It has been three days since becoming a demon, but today the hunger still hasn't subsided. A life of repeatedly rushing outside, determined to make it this time, only to make an emergency escape back to the Infinity Castle.
Oh, right. This is called the Infinity Castle. I heard it's Lord Muzan's base, dramatically remodeled from an underground space using demon arts, completely illegal construction.
Upside-down stairs, tatami mats laid on the ceiling, sliding doors on the floor—if not for the situation, it's a place I'd like to explore properly at least once.
And I heard this Infinity Castle was created by the demon arts of a quiet older sister named Nakime. In other words, Nakime is the building owner.
Upon learning that, I immediately prostrated myself. I'm a habitual offender who drools so much it makes the floor soggy.
Nakime was startled by the sudden bow but forgave me, saying "It's okay," which relieved me. I'm glad Nakime is a kind person.
Wanting to meet Rui as soon as possible, I gave up every day and rushed outside.
But every time I encounter a person, saliva pools up to the point of choking, and I often run away, earning me mocking laughter from Lord Muzan.
Is Lord Muzan a user of Provocation Breathing? It's really irritating.
"Lord Muzan, give me back my Nichirin Blade right now."
"Obviously rejected, you fool. End fights with words. Don't come out with a sword."
"Grr..."
The Nichirin Blade is still in the custody of someone named Kokushibo. I feel uneasy without the sword and want it back quickly, but Lord Muzan's permission hasn't come.
He just sneers, saying, "If you want it, go get it yourself outside." Damn it.
I'm in a state of constant irritation due to hunger. The anxiety of needing to meet Rui soon and the stress from not being able to properly control the cannibalistic urge make it feel like I'll explode if I let my guard down.
Perhaps because I became a demon, even minor stimuli swell up dozens of times, growing inside me. Since a demon's body has insane metabolism, I wish emotions would metabolize quickly too.
Honestly, Lord Muzan's provocations were the most painful. They contribute tenfold to raising my anger gauge. I once thought about genuinely exploding, but I took a deep breath and endured.
Lord Muzan's goal is to make me a demon in both body and mind, so if I act on emotion, it would be exactly what Lord Muzan wants. That must never happen. I will absolutely not become a man-eating demon.
Even though my body has completely become a demon, I had no intention of letting my mind become one too. Lord Muzan said it's unnecessary, but still, I want to be someone who forgives Lord Muzan.
Because living resented by everyone is too painful.
"I have things to do, so I'll be going now. Oh, should I bring back some rare blood on the way?"
"Let me say this in advance, Lord Muzan. If you do that, we're breaking up. For about ten years."
"Just kidding."
"If I don't nail it down, you were serious, right? Don't avoid eye contact."
Lord Muzan doesn't always stay in the Infinity Castle. Usually, he blends into human society, so he's absent for short periods of a few hours to half a day. Mostly from evening to the next morning.
During that time, since there's no chance to be teased by Lord Muzan, I could also rush outside with peace of mind.
...But again today, the sound of a biwa echoed.
"Nakime, thank you as always... Grr, I thought I'd make it this time..."
"You've worked hard."
Although Nakime is quiet and doesn't speak much, she surprisingly responds well when spoken to. Thanks to that, she was my only conversation partner while Lord Muzan was away.
"I was fine until halfway, but there was a person who looked too delicious and was injured..."
"Was it rare blood?"
"I'm really sorry for causing trouble..."
"It's okay. It's my job."
Nakime is a really cool older sister. So cool that I'm even grateful.
By the way, perhaps because I smelled rare blood. The saliva hardly stops. If I let my guard down, it seems like I'll spill it on the floor again.
"Will you go out again?"
"No, I'll rest now. Since the smell of blood still lingers in my nose, going out in this state is a bit..."
"Understood."
Ding—. As the string was plucked, I was instantly moved to another room. A room about ten square meters wide with only one futon laid out. This is my sleeping place.
Demons can be active without sleeping, but since I'm fasting, my body can't endure if I don't sleep.
Even if I bury my face in the futon and close my eyes, the smell of blood soaked in my nose still doesn't disappear.
I hate it. My eyes are wide awake, and I can't sleep at all.
Ding——
After coming to the Infinity Castle, I've become quite accustomed to the sound of the biwa.
The biwa played by Nakime strangely reaches my ears no matter where I am in the Infinity Castle. A sound that falls right above my head, not too close, not too far.
Although the tone is somewhat heavy and dark to call it a lullaby, to my current self, sensitized by the smell of blood, it feels rather comforting.
What song is it? I'm not knowledgeable about music, so I don't really know.
...But, it's beautiful. Truly.
＊
To Nakime, that young man was a very strange demon.
He interacted without hesitation with Kibutsuji Muzan, the pinnacle of demons, shunned eating humans despite being a demon, and didn't even taste the rarely encountered rare blood.
