Upper Rank 3 Akaza, who had been running blindly through the bamboo forest as if fleeing from the mistake he almost made, came to his senses and found himself at Infinity Castle.
Standing before him was the leader of the demons, Kibutsuji Muzan. The moment he saw those red plum blossom eyes, the red eyes of the black fox flashed in his mind.
He had failed to carry out the order to kill the black fox. No, but that black fox clearly had white hair and red eyes. Could it be that he was someone who shouldn't be killed? But Lord Muzan had definitely ordered him to be killed.
"Akaza."
The swirling thoughts in his mind stopped at that one word. Akaza, whose name had been called by the overwhelming powerful being, reflexively knelt.
What would fly at his bowed head—reproach and insults, or direct violence? But whatever it was, Akaza was prepared to accept it, yet what brushed his ears was an unbelievable statement.
"Well done."
Knowing it was rude, he inadvertently raised his head. Looking up at his lord's face without permission, Akaza forgot to breathe even more.
The expression that always showed displeasure or coldness was now filled with genuine joy from the heart.
"Well found. You managed not to kill him. Ah, Akaza… you truly did well."
His white cheeks flushed red. He was immersed in emotion like a girl who had found her destiny.
"It's infuriating that he was injured, but that much will heal quickly. Even if a scar remains, it's a wound that will heal immediately if we turn him into a demon."
"…Are you going to turn him into a demon?"
The moment he said it, he thought, oops. It was too trivial a question.
Preparing for reproach or violence this time, but without any of what Akaza expected, a clear voice answered as if singing.
"Of course. That one, that white-haired, red-eyed being, is the real thing I desired. I was searching for him to turn him into a demon."
He never imagined this person's voice would tremble with excitement. Ah—a sigh flows out from the ecstasy of being moved.
"I must prepare quickly."
Revealing white fangs between his lips, the lord smiles.
Like an innocent child. With a face purely unguarded, unable to hide his joy.
＊
The moment the black fox mask cracked and that longed-for face appeared within, seven hearts beat simultaneously. All brains from 1 to 5 were moved. It might have been hundreds of years since his pupils trembled with emotion.
Well, for that reason.
Kibutsuji Muzan found his white-haired, red-eyed friend! This battle is our victory! That's exactly how Kibutsuji Muzan feels right now.
To put it in chess terms, it's right before calling checkmate. In slot machine terms, it's when two 7s line up side by side. No different from getting a reach in bingo. In other words, victory is assured. He can't help but be complacent.
Kibutsuji Muzan was in the best mood. No wonder, for the past few hundred years, the only friends that caught his eye were corpses. It had been a long time since he saw a living friend.
Akaza, who had been ordered to kill the black fox man, was pale with fear, but that was it. Not killing him was the right answer. He saved his life.
Honestly, Kibutsuji Muzan was also a bit pale with fear. After giving Akaza the order to kill the rude black fox, he thought he would have killed him by now, but when he looked through his vision, he still hadn't killed him. So he raged, telling him to kill him quickly, but who would have thought that was his friend.
If the friend of this life had been killed, he couldn't even imagine what he would have done to Akaza. He probably would have destroyed him about eighty-seven percent.
Anyway, the friend of this life is perfectly healthy. He has enough survival skills to withstand an Upper Rank 3. He probably won't die easily.
That he hunts demons is probably to find Kibutsuji Muzan, so he doesn't mind.
Rather, since his affiliation is revealed, it's easier to find and discover him, so Kibutsuji Muzan has no particular thoughts even if his friend is in the Demon Slayer Corps.
Kibutsuji Muzan also told Kokushibo the news that he found the white-haired, red-eyed one. Reporting, contacting, and consulting are important.
Hearing the news, Kokushibo opened his six eyes wide. He was holding back tears at the story that his disciple was a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, healthy, handling breathing, and swinging a sword. Kokushibo has six places for tears, but the place he was holding back was the middle one.
When he told him that the face revealed through the cracked mask had a mark, and thanks to that, he was able to exert power overwhelming Akaza, Kokushibo became even more impatient and couldn't hide his joy.
It was clear that he wanted to find his disciple quickly before the lifespan of a mark bearer ran out, but Kibutsuji Muzan stopped him, telling him to wait a little longer.
The lifespan of a mark bearer is twenty-five years. The face seen through the mask was clearly in his late teens no matter how you looked. There was plenty of time.
Kibutsuji Muzan wanted to prepare to welcome his friend. So he decided to hurry the task of finding a demon that overcomes the sun.
