Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

After all, that's just the kind of personality that Miss Mitsuha has—caring deeply about those close to her.

I remember my grandmother saying that at the fireworks festival where the two of them spent the last time together, in front of the shrine where they made wishes for each other.

After revealing her true nature for the first time in her life, Miss Mitsuha cautiously probed her grandmother, asking if she disliked her...

Miss Mitsuha is like that; she may seem daring and reckless, but she is always very cautious when facing friends she truly trusts.

Perhaps it was because of her tragic experiences as a human that Mitsuha developed such a unique personality.

Therefore, the butterfly violet will not make things difficult for clover.

If Mitsuha wants to hide her identity, then she'll hide it with her.

Mitsuha wanted to pretend that the two of them had never met before, so she would pretend with her.

If Mitsuha has something she doesn't want to tell her, then she will never ask any more questions.

Even if Mitsuha decides to leave this town someday, she will absolutely not stop her.

In any case, no matter how long they are separated, Mitsuha will definitely come back to see her again when she is on her deathbed.

Just like when she visited her grandmother and mother...

As for transforming into an evil spirit?

Let's wait until her descendants have fully cultivated the Blue Spider Lily, and until the demon has completed its final evolution...

With a faint smile on her face, Butterfly Violet blew out the oil lamp in the room and went upstairs to rest.

"Kuroshibo, have you spoken with Mitsuha recently?"

In the dead of night, in a deserted mountain and a deserted cave, Muzan, after a long absence, came to play chess with Kokushibo.

At this moment, Muzan was dressed in a black kimono, and her appearance was beautiful; she was dressed as a geisha.

Of course, Muzan didn't have any particular hobbies; she just felt that this kind of attire might be safer.

Yes, it's safe.

Since being killed by Yoriichi more than 80 years ago, Muzan suddenly understood many things overnight.

She suddenly realized that the life of every living being in this world is actually very precious.

Even if she is a powerful ghost king, as one of the myriad living beings in this world, she should not kill other living beings at will and take their lives.

More importantly, a truly powerful and well-structured life form will not flaunt its strength indiscriminately.

Therefore, her strength is something she only needs to know herself.

The behavior of casually parading around the streets like in the past, and killing people on a whim when encountering someone they don't like.

Muzan now feels that this was really unnecessary.

This kind of pointless behavior is completely meaningless, don't you think...?

Of course, she wasn't afraid of Yoriichi.

Considering that some people might misunderstand this, Muzan felt it necessary to correct him.

Yoriichi is already dead, he died decades ago. As the Demon King, she would never be afraid of a dead person, do you understand?

But as the saying goes, everything in this world has its counter. No matter how powerful a life form is, it will always encounter a natural enemy that can restrain it.

Just like Yoriichi, although Muzan wasn't afraid of him, Yoriichi did restrain her. He was the kind of person she had to avoid whenever she saw him.

To reiterate, she really wasn't afraid of Yoriichi.

Because Yoriichi restrains her, she has to avoid him. This is a natural principle of mutual generation and restraint among all things in the world, a very common phenomenon, and has nothing to do with fear.

Similarly, just as organisms are constantly evolving.

In order to avoid encountering another "Yoji" in the future, Muzan gradually "evolved" the ability to disguise himself.

As for those bad behaviors from the past, we should correct them if possible.

When it comes to murder, if you can avoid killing, then you should.

As for my previous appearance, I will try my best not to use it anymore.

From now on, stop being so arrogant and think you're the best in the world. Try different roles, whether you're old, young, or even women and children...

In short, he just needs to integrate into human society as much as possible, act ordinary, and quietly search for his Blue Spider Lily, occasionally fighting with those demon hunters...

Of all his many identities, Muzan's favorite is his current identity as a beautiful geisha.

After all, probably no one would have thought that he, as the progenitor of demons and the closest thing to perfection in the world, would choose to disguise himself as a delicate geisha.

Hmph... Hahahaha!

The Ghost King was amazed by his own cleverness and resourcefulness.

Chapter 76: Could there be a second Ghost King? (Bonus Chapter)

"not at all."

Completely unaware of Muzan's thoughts sitting opposite him, Kokushibo, focused on the Go board, asked:

"Lord Muzan, has Mitsuha been doing something strange again lately?"

"This is not."

Hearing this, Muzan instantly snapped back to reality and explained:

"Just a few days ago, Mitsuha suddenly noticed that some humans had been searching for information about the Blue Spider Lily. She felt something was amiss, so she volunteered to ask me to investigate."

Recently I've noticed that her location has been constantly shifting between two fixed places, and this has been going on for several days now..."

As the Demon King, Muzan possesses the ability to read the thoughts of all demons within his field of vision.

He could also roughly sense the location of evil spirits that were outside his field of vision.

Instantly realizing what Muzan meant, Kokushibo nodded upon hearing this.

"In that case, I'll go and see what she's been up to lately."

It just so happens that Mitsuha and I haven't seen each other for over ten years..."

Late at night, after leaving the Butterfly Clinic, Mitsuha quickly arrived at the red-light district in the neighboring town.

"Young Master Yan Sheng! Over here!"

