“How could you…” Tamayo stared at Hajime, her face pale with shock.
The Demon Slayer should have been trapped by her technique.
How could he have tracked them here?
Her logic was sound.
When she activated the art, Hajime had indeed fallen under its hallucinatory effects.
The illusion simply faded shortly after she fled, and he snapped out of it.
Tamayo knew this.
She had believed that with their infinite stamina as demon, they could easily cover enough distance before he could ever catch up.
The reasoning was flawless, but she had vastly underestimated his strength.
Having learned Total Concentration: Constant, Hajime’s combat power was remarkably close to that of a Hashira.
This placed his physical speed far above demons like them.
After breaking the illusion, he tracked their lingering scent and effortlessly followed their exact path.
“As long as I am alive, I will absolutely never let you harm Lady Tamayo!”
Without thinking, Yushiro pulled Tamayo behind him, glaring at the swordsman with open hostility.
Hajime’s next words caught them entirely off guard.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you.”
This froze them both in surprise.
Yushiro had already resolved to give his life, and Tamayo had assumed her death was an absolute certainty.
The two demons stared blankly at him.
Their minds simply could not process the statement.
Hajime studied Yushiro, who looked like a young boy, before turning his gaze to Tamayo, whom Yushiro was fiercely protecting.
Tamayo looked elegant and gentle, the very epitome of a traditional Yamato Nadeshiko.
However, though she appeared to be in her thirties, her true age was ancient and unfathomable.
They were demons after all.
Hajime knew from his memories that these two were inherently good-natured, but he had still needed to test them.
Memories could be wrong, and this reality’s storyline could have shifted.
The Butterfly Effect was a very real threat.
Or he could’ve been thrown into AU.
Since crossing into this world, he could no longer blindly trust the plot.
He had to observe and judge every variable with his own eyes.
What he just witnessed confirmed his hopes.
Even facing an Demon Slayer intent on killing them, Tamayo and Yushiro completely refused to fight back.
They only tried to flee.
Their pacifist reactions matched their established characterizations perfectly.
Hajime gave Tamayo a respectful bow.
“Tamayo, I apologize for my earlier offense.
I frightened you both, and I ask your forgiveness.”
It was daytime inside the sealed Japanese mansion, but no sunlight penetrated the interior.
For demons, exposure to the sun meant certain death.
On their very first day moving in, Yushiro had nailed heavy wooden boards over every single window.
Hajime, Tamayo, and Yushiro sat across from each other on the tatami mats.
Floor lanterns occupied the room’s four corners, casting a warm glow.
Despite sharing the quiet room, Tamayo and Yushiro kept their guard up, watching the boy carefully.
If Tamayo merely distrusted him, Yushiro showed absolutely no effort to hide his outright hostility.
Sensing their dense apprehension, Hajime offered a reassuring smile.
“Let me introduce myself properly.
I am a Mizunoto-ranked swordsman of the Demon Slayer Corps.
Tenth rank.
My name is Hajime Hiroda.”
“Mizunoto?” Tamayo and Yushiro exchanged bewildered glances.
Tamayo had interacted with the Demon Slayer Corps centuries ago and understood how their hierarchy functioned.
The Ubuyashiki family led the Corps across generations.
The Hashira were the highest-ranking executives, while Mizunoto held the lowest tier.
Given the terrifying speed and pressure Hajime had displayed in the alleyway, Tamayo expected him to be at least a top-three swordsman, if not a commanding Hashira.
They never expected to be hopelessly cornered by a simple recruit.
“I am Tamayo, and he is Yushiro.” Tamayo paused, a tinge of deep sorrow bleeding into her voice.
“As you can see, we are not human.
We are demons.
However, unlike the others, we can survive without eating people.
We only require a small amount of human blood to sustain ourselves.”
Hajime nodded calmly.
“I hold no blind prejudice against demons.
As long as you maintain your habit of not eating people, I will not attack you.”
“If that is the case, then that is a great relief.
Thank you very much.”
Tamayo bowed from the heart.
