As if in direct response to Alex's thoughts, the system suddenly chimed.
[Ding! Negative emotions detected from Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji. Obtained 1,000 Emotion Points!]
Alex blinked.
Then the corners of his mouth slowly lifted.
He had expected there was a good chance Muzan was still paying attention to the aftermath of that fight, but even so, getting scared badly enough to keep feeding him Emotion Points from afar was still deeply satisfying.
Honestly, the irony was beautiful.
Those demons probably could not imagine it even in their wildest nightmares—their great and terrifying Demon King was currently the biggest sponsor of his own enemy.
Outside, Tanjiro waited until the strengthening sensation fully settled in his body before bending down and picking up the folding blood-collection knife.
He placed it carefully back into the little backpack strapped to the calico cat's back, then smiled warmly.
"I'll leave the delivery to you. Please take care on the road."
The cat licked its paw with perfect feline indifference, let out a soft meow, then turned and sauntered off with leisurely grace.
After only a few steps, its figure gradually vanished from sight.
Tanjiro stared at the spot where it had disappeared and murmured to himself, "So this is Mr. Yushiro's Blood Demon Art..."
Then he came back to himself.
The forest path ahead was pitch-black, and after everything that had happened tonight, continuing onward was no longer the sensible choice. So Tanjiro found a relatively sheltered spot in the wilderness and decided to stop there for the night.
Nezuko climbed out of the wooden box.
Brother and sister spent the night huddled together beneath the open sky.
Before dawn the next morning, Tanjiro rose again, settled Nezuko into the box, lifted it onto his back, and resumed the journey.
By noon, he finally spotted a village.
As he followed the narrow road leading into it, a noisy scene unfolded ahead.
A yellow-haired boy was clutching a young woman around the waist and crying miserably, tears and snot streaming down his face as he wailed at the top of his lungs.
"Please! I'm begging you! Marry me!"
The girl was shoving at him with both hands, horrified and furious.
"Would you just let go of me?!"
But no matter how hard she pushed, she could not shake him off.
Tanjiro was just about to step in when something small and frantic came flapping toward him.
A sparrow landed directly on his hand and began chirping furiously, as though it had finally found someone willing to hear its grievances.
Tanjiro looked down at it seriously.
Then, with the gravity of a man accepting an important mission, he said, "Leave it to me."
He strode forward, grabbed the yellow-haired youth by the collar, and hauled him away from the girl in one clean motion.
"What are you doing?" Tanjiro demanded. "And stop causing trouble for this poor sparrow!"
The yellow-haired boy turned, ready to protest, but the moment he saw the uniform and sword, his expression changed.
He stared.
Then his eyes widened.
"Eh?! You're that guy!"
He pointed at Tanjiro as though he had seen a legend in the flesh.
"You're the one from the Final Selection! The one who killed every demon on Mount Fujikasane!"
His whole face lit up with sudden, desperate hope.
"We've met before! I'm Zenitsu Agatsuma! You're going to kill demons too, right? Take me with you! Please!"
The way his eyes shone made his intentions painfully obvious.
If he could latch onto someone terrifyingly strong, then maybe—just maybe—he would survive.
Tanjiro blinked, then stared at the tear-smeared, snot-covered face in front of him and finally matched it to the soot-streaked figure he vaguely remembered from Mount Fujikasane.
"So it was you..."
Zenitsu saw that Tanjiro had recognized him and instantly tried to push his advantage.
Unfortunately for him, Tanjiro rejected him with complete sincerity and zero hesitation.
"I can't do that," Tanjiro said. "The demons you and I are supposed to deal with may not even be the same. If I leave the demon I'm tracking alone, more people could suffer."
Zenitsu froze.
Then he erupted.
"No! Absolutely not!" he cried, practically on the verge of collapse. "I haven't even gotten married yet! I don't want to die this young!"
Even Tanjiro, whose patience with people bordered on saintly, could not stop his expression from turning a little strange.
Still, he did not argue with him further. Instead, he turned to the girl and offered her a reassuring smile.
"It's all right now. You can head home."
The girl let out a visible breath of relief.
"Thank you so much," she said. "I saw him crouching by the roadside earlier and thought something had happened to him, so I went over to ask. I didn't expect him to turn out to be some kind of creep. I'm really lucky you were here."
With that, she ran off without looking back, clearly afraid Zenitsu might somehow latch onto her again if she stayed a second longer.
Behind them, Zenitsu stretched out a hand toward her retreating back, looking as though his soul had just left his body.
"Eh? How can this happen...?" he muttered in despair. "She clearly liked me..."
Tanjiro stepped neatly into his path before he could do anything stupid.
"Don't harass her."
Zenitsu whipped around and protested at once.
"How is that harassment? I obviously had a chance just now! You ruined it!"
Then, without even pausing for breath, he added shamelessly, "You have to compensate me! I could die at any time on a mission, so from now on you need to protect me until I get married!"
Tanjiro stared at him.
Even he was beginning to feel a little overwhelmed.
"But Zenitsu," he said as patiently as he could, "if you're that afraid of dying, why did you become a swordsman in the first place?"
Then, after a brief pause, he added with total honesty, "And you're incredibly thick-skinned."
"That was way too harsh!"
Zenitsu clutched his chest as though he had been mortally wounded, then launched into a tearful explanation of his life.
The short version was this:
He had wanted to find a wife.
He had been tricked.
He had been saddled with a mountain of debt.
Then a trainer had taken pity on him, rescued him, and somehow turned that rescue into forcing him onto the path of a Demon Slayer.
After a brief exchange, the two eventually discovered that they were both headed in the same direction.
That was enough for Tanjiro.
He reluctantly allowed Zenitsu to tag along.
The two passed through the village and continued along the road together.
As they walked, Tanjiro still felt obligated to warn him.
"Zenitsu, are you really sure you want to come with me?" he asked. "It's going to be dangerous."
After all, Tanjiro knew very well now that he had been personally marked by Muzan. If possible, he did not want to drag anyone else into that danger.
But Zenitsu suddenly straightened and answered with unexpected conviction.
"You're strong," he declared. "So I'm sticking with you."
Inside the blade, Alex watched the whole exchange with growing amusement.
Looking at this walking disaster named Zenitsu Agatsuma, a certain mischievous idea slowly rose in his mind.
What kind of face would this guy make if he ever saw Alex's manifested body?
Better yet—what if he told Zenitsu he was actually a man?
Just imagining the expression was already entertaining.
Alex glanced at his current body, temporarily formed through Demon Power, and could sum it up in one word.
Perfect.
Then his thoughts shifted to the destination ahead.
If memory served, the demon waiting for them this time should be the former Lower Rank Six, Kyogai.
Alex wondered how much Demon Power that one would be worth.
As for the other two demons connected to that place—
Only now did he suddenly realize that Tanjiro had already chopped them down the previous night.
...
The pair continued along the road.
Eventually the path wound into the mountains, and the road became a narrow trail beneath heavy trees.
Tanjiro's nose twitched.
The scent of a demon was growing stronger.
Stronger and stronger.
It was very close now.
Behind him, Zenitsu trudged along with his arms hanging limp, looking one step away from dropping dead on the spot.
"Tanjiro..." he groaned, nearly in tears, "I'm really, really about to collapse. Can't we rest for a bit?"
Tanjiro kept moving, his expression serious.
"No. The demon's scent is getting stronger. We're already very close."
Not only did he refuse to slow down, he actually picked up the pace.
Before long, the trees opened into a clearing.
And there, standing alone beneath the mountain sky, was a mansion.
.....
[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]
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