An elderly man wearing formal attire stepped out of a car and walked into the mansion, holding a Nichirin Blade in his hand. Seeing the messy lobby, he shook his head and asked a nearby maid, "Is the young lady in a much better mood, or is she still the same as before?"
"Mr. Kotsuyuu, the young lady is still the same as before; she hasn't walked out of that matter in her heart."
Kotsuyuu turned and left, pausing to look back at the maid as he went. "Right, clean this place up. The hurdle in the young lady's heart must be resolved by herself."
Kotsuyuu walked to the dining room and saw Maigo teaching Amane how to use a knife and fork with pasta.
"Which one of you is Kamishiro Amane?"
"Hey! Don't tell me you think it's me. That sounds like a boy's name anyway."
Without any expression, Kotsuyuu tossed the Nichirin Blade directly onto the dining table. "Kamishiro Amane, take your blade and come with me to the back mountain."
Amane immediately followed, then asked, "Aren't you a manager at the company? How do you have the time to specially teach me? And besides, you should know my name, shouldn't you?"
Kotsuyuu stopped in his tracks. "Kamishiro Amane, this should be our first time meeting. Or perhaps the person you are talking about might be my older brother."
"Huh?"
"We are twins. It's completely normal for ordinary people not to be able to tell us apart."
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Kotsuyuu. When you call my name, don't use my given name; call me by my surname, I'll be more comfortable with that."
"Huh? Wait... your given name isn't really a girl's name, is it?" (Shocked)
The thought that this name belonged to an elderly grandfather nearly sixty years old made him feel a bit sick inside.
The mood was abruptly interrupted.
"Kamishiro Amane, Hideharu said you have the potential to practice a Breathing Style. Let me ask you this: what do you want to do after you master a Breathing Style?"
Kotsuyuu looked at Amane with a peculiar gaze, wanting to understand Amane's answer.
Amane suddenly recalled the young boy weeping while hugging his parents, Naoya choosing to use his own flesh and blood to block a Foul Demon's attack for him, and his older brother drawing the demon away—all for the sake of his weak self.
"After I learn a Breathing Style, I'm going to wipe out all demons and make them vanish completely!"
Seeing the determination in Amane's eyes as they reached the mountain, Kotsuyuu grabbed Amane's shoulder with his hand.
"Kamishiro Amane, actually I don't know any Breathing Style either, but the matter of Breathing Styles depends entirely on yourself."
Suddenly, Kotsuyuu's arm exerted a sudden burst of force, spinning Amane around a full 180 degrees.
"Huh?"
Before Amane could even react, he was thrown to the ground. It all happened so suddenly.
"This training is a trial of taking beatings. If you want to beat others, you have to practice how to take a beating from others."
"Get up right now! A demon won't give you a chance to catch your breath. Do your absolute best to make sure you take fewer punches today."
Amane got back to his feet, and Kotsuyuu immediately smashed his arm toward Amane, striking Amane squarely in the abdomen.
"So fast! I couldn't react at all."
Amane was sent flying, crashing into a tree, and pressed a hand to his stomach. "It hurts, it hurts so much."
"Forget it, you probably can't take many hits anyway. Let's play a game: if you can run all the way back to the foot of the mountain while being pursued by me, I'll consider you to have passed the beating trial. Remember, don't drop your blade."
"I'll give you thirty seconds to get ready."
"30, 29, 28, 27."
Amane scrambled to his feet immediately, forgetting all about the pain as he just wanted to get away from here right now.
"Then the game between hunter and prey begins."
Amane first hid behind a tree, observed his surroundings, and then cautiously stood up.
Suddenly, a voice echoed right in his ear: "A demon's sense of smell and hearing are extremely sharp. By this point, you'd already be dead."
He turned his head to see Mr. Kotsuyuu leaning against the tree and watching him. Amane tried to run but tripped and fell to the ground.
Kotsuyuu threw a punch straight into Amane's waist, causing Amane to let out a loud scream. "It hurts so much!"
Then Kotsuyuu hoisted Amane over his shoulder and headed back up toward the mountaintop.
"Can't you go a bit lighter on me next time? I'm in so much pain I can barely feel anything."
Kotsuyuu remained expressionless. "If you go out to hunt demons, go ahead and beg the demons to go a bit lighter on you."
With that, he dropped Amane onto the ground.
"You still have thirty seconds."
Enduring the pain, Amane hid again, concealing himself in a very secluded patch of weeds and trees.
Meanwhile.
"How boring. Right, since it's so boring right now, I might as well go see how Amane's training is going."