But what surprised Nakime the most was that the young man said "thank you" to her.
Nakime responding to the young man's voice and opening the Infinity Castle was merely due to Kibutsuji Muzan's orders, just a duty.
Yet, the young man always expressed gratitude, and when he learned that Nakime was the manager of the Infinity Castle, he bowed his head with a voice that seemed to fade away, saying, "I'm sorry for dirtying the floor with drool..." which made Nakime very flustered.
Neither receiving apologies nor hearing thanks were familiar to Nakime. After becoming a demon, and before that as well.
——From the time she became sensible, darkness was familiar to her vision.
Nakime didn't even know whether these eyes being decorative was a congenital defect or due to an illness she had after birth. As an abandoned child, she was picked up by a wandering troupe and strictly raised as a blind musician.
That troupe was a place slightly better than hell. There were other children besides Nakime, but being hit for not learning skills was daily. If that didn't work, they were abandoned or sold to more terrible places.
Nakime desperately honed her skills to avoid being abandoned. Perhaps because of that, the melody engraved in her fingertips as a weapon for survival had a somewhat eerie charm.
A mysterious melody that made anyone who heard it look back when she played once. A silky sound that echoed clearly even amidst applause.
That tone was sometimes compared to heavenly things, constantly attracting people and money.
The troupe leader, with a bulging purse, was greatly pleased, and Nakime gained a firm position within the troupe. Relieved that she could now survive, she cherished the biwa that had become her spear, shield, and lifeline, hugging it dearly.
However, it seemed that the sharp talent she continued to hone to survive was seen by others in the troupe as a weapon threatening their own positions.
One day, Nakime was dragged out of the troupe and abandoned in an unknown place.
Having lost even the biwa, her only weapon and hard-earned respite, Nakime lived a life thereafter mocked, tormented, and toyed with because she was blind.
Using the blind woman as mere playthings, laughing, exploiting, without any thanks or apologies. All that remained in her ears were human voices mixed with malicious pleasure. Even after becoming a demon, that didn't change.
Was that why? His voice sounded fresh.
That straightforward, unadorned voice resonated deeper in Nakime's heart than any bird's chirping.
"I'm sorry, Nakime... Thank you always..."
"Don't worry about it. It's my job."
Although she answered indifferently, whenever she heard his voice, something deep inside tickled. The young man's admirable and sincere, heartfelt voice touched her in a way she herself found hard to believe.
"Hmm..."
"...Is something the matter?"
"No, it's just that when you say biwa, I think of that... The bells of Notre Dame?"
"The bell sound of Gion Shoja."
"Ah!!! That's right, that one, The Tale of Genji!"
"Perhaps The Tale of the Heike."
"I'm sorry... that was it. Oh, 'Even if I exhaust myself, I cannot surpass the hairpin!'"
"That's Chunwang. It's a Chinese poem."
"...Please forget it. Please don't tell Lord Muzan about this conversation..."
She wasn't accustomed to forming relationships with others, nor did she like it. No matter who she talked to, she wanted to keep it short, but he was an exception.
"I failed again... I feel like crying because my patience is too weak. I'm sorry for being a useless older brother, Rui..."
"Perhaps you should rest for today."
"No, just one more time, please. I'm sorry for bothering you..."
——Actually, if she summoned the demon he wanted to see to the Infinity Castle, he wouldn't need to go outside.
But since she received a strict order from her master, Kibutsuji Muzan, "Absolutely do not teach him," Nakime had no intention of telling him that method.
However, even without the order, Nakime probably wouldn't have told him.
Because she felt a little lonely losing this time.
She wasn't unaware of what to call this feeling that made her think that way. But she didn't voice it. Instead, she played the biwa.
Hoping that the melody, like sinking underwater, would become a comfort to him, struggling against his demon instincts.
At first, he immediately asked Nakime for help, but lately, he was spending more time outside. He was succeeding in suppressing his instincts.
And finally, that moment arrived.
At the voice calling "Nakime," she swung the biwa plectrum.
As the familiar sound echoed, his figure appeared as always, but today his expression was different.
"I did it, Nakime! I finally overcame the hunger!"
A smile that seemed to overflow was blooming. As if the pale, wax-like face drooling saliva sometime ago was a lie, his cheeks, excited like a child's, were dyed with the red of joy.
Nakime opened her eyes wide beyond her bangs. But that wasn't because she was surprised he had endured without eating humans.
"...Wasn't there no need to return?"
If he could suppress the cannibalistic urge, he could just head to the younger sibling he was looking for. So why did he return to the Infinity Castle?
When she voiced that doubt, he answered loudly as if it were obvious.
"I wanted to say thank you before leaving. Without Nakime, I might have eaten dozens of people. Thank you very much!"
