The man followed Muzan into the pitch-black house and sat awkwardly to one side. Muzan looked at his daughter.
She sat obediently beside her father without making a fuss.
Muzan looked back at the man. "Go into that room first."
The man couldn't help looking at his daughter. Muzan reassured him, "Don't worry. It'll only take a few minutes. She'll follow you."
The man nodded and walked into the inner room, looking back with every step.
Muzan looked at the little girl, who seemed rather lost. "Have you really helped your father trick people into getting eaten?"
Unexpectedly, the child looked furious at his question. "Don't slander our divine lord!"
Muzan: "..."
They really fucking brainwashed her good!
"Have you ever offered sacrifices to your divine lord?"
Honestly, Muzan just couldn't bring himself to do it. He wanted to give this child a chance.
"Of course!"
Seeing how proud she looked, Muzan sighed. "Don't you think the people who got eaten were innocent?"
Though he wasn't exactly the right person to say that...
She snapped angrily, "They weren't eaten! They went to heaven!"
Muzan: "..."
"Then why don't you go to heaven yourself?"
The little girl: "..."
Can I say I don't want to?
Muzan sighed and stood up. He had already given her a chance. He wasn't a saint, anyway, and couldn't be bothered to straighten out someone with such twisted thinking.
Honestly, children weren't necessarily innocent and kind. All anyone had to do was think back on whether they had been innocent and kind as a child to know that.
Muzan looked at the little girl. "Let's go."
More than ten days passed. Muzan felt as though an endless supply of food had been delivered to him every day since then. What surprised him even more was that not a single one had been innocent...
This is beyond ridiculous!
These humans were more "dedicated" than demons.
But with almost no living people left in town, the Demon Slayer Corps took notice as well.
The moment Muzan sensed the Demon Slayer Corps arriving, he packed away the book he hadn't finished and promptly fled.
Fighting was out of the question. He didn't particularly want to eat the Demon Slayer Corps, so there was no point in fighting them.
Before leaving, he even made a point of taking along the little girl who had helped him for so many days.
The little girl had just learned that the Demon Slayer Corps had arrived and was ready to welcome a wonderful new tomorrow when Muzan flashed over, scooped her up, and carried her away as he fled.
Her face turned ashen. Was she never going to escape this evil demon for the rest of her life?
What did I do to deserve this?
Why did I have to trick those two back then?
The two demons and one human finally reached a dense forest.
With no idea when they would reach another place that offered shelter from the light, they decided to spend the night in the forest first.
The little girl was roughly tossed to the ground. She huddled against a tree, not daring to speak.
She was afraid she would be eaten as a ration, but following these two evil demons, she felt that even if they didn't eat her, she would starve to death.
Muzan took out a book and leaned against a tree. Jiyuki read as well, keeping an eye on the little girl.
According to his lord's wishes, she was indeed a ration.
What Jiyuki couldn't understand, however, was why the Demon King kept giving ground to the Demon Slayer Corps when they posed no threat to him whatsoever.
But he didn't dare ask.
The forest's thick foliage let almost no light through. A day soon passed, and Muzan looked at the little girl with the gaze of someone deciding whether it was time for a meal.
The little girl shrank back in terror. "My lord! Even if I haven't earned any credit, I've still worked hard for you! Please spare me!"
Muzan picked her up, ignoring her pleas. He had never intended to let her live.
But before he could act, an arrow suddenly shot out of the dense woods. Jiyuki's strength had already grown considerably by then. He instantly rushed over and caught the arrow, scanning their surroundings warily.
Immediately afterward, several more arrows came flying from every direction.
Jiyuki couldn't stop so many arrows at once, and Muzan didn't want them hitting him and tearing his clothes. He tossed the ration in his hand aside and caught every incoming arrow in an instant.
But almost at the exact moment he released the little girl, a Nichirin Blade swept toward him in a horizontal slash.
Its target was his neck!
Muzan was incredibly fast. He stepped back and turned sideways, dodging the swinging blade.
At the same time, he finally saw a slash with its own special effects. Although Breathing Styles didn't exist yet, his opponent seemed to be a sufficiently powerful swordsman. Light reflected off the blade, and its slash left an afterimage that looked like a special effect.
Muzan seized the opening and grabbed the Nichirin Blade by its blade. Even its sharp edge failed to cut his skin.
He gave it a hard wrench, and his attacker nearly lost his balance. His body tipped forward, and he hurriedly released the Nichirin Blade to avoid falling.
But in the few seconds Muzan had been held up, someone had already rescued the little girl.
The Demon Slayer Corps member whose Nichirin Blade had been taken hurriedly backed away. Knowing he was nowhere near strong enough to fight this evil demon, he called for his teammates to take the rescued little girl and run.
Carried in someone's arms as they fled, the little girl finally breathed a sigh of relief.
I've finally escaped those two evil demons!
But before she could celebrate, a figure caught up with the fleeing Demon Slayer Corps in an instant and snatched her away.
Jiyuki held his boss's ration in his hand. To prevent any further mishaps, he ignored her pleading gaze, grabbed her neck without hesitation, and crushed it with one squeeze, killing her outright.
The members of the Demon Slayer Corps were instantly enraged. He had murdered someone so brazenly right in front of them!
That damned demon!
The Demon Slayer Corps members swung their swords at him together, their fury masking their grief as they roared and attacked.
But they were, at best, ordinary humans. Jiyuki's strength had reached at least the level of a Lower Rank demon, and he took them down with one kick apiece.
Because of Muzan's instructions, however, he held back, merely leaving them temporarily unable to fight.
Looking at the Demon Slayer Corps members scattered across the ground, roaring that they would kill him but powerless to do so, Muzan stood to one side and glanced at Jiyuki. "Let's go."
Jiyuki nodded and followed Muzan.
As soon as they were out of the Demon Slayer Corps's sight, Jiyuki saw one of Muzan's hands turn into a hideous monster, its enormous mouth filled with sharp teeth. It devoured the corpse in Jiyuki's hand in a single bite, its chewing sounds rather unnerving.
Muzan's hand returned to normal, and he looked at Jiyuki.
Jiyuki shuddered in fright. "M-my lord..."
"My lord, my ass. Just get moving."
According to Muzan's memories of the original story, Tamayo should have been the first of the major demons he had turned.
He wondered whether he would run into Tamayo.
After all, she was a highly skilled doctor and the best support in the original story. He ought to try to win her over if possible.
He would probably have to wait another hundred years for the likes of Yoriichi Tsugikuni, so he could take his time building up his strength.
I don't need to surpass the power ceiling. I just need to outlive him!
Who knows how long it'll take for Nakime to appear? Not having the Infinity Castle is such a pain!
Before you continue