"Uncle, why are you so nice to me?"
The girl's young voice made Su Mu pause.
He had only offered to bring her some food. Seeing a little girl reduced to skin and bones, forced to scavenge through garbage to fill her stomach, had simply stirred his pity. Did that really count as being so very nice to her?
"It's just some food."
Su Mu answered casually. To him, it was something he could get with hardly any effort.
The girl raised her head and looked at him in confusion. Food really was precious. When her stomach was empty, the hunger was terribly hard to bear.
Su Mu looked at the little girl, too.
Her clothes were ragged, and her cheeks were pale from malnutrition, even slightly sunken. Yet none of that could hide the spark of life within her.
At that moment, she was looking up at him with bright eyes.
As he met her bright gaze, for an instant, he felt as though he could see her past. Faint images seemed to surface in his mind.
An impoverished home.
Parents who beat and berated her at the slightest provocation.
Never enough food, never enough warmth...
This was everything the little girl was suffering through. What was merely a bit of food to him was something immensely precious to her.
"Wait here for a little while."
He spoke gently to the girl.
She tilted her head and looked at him in confusion.
Su Mu said nothing more. With a light push of his foot, he sprang onto the eaves like a bird. In a few swift movements, he disappeared from her sight.
Before long, Su Mu returned. The girl had done as he said and was still waiting in the same spot.
"Here."
Su Mu held out a chicken drumstick.
The girl froze for a moment. The aroma rising from it made her swallow involuntarily.
"Is that for me?"
She seemed unable to believe it.
"Yes."
Su Mu nodded, then placed the drumstick in her hand.
Only when she felt its warmth in her hand and smelled its fragrance did the girl believe that he really meant to give it to her.
The warmth against her palm made her feel as though she were dreaming. In all her life, she had never eaten a chicken drumstick.
"Go on, eat."
Su Mu spoke softly.
"Okay."
The girl lifted the drumstick, stuck out her tongue, and gently licked it, like a kitten lapping water.
Su Mu reached out and gently rubbed her head. Malnutrition had left her hair dry and yellowish, and a lack of care had made it a tangled mess. "Come here every night from now on, and I'll bring you something good to eat."
The girl raised her head and looked at him with pinkish-purple eyes.
The drumstick seemed so precious to her that she could barely bring herself to eat it. Only with Su Mu watching over her did she finish it. Once she was done, he sent her home.
Under the dark night sky, the little girl walked back. Compared with when she had arrived, she seemed much more at ease, with a little more of the liveliness a girl her age should have.
Su Mu stood in the moonlight and watched until she disappeared from view. Only then did he raise his head to look at the full moon overhead. His hand drifted to his abdomen. A powerful hunger gripped his body, and his stomach seemed to churn with acid, urging him to hurry and find something to fill it.
But his food was entirely different from the girl's. If hers was rice balls and chicken drumsticks, then his was the girl herself-or, rather, those who had once been his own kind.
For Su Mu, who had once been human, this was clearly unacceptable. Even after becoming a demon, how could he feed on those who had once been his own kind?
But that was how demons were. Their craving for human flesh and blood was extraordinary. If they went too long without consuming it to ease that craving, it would build over time, and the instinctive desire would only grow fiercer.
Feeling an even deeper craving for flesh and blood than he had yesterday, Su Mu's expression grew grim. He did not even know how much longer he could hold out.
But no matter what, he would never cross the line he had held to as a human.
"Phew..."
He drew a deep breath and suppressed his craving for flesh and blood, then turned his attention inward.
There, in his mind, was something resembling a character panel from a game.
As he focused on it, the words appeared clearly in his mind.
Name: Su Mu Race: Demon Lifespan: Unlimited Abilities: Immortal body (false), enhanced healing, robust physique Weaknesses: Sunlight, wisteria, Nichirin Blades Status: Hungry, cursed (by Kibutsuji Muzan) Blood Demon Art: None Constitution: 3.1 (a normal adult's constitution is 1.) Agility: 3.2 (a normal adult's agility is 1.) Strength: 3.1 (a normal adult's strength is 1.) Spirit: 1.2 (a normal adult's spirit is 1.)
The information in his mind was simple and clear, allowing him to understand his condition in detail.
As a demon, his constitution, agility, and strength were all more than three times those of a normal human.
An ordinary human could improve their stamina, agility, and strength through rigorous training, but reaching more than three times the normal level was almost impossible.
Generally speaking, anyone who could reach three times their normal capabilities had already broken through their own limits and surpassed the restrictions of the human body.
As a demon, he was already a powerful being who had surpassed the limits of the human body in every respect except spirit. Ordinary humans could offer almost no resistance against demons. Thus, demons no longer regarded the humans they had once been as their own kind, but as food.
Of course, the difference in their individual strength was not the only reason demons ate humans. More than anything, it came from their instinctive need for human flesh and blood. Human flesh and blood could also help their bodies evolve, making them even stronger.
Becoming a demon not only granted greater strength, but also made one virtually immortal in terms of lifespan.
And immortality was something people in this world yearned for above almost anything else.
Perhaps the only drawbacks were the fear of sunlight, the need to remain forever hidden in darkness, and
The inability to control a demon's instincts.
For Su Mu, the most unbearable part was that uncontrollable demonic instinct, that irrepressible craving to devour flesh and blood. If he continued to refuse it, the craving and his ever-deepening hunger would surge through him like a tide.
Perhaps he only needed to relax his principles a little, and he would no longer have to endure this torment.
But to Su Mu, abandoning that line would mean losing his own nature entirely.
When that happened... would he still be himself?