At last, they could talk

For a moment, Yoriichi was confused too. In his memory, he had never met Muzan.

But nothing about Muzan's behavior from the start seemed like an act, and he couldn't ignore his elder brother's words either.

Hiding behind Tsugikuni Michikatsu, Muzan poked his head out and said:

"Even if you're going to repay kindness with murder, at least give me a reason!

I haven't been going around killing people or anything!

I raised you for five years!

Why the hell are you trying to kill me?!

You started chasing me down the moment we met!

Did I murder your whole family or something?!"

Yoriichi was at a loss for words.

Wasn't it perfectly normal for members of the Demon Slayer Corps to hunt down the Demon King?

Yet he vaguely sensed that something was wrong.

Had he really lost his memory???

Hiding behind Tsugikuni Michikatsu, Muzan saw Yoriichi fall into confusion. Safe for the moment, he let out a small sigh of relief.

Tsugikuni Michikatsu glanced at the so-called Demon King trembling behind him, then at Yoriichi. Now he finally understood just how powerful his younger brother was.

Someone blessed by the gods...

Tsugikuni Michikatsu had actually joined the Demon Slayer Corps purely for a chance to surpass his younger brother. He wasn't particularly obsessed with killing demons. Besides, Yoriichi had once said that Muzan could even be called kind, so he urged Yoriichi:

"Calm down and sort out what happened."

Yoriichi kept his blade in his hand. Having finally found the Demon King, he feared letting him escape and refused to put it away. Seeing this, Muzan echoed Tsugikuni Michikatsu:

"Yes, exactly. Let's all put down our weapons first and talk this out calmly."

Looking at his elder brother's expression, Yoriichi hesitated before finally sheathing his blade. He watched Muzan warily.

"All right."

Only after Yoriichi put his blade away did Muzan inch out from behind Tsugikuni Michikatsu. The Yoriichi he had raised for five years had suddenly gone mad. Knowing all too well how terrifying Yoriichi was, he certainly wouldn't let his guard down.

He couldn't be too careful!

Yoriichi voiced his confusion, asking Muzan for confirmation. "Have I really met you before?"

Muzan could only endure the pain from the small wounds that refused to heal and the enormous slash across his right arm. Gripping his right arm with his left hand, he said:

"I met you when you left home at seven. Have you forgotten? Later, I even built a new house near Shi's home. I raised the two of you for five years. Have you forgotten that too?"

Yoriichi looked utterly confused.

"Didn't Shi and I build our house after I met her? And what's a half-demon?"

Now Michikatsu looked confused too. He turned to Yoriichi. "You're the one who told me about half-demons. How could you not know?"

Yoriichi: "???"

Muzan turned to Michikatsu. "See? He's lost his memory."

At this point, Tsugikuni Michikatsu was actually the more composed one. He hadn't expected the so-called Demon King to be like this-both cowardly and ridiculous.

"Enough. This probably isn't simple memory loss. It seems more like someone tampered with Yoriichi."

"You're right." Muzan nodded in full agreement.

He also remembered how an inexplicable sense of danger had frightened him into hiding in Infinity Castle three years ago. Looking at the two brothers, he said solemnly:

"Three years ago, I felt a strange sense of danger. It was probably connected to what happened to Yoriichi. Did Yoriichi encounter anything unusual three years ago?"

Then, remembering the half-demons that kept sabotaging him, Muzan added, "Especially anything like half-demons."

Considering that Yoriichi had forgotten everything connected to him, Muzan continued, "Half-demons seem to be another kind of demon that emerged outside my control. Most of them look pretty deformed."

The two brothers frowned in silence, recalling the events of three years ago.

For one thing, it had been so long that they had forgotten much of what happened. Besides, as Demon Slayers, they had dealt with plenty of demons.

Even though demons had been appearing less frequently, they had still encountered them at least a dozen times that year.

Michikatsu suddenly remembered the two demons, one large and one small, that he and Yoriichi had encountered on a mission. The smaller demon had exploded, leaving Yoriichi with a headache for a while.

The more he thought about it, the more it matched Muzan's description, so he told Muzan about it.

Yoriichi, however, was puzzled. Although he had strangely suffered a headache for a while back then, he remembered no gaps or discontinuities in his memories of that period.

After hearing this, Muzan was certain those two had been half-demons.

Honestly, most of the "demons" the Demon Slayer Corps encountered were already half-demons, though naturally, some were still demons under his command.

If they had disobeyed his orders by slaughtering innocents or the like, Muzan didn't care if they died. As for the others, whenever Muzan noticed, he would notify Nakime to transport any demons discovered by the Demon Slayer Corps to Infinity Castle.

So, in fact, many demons were already very familiar with Infinity Castle.

If they had nowhere to stay, they went to Infinity Castle. Once they had had their fill of fun, they went to Infinity Castle to laze around...

"It was definitely those half-demons! They altered Yoriichi's memories. Those fucking sneaky bastards!"

Muzan cursed bitterly.

Ignoring the useless remarks, Michikatsu pressed him. "But that half-demon is already dead. How do we restore Yoriichi's memories now?"

"No idea."

Muzan answered instantly.

Yoriichi and Michikatsu: "..."

And you sound pretty proud of that, too?

"But we can ask someone else."

Muzan brought the two Demon Slayers to Tamayo's residence. When Tamayo saw two burly men with Nichirin Blades at their waists suddenly appear in her home, she was bewildered-and even more terrified.

When she saw Muzan behind them, only bewilderment remained.

What happened?

Had the boss defected to the enemy???

That was only a passing thought, though. Seeing Muzan, she knew there probably wasn't any danger, even if she couldn't understand when the mighty Demon King had started associating with Demon Slayers.

She looked at Muzan.

"A half-demon altered his memories with a Blood Demon Art. I was wondering whether we could restore them."

Muzan pointed at Yoriichi as he looked at Tamayo.

Tamayo vaguely felt that Yoriichi looked familiar, but she couldn't identify him.

She understood even less why he was asking her. Shouldn't you, the Demon King, know the most about anything involving Blood Demon Arts? Besides, I'm just a medical researcher. Why are you asking me about memories?

Listening to Tamayo's internal complaints, Muzan stared at her expressionlessly.

Tamayo: "..."

Fine. I forgot he could hear my thoughts.

Besides, to find out why demons were vulnerable to wisteria, she had indeed branched out to satisfy her curiosity and done a little research into Blood Demon Arts.

She did know a little.

Muzan explained the circumstances in detail. After pondering for a moment, Tamayo said:

"This Blood Demon Art was probably a one-use ability, and it may have cost its user his life. That enormous price would have made its effect exceptionally powerful. Not only would the target be unable to notice anything, with no flaws in his memories, but there would also be almost no possibility of restoring them.

And I have no way of knowing whether it has any other effects."