Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

Amidst their bickering, Tanjuro Kamado, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly spoke up and gave Mitsuha an answer.

"Mr. Kamado! Don't listen to Mitsuha's nonsense! Demon Slayers are actually very dangerous..."

"Well, I'm looking forward to it."

Ignoring Makijuro's urgent advice, Mitsuha raised her hand and handed the Kasugai crow on her shoulder to Kamado Tanjuro in front of her.

"This is my Kasugai, a companion used by demon hunters to pass messages."

Mr. Kamado, if you ever really make up your mind, you can contact us through this at any time.

The gates of the Demon Slayer are always open for you. I hope that one day we can fight side-by-side.

After saying that, Mitsuha, along with Makijuro who still wanted to say something, turned around and left.

The two walked for a hundred meters until the wooden house behind them was completely out of sight. Then, Makijuro, standing beside him, spoke again, his cheeks puffed out:

"How could you involve that kind couple? They're just two ordinary people!"

“Maki Juro, Miss Aoi may be an ordinary person, but Mr. Kamado is not.”

"What do you mean?"

"It means that with just a little bit of adaptive training, Mr. Kamado, who looks ordinary and sickly, can become the strongest human being in the world besides me."

Looking at the puzzled Makijuro beside her, Mitsuha pointed to her face and said seriously:

"He and I are both beings who have already entered that realm."

"That realm... could it be the transparent world you told me about before, Mitsuha?! Mr. Kamado was such a strong person?!"

Makijuro was deeply shocked.

"Since that's the case, what are we waiting for?! Mitsuha! What you said just now was so gentle!"

Let's just go back now and carry Mr. Kamado straight back to the Demon Slayer Corps!

Seeing his sudden change in attitude, Mitsuha couldn't help but laugh.

"Hahahaha! Makijuro, our Demon Slayer Corps isn't a gang, how can you invite people like this?"

"But, but..."

"Don't worry, I have a plan. He'll come in a little while..."

After saying this meaningfully, Mitsuha said no more and instead brought up another matter.

"As for you, Makijuro, you're not getting any younger. You should hurry up and find a girl you like to marry..."

"Huh?! Why did the topic suddenly shift to me?!"

"Speaking of which, didn't you mention to me before that you had a childhood friend?"

I remember her name was... Ruka-san, right?

"So why did we suddenly start talking about my marriage?!"

【My Lord, let me lend you a hand and help you gather your pieces together more quickly…】

It was nothing, no need to thank me.

(Thank you everyone for dumping me yesterday. Although I'm not heartbroken, I've still managed to shake off a bit of my laziness~)

Chapter 142 His eagerness revealed His weakness

In the blink of an eye, another year has passed.

Over the past year, Mitsuha has spent most of her time assisting Kagaya Ubuyashiki in implementing internal reforms within the Demon Slayer Corps.

From the training of demon hunters to the assessment rules, from the final selection to the formal mission mechanism.

Mitsuha has always been committed to using scientific and reasonable systems to improve the overall operational efficiency of the Demon Slayer Corps as much as possible.

Not only that, she also reviewed the various breathing techniques passed down within the Demon Slayer Corps and improved some of the sword techniques that could be further improved.

It is no exaggeration to say that, thanks to Mitsuha's efforts over the past year, the Demon Slayer Corps is now much stronger than the people of the Sengoku period, even though it is not as strong as the group of people in the Sengoku period!

Yes, Mitsuha is helping the Demon Slayer Corps become stronger.

In her view, this is something she has to do right now.

The gods have already discarded their bargaining chips.

Nineteen years from now, all of His pieces will be on the field.

In the past year alone, Mitsuha has discovered six pieces.

Tanjiro Kamado, the eldest son of Tanjuro Kamado.

Rengoku Kyojuro, the eldest son of Rengoku Makijuro.

The blind young monk of the temple in the mountains, Beimingyu Xingming.

Obanai Iguro, a handsome young boy who came to the Demon Slayer Corps with Makijuro from the Snake Demon Clan.

And then there's Kanae Kocho, who is only three years old this year and was born into a family descended from butterflies, and her younger sister Shinobu Kocho, who will be born in a year.

In the past few hundred years, Mitsuha has never seen a god arrange for so many "chess pieces" to be born into the world at once.

Moreover, these are only what she has discovered so far, not all of them.

It is likely that among the other causes and effects that she has not yet noticed, there must be many more pawns of the gods hidden.

This was the first time Mitsuha had seen such a situation in hundreds of years.

His eagerness revealed his weakness.

Therefore, Mitsuha chose to accept the challenge.

She will wait, wait for the time He chooses to come, wait for His full power to descend.

Then she dealt Him the most fatal blow once again, just as she had done when she defeated that son of God.

Regardless of whether this is the final gamble by the god in heaven, Mitsuha will do her best to make it His last intervention in the human world.

Before that, she needed to make the Demon Slayer Corps stronger, or rather... she needed to make the Demon Slayer Corps feel that they had become stronger.

She wanted to give them confidence, to make them feel capable twenty years from now, and in doing so, to completely eliminate any potential "escapism" within the Demon Slayer Corps.

When you possess overwhelming strength, you will never be afraid of your enemies launching an attack on you.