She was deeply grateful to the boy who had exerted such immense lethal pressure, yet still offered to spare them.
“Lady Tamayo…”
Yushiro’s displeasure was glaring.
He understood their immortal lives rested entirely in this boy’s hands.
If he acted recklessly and provoked a fight, his own death meant nothing, but dragging Tamayo down with him would be unforgivable.
Despite his bitter resentment, Yushiro bit his lip and held his tongue.
Hajime gave a satisfied nod.
Confirming their pacifist nature meant there was no need to execute them.
Demons were once human.
Upon transforming, they violently lost their memories.
The thick, biological urging of demonic blood usually made suppressing the craving for human flesh completely impossible.
Tamayo and Yushiro, however, had successfully broken free of Muzan’s absolute telepathic control.
They forcefully restrained themselves.
Though biologically monsters, they lived their quiet lives much like ordinary humans.
Beyond their morality, their immense strategic value came to mind.
Tamayo’s worth was incalculable.
She had been a skilled doctor before she was turned.
Over the hundreds of years since Muzan infected her, she had accumulated unparalleled medical knowledge.
In canon, the cure formulated for the final decisive battle was her brilliant creation.
Yushiro’s Blood Demon Art was equally vital.
It rendered people or entire buildings completely invisible to the naked eye and allowed multiple targets to share synchronized vision.
How pitiful.
Muzan possessed absolute cellular control over his subordinates.
In a thousand years, only these two sitting before him had ever broken his curse.
Even Tamayo had yet to develop a reliable drug to sever that biological link.
If she had, Hajime would have genuinely considered capturing and reforming every demon he encountered.
Every reformed demon could be released to safely win over their infected friends and family.
It would spark a cascading rebellion within Muzan’s own ranks.
By the time the Twelve Kizuki held their next elite meeting, one of the Upper Moons might very well casually mention, “I suspect there is a traitor loyal to Muzan among us.”
With the threat of violence officially removed, the suffocating atmosphere in the room finally eased.
Tamayo visibly relaxed, even politely offering to prepare a meal for their guest.
“There is no need for food, but Tamayo, I do need your help with something.”
Hajime stopped her before she could rise, his tone dropping into total earnestness.
“If you wish to refuse, I will understand.
But our desire to defeat Muzan is exactly the same, so I hope you will grant my request.”
At the mere mention of Muzan’s name, Tamayo’s calm composure instantly shattered.
Without a second of hesitation, she leaned forward.
“What do you want me to do?”
Hajime did not answer immediately.
He silently summoned the his system panel.
System data cascaded like a digital waterfall, flooding his vision.
He skipped straight to the bottom of the combat skills section:
[???
(1%)]
This unknown skill had not existed yesterday at the hot spring hotel.
It had mysteriously appeared in his logs only after Tamayo used her hallucinatory blood art on him in the alleyway.
The favor he required was incredibly simple.
He needed Tamayo to continuously cast her illusions on him over the next few days, letting the system naturally solidify the data into a usable skill.
Flowers.
All sorts of vibrant blooms, both familiar and completely unknown.
As far as the eye could see, a vivid ocean of petals stretched endlessly before him.
Eventually, the intense visual hallucination dissolved.
The courtyard, the painted cherry blossom tree, and the traditional mansion rapidly reappeared in his field of vision.
Hajime pulled up panel again.
The proficiency of the unknown skill had jumped from 1% to 20%.
A few more grueling days of this, and the ability would fully materialize.
He did not know what the skill would actually be, but gaining a new combat tool was always a welcome advantage.
Beside him, Tamayo noticed his highly satisfied smile.
“Hajime, did the exposure help you?”
Hajime nodded firmly.
“It helped a great deal.”
A gentle, relieved smile touched Tamayo’s lips.
“That is wonderful to hear.”
Yushiro suddenly marched over, he glared daggers at Hajime before gently leading Tamayo a short distance down the hall.
Hajime caught his territorial look and deliberately turned his back to give them privacy.
Yushiro whispered something frantically into Tamayo’s ear.
By the time she returned to the room, her face was deathly pale.
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