Better To Be A Freeloader At Home

Yoriichi took the Nichirin Blade from Yuko in surprise. He lightly wiped it with his hand, and the blood adhered to it like paint, impossible to remove.

It had a similar color to a Scarlet Blade, but the heat was the opposite.

It was cold.

He had noticed it when Yuko smeared blood onto his wound earlier; it felt as cold as ice water.

Yuko explained, "As long as it's not exposed to sunlight, it can adhere for a full three days."

Blood Demon Arts were similar to superpowers and magic, often the fundamental reason demons were stronger than humans. Faced with all sorts of bizarre Blood Demon Arts, even the regenerative abilities that distinguished demons from humans had to take a backseat. Their only fear was the sun.

Under the sun's rays, Blood Demon Arts would lose their effectiveness.

Yuko hadn't tested it, but Blood Demon Arts were instincts carved deep into a demon's brain; there was no need to test it to understand.

After explaining, she raised an eyebrow and boasted, "Amazing, right?"

"...Amazing." Seeing Yuko as she always was, Yoriichi's lips curved unconsciously.

Yuko suddenly asked, "By the way, Older Brother, are you in contact with Miss Tamayo?"

Yoriichi shook his head.

His interactions with Tamayo were limited to the day they repelled Muzan; he hadn't seen her since, let alone been in contact.

"Is that so..." Yuko sighed with some regret.

Later, Tanjiro seemed to have met Tamayo in Asakusa, but it was still the Sengoku period, hundreds of years before the Taisho era. Who knew where Tamayo was at this point in time.

It seemed like joining the organization wouldn't be that easy.

She might as well live off her family honestly; at least she wouldn't starve.

Besides, with her Blood Demon Art, Yoriichi's wounds could recover quickly.

Wait a minute, she might have accidentally invented a perpetual motion machine.

Stared at by Yuko as if in a trance, Yoriichi inexplicably felt a chill run down his spine, a feeling he hadn't experienced since the time of the Demon King.

Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Yuko spoke again, "Older Brother, do you remember Tanjiki?"

Yoriichi was slightly taken aback. Although he didn't know why Yuko mentioned Tanjiki at this moment, he still nodded.

"Of course."

The place where Tanjiki's family lived was where he and Uta had once resided.

Yuko smiled, "Let's go visit them sometime and see how they're doing."

And perhaps find the Blue Spider Lily.

Her ability to break free from Muzan's control was highly likely due to accidentally consuming the Blue Spider Lily while temporarily staying at Tanjiki's house.

Nezuko seemed to have overcome the weakness to sunlight in the later stages of the story, but she wasn't sure if she could overcome it herself.

After all, Nezuko didn't seem to have overcome sunlight from the very beginning, and her family had lived there for hundreds of years. It was possible that their ancestors had undergone genetic mutations over generations, resulting in an anomaly like Nezuko.

How many meals had she had?

Yuko felt it was necessary to undergo a consolidation course of treatment.

Hearing Yuko's words, Yoriichi fell into recollection.

The scene of Tanjiki's family warmly hosting them several years ago seemed to be right before his eyes.

After a pause, he nodded.

"Alright."

It was a season of blooming flowers. The two visited Tanjiki's family in the evening.

"Mr. Yoriichi, Miss Yuko, it's been two years, hasn't it!" Tanjiki brought over tea while Tamiko was soothing their child to sleep in the inner room.

Seeing their benefactors again, Tanjiki's face was filled with joy.

Entering the house, Yuko removed her hat and sat down opposite Tanjiki with Yoriichi, bowing slightly.

"We apologize for visiting so late."

Since Yuko wasn't sure if she had overcome the weakness to sunlight, she could only visit at night.

Although she could shrink like Nezuko and reenact a Sengoku-era Demon Slayer sibling story with Yoriichi.

She was too embarrassed to be carried around by Yoriichi like a child.

Tanjiki quickly waved his hands, "No, no, Miss Yuko, you're too kind..."

Tanjiki's words suddenly stopped. His eyes were drawn to Yuko's peculiar eyes, illuminated by the oil lamp.

The atmosphere became slightly tense. Just then, Tanjiki's wife, Tamiko, came out from the inner room.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead, "He's finally asleep."

Yuko smiled at her, "It's not easy to get a child to sleep, is it?"

Tamiko smiled, "Yes, that child is too lively."

"You're quite energetic even at night."

After that, Tamiko gave birth to another son, who was still swaddled in the nursery.

"Mr. Yoriichi, Miss Yuko, please stay the night at our home since it's so late." Tanjiki felt some confusion, but he didn't dwell on it.

"Thank you for the hospitality."

Tanjiki prepared a room for the two to sleep in.

The next morning, before dawn, the siblings woke up early and went to sweep the grave of Uta.

While Yoriichi was tending to the grave, Yuko looked around the area surrounding Uta's tomb.

Where are the flowers?

Where are the flowers?

Yoriichi watched Yuko go back and forth, looking utterly bewildered.

Yuko furrowed her brow. Do flowers not bloom in spring?

She thought back to when she visited two years ago; it seemed to be... summer then.

And the flowers seemed to have bloomed suddenly. If they had been there before they arrived, Yuko couldn't have missed such special flowers.

Sudden bloom, sudden wilting.

No wonder Muzan couldn't find them after searching for so many years.

It seemed she would only have a chance if she came in the summer.

Thinking of this possibility, Yuko sighed.

As the sky gradually brightened, a sliver of fish-belly white appeared in the distant sky.

The siblings returned to Tanjiki's home.

Tanjiki sat at the entrance, waving cheerfully at them. "Mr. Yoriichi, Miss Yuko, breakfast is ready."

"Thank you," Yuko said, walking quickly into the room to avoid the extending sunlight.

Tamiko served the dishes, and the dining table was right in the sunlight's path.

Yoriichi thoughtfully scooped some food into a bowl and brought it to Yuko, who was sitting in a corner of the room playing with Tanjiki's daughter, Miyare.

Tanjiki and Tamiko exchanged a look, a hint of confusion in their eyes.

Yuko gently shook her head.

Food was the most precious thing for ordinary people in this era. Tanjiki's family, who made a living by chopping wood and selling charcoal, already had a hard life.

She didn't need it anymore, so there was no point in wasting it. It was better to let others eat their fill.

It's worth mentioning that Tanjiki's family's house looked quite good because they had once saved the wife and daughter of a daimyo in the mountains and were rewarded for it.

Seeing Yoriichi return, Tanjiki couldn't help but ask, "Mr. Yoriichi, is Miss Yuko...?"

Tanjiki possessed the same gentleness and attentiveness as Tanjiro, which was why he noticed Yuko's abnormality.

Yuko's changes as a demon were not significant, but her peculiar eyes and nail color still appeared somewhat strange.

In response to Tanjiki's question, Yoriichi instinctively looked at Yuko.

Tanjiki and Tamiko also turned their gazes.

Yuko held Miyare in her arms, playing with her, and maintained a smile. "Let's eat first. I'll explain everything to everyone after the meal."

People of this era were not as open-minded as those in later generations.

Take Namiko, for example. Upon learning that Yuko had become a demon, even though Yuko hadn't done anything to harm her, Namiko was so terrified that she resorted to hitting and kicking her.

But Tanjiki's family... perhaps they were different.