"Quite the opposite," Tetsu no Sosuke said. "I have plenty of friends."
Kibutsuji Muzan nodded. "Who are they? Why not tell me, so you won't be lonely in the future?"
Tetsu no Sosuke fell silent.
The future?
He still hadn't given up? He still wanted to turn me into a demon?
Perhaps he was so fixated on it because of Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
Tetsu no Sosuke did not know exactly what that old fear meant to Kibutsuji Muzan.
But turning the heir to the Breath of the Sun into a demon under his command would clearly be the sweetest revenge.
So Tetsu no Sosuke smiled again. "At least I can still choose to die."
"In front of me, you have no choice."
Kibutsuji Muzan did not raise his voice or strike a pose. He spoke as calmly as though he were stating the most ordinary fact in the world.
Then he added, "Answer one question, and I'll give you a chance."
"Speak plainly!"
Tetsu no Sosuke did not believe that treating Kibutsuji Muzan politely would make the demon kill himself on the spot, so he saw no reason to be gentle.
"Tell me where Tamayo is. I'll let her live."
Kibutsuji Muzan pointed at Shinobu Kocho.
After hearing all this, Shinobu Kocho would have been a fool not to understand what was happening.
Unlike Tetsu no Sosuke, Shinobu Kocho felt more than fear when she faced Kibutsuji Muzan. She felt a hatred etched into her bones.
Her family, her entire life—everything had changed because of the figure before her.
She and her older sister tasted the bitter fruit of that grief and pain every waking moment.
How many times had she wept into her pillow when she was still too weak to bear it? And who could she have told?
But