why he had driven the recruiters away with such harsh, biting hostility.
Thus, Akira had formulated a foolproof countermeasure.
"Since he doubts the existence of demons, I'll simply drop one right in front of his face for him to look at," Akira stated matter-of-factly. "Once they see with their own eyes that man-eating monsters truly exist in this world, their perspective will shift. Even if it's purely out of a desire for self-preservation, they will most likely choose to join the Demon Slayer Corps where they can learn to defend themselves."
Amane and her two daughters sat in stunned silence, staring at Akira as if he had just casually rewritten the laws of the universe.
Amane: Is this really okay?
Akira: Consider it done. Trust me, in the entire Demon Slayer Corps, no one knows how to recruit people better than me. I am the gold medal HR representative of this organization.
After carefully turning the logic over in her mind, Amane finally gave a slow nod of agreement.
She knew exactly how much Kagaya valued those two boys, the last known descendants of the legendary Tsugikuni bloodline. To ensure they were brought safely into the fold, Amane didn't mind employing a slightly extreme visual aid. After all, it was merely proving the harsh reality of the world to them, not some sinister, underhanded plot.
But just as the tension inside the carriage settled, the Kakushi driving the horses outside looked as though his soul had permanently left his body.
Kakushi: Hilarious. Absolutely hilarious. Who would have thought I'd have the distinct pleasure of hauling a live demon in this carriage for a second time in my miserable life?
As fate would have it, the coachman assigned to take Amane's group to the Tokito residence was the exact same Kakushi who had driven the Kamado family, Tamayo, and Yushiro through the final, terrifying leg of their journey—the very same man who had a sword held to his neck by a furious Sabito.
When he had seen Akira casually tossing a massive burlap sack into the carriage at the crack of dawn, a cold sweat had already begun to prickle at the back of his neck.
The trauma of his previous mission had left such a deep psychological scar that he instinctively flinched whenever the Sound Hashira was within a fifty-foot radius. When Akira had cheerfully instructed him to detour to Mount Fujikasane, that creeping sense of dread had mutated into sheer panic.
And now, having eavesdropped on the conversation inside, his heart, which had been dangling by a mere thread of hope, finally flatlined.
Half a day later, the carriage rolled to a halt at the base of Mount Fujikasane.
Although the seasons were currently transitioning from the sweltering heat of summer to the crisp chill of autumn, the mystical wisteria forest stretching from the mountainside down to the base remained in eternal, brilliant bloom. The vibrant purple canopy stood in stark contrast to the yellowing leaves of the ordinary trees near the summit.
Hunting a demon in broad daylight was usually a tedious chore, as the creatures buried themselves deep in the shadows to avoid incineration. However, Mount Fujikasane wasn't overwhelmingly large, and having traversed it several times, Akira knew the terrain like the back of his hand. He knew exactly which caves and dense thickets provided the best cover from the sun, and it didn't take him long to locate a 'lucky winner'.
After a brief, violently one-sided session of 'hospitality' from Akira, the demon—already severely weakened and emaciated from long-term starvation—was pushed far beyond its physical limits. With a casual strike to the back of its neck, Akira knocked the creature unconscious.
Wasting no time, he hauled the limp demon up, yanked its arms behind its back, and bound its wrists tightly with the thick hemp rope. He then lashed its ankles together.
Finally, grabbing the demon by its bound thighs, Akira planted his knee against its lower back and forcibly folded the creature's legs backward, bending it entirely in half.
Crack!
"Aaaah—mph—!"
Whether it was the pelvis shattering or the lower spine snapping completely in two, the sheer, agonizing trauma jolted the unconscious demon violently awake. But the very second it opened its maw to unleash a bloodcurdling shriek, Akira ruthlessly jammed a massive wad of coarse cloth deep into its mouth, plugging the sound instantly.
After securing the newly 'compacted' demon with several more tight loops of rope to ensure it couldn't unfold itself, Akira delivered another swift blow to its skull, knocking it out cold once more. He then shoved the contorted body into the burlap sack, tied the top shut, and casually slung it over his shoulder to carry back to the carriage.
Down at the base of the mountain, Amane and her daughters waited in the shaded carriage. Despite the distance, all three women distinctly heard that single, momentary, muffled shriek echo through the wisteria trees.
When Akira finally emerged from the forest, cheerfully tossing the violently bulging, twitching sack into the back of the carriage, none of them dared to imagine what the creature inside had just endured.
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