The world has many colors

Gyomei clasped his hands together, silently raised his head, and tears slowly streamed down his blind eyes.

"I used to manage a small temple, and I was the only monk there."

"Because the temple is relatively small, there aren't many things to do, so I have a lot of time."

"Plus, my small temple is the only one nearby, so most things, like prayers and religious ceremonies, are done there, and I have a fairly good amount of offering money (for incense money)."

"So later I took in nine homeless orphans, and every day was ordinary, warm, and fulfilling! Until one day..."

"A child broke the temple's rules and ran off to play in the mountains, not returning until after sunset."

That night, on his way back, he encountered a ghost!

"To avoid being eaten by the ghost, he lured it into the temple, then extinguished the Wisteria burner I had lit to ward off the ghost, allowing it to successfully enter the temple!"

"How could this be?!" Mitsuri raised her hand to cover her mouth, her face filled with disbelief.

Hearing this, most of the others frowned, their faces filled with resentment, even Kanae, who had already met with Teiichi, wore the same expression.

Only Teiichi and Obanai remained expressionless.

Teiichi met him.

Obanai had experienced it all firsthand, and these things paled in comparison to what he had gone through.

Over there, Gyomei Himejima continued speaking.

The ghost that entered the house quickly killed four children.

"Because I'm blind and haven't learned how to fight, I could only stand there, barely blocking the way for the remaining four children, facing that evil spirit!"

"And because I was relatively tall, the evil spirits didn't dare to attack me casually; they could only stand in confrontation with me and then intimidate the child behind me."

"Despite my repeated insistence that they stay obediently behind me, three children were still terrified, couldn't believe me, ran away, and were then killed by the ghost!"

"I think they must have thought I was too thin and blind, so they didn't believe I could protect them!"

"In the end, only the youngest child did as I said."

"Finally, to protect the child, I rushed forward and fought the evil spirit."

"It wasn't until I went up and fought the evil spirit that I realized how powerful my punches were! So powerful that even I was afraid of them."

"That battle was also the first time I punched a living creature."

"That feeling, the feeling of smashing someone's body to pieces and seeing blood spurt out; that nauseating feeling, I'll never forget it!"

At this point, Gyomei's words became even more forceful, and the veins on his clasped hands bulged as he continued:

"Later, I seized an opportunity and smashed the demon's head open!"

"Then, taking advantage of the fact that the demon couldn't move before its head recovered, I kept punching the demon's head, kept punching the demon's head..."

"Until the sun rose, I fought with all my might to protect the last child who believed in me!"

"Can..."

Gyomei paused here, then continued, his voice trembling slightly:

"That child actually told people behind my back, 'I'm a monster, and I killed all those dead people!'"

"That child must have been frightened!" Kanae, her eyes lowered, sounding somewhat distressed.

Gyomei didn't reply immediately, but looked at Kanae and said:

"That's one of the reasons I didn't want you to join the Demon Slayer Corps in the first place! Because you're just too kind; you always try to see things from the other person's perspective."

Kanae lowered her head slightly, her dark hair falling down to obscure her thoughtful expression, and she did not respond.

Gyomei paused slightly, took a deep breath, and then said:

"And I know what you just mentioned! Suddenly seeing that kind of scene is really too hard for a child who is only a few years old to accept!"

"So I didn't blame her, but..."

"I hope she can at least say thank you to me, thank me for fighting to the death for her!"

At this point, Gyomei gave a wry smile.

"Unfortunately, I never saw her in the end! From that day on, I became disillusioned with people and with children!"

As the words faded, Gyomei Himejima seemed to be caught in an endless vortex of memories, and fell silent.

Sanemi Shinazugawa suddenly raised his hand and slammed it heavily on the table, angrily saying, "Damn it, people like that should be killed. What's the point of keeping them alive?"

"Are you talking about the child who extinguished the Wisteria incense burner to save his own life? Or the child who framed Himejima after being rescued?" Obanai glanced sideways at Sanemi Shinazugawa.

"Yes, they are! Sacrificing others' lives for their own, and then framing their rescuers after being saved—neither of these two types of people should live in this world!" Sanemi said angrily.

"Shouldn't we all be allowed to live in this world...?" Obanai slightly, muttering to herself, lost in thought.

Teiichi raised his teacup again, took a sip of the tea that had grown somewhat cold, then sighed and slowly said:

"This is reality!"

"Regardless of whether someone abandons the lives of others for their own!"

"Still a person who was somewhat frightened by facing the demon who had slaughtered several friends, and then watching with his own eyes as Himejima hammered that demon to death!"

"The choices they made were simply choices based on their own instincts!"

"This kind of choice isn't limited to children; many adults also make the same choice!"

"But don't they all have other choices?" Kyojuro said. "The child who brought the demon in for his own sake, couldn't he have just hidden inside? The child who was saved, couldn't he have just told the truth?"

"So, they were all completely terrified!" Teiichi sighed softly. "At that moment, their brains had forgotten how to think; they were just acting and saying things based on instinct!"

"Of course, understanding doesn't mean acceptance. In that situation, punishment should still be imposed!"

"Tsk, the thought of protecting someone like this makes me feel nauseous!!" Sanemi said disdainfully.

Kanae gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and said softly:

The world is full of colors, and this is just one of them!

"This world is still full of many beautiful things!"