Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

However, in the past, these types of people were basically eliminated in the final swordsman selection, so the Demon Slayer Corps never had to consider such a problem in the past.

After all, the weak have all died in these seven days. Those who can survive such a bloody selection process must have some skills, and they can be directly placed into the Demon Slayer Corps without any problem.

But this time is different.

This time, Mitsuha kindly saved these poor people who were supposed to be eliminated and die.

Whether it's to maintain their current "persona" or out of a sense of responsibility.

Mitsuha felt it was necessary for her to consider where they would go in the future.

"But we also want to slay the evil spirits..."

Faced with Mitsuha's heart-wrenching words, one of the girls in the crowd spoke with red eyes, as if she was about to cry.

This is normal. Although the Demon Slayer Corps has absorbed many people with different backgrounds and other purposes, the vast majority of them are still poor people whose families have been harmed by demons.

Harboring hatred for demons and a burning desire to save others, these people almost always end up as demon slayers, becoming members of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Then, ninety-nine percent of them will perish on this vine-covered mountain, carrying with them this burning passion.

He had a sincere heart, but he died tragically before he could even truly embark on this path. How pitiful!

Dear God, tell me, how many poor children's lives have been buried beneath these wisteria blossoms that never fade for a thousand years?

Sigh, oh well, I've already saved them, so I might as well help them out a bit more...

There's nothing we can do about it; that evil and cruel Upper Moon One is just the kind of person who can't stand seeing others suffer.

Mitsuha could not concern herself with other people's affairs, but she could never turn a blind eye to the tragedy that was happening before her eyes.

After all, in that distant past, she too had deeply longed for salvation from others...

[Perfect timing! Taking advantage of this opportunity, I, the evil, terrifying, cruel, horrible, unforgivable, and utterly wicked Upper Moon One, deserve to be condemned by heaven and earth.]

Come and reform this outdated and corrupt system for your Demon Slayer Corps!

An idea quickly formed in her mind. Looking at the group of prospective swordsmen before her, their eyes red with resentment and unwillingness to accept defeat, yet unable to refute her, Mitsuha smiled gently:

"Who told you that if you want to make a contribution on the path of demon hunters, you have to disregard everything and personally take up a knife to fight demons to the death?"

Since we lack the talent for fighting, can't we shine in other areas?

Seven days later, the mountain gate opened.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who had been waiting in the camp for a long time, saw a large group of swordsmen, led by Mitsuha, walking out from behind the mountain gate.

There were a total of twenty-one people, exactly the same number of the prospective swordsmen who entered the mountain seven days ago, not one missing.

Incredible! All the prospective swordsmen who participated in this final selection actually survived?

Are all the swordsmen in this generation geniuses?!

This is obviously impossible.

In just a moment, young Kagaya Ubuyashiki realized the key point.

He turned his gaze to Mitsuha, who stood at the very front of the crowd, head held high and a smile on her face.

Before he could even ask, Mitsuha spoke up:

"That's right, I did it. On the first night deep in the mountains, I had already slain all the evil spirits inside."

【As expected. 】

Kagaya Ubuyashiki was taken aback at first upon hearing this, but then he inwardly admired him deeply.

Having only wielded the sword for a month, he was able to single-handedly slay all the evil spirits of Fujikasake Mountain on his first encounter with demons.

In the current records of the Demon Slayer Corps, such a situation has never occurred before.

It must be said, he truly is a descendant of the original breathing technique swordsman.

Mitsuha Tsugikuni, having you is truly a great fortune for our Demon Slayer Corps!

Perhaps, you really can lead the demon hunters to slay the legendary Demon King and eliminate this great scourge from the world...

Chapter 134 On Lord Upper Moon One's Suggestions for Reforming the Demon Slayer Corps

"In that case."

Composing himself, young Kagaya Ubuyashiki ordered the prepared crimson ore to be brought forward and addressed the crowd before him:

"Congratulations to all of you for passing the final swordsman selection. From this moment on, you are all official demon hunters."

Next, please each select a piece of scarlet ore. The craftsmen of the swordsmith village will then collect these ore pieces…”

"Young Master."

Suddenly interrupting Kagaya Ubuyashiki, Mitsuha walked straight up to him, half-squatted down, looked him directly in the eyes, and said earnestly:

"I demand that, apart from myself and Makijuro, you remove the names of the rest of those little guys from the list of official demon slayers."

"……what?"

"Because they lack the talent to become demon hunters."

For an organization like the Demon Slayer Corps, which has existed for over a thousand years and has a strong feudalistic atmosphere reminiscent of island nations, there are many areas within it that need reform.

First and foremost, there's the utterly terrible way to train swordsmen.

My dear demon hunters, we are about to enter the 20th century. Even the island nation's government has carried out the Meiji Restoration, embraced Western-style democracy, and started a new type of education.

Your Demon Slayer Corps still relies on that extremely traditional and outdated "master-disciple" model to train swordsmen. Where did you come from, you feudal remnants?

I won't tell you to set up a new-style "Demon Hunter Professional Training School".

You should at least allow those trainers to get together once a year to exchange their swordsman training experiences and share their teaching methods, right?

Then, compiling all this experience into a "Demon Hunter Training Manual" that is updated every few years—is that really such a difficult thing to do?!

Isn't this much more scientific, rigorous, and professional than your trainers who each work behind closed doors and arbitrarily train demon hunters according to their own ideas?

Damn it, it's so backward, even I, one of the Twelve Ghost Months, can't stand it anymore!

Then came the even more backward and bloody final swordsman selection!

Please, from ancient times to the present, even professional armies would not use such a bloody, cult-like selection process, okay?

Even the ancient Roman army, famous for its "decimation law," only killed one out of ten men!

