Entertainment District or Demon District?

An invisible unease quietly spread through the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters.

The Sapphire Star had been missing for days since her encounter with Muzan and Akaza.

It began with Hikigusa's hesitation during her routine report:

"Master... Lady Sapphire Star... was nowhere to be seen today either."

Everyone assumed she had run off into some remote wilderness to work on her Breathing Style again.

One day, then two... By the time the three little ones could bare their teeth and grimace through rehabilitation sparring in the training grounds, there was still no word from the Sapphire Star, and every member of the Kakushi was mobilized.

"I'm counting on you. Search every possible area, over and over."

A rare gravity clouded Kagaya Ubuyashiki's brow.

With astonishing efficiency, Hikigusa combed every inch of land around headquarters, following the trail all the way to the valley ravaged by the Sapphire Star's power.

"Her scent... ends here." Hikigusa knelt on one knee, brushing her fingertips over the cold ground.

"Lady Sapphire Star, where on earth have you gone...?"

Japan's lights flowed beneath the night sky like an intoxicating river of stars.

The courtesans' seductive calls, the clamor of wealthy patrons, and the rumble of carriage wheels over stone streets composed the boisterous symphony of this sleepless district.

At the edge of that glittering splendor, a tall figure lurked on a dark rooftop, utterly out of place amid the surrounding luxury.

The Sapphire Star crouched there, clutching a cold rice ball and chewing without tasting it.

This rice ball tastes awful. It reminded her of the monotonous food she had once eaten in Yukumo Village.

Though that was probably even worse. All I had back then were drinks...

It had been days.

Ever since Akaza and "Doma" had made a fool of her.

She had been blundering around this unfamiliar world like a headless chicken.

Any leads on Akaza? Gone without a trace. She hadn't caught so much as a demon-scented fart since.

It was as though that night's encounter had merely been a hallucination born of her fury.

At last, she had picked up a faint, familiar scent in this place called the Entertainment District.

But what irritated her even more was the district's own "demonic presence."

The scent was scattered, impossible to pinpoint, and all the rouge and powder badly interfered with her sense of smell.

"Fuck! This stupid place!" The Sapphire Star viciously bit into her rice ball.

"Akaza, are you fucking hiding somewhere hatching eggs?!"

She raked her fingers through her hair in frustration. At this rate, she would either choke to death on the district's cosmetics or suffocate under this endless frustration.

She was even beginning to miss that hotheaded guy, Sanemi Shinazugawa-

At least fighting him meant a proper clash of blades, followed by some mutual trash talk. Though she would probably be the one getting roasted...

Every vicious demon she encountered, on the other hand, did nothing but run.

What, am I going to eat you or something?

How come you vicious demons charge straight at other swordsmen?

But when you run into me, your escape tricks just keep getting fancier?

The Sapphire Star deeply regretted not stuffing a couple of Paintballs down her pants.

She had been spoiled rotten by the New World's technology. If she had thrown a couple of Paintballs at these vicious demons on sight, like she used to as a rookie, how could she have ended up in such a sorry state?

Just as she was furiously ranting at thin air, wondering whether to commission some otherworld versions of Paintballs from a blacksmith's shop-

"Aaaah!!!"

A scream rang out, so piercing it distorted.

The Sapphire Star sprang from the rooftop with a whoosh, becoming a blurred gray streak as she raced over the buildings.

A few bounds later, she landed silently as a great bird on the edge of a slightly lower roof.

A terrified crowd had formed a semicircle, pointing and murmuring.

At its center, a woman in an extravagant kimono lay facedown and motionless, a small pool of dark red blood spreading beneath her.

"Did she jump?"

"It's the proprietress of the Kyogoku House!"

"What a tragedy..."

She was no longer breathing...

Having instinctively grabbed her healing Lifepowder, the Sapphire Star frowned deeply. She had arrived too late again and failed to save this life.

Jumped? No!

The woman's landing position was grotesquely unnatural, nothing like what a voluntary jump would have caused.

It was more as though... someone had violently tossed her down like garbage.

The Sapphire Star leaned closer and caught an extremely faint but familiar lingering scent beneath the heavy odors of blood and dust.

"Motherfucker. I knew it!"

She swept the Ghillie Mantle over herself and slipped silently into the room.

It was empty. Only a pungent demonic presence and the lingering smell of blood testified to what had happened moments earlier.

The Sapphire Star: ???

Was I really that slow? Is this demon cosplaying Batman or something? One turn of the head and it's gone?

All she could do was release a Scoutfly or two to search the room for traces.

Buzz! The Scoutflies darted without hesitation toward a concealed compartment built into the corner wall. Inside was a narrow passage.

The Sapphire Star moved the compartment aside and stared at the passage, her expression darkening.

"Fuck! And I mean the plant! Can anyone actually squeeze into this? Does Muzan not feed them?"

She measured it with her hand. Forget crawling through-she could barely fit her head inside.

No wonder she called those vicious demons slippery loaches. The Sapphire Star marveled at how her comparisons kept getting more accurate.

That was the confidence wielding a Long Sword had given her.

But the question now was how to follow the demon through this passage.

Break it open? That would make too much noise and inevitably alert her quarry.

"Scoutflies, it's up to you!" Several of the nimblest Scoutflies zipped into the narrow gap.

The Sapphire Star immediately climbed out the window and vanished into the rooftop shadows again, releasing several fresh Scoutflies to sense what was happening inside the passage.

