After settling my appointments to meet both Hephaestus and Demeter in a few weeks, sending a note that I was going to be out of Orario for the next while, I focused on trying to arrive at the very beginning of the demon slayer show, when Tanjuro was delivering coal to the nearby village in order to get some money.
Although I wasn't certain, but I felt if I arrived early that night and Tanjuro didnt stay the night with that old man Saburo I would be able to swing my plan into action and may even be able to deal with Muzan then and there.
Similar to when the Hestia and Loki Familia arrived back in the LOTR world at Bree I somehow arrived when Tanjuro was delivering his coal and I saw him being a general handy man.
"Hmm just following him around won't really work out as I have no idea where in the mountains, he lives with his family so it's not like I could just go wait for him..." I muttered thinking how I could get this moving along before an idea struck me like a ton of bricks.
I threw on some fancy clothes Freya had me get in case I needed to meet with royalty like I did when I talked about meeting Elrond and both she and Hestia dearly wished to have such a man in their Familia as such a driven person would have almost certainly become a level 8 at least.
Now that I was looking like a foreign lord which I couldn't evade as I was a white man in the early 1900's Japan, I figured it was simply best to pretend to be a stupidly rich tourist going around and any discrepancies could be chalked up to my wealth and my next step to my plan which will have to be unveiled later on.
"Hey boy I heard you have an amazing sense of smell and know these mountains like the back of your hand. Is that true?" I asked boisterously making the people blink in surprise to see such a well-dressed foreigner come out of nowhere in their small town.
"Yes sir! But I must apologize I must sell all the charcoal I have to help feed my family this New Year's." Tanjuro explained with the surrounding towns people nodding in appreciation to how much this young man cared for his family.
I looked around and hummed in throught and put my hand behind my back. "So would a five-ounce gold coin buy all the coal off your back and for you to host me in your humble home while I prepare to hunt the wildlife of this beautiful nation." I then pulled my hand back from behind me as I needed to grab one of the gold coins, I kept from the large number of base metals I tore from the walls of Moria, and I knew I would need metals to sell or barter for services in other worlds.
Tanjuro was a smart teenage and knew something was wrong, so I explained. "Look I am traveler who made his way all over the world, and I make my living hunting creatures across the world and gathering little souvenirs from the different lands I walk to use or sell back home." Hearing a bit more about why I wanted his help Tanjuro seemed to relax a bit.
"And I imagine with a good chunk of gold like this, you will be able to buy enough food for your family to last till spring at the very least." Before he could deny my obvious overpayment, I stuffed it into his hands and stepped back so he couldn't give it back without being rude.
Tanjuro bit his lips in deep thought before solemnly nodding. "Ok sir just let me pick up some food for you and my family if we are going to host you for a couple days. Please just wait in that restaurant over there and once I pick up all the supplies, I will lead you to my home."
I nodded and went into the restaurant he pointed out. Thankfully the locals didnt seem to be anti-foreigner's and if anything, they seemed to be highly appreciative of me helping out the Kamado family as the owner of the restaurant gave me a free plate of dumplings and offered a deal when I offered to buy several barrels of his alcohol which I planned on taking back home to Orario.
Finally, after an hour of sitting around Tanjuro came through the restaurant door and gratefully led me back to his home and I could smell with my enhanced senses that he must have splurged on getting food as I could smell the fresh baked bread and what smelled like still hot honey glazed ham wrapped up in the butchers clothe in his basket.
"Got everything you need kid?" I asked making him pout at me being so informal.
"Please just call me Tanjuro, dont call me kid!" He groaned and I could respect that as this teenager basically took over providing for his family after his father died of sickness a couple years ago but still I wanted to build a decent relationship with him, his family and the Hashira even as I had every plan to snag all their members to bring them back to Orario as my Familia was direly lacking in members.
The Hashira should they join even as a level one wouldn't be a deadweight to me in the dungeon so I wanted to do my best to poach as many of them as I could even if they were men, I still wanted more manpower.
"Alright Tanjuro, so tell me about your family." I asked trying to make plans on how I could protect them all when Muzan came tonight.
"Oh I have six younger siblings and my sister Nezuko is the closest to me in age." He went on to explain the names and ages of all his siblings and I could only think. 'Well, no wonder you are all so poor. Your father put more than half a dozen babies into his wife and then just dropped dead...'
"Hmm you have done well to provide so well for your family." I nodded and then I regaled him on some very changed up stories of me hunting some of the more animal creatures in the dungeon like Lygerfangs and just called them massive lions and such, knowing how Tanjuro was sceptic about anything supernatural at this point until his family was lost and Nezuko became a demon.
Seeing as it was only twilight when we passed by Saburo's little home, he simply waved us off and told us to make haste lest man eating demons eat us on our return.
"Do you believe in monster's Jake?" Tanjuro asked we made our way up the mountain and he obviously was thinking about what Saburo said.
'Hmm... Fuck it it's still pretty early in history people may still be rather superstitious especially with actual demons slaughtering villages every once in a while.' "Tanjuro there's things that bump in the night and whether it's the vampires in the west or the demons here in Japan, either way humanity has its predators that prowls during the long nights to snatch it's prey."
I seriously doubted that demons or monsters only existed here in Japan as the doctor who made Muzan was able to for years use a special moon flower that I will bet my bottom dollar was foreign to Japan as Muzan wasn't able to find it after centuries of determined searching. So, it was likely there were other monsters spawned from weird abnormalities in other parts of the world.