Your final selection system only allows one out of ten people to survive!

What's even more admirable is that even the ancient Roman army would not resort to the "decimation law" unless faced with a particularly dire situation.

But the final swordsman selection for your Demon Slayer Corps is held every year!

I'm truly impressed; you guys are even more ruthless than the Roman soldiers from over a thousand years ago!

For a moment, it was truly impossible to tell who the real ghost was...

The first shot of the upper moon was met with praise.

What kind of brain could come up with such an outrageous selection mechanism and keep it up for generations?

So, in the past thousand years, has there really not been a single demon hunter who felt this was not quite right and raised any objections?

These things must be changed!

First, the Demon Slayer Corps must establish a strict and professional "Preparatory Swordsman Examination System" composed of all the trainers!

This system aims to leverage the extensive experience accumulated by the trainers to establish a first round of formal assessments specifically for prospective swordsmen who are about to participate in the final selection.

Those who don't master the breathing techniques, have poor physical condition, or lack the necessary mental fortitude will either be sent back for another year of training or be directly demoted and assigned to other logistics units to contribute their talents.

In this way, we can make full use of these trainers who have long since retired from the front line, and at the same time, ensure the basic strength of the prospective swordsmen to a certain extent, and greatly reduce the mortality rate in the final selection.

Secondly, during the final swordsman selection process, a special "supervision and rescue team" must be established within Fujikasane Mountain.

Similarly, if the Demon Slayer Corps is short-staffed, the trainers can temporarily fill in for these groups.

The purpose of these groups is to oversee all the actions of the prospective swordsmen involved in the selection process.

We must ensure that they are all people of good character who would not commit the heinous act of deliberately betraying their compatriots in order to save their own lives.

At the same time, if a prospective swordsman is found to be unqualified to pass the selection, the authorities may intervene to rescue him and, depending on the circumstances, disqualify him from the final selection.

Some might worry that if these prospective swordsmen weren't sent to their deaths every year, who would be left to raise the evil spirits in the Fujikashi Mountains?

Hmm, very good. Congratulations on having such thoughts. You are already a very qualified member of the Ubuyashiki clan.

Putting aside just how bloody and cruel the idea of ​​feeding one's own people to evil spirits in order to maintain the selection process is, the important thing is—

Evil spirits cannot starve to death.

Hunger only weakens the demon, making it extremely weak.

Moreover, when they are so hungry that they can't stand it anymore, the evil spirits will actually devour each other to regain their strength.

Yes, demons are not incapable of devouring their own kind; it's just that Muzan-sama usually doesn't allow it.

Otherwise, the Twelve Ghost Months wouldn't have this position-swapping bloodbath mechanism...

With the selection of swordsmen finally resolved, the next step was the "Nine Pillars" system of the Demon Slayer Corps.

There has always been an unwritten rule within the Demon Slayer Corps that at any given time, there can only be a maximum of nine Pillar-level swordsmen.

The Ubuyashiki clan explained this rule as follows:

Because the Chinese character for "pillar" has only nine strokes, there can be a maximum of nine "pillars".

(Please don't criticize me, this is the official setting from the original work)

Mitsuha was deeply shocked by this.

No, Mr. Ubuyashiki, do you know the purpose of the Demon Slayer Corps? It's to fight against evil spirits, not to play house with you?

How could you actually say such an absurd rule as that because the Chinese character for "pillar" only has nine strokes, there can only be a maximum of nine pillars at the same time?

With a formidable enemy in front and a curse behind, your Ubuyashiki clan is almost driven to the brink of despair, yet you still have the mind to engage in this meaningless exchange?

Because the character for "pillar" has a maximum of nine strokes, other swordsmen who are qualified to be promoted to pillar have been suppressed and prevented from rising.

Therefore, when there are major events that require a meeting of the Zhuhe Committee, they are excluded and not invited.

In such a desperate situation, shouldn't a qualified leader do everything in their power to integrate all available resources?

And should we establish as many role models as possible to maximize the motivation of our subordinates, unleash their potential, and encourage them to fight hard and be willing to die for their cause?

You don't even have this most basic common sense as a leader. Was your Ubuyashiki family really a noble family in the past, or some nouveau riche family that suddenly appeared?

Alas, our divine beings have protected you far too well…

Chapter 135 The Future of the Demon Slayer Corps Is in Your Hands (Bonus Chapter)

What? You're saying our Twelve Ghost Moons are the same, with only six moons each for the first and second quarter moons?

Please, the Twelve Demon Moons dare to do this because we still have the "Switching Bloodbath" patch!

Humans are not like demons, who can increase their strength by devouring their own kind.

After each shift in the bloody battle of the Twelve Demon Moons, the victor can devour the loser.

It seems like another ghost has been lost, but the ghost that survived is even stronger than before!

What, you demon hunters can do that too?

In short, the Nine Pillars system must be reformed.

Not only should there be no more restrictions on their numbers, but these powerful Pillar-level swordsmen should also be gathered once a year or once a quarter to conduct intensive training for the rest of the demon hunters.

A reasonable training mechanism, a reasonable assessment and selection mechanism, and a well-established tradition of mentoring newcomers...

These are the most basic systems that a sound armed organization must establish.

Don't always act like an ignorant nouveau riche, making yourself a laughingstock...

To become sworn enemies with such an opponent is something Mitsuha would find embarrassing even if she told others...

Furthermore, it's about time that your Demon Slayer Corps' feudal rules were abolished.

As I said before, we are now almost in the 20th century, and even Emperor Meiji in the palace has stipulated "equality among the four classes" in the legal system.

All public kneeling and bowing rituals were abolished, and handshakes, hat removal, or bows were replaced.