With that, Maigo walked into the back mountain.
Amane watched Mr. Kotsuyuu leave his hiding spot and let out a relaxed sigh of relief.
"Amane, what are you doing crawling around in the grass?"
Maigo shouted Amane's name loudly, leaving Amane with a look of sheer terror on his face.
"Sometimes, the people Demon Slayers protect are part of the trouble. You'll have to get used to that."
Mr. Kotsuyuu appeared right beside Amane just like that, without a sound, and delivered another punch to Amane's waist. Following another cry of pain, he hoisted Amane up once more and headed back toward the mountaintop. Maigo seemed to realize she shouldn't have been here.
The training continued until dusk. Amane was beaten to the point where he couldn't get up off the ground, yet he still clutched his Nichirin Blade tightly in his hand without ever letting go.
"Today's trial is over. Go down the mountain and rest."
Amane wanted to stand up, but the pain throughout his body left him utterly devoid of strength.
"Mr. Kotsuyuu, I can't get up. Can you help me up?"
Kotsuyuu had no intention of helping Amane. Instead, he walked over to Amane and crouched down.
"That's something you'll have to handle yourself. Even though there are no demons on this mountain, I can't rule out the presence of venomous insects and fierce beasts."
With that, he walked down the mountain by himself, leaving Amane all alone on the mountain.
Struggling hard, Amane propped himself up and used the scabbard of his Nichirin Blade as a cane, setting off toward the foot of the mountain with a limp.
"What's going on? The air here has suddenly grown so thin."
"My head is spinning, and my vision is getting so blurry."
Amane collapsed once more. Through his hazy vision, he saw a figure walking over before he lost consciousness.
Kotsuyuu returned to the mansion alone, and Maigo asked, "Where is Amane? Why didn't he come down the mountain with you?"
Ignoring Maigo's words, Kotsuyuu walked upstairs.
"Hey! I asked you a question! Why hasn't Amane come back? Amane is still up on the mountain, right?"
Stopping on the stairwell, Kotsuyuu looked back at Maigo and said, "From the bottom of my heart, I do not acknowledge you people. If Kamishiro Amane cannot endure the training I bring, you lot are no different from beggars tagging along here for free meals."
Having said that, he continued walking upstairs. Hearing this, Maigo angrily rushed out to search for Amane.
"Amane! Amane!"
Maigo shouted toward the mountain, determined to go up and look for him. Just as she was about to head up the mountain, Amane was already lying at the foot of the mountain, still gripping his Nichirin Blade in his hand.
Maigo shook Amane's body. "Don't you dare die on me! That old man called us beggars."
Amane managed to blink his eyes open and look around. "Where is this? I remember passing out on the mountain. Did you save me?"
Evidently, Amane's consciousness had not yet fully recovered.
"Never mind that for now, let's go back first."
Maigo helped Amane walk toward the mansion, pushed open the front doors, and settled Amane onto the sofa.
Standing upstairs, Kotsuyuu witnessed all of this, then called out to the maid to prepare dinner.
After who knows how long, a rich aroma woke Amane up, and he sat up from the sofa.
"Come over and have dinner together."
"How long have I been out? I only remember someone walking toward me, but I can't remember clearly."
"I must have been completely exhausted. It must have been Mr. Kotsuyuu who brought me down the mountain."
Kotsuyuu gave no reply.
"Maigo, come eat with us."
Showing her dissatisfaction, Maigo picked up an apple and a medical book from the living room and went outside.
At that moment, Nijio Ran entered the dining room with a vacant, lifeless expression, looking as though her soul had left her body.
"Since the young lady has also arrived, let's all sit down and eat together."
Nijio Ran sat down, then hastily asked, "Grandpa Kotsuyuu, what on earth was my older brother facing back then? Why did he suddenly vanish? For this past year that he's been gone, no matter what I did, I couldn't find a trace of him."
Kotsuyuu stopped eating. "The young master may have fulfilled the responsibilities that were rightfully his, and this old man also wishes to know the young master's answer."
"Since the young master is no longer here, Young Lady, you should take over the young master's duties."
Tears glistened in Nijio Ran's eyes, and it felt as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
"Young Lady, you'd better heed this old man's advice: let go of the past and face the future head-on."
Meanwhile, Amane ate throughout the entire exchange; though he had things he wanted to say, he still couldn't get the words out.
Weeping, Nijio Ran ran out through the gates of the estate, where Maigo was sitting on the steps munching on an apple, watching Nijio Ran cry by the entrance.