"───"
At his bowing figure, Nakime was momentarily dazed, her red lips slightly parting.
She had never been spoken to with such a bright voice, with such words.
"Ah, but come to think of it, I've unnecessarily given Nakime more work. I'm sorry for bothering you."
She had never been cared for in this way.
Although she had been given things she couldn't even eat, pretending to offer food.
"Once things settle a bit, I'll formally thank you. Well, since I have nothing, expensive gifts might be difficult... Nakime, is there anything you want?"
She had never been asked what she wanted.
Although she had had meals snatched away after plucking the biwa until her fingers split.
"...Thanks are enough."
She regretted not learning the cute attitude of skillfully demanding something affectionately in such moments, from the human world.
"Also... if something happens, please call me."
Leaving those words that couldn't even be called a promise, Nakime picked up the biwa plectrum again.
Her hand hesitated for a moment, and she felt ashamed at the dull sound that spread.
＊
This is dangerous.
Kibutsuji Muzan's face stiffened.
What's dangerous is that his friend has overcome the cannibalistic urge. He had been absolutely sure it was impossible!
Kibutsuji Muzan, who had been peeking at the Infinity Castle through Nakime's vision, let out a strange sound from his mouth the moment his friend brightly exclaimed, "I did it, Nakime! I finally overcame the hunger!"
It wasn't the time to grin, thinking "Indeed, it's love..." while sensing Nakime's emotional changes transmitted along with the peek.
Since he was attending a party surrounded by people, the surroundings uniformly showed puzzled reactions.
He hastily covered the situation with a fake cough, but if his face hadn't been persuasive, who knows what would have happened. Indeed, having good looks is useful in such times.
'Even though he rushed out without a weapon... He could escape by ordering Nakime if needed, but what if he meets a demon slayer? Is he an idiot?'
He wanted to immediately chase his friend's coordinates, but he couldn't abandon this party he was attending disguised as a trading company president.
He tried ordering via cell communication, "Come back right now," but only incomprehensible nonsense returned: "(The subscriber is unavailable or in an area with no service. Please leave a message after the beep)."
It seems he has no intention of returning obediently. An active idiot is problematic like this.
Kibutsuji Muzan deeply regretted removing only from his friend the 'Kibutsuji Muzan Curse Package' that ordinary demons are forcibly enrolled in. Thanks to that, the only functions he can use now are cell communication and current location tracking.
Of course, he didn't think his friend, now a demon, would die so easily.
But that guy's reputation for dying easily was already established. He would die after dramatic rapid developments whenever he looked away.
Leaving him alone without a weapon is dangerous. A situation needing escort. Preferably an Upper Rank, as high as possible.
The first that came to mind was Kokushibo, but checking his location, he was quite far away. It would take time to catch up.
Dōma... was unexpectedly close, but he couldn't entrust his friend's escort to that guy with pitch-black insides whose thoughts are unknowable. Dōma is the one who needs care. Unsuitable. Rejected.
Eventually, the arrow pointed to Akaza.
He was in a close distance, and above all, that guy was surprisingly skilled at taking care of others.
Kibutsuji Muzan immediately sent cell communication to Akaza, sighed in relief that one thing was resolved, and naturally blended into the noisiest people.
"You seem to be having an interesting conversation. May I join in?"
"Ah, we were talking about pets."
"Our family has been raising a guinea pig lately. My daughter kept pestering me."
"Do you keep anything?"
A dignified lady asked, and Kibutsuji Muzan showed a graceful smile.
"About five dogs."
"Oh my, that many?"
"Yes, as guard dogs and hunting dogs combined. Actually, I'm thinking of adding one more."
"Oh, what kind of dog?"
"Nothing special. A stray dog picked up from the street."
"Oh my!"
The lady frowned her pretty eyebrows. A stray dog! She seemed about to say, but that reaction was understandable.
Kibutsuji Muzan also dislikes stray dogs. Especially those that leave their master and return to the wild, beasts that urinate as if mocking him.
"My subordinate caught it while it was doing bad things. After being scolded thoroughly by my subordinate, when it came to me, it was trembling small like a larva."
As he slightly tilted his glass, the wine shimmered red under the lamp light. Kibutsuji Muzan superimposed over that color the thing Kokushibo had thrown onto the tatami that day.
The remains of the beast demon, chopped into larva-sized pieces.
Kibutsuji Muzan can make the abilities of demons his own by eating them. But that beast demon had been free from domination for a long time and achieved excessively independent evolution.
Thus, it was determined a few days ago that even if eaten, he couldn't absorb its abilities.
"I had no intention of bringing it... but it had learned interesting skills. So, I'll try to tame it."
Abilities too good to kill. Then, tame them.