This was more urgent than turning that guy into a demon. A demon's body is strong but very vulnerable if its weakness is struck. To protect a friend who is easy to kill in various ways, he must make him overcome that weakness.
Somehow create a demon that overcomes the sun, and let that guy and I split it in half. After that, let's go out under the warm sunlight. Even if a mountain covered with wisteria flowers is impossible, let's take a walk together on some mountain with a good view.
Let's be together as if making up for the hundreds of years we were apart.
Forever, eternally, unchanging. This time, I won't forget you.
Kibutsuji Muzan, in a lalala excited mood, rushed out into the night world to roll the gacha for a sun-overcoming demon.
Because he was in a very good mood from finding his friend, Kibutsuji Muzan capriciously wanted to do a good deed, so he decided to find dying or sickly humans and turn them into demons.
The first thing that caught his eye was the heir son of a textile wholesaler. He heard he was so sickly he couldn't run or walk outside.
Kibutsuji Muzan had the comfort of a friend, but the boy had no such companion, and that was pitiful.
Overlapping his own past with the boy, Kibutsuji Muzan immediately turned that boy into a demon.
Now, as said before, every time Kibutsuji Muzan turns someone into a demon, he always asks the same question. He has made it a rule to ask, regardless of family, relatives, friends, or acquaintances, if there is anyone with white hair and red eyes around.
A pre-check procedure he has never missed since the Tamayo incident. It's a preventive measure against Pythagorean switches.
But at this time, Kibutsuji Muzan was extremely elated. His heart was already on vacation in the south. His mood was floating like seaweed drifting on waves. Kibutsuji Muzan didn't realize that it was a water ghost.
Because he had already found his friend, he was strong enough to face an Upper Rank, and there was no worry that he would be killed or eaten by a demon easily.
At this point, he was already convinced that he had raised his friend's survival flag.
So, yes.
Kibutsuji Muzan let his guard down.
He neglected… the white hair and red eyes check…!
＊
I actually know.
The fact that even if I write letters, there's no older brother to read them.
The reason I realized was a trivial matter. The drawer in older brother's room, the top drawer, had the letters I wrote inside.
Years after older brother disappeared, I had grown enough that if I stood on tiptoe, my hand could reach that drawer. I don't really know why I opened it.
Just because it was lonely that there were no replies to the letters. Because I missed the older brother who went far away. Playing in older brother's room, looking for traces of him… and then.
I couldn't understand why the letters sent to older brother were there, still not even opened from their envelopes.
Where is older brother? What happened to older brother? An anxious tremor swept over me, and I couldn't breathe properly. Soon, I fell ill and had to lie down.
From that day on, I started observing my father, mother, and the servants carefully. I couldn't believe anything, so I looked at everything with suspicious eyes.
And I realized. That I was the only one who didn't know about older brother.
It seemed like no one in the house knew that I had noticed about older brother. So I pretended not to know anything either. It seemed like only lies would come back if I asked, so I couldn't ask anyone anything.
I was also afraid that if I persistently pursued the truth, what if I heard that older brother had died long ago.
"Mom."
"Rui, you haven't fully recovered yet, you shouldn't come out from under the blanket."
"I wrote a letter. To older brother."
"Oh… oh my, then I'll have to ask to deliver it again. Rei will surely be happy."
"…When will older brother come back?"
"He'll come back as soon as he's healthy. Dad is also looking for many doctors for Rei. I'm sorry, it must be hard, but can you wait just a little? He'll definitely come back, so let's wait together."
"…Okay."
The handed letter. This will surely be placed in older brother's room too.
Where is older brother? Why did he disappear? Why are they hiding the truth only from me? We're family, why, why don't they tell me?
Dad seemed to go out somewhere every night. I vaguely guessed that it was to look for older brother.
Was older brother kidnapped by a bad guy? Or is he lost somewhere and can't come back? Since no one tells me anything, only bad imaginations swelled up inside me.
I prayed to God every night.
For older brother to be safe. For older brother to be found quickly.
But no matter how much I prayed, older brother didn't come back.
Ah, then, oh God. Oh God, I beg you.
Please make me healthy. Make me a body that doesn't get tired no matter how much I walk or run. Then I will run out of the house, and go anywhere to find older brother.
If I still can't find him and I cry, older brother is kind, so he'll come to get me. And he'll carry me on his back and return home.
If I stay only in this house, my voice won't reach older brother who is somewhere outside.
Oh God, oh God, please, I beg you.
"How pitiful. Let me save you."
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