Conversely, if your enemy doesn't intend to fight you to the death but instead chooses to run away, that will be more troublesome for you.

Because they escaped, you'll have to expend more effort to hunt them down.

If you fail to find them and leave some behind, they will quietly develop and accumulate strength in the shadows where you cannot see them.

Then they quietly wait for a moment you overlook, and suddenly deliver a fatal blow.

How can a demon slayer choose to run away?

You must be brave and fearless, full of passion, and willing to sacrifice yourselves even when you know you are no match.

Only in this way will everyone be satisfied, whether it be gods, demons, or even yourselves.

To achieve all this, besides making the Demon Slayer Corps feel that they have become stronger, Mitsuha also needs a key figure to push things along.

One, a pusher that needs to be achieved by her own efforts.

"Mitsuba, young lord, the results of this year's final swordsman selection are in!"

At night, at the Demon Slayer Corps' base, Makijuro, who had just returned from outside, hurried into the mansion carrying a list in his hand.

Inside the mansion, Mitsuha, who was organizing past files of the Demon Slayer Corps, and Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who was assisting her, both looked up at the same time upon hearing the sound.

The current lord of the Demon Slayer Corps, Ubuyashiki, is not at this base at the moment.

A year has passed, and as the curse has deepened, the current lord of Ubuyashiki is already terminally ill.

He now lives in another residence far from this base, accompanied only by a few doctors and servants.

He only waited until he passed away to pass on the throne to his seven-year-old son.

Logically speaking, at this critical moment, Ubuyashiki Kagaya, who has been designated as the next lord, should not leave his lord father's side at will.

But perhaps it was out of a desire to develop their abilities, or perhaps it was to take this opportunity to build up some prestige for their children in advance.

In short, this lord's father did not force Kagaya Ubuyashiki to stay by his side. Instead, he let him follow Mitsuha and spend his days promoting internal reforms within the Demon Slayer Corps.

The last time the father and son met was several months ago...

"Let me see it quickly!"

Upon hearing this, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, dressed in women's clothing, immediately stood up, took the list from Makijuro's hand, and quickly flipped through it.

Beside him, Makijuro excitedly recounted the story:

"My lord, according to the intelligence gathered by the supervision and rescue team, there are a total of twenty-seven prospective swordsmen who have come to participate in the final selection this year."

Five of them were eliminated in the initial assessment stage due to various reasons for failing to meet the standards.

Of the remaining twenty-two people, eight were ultimately selected!

This is the largest number of participants in decades, apart from the Mitsuha selection!

Of the remaining fourteen people, four were unable to overcome their fear of facing the evil spirits. According to the new rules, although the rescue team saved them, they were also disqualified from participating in the final selection.

Subsequently, these individuals will be assigned to the Hidden Forces, where they will be responsible only for logistical support for the Demon Slayer Corps.

As for the last ten people, they did not pass the selection process this time.

However, according to the assessment of the oversight team, these individuals do indeed possess the qualifications to become official demon hunters, so they have retained their eligibility to participate in the next final selection.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, most of these people should pass the final selection next year and become official demon hunters!

Chapter 143 There's another show tonight

"Great! This result...is fantastic!"

Listening to Makijuro's explanation and quickly flipping through the list in his hand, the young Ubuyashiki Kagaya was so excited that his body was trembling.

"Miss Mitsuha, did you hear that?! Our reforms over the past year have been effective!"

He quickly turned and ran to Mitsuha, who was quietly organizing documents to the side. Ubuyashiki Kagaya shoved the list into her hand, his face beaming with excitement:

"Eight people passed the first selection under the new rules, and no one died during the entire process!"

Not only is the number of survivors increasing, but the combat skills of every demon hunter are also improving!

If these reforms can be sustained and stabilized, the overall strength of the Demon Slayer Corps will surely far surpass that of any period in history!

Demons, the Twelve Demon Moons, the Demon King… Miss Mitsuha! Perhaps we really can end the thousand-year-old struggle against demons in our generation!

Kids are always so impatient.

Whenever they achieve something, they can't help but get so excited that they dance with joy.

"Yeah, indeed."

Mitsuha took the list, glanced at it casually, and then handed it back to Kagaya Ubuyashiki.

She looked at him and smiled slightly:

"However, my lord, it's not time to celebrate yet. Everything has just begun, and there's a long road ahead..."

"Yes, I know!"

Faced with Mitsuha's instruction, Kagaya Ubuyashiki nodded vigorously and bowed deeply to her.

Although the two were nominally lord and subordinate, the past year of interaction had already made Ubuyashiki Kagaya regard Mitsuha as his "teacher".

In his view, Mitsuha was not only exceptionally strong, befitting her status as a descendant of the Initial Breathing Technique swordsman, but also extremely skilled in organizational management.

During that year together, the young boy truly learned a lot about managing subordinates from Mitsuha.

Capable in combat, capable in management, of excellent character, selfless, and full of wisdom...

Mitsuha Tsugikuni seems to truly be the chosen one sent by the gods to help the Demon Slayer Corps fight against evil spirits!

I really hope she can live a long and healthy life in the Demon Slayer Corps until the day comes when the Demon Slayers can truly and completely slay the Demon King...

"Well then, my lord, if there's nothing else, I'll head back tonight."

At this moment, Makijuro spoke up.