Taking back a dog that betrayed once was beyond common sense, but fortunately, Kokushibo's discipline was effective.
After sharing his blood again and imposing new domination to make it clearly realize who the master is, the beast demon obediently exposed its belly. A dog that knows fear is a good dog.
—— My friend said.
Don't turn more humans into demons.
Okay, fine. I'll do as you say.
The reason I accepted that foolish-sounding proposal was because of the existence of the beast demon.
"Besides, I have one collar left."
To make it wag its tail happily.
I shall bestow upon you the sixth collar.
＊
I know that my older brother woke up safely ten days ago because Lord Muzan told me via cell communication. But I couldn't meet him. Lord Muzan tried to let us meet, but I refused. I don't have the right.
What face could I meet him with now, after denouncing him as a fake that night?
Not just my brother. To the mother and father who helped us escape, I poured terrible words and committed cruel acts. I have no face to see my family.
Because I became a demon, because that bad swordsman came, I ultimately put my entire family in danger. Thinking about what happened to my parents, who risked their lives to protect us, sends chills down my spine.
It wasn't a fake or anything. Our family was definitely real.
Just a pathetic, laughable story of me alone throwing a tantrum and denying it as fake.
My father trying to kill me wasn't because he hated that I became a terrible demon. It was a choice to stop me from eating more people.
Probably, my father and mother planned to take their own lives after killing me.
They would have tried to fulfill their parental responsibility that way. To not let me be lonely, to not let me be alone, to fall together to the end of hell.
My parents tried to properly face me, but I was the one who turned my back first.
Are they angry? Do they hate me now? Do they think they don't need to care about such a bad child anymore?
My brother was also deeply hurt because of me. Even though the wounds have healed since becoming a demon, the pain hasn't changed.
He probably doesn't even want to see my face now. I can no longer be by my brother's side.
After leaving the Infinity Castle, wandering, I reached a certain place. A remote mountain near a small village at the foothills. Near the summit, there was an abandoned house, so I used it as a hideout to avoid the morning sunlight.
Around the third night spent there, while walking aimlessly, my demon's exceptionally sensitive hearing caught a certain sound.
A strange sound, like something falling from a high place and breaking—creak, or thud.
I realized it was the sound of a person throwing themselves when, drawn by the smell of blood, I moved and found a sheer cliff and a broken corpse below it.
When I smelled the blood, hunger surged, and as I descended below the cliff, there was an unexpected visitor.
"Wh-who...?!"
There was a little girl. A small child with her hair tied in two pigtails. She was crouching next to the corpse, but she wasn't human. A demon with red stained around her mouth.
She looked like a weak demon. Perhaps knowing that herself, as soon as she saw me, she trembled pitifully, hugging her head and crouching.
With a thin voice, she sobbed, "Don't torment me..." and why couldn't I turn away and instead put my hand on her back to soothe her?
Probably because that child, with a wet voice, was longing for her family, saying "Mom..." I felt something similar to me in that loneliness, and after that, I ended up living with that child.
The little girl had no name. She said with a sad face that she had forgotten.
But since she liked playing house and always wanted to take the mom role, I called her 'Mom.' Because a mom can only exist if there's a child, in our private game of house, I was always the child.
According to 'Mom,' humans occasionally come here to throw themselves off.
The weak demon 'Mom' is unskilled at hunting people, so she's been surviving by satisfying her hunger with the corpses of humans who fall and die like that.
Although there's no change in eating people, it felt somewhat less sinful than directly attacking.
As someone who has already killed plenty of people, worrying about sin now might be meaningless, but still, that way of living somehow looked good.
Once you become a demon, you can no longer be beautiful, correct, or return. But if I live like that, it seems the sins accumulated so far would lighten a bit.
Of course, I couldn't endure like that forever. According to Lord Muzan, I'm a demon with the potential to become strong, and such demons eat far more humans than others.
What was sufficient for the weak 'Mom' was utterly insufficient for me, and eventually, succumbing to hunger, my footsteps naturally led toward the village at the foothills.
"Rui───!!"
Those feet stopped because a familiar voice was heard.
Because the voice of my older brother, whom I wanted to hear so much, came running toward me.
"Are you okay? Were you lonely? Sorry for being late."
My older brother, who hugged me, was as usual, enough to bring tears.
He didn't scold me for denying our family bond as fake, didn't hate me, didn't treat me indifferently as if it didn't matter, but worried about me like my usual older brother.
That night, within that bond I thought I had torn apart, I cried and cried.
This time, I will absolutely not doubt.
No matter what happens, let's believe. That my brother and I are undoubtedly real siblings.
"Rui, have you calmed down now?"
"Yeah... But, older brother."
"What?"
"Why is there a bamboo leaf stuck to your head?"
"I just shook off Upper Rank 3 in a bamboo forest."
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