Kagaya Ubuyashiki frowned slightly.
"How do you accumulate merit?"
"Do good deeds, save people, kill demons, and protect ordinary people. Any action that God deems good will accumulate merit."
"The Demon Slayer Corps has been doing this all along."
"It's not enough. Your karma is too great; the merit accumulated by the Demon Slayer Corps is simply not enough to offset it. Moreover, not all of that merit is on you; a larger portion is on your team members."
Higashino Makoto leaned back in his chair, his golden eyes gazing at the cherry blossom tree overhead.
"I have an idea. If your team members are willing to give you their merits, it might temporarily offset the karma on you, allowing me to remove your Curse, or at least prevent it from recurring for a while."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki gently stroked the folding fan with his fingers.
"Give me the credit...?"
"Yes, transfer. I've tried it with the Butterfly Sisters; with the individual's consent, it's possible to transfer merit from one person to another, especially when the two are related by blood or have a superior-subordinate relationship."
"So... what happens to the team members after the transfer?"
"They won't lose anything substantial for the time being. Merit isn't power, it's karma. Losing merit means they might not be able to go to heaven after death—"
"Just so you know, heaven and reincarnation do exist in this world."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki remained silent.
He looked at Higashino Makoto, at the calm, emotionless light in those golden eyes.
Then he shook his head.
"No."
"Oh?"
"Because the merit they earned with their lives belongs to them, and I cannot take it away."
Higashino Makoto looked at him for two seconds.
"Even if you die, will the Demon Slayer Corps lose its master?"
Even if I die.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki's voice was calm.
"The Demon Slayer Corps won't collapse because they lose a master. They don't need me to make decisions for them, and they certainly don't need me to take away what they earned with their lives."
Higashino Makoto remained silent for a moment.
Are you sure?
"Sure."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki opened his folding fan and gently fanned himself.
"Mr. Higashino, I appreciate your kindness. But I cannot accept this condition."
Higashino Makoto stood up.
"Then there's nothing to discuss."
He turned around and walked out of the courtyard.
Momo followed behind him.
The three butterfly sisters exchanged a glance, hesitated for a moment, and then followed.
After taking a few steps, Higashino Makoto stopped without looking back.
"Ubuyashiki."
"Um."
"Just because you don't accept it doesn't mean your teammates won't accept it."
Kagaya Ubuyashiki paused for a moment.
"What do you mean?"
"I will tell them about it and let them decide for themselves. If they don't want to, I won't force them, but if they do want to, you have no right to stop them."
Higashino Makoto stepped out of the courtyard.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat under the cherry blossom tree, gazing at his retreating figure, his purple eyes gleaming with a complex light.
"My lord..."
A voice came from behind.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki did not turn back.
"Go and call the pillars here, all of them. Don't let them do anything foolish."
"Yes, sir."
Higashino Makoto stood in a guest room of the Ubuyashiki Estate, a piece of parchment spread out in front of him with a few lines of writing on it.
Experiment on the transfer of skills and careers, Scheme No. 1.
Momo stood behind him, holding a teapot in her hands, her purple eyes fixed on the paper.
The three butterfly sisters sat to one side, saying nothing, simply watching quietly.
"Mr. Higashino."
Kanae Kocho opens her mouth.
Are you really going to tell the Pillars about this?
"Right."
Aren't you afraid that lord will be angry?
Higashino Makoto found it boring.
I wondered what she was going to say.
Why would I be afraid of this?
"I'm not afraid. I didn't force anyone. No one has the right to interfere with what they want to do, even if he is their lord. In the end, the only result is that the Pillars lose some of their merits, and Ubuyashiki feels sad."
Higashino Makoto put down his quill and leaned back in his chair.
"But his sadness is his business; what I need to do is my business."
Kanae Kocho looked at him, her purple eyes flashing with a complex light.
"Mr. Higashino, why are you doing all this?"
Higashino Makoto was silent for a moment.
"Because I want to know if the transfer of merit and career is possible, and if so, whether I can use it to do more things."
"What else?"
"For example, making someone's achievements so great that they can change the rules, influence the gods, and even make the gods listen to them."
The room fell silent.
Shinobu Kocho's lips twitched slightly.
"You... you want to control the gods?"
"It's not about control, it's about guidance."
Higashino Makoto's tone was flat.
"God has no consciousness; He is merely a reaction of the collective unconscious of humanity. If I can get enough people to believe in something, God will grant that belief. And merit is a crucial indicator of whether one can gain God's trust."
He paused.
"Therefore, I need to conduct experiments, I need data, I need samples."
Shinobu Kocho stared at him for a long time.
"Mr. Higashino, you are truly terrifying."
"I know."
Higashino Makoto picked up his teacup and took a sip.
There was a knock on the door.
"Mr. Higashino, the pillars have arrived. Our lord requests your presence in the courtyard."
Higashino Makoto put down his teacup and stood up.
Let's go.
When Higashino Makoto entered the courtyard, all the pillars were already there.
Nine people, nine pairs of eyes, were all watching him.
Kagaya Ubuyashiki sat under a cherry blossom tree, his purple eyes fixed on Higashino Makoto.
"Mr. Higashino, please speak."
Higashino Makoto walked to the center of the courtyard and looked around.
"You should all know something about your lord's impending death due to a family Curse."
No one spoke, but everyone's fingers tightened slightly on the hilts of their knives.
"His illness is no ordinary illness; it's Curse. It's the karma passed down through generations of the Ubuyashiki Family, a karma so immense that his body can't bear it."
"As you all know, children of the Ubuyashiki Family are extremely prone to early death, rarely surviving past the age of 30 and dying suddenly. Ugly scars spread across their bodies, accompanied by blindness, until they become completely immobile."
Sanemi Shinazugawa's hands clenched the hilt of his sword so tightly they cracked.
Do you have a solution?
"Perhaps, but I'd need your help."
Higashino Makoto held up one finger.
"First, I can temporarily remove the Curse from him, and he will temporarily regain his health."
"Then let's do it!"
Sanemi Shinazugawa's voice was filled with suppressed anger.
"I've already done it. Haven't you noticed that our lord's health is much better than before?"
Higashino Makoto glanced at the other person.
"Moreover, after the Curse is cleared, karma will accumulate again, and the Curse will return."
Sanemi Shinazugawa's fingers paused for a moment.
"Why?"