Doma joins the ranks

One year later-

Infinity Castle.

Like Fan Jin after passing the imperial examination, Jingyue Qianyu waved his test paper overhead, running around like a madman and yelling:

"I'm free! I passed! Hahahahaha!"

Muzan planted a hand on the head of the "Fan Jin" who darted past him.

"Calm down."

Chiyu flailed a few times, but could not break free. He stopped, deflated, and turned his head to look at Muzan, then gave a sheepish chuckle.

"Boss, could you let go first?"

Thump!

Chiyu fell straight to the floor. He scrambled back up and said solemnly:

"Boss, I want to join the Twelve Kizuki, too."

Muzan could read demons' minds. How could he not know what Chiyu was thinking?

He just wanted to have some fun, didn't he?

He wanted in on everything. He was purely in it for the amusement.

To be honest, Chiyu's Blood Demon Art was not combat-oriented, and his strength still fell short of what the Twelve Kizuki required.

As support, though, he was quite powerful. It took a long time to get going, but it could make a huge difference.

Muzan thought for a moment, then said, "Forget the Twelve Kizuki. I could give you a spot among the Star Strings, though."

Chiyu had only brought it up offhandedly and had not expected Lord Muzan to take him seriously. This came as a pleasant surprise. "Yay! Thanks, boss!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he frantically signaled Nakime with his eyes. Get him out of here, quick!

He was terrified Muzan would change his mind.

Nakime glanced at her boss and gently plucked a string on her biwa. With a soft note, Chiyu was sent away.

"Doc... Lord Muzan, why do you insist that we learn to read?"

Although Akaza had made it through the hardest part of learning to read, Muzan still required them to keep studying.

Weren't they demons?

Ferocious, fearsome, immensely powerful demons!

Naturally, Muzan could not be bothered to explain.

"Because I feel like it."

Akaza: "..."

Fine. You're the boss. Whatever you say.

"Oh, right. Since you have nothing to do for now anyway, go help Maruoka Masahito. He's run into a bit of trouble."

Maruoka Masahito and the others were already very old. To conceal their identities as demons, they disguised themselves to look progressively older as time passed.

But holding high positions for so long inevitably displeased some people. And as things developed, a few fools who did not know their place had become something of an obstacle.

Sending Akaza over to cooperate with them would also help Maruoka Masahito and the others make the transition to new identities.

Over the past year, Akaza had heard about Maruoka Masahito and Maruoka Yoshiko, but he was just a fighter. How was he supposed to help them?

Still, he could not disobey Muzan's orders. Looking bewildered, he asked, "Lord Muzan... what do you need me to do?"

Muzan waved a hand. "I don't know either. Ask Maruoka Masahito when you get there."

With that, Nakime understood Muzan's intent. A string rang out, and Akaza was forcibly sent away, straight to somewhere near Maruoka Masahito.

He suddenly found himself in unfamiliar surroundings. Gentle sunlight fell across the street, a few pedestrians hurried past, and a magnificent building loomed before him.

Akaza looked up at the enormous building and silently swallowed.

The front door opened, and a young woman ran out. After looking around, she spotted Akaza and brightened, hurrying over to him.

"Are you Lord Akaza?"

"Yes."

Akaza answered instinctively, then realized something. Had Lord Muzan already made the arrangements?

The woman wore a professional smile. "Lord Maruoka would like to see you. Please follow me."

He followed her into the building, where she opened the door to a room.

An elderly man sat inside. He smiled when he saw Akaza.

Once the woman had left, the room was sealed against all light. The old man rose to lock the door. "Please, have a seat."

After Akaza sat down, he said, "You're the Akaza Lord Muzan mentioned, correct?"

"That's right."

Akaza had already sensed the demonic "presence" of the man before him. It was something quite mysterious. Humans might not be able to distinguish it, but fellow demons could sense it clearly.

Of course, that might also be Muzan's doing.

Another ten years flew by. Muzan kept feeling that the older he became, the faster time passed.

It really felt as though a decade vanished in the blink of an eye.

But he was immortal anyway, so it did not matter.

It was now 1670.

What made Muzan notice the passage of time was the appearance of another character from the original story-Doma.

He had never planned to turn Doma, that emotionless creature who lived purely for amusement, into a demon as he had in the original story.

But perhaps through the influence of the "power of the plot," Chiyu had met someone who enjoyed amusement as much as he did and immediately found a kindred spirit. It was like Boya meeting Ziqi.

Doma was much the same. Faced with an invitation from his fellow amusement-seeker Chiyu, he naturally felt no fear of demons, since he had no emotions.

In the original story, he had inexplicably volunteered to become a demon and asked Muzan to transform him. Now that he had been invited, he naturally accepted with pleasure.

One was willing to offer, and the other was willing to accept.

Like an adulterer meeting a loose woman, they hit it off at once!

And so Muzan, who had paid little attention to his subordinates, suddenly noticed that there was one more demon...

He took a closer look. Well, well-Doma!

Thinking back to his memories from before his transmigration, centuries ago, Muzan sorted through Doma's "achievements" in the original story.

Kanae: dead.

Shinobu Kocho: dead.

The boar's mom: dead.

A true master at making people hate him!

And so Doma and Chiyu were suddenly transported to Infinity Castle.

Chiyu: "?"

Upon seeing the famous Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, Doma offered an obviously fake smile. "Lord Muzan."

Chiyu looked around and found Lord Muzan standing on a railing. Bewildered, he asked, "Lord Muzan, what is it?"

Apart from Nakime and Muzan, the two of them seemed to be the only ones in Infinity Castle. Why had the boss summoned them?

Muzan jumped down from the railing and landed in front of Chiyu and the curious-looking Doma.

"Can he read?"

Chiyu: "!!!"

How would Doma know how to read? Ever since childhood, he had been hailed as someone who could communicate with the gods and had spent his days listening to people's complaints in the Eternal Paradise Cult.

Chiyu already knew what Muzan would say next. His face turned ashen as he listened to Muzan pronounce his "sentence":

"Teach him to read. You can leave Infinity Castle once he's learned all the characters. Explain the rules to him, too. Don't make me clean house."

Watching his boss leave, Chiyu looked ready to cry. Thoroughly deflated, he slapped Doma, who stood beside him wearing that fake smile. "We're screwed. Whether we get our freedom depends on you."

Doma looked puzzled. "Why does Lord Muzan require us to 'learn to read'?"

"Because he feels like it." Chiyu pursed his lips unhappily. "I told you, the boss is definitely nothing like you imagined."

Muzan paid the two of them no further attention.

As for Doma, Muzan did not know whether his personality was so twisted simply because he had no emotions, or because of his experiences.

After all, lacking emotions did not mean lacking intelligence. The influence of memories would not disappear along with emotion. At most, it would grow weaker.

But Doma was already fourteen or fifteen now. He had already listened to the "followers" pour out their troubles and watched his parents die.

Without realizing it, he had already placed himself in an illusory position above others. His notion of "salvation" had begun to take shape.

But it was only a beginning.

Having yet to indulge in devouring people at will, Doma was not as irredeemable as he had been in the original story.