The signal was moving! The Scoutflies swiftly threaded through the Entertainment District's labyrinth of wall cavities and ventilation ducts, heading down, down...

At last, the signal steadied, stopping in an open space.

The Scoutflies kept circling, but they gave off no intense red signal.

The Sapphire Star froze. After a long while, she smacked her forehead in regret.

Shit. Followed the wrong trail. The demon isn't home.

The Sapphire Star flopped onto the rooftop.

Life was hard. The hunter sighed.

I give up!

A little earlier, in the bedchamber on the Kyogoku House's top floor.

Daki flicked her hand in disgust, as though something filthy had gotten on it.

That stupid proprietress had practically been begging to die!

Listening to the faint screams and commotion below, she wore a cruelly satisfied expression on her exquisite face.

"Stupid old woman... Hmm?" she muttered, about to turn and deal with the traces left in the room.

An invisible tide swept across the entire Entertainment District in an instant.

Daki's slender body jolted, and her golden eyes blazed with frenzied delight!

"It's Lord Muzan! Yay!"

She cried out softly, her lingering displeasure instantly replaced by unparalleled excitement.

Lord Muzan has come to the Entertainment District himself?! What an honor!

Whoosh!

Her slender figure became a pink streak too swift for the naked eye, racing toward the source of his presence.

On a small hillside outside the Entertainment District.

Muzan let out a deep breath. He had returned to his adult male form, but the dark circles under his eyes were worse than ever.

Anyone who didn't know better might have thought he was a panda that had taken human form and come to the Pleasure Country looking for a female panda.

The mental torment of the past few days outweighed that of the last hundred years combined.

Every time he tried to close his eyes for a nap, Yoriichi Tsugikuni and the Sapphire Star appeared in his dreams, cackling as they sliced at his backside with their swords...

The Sapphire Star was especially outrageous. She even strung him up and zapped him mercilessly with a Shock Trap, opening a window mid-shock to let sunlight fall on him.

Open, shut. Open, shut...

And why was Tanjiro Kamado there too?! He kept asking, "What's 1,000 minus seven? What's 1,000 minus seven?!"

How Muzan wished Enmu were still alive.

If he were, at least he could give Muzan a more restful nightmare.

Who said the Lower Ranks were all useless? He would've been so useful now! Too bad he's already ashes...

He had considered hiding until that walking calamity died of old age.

But... no!

The Blue Spider Lily!

I've seen references to it in books twice now. Some human scholar must have discovered its existence!

If that bastard Sapphire Star hadn't ruined things twice...

I'd already be basking in sunlight, lifting my loincloth, and becoming the ultimate lifeform!

Wait, why would I lift my loincloth...? I must be so exhausted lately that I'm getting confused.

Muzan shook his head.

"Lord Muzan!"

A sweet cry filled with adoration and ecstatic joy came from behind him.

Muzan slowly turned, the irritation on his face instantly becoming a gentle, indulgent smile.

"Daki," he said in a deep, melodious voice, his vocal fry rich enough to drown ten Tanjiros.

"You're always the first to sense me. Of all the Twelve Kizuki, you understand me best." Muzan lifted Daki's chin.

"Lord Muzan!" Daki's heart beat faster, and overwhelming happiness nearly engulfed her.

Receiving such praise from Lord Muzan was the highest purpose of her existence!

"Y-you... why have you come in person?" Her voice trembled with flattered surprise.

Muzan chuckled. "I came especially to see you, Daki."

His words were honeyed, yet cold and utterly insincere. Lost in her immense joy, Daki noticed nothing.

"And I have an important task for you~" Muzan stroked Daki's cheek as he spoke.

Daki immediately straightened, her expression intensely focused. "Please give me your orders! I will carry them out without fail!"

"Have your customers..." Muzan pointed elegantly toward the lights below the hill.

"Find books and illustrated volumes about the 'Blue Spider Lily' for me, even records containing only a few words! I want records in any form!"

"Records of it must already be scattered throughout the world. There might even be some in a corner of this Entertainment District. Daki, you're the Upper Rank who gives me the least cause for concern. There's no one I'd trust more with this, is there?"

Least cause for concern. No one he'd trust more. Those words were like the strongest wine, leaving Daki instantly intoxicated.

"Yes! Lord Muzan! Please rest assured! I will put every customer to work! I'll dig three feet into the ground if that's what it takes to find your clues!" she promised excitedly.

"Very good." Muzan nodded in satisfaction, still wearing that mask of gentleness. "Go."

"Yes!"

Daki became a streak of light again, hurrying back to the Kyogoku House to carry out her most important task.

Watching her disappear, Muzan's smile vanished instantly, leaving only cold exhaustion and lingering irritation.

Came especially to see you?

Ha! I'm only using the Entertainment District network she controls to pursue that faint hope.

Muzan drew a deep breath of air chilled by the night's dew.

I'm still alive. That's what matters most.

He had a feeling he would soon conquer sunlight.

Then the Sapphire Star, Yoriichi, and anyone like them will be nothing but playthings beneath my feet. Heh heh heh.

At that thought, even the Demon King couldn't help humming softly.

Muzan set off, slowly descending the hillside and blending into the bizarre, dazzling crowds at the edge of the Entertainment District.

For now, I'll relax properly in this place of wine and glittering lights, and see if there's any delicious food while I'm at it...