Inside the familiar geisha house, a geisha named A-Ming had been waiting in a corner for a long time. As soon as she saw Mitsuha with Yan Sheng's face, she quickly came to greet her.

"Ah Ming, where is that wealthy businessman now?"

"He is in his room upstairs right now. I will take you up there immediately, Young Master Yan Sheng."

Leading Mitsuha upstairs quickly, A-Ming said as they walked:

“I’ve been keeping an eye on things for you, Young Master Yan Sheng. No other man has entered the room since that wealthy businessman went in.”

It seems his guest hasn't arrived yet. If you, Young Master Yan Sheng, want to ask him for money, now is the best time."

"Understood, thank you, A-Ming."

"Young Master Yan Sheng, there's no need to be so polite... This is the place."

As they talked, they finally stopped in front of a secluded private room in a corner on the second floor.

After bowing, A-Ming took the initiative to leave, leaving the rest of the time to Mitsuha.

Her pupils transformed into the shape of a datura flower, and Mitsuha immediately pushed open the door and went inside.

However, she was greatly disappointed after seeing the mysterious wealthy businessman in the room, even though she thought all the secrets would be revealed tonight.

Because the man sitting in this room is really just an ordinary, wealthy businessman.

He had no special background, no special abilities, had never been exposed to anything extraordinary, and even his appearance was unremarkable...

Of all the causal threads surrounding him, the only one that Mitsuha could consider useful was—

Two months ago, I accepted a large sum of money from a wealthy businessman friend in the Kanto region and decided to ask someone to find a mysterious flower called the Blue Spider Lily for him.

In other words, the mysterious tycoon she had been investigating was actually just a middleman who took money to do things...

This person had no idea what the blue spider lily meant; he was simply looking for the flower because he had been paid by someone else.

This is really...

"Excuse me, sir, have you entered the wrong room?"

Inside the room, the wealthy businessman looked at Mitsuha, who had suddenly burst in and stared at him with a look of disappointment, with a hint of fear, and tentatively asked.

Well, whatever. Although it wasn't perfect right away, it's still a step forward. Let's take it slow...

"No, I didn't go to the wrong place."

Composing herself, Mitsuha smiled and, closing the door, approached him in a very familiar manner, saying:

"Sir, I heard from a friend that you are currently looking for a flower called the Blue Spider Lily?"

Coincidentally, I happen to have some information related to it…

"Young Master Yan Sheng, how is he?"

An hour later, A-Ming finally waited outside the brothel for Mitsuha, who had just finished her conversation with the wealthy merchant.

"Yes, we've reached an agreement."

Looking at the somewhat nervous geisha in front of her, Mitsuha smiled and nodded.

"We've already discussed it, and he'll bring the money back to pay me back in a month or two at most."

We'll meet here again then, and I'll probably have to trouble you to let me know again, Ah Ming."

Although she didn't get the information she really wanted, Mitsuha still learned a lot of useful information from the wealthy businessman.

The most important point is that he wasn't the only one who accepted the commission to find the Blue Spider Lily.

According to information this wealthy businessman has heard in the past two months, it seems that people all over the country are currently searching for this mysterious flower.

Even the friend who initially commissioned him seemed to have received the commission from someone else and then came to him for the same commission...

With so many layers of mystery, even these merchants themselves didn't know who was truly hiding at the very back, the one who really wanted to find this blue spider lily...

What is certain is that this mysterious person either possesses extraordinary wealth or extraordinary power; otherwise, it would be impossible for them to pull off such a grand spectacle.

Secondly... this mysterious person seems to really need the Blue Spider Lily?

In a daze, Mitsuha remembered what Muzan had told her about how he initially transformed from a human into a demon.

An unknown, mysterious doctor, and some strange, unknown prescriptions.

And that mysterious effect that supposedly makes one's body incredibly strong if one persists with the medication for a period of time...

In fact, Muzan did later acquire a physique far stronger than that of ordinary people.

However, due to the lack of the most crucial ingredient in the prescription, the blue spider lily, it was transformed into a demon that could not be exposed to light and could only survive by devouring humans...

So, is it possible that...?

Is it possible that some unknown, mysterious doctor in this world, by chance, concocted a similar prescription and then transformed a dying nobleman into a second ghost king?

Because this powerful figure was unwilling to become a monster who could only live off the flesh and blood of others, he began to use his power to order people to search for the legendary blue spider lily.

Well... while the possibility is very low, it's not entirely out of the question.

Of course, there is another possibility—that it was all a scam.

There was no second Ghost King, nor was there any mysterious person searching for the Blue Spider Lily.

Behind all these requests, it was actually a scheme orchestrated by the Demon Slayer Corps.

Did they deliberately use the blue spider lily as a decoy to lure Muzan out so they could kill him?

Mitsuha felt that this possibility was probably the most likely.

There was one thing she couldn't understand: how did the Demon Slayer Corps know that Lord Muzan had been searching for the Blue Spider Lily?

Although the fact that the blue spider lily is no secret to the demons is that it is not a secret.

Just like the name of Muzan, none of the lower-ranking demons had the ability to leak this information, otherwise they would have instantly exploded and died.

So, assuming that all of this was a scheme set up by the Demon Slayer Corps, how did they obtain this information from?

Why are you so certain that it must be true?