"Excellent! This result... is truly wonderful!"
Listening to Shinjuro's report and rapidly flipping through the list in his hands, the young Ubuyashiki Kagaya trembled with excitement.
"Miss Mitsuba, did you hear that! Our reforms over the past year have borne fruit!"
Hurriedly turning around and running to Mitsuba, who was quietly organizing materials nearby, Ubuyashiki Kagaya thrust the list into her hands and said with a face full of excitement:
"The first selection under the new regulations had eight people pass, and not a single death throughout the entire process!
Not only is the survival rate increasing, but the combat literacy of each Demon Slayer is also improving!
If we can continue these reforms steadily, the overall strength of the Demon Slayer Corps will definitely far surpass all previous periods in history!
Demons, the Twelve Kizuki, the Demon King... Miss Mitsuba! Perhaps we really can, in our generation, completely end the thousand-year struggle against demons!"
Children are always so impatient.
A little achievement and they can't help but dance with excitement.
"Mm, indeed."
Taking the list and merely glancing at it casually, Mitsuba returned it to Ubuyashiki Kagaya.
She looked at him and said with a smile:
"However, Young Master, it's not yet time to celebrate. Everything has only just begun. The road ahead is still long..."
"Mm! I understand!"
Facing Mitsuba's guidance, Ubuyashiki Kagaya nodded forcefully and bowed deeply to her.
Although nominally they were in a master-subordinate relationship, the past year of interaction had long caused Ubuyashiki Kagaya to regard Mitsuba as his "teacher" in his heart.
In his view, Mitsuba not only possessed extraordinary strength, worthy of her identity as a descendant of the original Breathing Style swordsman, but was also extremely skilled in organizational management.
Throughout this year of interaction, the young him had truly learned quite a bit about the art of leadership from Mitsuba.
Able to fight, able to manage, of excellent character, selfless in dealing with others, and filled with wisdom...
Tsugikuni Mitsuba—she truly seemed to be the Child of Destiny sent by the gods to the mortal world to help the Demon Slayer Corps combat demons!
He truly hoped that she could continue living well in the Demon Slayer Corps until the day when Demon Slayers could truly slay the Demon King...
"Well then, Young Master, Mitsuba, if there's nothing else, I'll head back tonight."
At this moment, Shinjuro spoke.
Half a month ago, his son had just been born.
Just as Mitsuba's main body had foreseen, Shinjuro's wife was indeed his childhood sweetheart Rengoku Ruka, and his child had indeed been named—
Rengoku Kyojuro.
Everything was developing according to the predetermined trajectory.
Out of consideration for the Rengoku clan, the Ubuyashiki Master had specifically granted Shinjuro a full month of leave, so he hadn't had any missions recently and spent all day running home to be with his wife and child.
But tonight was slightly different.
Because tonight, there was still an important show yet to be performed.
As an important character in this act, Mitsuba couldn't let him leave before then.
"Eh~ leaving so early?"
Looking at Shinjuro, who was already eager to return home and hold his child, Mitsuba said with a teasing smile:
"Both the Young Master and I are here so busy we can hardly catch our breath, and yet Shinjuro, is it really okay for you to abandon your future Master and best friend to go home alone?"
"Uh, well..."
Being put on the spot by Mitsuba like this, Shinjuro immediately felt somewhat embarrassed and scratched his owl-like hairstyle.
"I suppose... it really isn't very good..."
"It's fine, Mr. Shinjuro. Leave this to Miss Mitsuba and me. Hurry home, don't let your wife worry."
At the critical moment, Ubuyashiki Kagaya spoke up to help Shinjuro out of his predicament.
"No, I really should stay after all..."
After brief hesitation, Shinjuro still shook his head and proactively stepped forward to help the two of them organize the pile of materials before them.
"As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, there's no principle of dumping all the work on my companions while I only care about my own enjoyment!"
The expected outcome.
Mitsuba understood Shinjuro's personality all too well.
Serious, straightforward, responsible, filled with justice in his heart, and simultaneously a bit dense.
She knew very well that as long as she said what she just said, Shinjuro wouldn't be able to leave tonight.
He would definitely choose to stay until he finished assisting her with tonight's affairs.
Excellent. Now all three important actors had assembled.
Next, she only needed to wait patiently.
"..."
Time passed slowly.
The night outside the window grew increasingly deep.
Under the dim yellow light inside the room, the three sat around the table, silently busying themselves with their respective tasks.
"Speaking of which, Shinjuro."
Breaking this silence, Mitsuba suddenly spoke, asking as if casually:
"Has that child Iguro come to find you recently?"
Iguro Obanai—the young boy rescued by Mitsuba and Shinjuro from that Serpent Demon family a year ago. Mitsuba had once used her main body to examine his causality.
In the script arranged for him by God, he would later create the "Serpent Breathing" style and rise to become one of the Nine Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, a key chess piece God would deploy in the future.
"Hmm? Ah, now that you mention it!"
Recalling it immediately, Shinjuro nodded and said:
"That child seems to feel extremely guilty because of the crimes committed by his clan.
Recently he's always been pestering me, saying he wants to become a Demon Slayer when he grows up and wants me to teach him sword techniques and such. It's truly troublesome..."
"Isn't that good?"
Mitsuba said with a smile upon hearing this:
"I think that child seems quite talented too. If you teach him well now, Shinjuro, when he grows up later, perhaps he can also become a powerful Hashira...
Additionally, that blind young monk from the temple I mentioned to you before—you should pay more attention to him in the future as well..."
The blind young monk, Himejima Gyomei.
This was someone Mitsuba had encountered by chance several months ago at a mountain temple while on a mission with Shinjuro—a young monk with astonishing physique.
When she saw this young monk with the Transparent World back then, Mitsuba had been startled.
What the hell, this is eight years old?!
What kind of eight-year-old child grows this muscular?!
Because it felt somewhat strange, that night Mitsuba specifically used her main body to observe this young monk.
As a result, she discovered that this child was also one of the chess pieces God would deploy in the future.
Himejima Gyomei—the future Stone Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, and simultaneously the strongest Stone Hashira in the history of the Demon Slayer Corps.
He possessed a physique rarely seen in centuries, a man who could completely unleash Stone Breathing beyond its peak.
The power of causality God poured into him was second only to that Kamado Tanjiro.
According to the script God arranged for him, it would be roughly another dozen or so years before he officially joined the Demon Slayer Corps at Ubuyashiki Kagaya's invitation.
In order to make this Stone Hashira loyal and obedient to Ubuyashiki Kagaya.
God had even specially arranged a scene where he would be wrongfully imprisoned and then rescued by Ubuyashiki Kagaya—truly painstaking effort.