Muzan: My daughter can't be that weak!

During the break, Kokushibo remained kneeling steadily in place.

Seeing that the teacher showed no sign of relaxing or moving, Xue Nai felt embarrassed to move around and could only try her best to maintain a proper kneeling posture, with her small hands on her knees and her back straight.

The two ghosts, one big and one small, sat upright in the quiet Japanese-style room.

In the end, it was Yukina who couldn't hold back any longer.

"Teacher, I'm rested enough, let's continue!"

Upon hearing this, Kokushibo turned his gaze to her and nodded slightly.

"……good."

"Then...today...we'll learn some more...simple words."

As he spoke, he did not reach for new paper, but instead took out a rather old-looking booklet from his dark purple kimono pocket.

The edges of the pages are somewhat worn and yellowed, but they are still in relatively good condition.

The times are long gone; it's no longer the era when he was learning calligraphy.

When teaching children their early education, one cannot rely solely on the overly ancient or difficult content from their memory.

This booklet was a teaching material he obtained from outside a nearby temple when he went out not long ago.

The teaching materials for terakoya (temple schools) are mostly compiled by the teachers there.

The content is simple and progressive, making it perfect for beginners.

He spread the booklet out on the low table between the two of them and turned to the first page.

"Repeat after me..."

After resting for a while, Xue Nai recovered a lot of energy. In addition, she was thinking about "finishing her studies quickly so she could go find the puppy", so she put in her best effort.

Kokushibo breaks down sentences, explains the meaning of each word, and then connects them together to form the sentence's meaning.

Yukina listened attentively, occasionally asking her own questions:

"Teacher, this character looks similar to the one we just saw, but does it mean the same thing?"

"Why do these two characters together have this meaning?"

……

Just then.

"Ah~ that feels so good!"

Having just entered the Infinite Castle, Douma was spreading his arms wide, enjoying the weightlessness that came with freefalling from a great height toward his magnificent mansion.

Suddenly, his keen ears caught the sound of reading aloud in fits and starts.

Ok?

Doma blinked.

In the Infinite City... there are actually ghosts reading books?

Oh my, this is really something new.

Which friend is so... diligent and eager to learn?

Even in the Infinite City, I don't forget to improve myself!

That would truly move even a ghost.

Let your clever, kind, and helpful self visit this hardworking colleague.

He listened intently, trying to discern the source and owner of the sound, then paused for a moment.

Oh my...? He didn't hear wrong, did he?

This feels like the area where Lord Kokushibo usually hangs out...

It seems like I can still smell Yukina's scent...

He simply couldn't reconcile the image of Upper Moon One, who only focused on swordsmanship and growing stronger, with the heartwarming scene of teaching young children.

Or... how about we go take a look?

I'm so, so curious...

Tongmo fanned himself with the golden iron fan in his hand, and subconsciously took two steps in that direction.

Then, he paused again.

I took a rare moment to think about it.

Suddenly it came to mind that he seemed to dislike being disturbed, especially when he was cultivating or meditating.

If I were to go there so rashly now, given Kokushibo's personality, he would most likely be seen as a provocation intending to start a bloody battle of equal strength...

While watching the spectacle is entertaining, it's risky to engage in a bloody battle with little chance of victory beforehand...

This seems a bit troublesome.

It seems that I am indeed still no match for Lord Kokushibo.

it's a pity.

If Lord Akaza happens to be nearby at this moment, that would be wonderful.

He could also use the excuse of "I happened to run into Mr. Akaza and would like to have a friendly spar" to say hello, and then, since he was passing by, he could just watch the excitement...

Lord Akaza will surely be furious again, and that scene will certainly be quite interesting.

That's such a shame.

Douma sighed, shook the golden fan in his hand, and finally gave up the idea of ​​going to find out what was going on.

Never mind, I'll just ask Yukina next time...

Getting information out of a child would be much easier and safer.

He turned and continued toward his mansion.

……

Inside the room, the teacher and student, completely unaware of this little incident, continued their lesson.

Before I knew it, I had finished learning the first page of the booklet.

Looking at the unfamiliar square characters on the paper, Xue Nai felt a sense of accomplishment.

"Thank you, teacher..."

She first bowed to Kokushibo, then looked up at him with bright, sparkling eyes. "Yukina learned so many words today! Teacher is so amazing, it seems like he knows everything..."

It feels like no matter what I ask, the teacher can always provide an answer.

She's almost as big as her dad!

"……Um."

Faced with the child's straightforward praise, Kokushibo initially felt uncomfortable, but now he can barely maintain a semblance of calm.

The topic of the puppy had been on Xue Nai's lips for quite some time, bubbling away like water boiling in a kettle.

She had been waiting for the right moment to speak.

Where should I begin?

Would it be too rash to just say it directly?

In case the teacher has other things to do later...

Various questions swirled in her mind.

But seeing that today's lesson seemed to be coming to an end, Kokushibo put down the booklet in his hand, stood up, and seemed to be preparing to end the lesson.

Yukina couldn't care less about anything else at once, and quickly reached out and grabbed the corner of his dark purple kimono sleeve.

"teacher……"

Kokushibo paused, looking down at her.

Once you start talking, it becomes much easier to continue.

Xue Nai tilted her little face up as if afraid the teacher would leave, and with her little mouth babbling, she told the whole story in one breath what happened in the alley last night, and how her father refused her request to have a puppy.

"It's like this... Last night, Dad took Yukina out to dinner..."

She spoke quickly, recounting in detail how she encountered bad kids bullying a puppy in an alley in Osaka last night, how she used her Blood Demon Art, and how she ate those bad guys.

When she got excited, she couldn't help but imitate it.

When she finally mentioned Muzan, Kokushibo couldn't help but think "Whoa!" to himself.

That's Muzan's style.

He quickly went through the whole incident in his mind and began to speak:

"So...you want to...take that...dog back?"

Xue Nai nodded vigorously.

"Yes, teacher! Is it okay? It's so pitiful, it has no home and it gets bullied..."

"Dad said that if the teacher is willing and has time..."

She repeated Muzan's words when he tried to shift the blame, staring longingly at Kokushibo.

Kokushibo fell silent again.

The reason why Muzan-sama shifted the blame to him may have been multifaceted.

He had no way of knowing for sure, nor did he intend to investigate further.

As Upper Moon One, one must obey Muzan's will and carry out his orders.