Tanjuro simply shrugged obviously playing off my words, but it would soon enough be proven as I could see the sun retreating over the mountain's faces, leaving us in dark shadows.
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"We are almost there Jake." Tanjuro huffed as the weight of the probable months' worth of food was dragging him down after our hours long trek.
He was right, it took another five or so minutes, but we finally made our way into a clearing, and I saw a little house standing by a large smelting structure where they obviously made the charcoal they sold to the town at the bottom of the mountain.
"Tanjuro is back Mom!" a young voice yelled out and then out of the tree cover a younger version of Tanjuro ran out carrying a woodsman axe and a basket on his back stuffed with thick branches cut down to a decent size.
Tanjuro quickly introduced me to his oldest younger brother Takeo and then as we made introductions his mother was led out of the little home by his younger sister Nezuko while all his other siblings rushed out from behind the girls.
"Greetings Kamado Family, I am Jake Barris and I am from Europe, here to tour Japan and get some souvenirs." I respectfully greeted the family, and I knew I was instantly going to be welcomed into their home as Tanjuro went on to explain how I helped him get the family enough food for the winter and his mother started throwing me bedroom eyes.
Now I knew this was a different time especially in Japan as women were practically raised to serve their men who provided for them and I could already see she was planning on how to bind me here or something along those lines, or hell just leave a bag of money behind so they could lead an easier life. Not to mention if I recalled she herself was unable to find enough work to support the family which then fell upon Tanjuro to basically provide for his family.
"I see... Jake, was it?" She asked as though she didnt hear the first time. "Well, I hope you don't mind sleeping on our spare futon for however long you plan on staying."
I simply nodded gratefully taking her offer as I knew she certainly didnt have an actual bed to sleep on. I suppose it will be a blast to my past lives past to sleep on the floor like I did when I went over to friends for sleepover's.
"Mom I got some good food so let's have it before it gets too stiff." Tanjuro then showed the ham I smelled and fresh loaf of bread which I imagine was still fine being wrapped up and didnt get wet during our travels.
After a dinner consisting of slices of the ham being steamed lightly to bring out the fat and moisture was slapped onto the bread with some vegetables and despite how bland it was without any condiments I didnt complain as I could see how much they absolutely adored the filling food rather than just plain rice as I imagined to be the staple of this time.
When Kie Kamado the matriarch of the Kamado family led me into the master bedroom after dinner and the rest of the kids went to sleep with their bellies stuffed with hot meals, I was surprised to see a single futon laid out upon the floor, so I threw the woman who shyly walked past me and into room an amused look.
"Will you be sleeping with one of your children Mrs. Kamado?" I asked referring to her past husband.
She shook her head demurely as she kneeled down on the floor on her knees beside the futon. "Sir I don't know if you are aware, but you are mistaken about the price of gold here in Japan in comparison to other lands as mining is less plentiful here, so gold is more valuable here than say in China." She took a deep breath, and I could see her stealing herself. "I know you must be extremely wealthy with how you not giving any thought to giving my Tanjuro a whole years' worth of meat and high-quality white bread and then noticed you appreciating my beauty." She didnt specify but I understood what she was meaning.
I sat down on the other side of the futon across from her before I spoke again. "Is this your first time... Propositioning a man?" I asked delicately and she nodded shyly, and I could only sigh and think deeply on what to do.
Now a part of me wants to be chivalrous and say nay lady I shall not despoil you in another mans bed, but for one the man has been dead for a few years so it wouldn't be like she was cheating not to mention its only their pride I imagine that would stop them from simply accepting me handing them a big bag of gold coins.
'Fine let her earn her family a life's worth of easy food...' I thought and took out a bag full of gold coins from behind me like it was hidden in my jacket. "Kie Kamado within this bag is one hundred of those five ounces coins if you promise to be my woman in all ways that matter while I stay in Japan for the next couple months, this will support your family for the next few decades even should they decide to move into town or something."
Kie Kamado bit her lips in thought before nodding and a gentle blush came over her face as she perfectly understood I was basically buying her as a wife with a dowry even if I treated this as more along the lines of me keeping my sanity and not going to a prostitute because after months of constant freely offered sex from any of my women, I knew I would get backed up being here for a quarter of a year.
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I was currently relaxing after literally laying into Kie Kamado for a couple hours but the sound of what sounded like a tree being shattered violently awoken me and before Kie could say anything I bolted to my feet and started throwing on my armor and boots.
"Jake what's wrong. it's just a tree falling down from the snow weighing..." Kie tried to sooth me even though she was freaking out about my armor flashing into existence.
"Kie hide your children I smell a demon..." I said and I saw her freeze in terror as she knew some people like her son had supernaturally great senses and seeing my obvious magical armaments meant I was almost used to this.
"Be careful Jake." She mumbled and as I confidently strode into the main sitting room, I could hear the snow crunching outside as footsteps approached.
I braced myself and as the sliding door opened and I saw the hat wearing silhouette of Muzan with gleaming eyes blinking in surprise at seeing an armored figure crouched in the middle of the room.
I used all my strength as well as my rocket boots to explosively launch myself at Muzan feet first at him and as I felt my boots collide with his chest and shatter all his ribs I yelled as we were launched out of the shattered and destroyed front room. "Dynamic Exit Bitch!"