Takeo hadn't paid close attention before, but now that he realized something might be going on aboard this ship, he began to notice it!
There was definitely something off.
The merchant's entourage was fine—they all behaved normally. What stood out were the ship's crew members.
This was a large wooden vessel headed for Mito, capable of carrying around eighty passengers.
Excluding the guards brought by the merchant, the number of sailors and deckhands was about twenty. The rest were common passengers and travelers.
But among those twenty or so crew members…something felt wrong.
Some of them still looked relatively normal, but others seemed nervous and fidgety, a few even showing clear signs of fear. When Takeo approached them and asked what was wrong, none of them would say a word.
And with behavior like that—if he still couldn't figure out that something was happening on this ship, then he'd have to be a complete idiot.
"Hey!!"
Another shout—and the familiar swoosh of a bamboo sword cutting through the air behind him.
Still half-lost in thought, Takeo instinctively stepped to the side, caught the bamboo sword, and—with one smooth motion—flipped the little rascal over his shoulder.
Thud!
The kid hit the ground hard—but he didn't seem fazed at all.He immediately sprang back to his feet, pointing an accusatory finger at Takeo:
"Hey! That was way too rough this time!!"
"Sorry, I was thinking about something just now… Wait—why are you back again?"
Takeo, snapping out of his thoughts, gave Ichirō an apology that had absolutely zero sincerity behind it, then blinked in surprise.
Normally, Ichirō only "attacked" Takeo twice a day: Once in the morning, and once in the evening.
But it was still a while before sunset—this second "sneak attack" was a bit early.
Hearing Takeo's question, Ichirō seemed to suddenly remember why he'd come. He looked around suspiciously, then motioned for Takeo to lean in closer.
Takeo stared at him, deadpan, but eventually obliged, bending down toward the boy's ear.
Only then did Ichirō whisper in a hushed, excited tone:
"…I overheard my father talking with that guy!"
"You eavesdropped on them?!"
"I did not eavesdrop!" Ichirō hissed, raising his voice a little—then, realizing it might've been too loud, quickly lowered it again and muttered defensively:
"I just happened to be walking by and overheard them, okay…? Anyway—do you wanna hear what I heard or not?!"
"…Fine. What did you hear?"
Not bothering to call Ichirō out on his obvious lie, Takeo, still very curious about the identity of the mysterious swordsman, pressed further: "So? What did you hear?"
Ichirō leaned in again and whispered softly:
"I heard them say… there's a demon on this ship!"
Demon?!
Takeo's eyes sharpened instantly, his expression turning serious. "There's really a demon on this ship?"
"Don't ask me—how would I know?" Ichirō huffed. "I just heard them say there might be a demon on board. And that mysterious guy? He's a demon slayer, here to hunt it down. That's all I heard."
Ichirō gave a quick summary of the conversation.
According to him, there had been disappearances on the ship,and Captain Mizunoki had deliberately tried to hide it—but the demon slayer had still found out.
No one knew where he got the information, but he had personally come to investigate the missing crew,and once the merchant learned about it, he welcomed the demon slayer aboard himself.
Demon.
Demon Slayer.
So that was the framework of this world. It really did have demons?
Takeo mulled over this revelation—and suddenly thought of Kamado Tanjiro.
If the main power structure of this world really revolved around demons and demon slayers, then could Kamado Tanjiro have become either a demon… or a demon slayer?
Wait a second—demon? Tanjiro?
Why did that sound more and more familiar…?
Takeo's thoughts spun rapidly. It felt like he was on the verge of remembering something—but no matter how hard he tried to grab hold of the thought, it kept slipping away.
He was missing one key piece of information—just one detail that could help him figure out what kind of world he had ended up in.
Aaaah! Can't I have transmigrated to Harry freaking Potter!! Or any other Hollywood bull crap I ever binged!! It would've been so much easier—Ugh, my dreams of becoming a Hogwarts student could have come true, but NO!
I got shoved into a plot I don't even recognize!!
"Oh, right," Ichirō suddenly said, as if remembering something. "That demon slayer said he was from some group called the… 'Demon Slayer Corps'?I think that's what it was. Do you know what that is?"
"A Demon Slayer... from the Demon Slayer Corps.. Wait a minute—!!"
It hit him.
Takeo's pupils shrank.
All at once, he remembered what anime world this was.
Demon Slayer Corps, demons, Kamado Tanjiro, Kamado Nezuko…
Wasn't this the anime my college roommate used to obsess over all the time?
What was it called... "Hashira Slayer: The girl with two big bouncy juggs"?!
Um…?
Wait—no. That wasn't the name…
It was probably Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, right?!
Then why did his roommate always jokingly call it "Hashira Slayer"…?
Recalling how his anime-loving roommate used to yell things like "Hashira Slayer" back in the dorms, Takeo felt his memory getting jumbled.
He couldn't tell if his roommate had been saying the name wrong, or if he was the one misremembering—but either way, one thing was certain:
This world definitely belonged to an anime. There was no doubt about that.
And Tanjiro and Nezuko—they were the main characters of this world!
Or rather, the male lead and female lead.
"…So that means, the one who destroyed the Kamado family… was most likely a demon?"
Now that he had recalled the general setting of this world, Takeo felt certain:the one who had killed the Kamado family was probably a demon.
"Hey!! Hey!!!"
Takeo had been lost in thought for a bit too long, and Ichirō was growing impatient.He shouted right in Takeo's ear, trying to snap him out of it.
Takeo, mildly annoyed by the shouting, replied without thinking:
"I'm listening, I'm listening—stop yelling. My ears are gonna go deaf."
"You didn't look like someone who was listening just now…"
Ichirō eyed him suspiciously.
Takeo let out a sigh, then grabbed Ichirō's bamboo sword and lightly tapped it against his own shoulder before changing the subject:
"…Weren't you the one who wanted me to teach you swordsmanship?"
That one sentence instantly made Ichirō's eyes light up.
He immediately forgot about Takeo zoning out earlier and asked excitedly:
"You're really gonna teach me?!"
"If it's just the basics, I know a little. I'll teach you some before we reach shore."
Takeo gave the bamboo sword a casual swing as he spoke.
Ichirō's eyes grew brighter and brighter—and when he heard the last part, he literally jumped three feet off the ground.
"Awesome!! I'm gonna become a samurai!!"
Yelling that, Ichirō ran off with his bamboo sword, hopping with joy.
Agreeing to teach him a bit of swordsmanship was Takeo's way of repaying him for helping gather information about the demon slayer.
Sure, he could've stuck to his earlier line—"Eavesdropping isn't something a true samurai should do"—and used that to brush him off again.
But the information Ichirō had gathered helped Takeo understand the truth of this world—and for that, he definitely owed the kid a favor!
I ain't a Slytherin after all!
Besides, it was just some basic swordsmanship theory. Teaching that much shouldn't be a problem.
"Well then… what should I do next…"
Now that he understood the nature of this world—and knew there was a demon slayer on board—Takeo began thinking about how to approach him.
After all, in this world, the conflict between demons and demon slayers was the central axis. Demon slayers likely had their own unique methods of training.
And if Tanjiro really was the protagonist, there was a high chance he would become—or already was—a demon slayer himself. If Takeo could become one too, it would significantly increase his chances of finding Tanjiro.
The real issue now was: what kind of excuse should he use to approach the demon slayer?
Maybe… telling his entire family were killed by a demon? Playing the tragedy card—Would that actually work?