"Demon"

Muzan regretted it!

He regretted it deeply!

He should never have dreamed of teaching anyone medicine!

Not one of those three brats had studied properly!

Those stories where you casually picked up a little girl or child and got a genius disciple were impossible!

He couldn't teach them. He really couldn't.

They couldn't even read. When he tried teaching them knowledge, they never studied properly either. They only cared about running around everywhere, touching anything they saw. They had nearly smashed the porcelain pot he used to brew medicine!

Teach them? Teach my ass!

On the afternoon of the second day after agreeing to teach them how to treat illnesses, Muzan had just brewed some cold medicine for a neighbor. When he returned to his room, he saw the three little brats standing uneasily in the corner.

The bottles and jars on the wooden shelf behind them were untouched. Muzan frowned. "What did you do this time?"

The three children chuckled awkwardly, exchanged glances, and slowly moved aside.

Behind them was the medicine Muzan had brewed for Imura's sore throat. The container had been smashed, and the medicine had spilled all over the floor.

Muzan first felt instinctive anger. Then the light faded from his eyes. Finally, he let out a long sigh and made room for them to leave. "Fine, get out. My knowledge is too shallow. I can't teach you."

"Mister, give us one more chance! We know we were wrong!"

The three children put on pitiful expressions. As a Maneating Demon, Muzan was utterly unmoved by their pleas. He grabbed them by the backs of their collars and tossed them out the door one by one.

The three little ones: இ௰இ

After shutting the door, Muzan saw that Imura would soon be coming to collect his medicine. He sighed and began brewing it again. Next time he moved somewhere else, he would stop being a doctor. This job wasn't suited to slacking off.

While he was rebrewing the medicine, Imura's voice came from outside. Though somewhat hoarse, it was still full of energy.

"Hey, you three are bothering the doctor again? Got kicked out?"

Imura lifted the door curtain and walked into Muzan's house. "Doctor, I'm here for my medicine."

Muzan continued working. "Those three kids knocked over your medicine. I'm brewing another batch. If you're not in a hurry, wait a while."

Imura found a place to sit, leaned against the wooden wall, crossed his legs, and chatted idly.

"By the way, it's been over ten years. How come you still look so young?"

Muzan glanced at him. "I take good care of myself, so I don't look old. What, does a grown man like you want to take care of his skin too?"

"My family keeps nagging me to ask how you do it."

"Sleep less late and exercise more."

Muzan poured the steaming medicine into a jar and handed it to Imura. "Remember to return the jar when you're done."

"No problem."

After seeing Imura off, Muzan lay back in the reclining chair in his room. Exercising more was impossible. He couldn't be bothered to exercise.

Did the mighty Demon King really need to rely on such simple exercise to strengthen his body?

Great! Time to slack off completely!

As night fell, Muzan listlessly took a book and lay down in the rocking chair outside his door, enjoying the evening breeze.

It was fortunate that he wasn't human. There were no air conditioners or electric fans in this era. In the height of summer, only hand fans and the evening breeze could bring any relief.

Just as he was enjoying the cool breeze, Muzan suddenly caught sight of a black shadow flashing past in the distance. Immediately afterward, screams rang out from the direction where it had vanished.

Muzan frowned and slowly rose from his chair. He saw people already fleeing past him in terror. One of them noticed Muzan still standing there, grabbed him, and urged, "Run! A demon has come out to eat people!"

Muzan: "???"

Wait, how did he not know about this?

Muzan shook free of him. "You run first."

With that, he headed directly in the opposite direction.

The man hurried after him but failed to catch up. He turned around resentfully and continued fleeing.

Muzan leaped onto a rooftop and rushed to the scene.

He hadn't sensed any of his demons nearby!

And the demons under his command would never casually pick a village and start feeding.

Standing on the roof, Muzan saw a huge, grotesque creature of unknown origin. Its nails were sharp and long, while its scarlet pupils and fangs seemed to proclaim its identity—Maneating Demon.

Everyone who lagged behind was torn apart from behind with a single swipe of its claws. Yet strangely, this thing only killed people. It seemed completely uninterested in the food already within its grasp.

Muzan also had no idea that any of his demons looked like this. The thing was hideous, its features blurry and indistinct. It definitely wasn't one of his demons.

And in Scum Boss's memories, he had never created a demon like this either.

Muzan stepped down and kicked the demon-like but not demon-like creature away. Then he turned to the villager who had nearly been killed. "What are you staring at? Run already!"

The villager silently swallowed, scrambled to his feet, and fled for his life.

So that ageless doctor really was a reclusive master!

Muzan looked toward the... creature he had kicked away.

Since he had deliberately controlled his strength, he had merely sent it flying and injured it from the fall. He hadn't killed it outright.

This thing seemed somewhat intelligent, yet not particularly bright. It had already sensed that Muzan possessed enough power to crush it, and it struggled to rise, intending to flee.

Muzan took one step and appeared directly before it. He raised his foot and stomped hard on its head.

"Wuu wuu~"

The monster beneath his foot let out a whimper that sounded like a plea for mercy. Muzan's nails lengthened, and he drove one finger into its head.

After becoming demons, their memories could be read by Muzan and even altered at will.

Muzan wanted to see this thing's memories.

This was truly strange. Nothing like this bizarre creature had appeared in the original story.

Muzan's blood invaded the strange creature's body. It howled in agony, but Muzan pinned it firmly beneath his foot as it flopped about like a fish out of water.

After looking through its memories, Muzan withdrew his foot and stepped back. The howling creature suddenly exploded, splattering rotten flesh everywhere.

Muzan wiped the soles of his shoes on the ground a few times, took out a cloth to wipe his fingers, and unhurriedly headed home.

This thing had few memories. It was not very intelligent to begin with, so it had not remembered much.

It seemed to have been instilled with certain ideas: it only knew that it was a demon and had to kill people; if someone wearing a Demon Slayer Corps uniform appeared, it had to eat people; it could not appear under the sun.

If it saw other creatures that ate people, it had to flee.

Interesting.

Could it be that this world was no longer simply the Demon Slayer world he knew?

Would there be other powers as well?

What was this trying to do?

Ruin his reputation?

For decades, the fear of Maneating Demons had remained everywhere and had even spread beyond Tokyo. Yet the demons under his command had never slaughtered people wantonly.

There were still so many people in the Demon Slayer Corps. It seemed it wasn't because there hadn't been enough time, but because something was causing trouble behind the scenes.

Muzan washed his hands, a smile appearing on his face.

Interesting. Truly interesting.

In Scum Boss's centuries of memories, there had been no mysterious powers other than demons.

Was it a butterfly effect caused by his transmigration, or something even more terrifying?

The people in this village probably all knew he wasn't ordinary by now. He had made no effort to avoid anyone during that fight.

It was time to move somewhere else. While he was at it, he should properly investigate what these demon-like yet not demon-like things were.