Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

Speaking of which, when I got home tonight, I saw Sister Sanye leave the town alone in a hurry.

What is Sister Sanye doing out so late?

I really wanted to go and see, but my parents took me home...

Go to bed early tonight, and you'll definitely see Mitsuha-nee again when you go to the dojo tomorrow morning.

A certain day of a certain year and a certain month

Mitsuha-nee has disappeared.

She didn't go to the temple today, and she's not home either. It seems she hasn't come back since she went out last night. I'm so worried...

Moreover, not only Sister Sanye, but also Brother-in-law and Doctor Butterfly have disappeared.

Strange, where did everyone go?

In the afternoon, I heard that there had been a murder in town. Apparently, Mr. Keizou and his family were poisoned to death... How could such a thing happen in a small town?!

I also heard that a centenarian fell ill, how scary... Why does it feel like everyone around me has suddenly changed?

I originally wanted to visit the centenarian at the temple, but my parents wouldn't let me go out today, saying it was dangerous outside, and they locked me in my room alone...

How scary! Mitsuha-nee, please come back soon...

On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year.

Mitsuha-nee is finally back.

I heard from the adults in the neighborhood that last night, all the disciples of the sword-fighting dojo in town were killed in one night.

It seems that the murderer was Komaji, and everyone is saying in private that it was these people who poisoned Mr. Keizo and his family.

But the magistrate of the magistrate's office said that this was not true and even issued an arrest warrant for Komaji... So who is telling the truth?

My parents still wouldn't let me go out, but in order to see Sister Sanye, I secretly climbed out the window.

I have a feeling that if I don't see Mitsuha-nee this time, I might never see her again...

I was very lucky; I ran into Mitsuha-nee at the entrance of the dojo, where she was about to leave.

She really was leaving.

Sister Sanye said a lot to me this time, telling me to grow up happily and to marry someone I truly love and live a happy life...

I actually had a lot to say to Mitsuha-nee, but seeing her pretending to be happy when she was clearly very sad, I couldn't bring myself to say it...

And so I watched helplessly as Mitsuha-nee left.

I felt so sad. I really wanted to leave with Sister Sanye at that time.

That night, I cried my eyes out in bed.

A certain day of a certain year and a certain month

A certain day of a certain year and a certain month

A certain day of a certain year and a certain month

Life is so boring.

Nothing much to do today...

A certain day of a certain year and a certain month

I recently came across some novels written by Europeans, and an idea suddenly popped into my head.

I want to found a religion!

A religion that worships Sister Mitsuha as its saint!

I want to record Sister Mitsuha's beauty and words forever, so that my descendants and everyone in this world can forever appreciate Sister Mitsuha's unique beauty!

Yes! That's it!

Hmm... but what should this religion be called?

Thinking about it carefully, it seems that Sister Mitsuha used to tell me a lot to live happily...

In that case, how about calling it—

Let's embrace the eternal bliss!

Chapter 103 The Eighteenth Century

Time has passed, and it is now the early 18th century.

This was a rather special point in time for the Tokugawa Shogunate.

Now that the world has been at peace for a century, the Genroku culture, representing the emerging forces in society, has also reached its peak, and a trend of extravagance has begun to emerge.

After a century of great prosperity, the Tokugawa Shogunate began to show signs of fatigue during this period, with the shogunate facing financial difficulties and the shogun occasionally losing power.

Meanwhile, among the common people, as commerce gradually developed, the power of private merchants also began to grow. The emergence of many "big merchants" had a great impact on the traditional feudal economy of this small island nation.

The once-glorious samurai class thus declined further, the common people suffered from exploitation, famine broke out everywhere, and small uprisings continued...

The signs of the decline of the shogunate gradually emerged.

As for the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons, the battle between them continues.

Just over twenty years after their failed attempt to subdue Mitsuha, the Demon Slayer Corps has been resurrected.

Under the long darkness of night, the two sides once again engaged in the battle that had lasted for hundreds of years.

Of course, these things have little to do with Mitsuha.

Because she's actually been quite busy lately.

"Miss Mitsuha, please help me quickly..."

"I understand, Mrs. Miyano, please calm down."

Nagasaki, in that area that the shogunate specifically designated for foreign merchants to trade in.

An ordinary black tent stands quietly in a rather inconspicuous corner.

Outside the tent, guards, servants, and sedan chairs were all present.

Inside the tent, a beautiful woman dressed in a gorgeous kimono and with elegant makeup was wiping her face with a handkerchief while whispering her grievances to the fortune teller in front of her.

"That damned man, he was clearly just someone who married into our Miyano family, and he even said he would love me forever..."

He's always been eating our food and using our money, but now he actually dares to cheat on me with someone else! Waaah~

“Mrs. Miyano, I already told you all of this in the divination, didn’t I?”

Opposite the beautiful woman, a young fortune teller with distinctly European features sat quietly behind the table, listening with a smile.

Without a doubt, this fortune teller who looks like a European is Mitsuha's new identity after she changed her appearance.

Nagasaki, as the island nation with the closest connection to the outside world today, saw a large number of European cultural customs gradually spread here due to frequent trade with European merchant ships.

It was during this time that Mitsuha learned about European divination.

Of course, Mitsuha wasn't fascinated by this. As a terrifying demon who controlled the cause and effect of this world, she naturally wouldn't believe in such things.

She just felt that this might be a good way to make money.

That's right, making money.

As the saying goes, people are naturally inclined to prefer the new and tire of the old.

Compared to fortune telling and divination, which have been commonplace for hundreds or thousands of years, European divination is a novelty for this small island nation.

Inside that small tent, the dim and mysterious atmosphere, a touch of calming incense, a beautiful crystal ball, and the luxurious decor befitting the aristocracy, plus a beautiful European girl...

Compared to fortune tellers who set up a stall and squat on the roadside all day, isn't this more attractive?

Especially for those wealthy landlords and their wives who have nothing to do all day, the more mystical you act, the more they believe you.

Not to mention, Mitsuha herself has the ability to see through cause and effect.

It is no exaggeration to say that she, Mitsuha Tsugikuni, is the most accurate and authoritative fortune teller in the world today!

Some might ask, if the goal is simply to make money, why not just use Blood Demon Art to make people hand over their money willingly, instead of engaging in role-playing?

Oh, you just don't understand.

Life should always have a little bit of ritual, right?

In the long life of a ghost, one must always find some amusement. If it were really just for that little bit of money, wouldn't it be faster to just rob a bank?

"Yes! Miss Mitsuha, you're right! It was all my fault last time, I didn't trust you... Please! Please tell me what I should do now?"

I...I'm going to kill that vixen! I'll make sure that damned devil can never leave me! I'll make him stay by my side for the rest of his life!

"Mrs. Miyano, look at what you're saying. Divination isn't a magic bullet. I can't control your husband's mind and make him revolve around you forever."

However, if it's just about simply dealing with that vixen you mentioned, I might be able to... Komaji.

As Mitsuha finished speaking, Akaza, who had been lying idly reading a book in the corner of the tent, immediately got up with a sour face, picked up the iron box next to him, and walked over.

"Madam, please pay first."

Akaza was the name Muzan personally bestowed upon Komaji after he transformed into a demon and rose to the rank of Upper Moon Three.

For Akaza, Mitsuha is a special person.

Akaza has no memories of his human days; the furthest memory he can recall is the first day he became a demon.

The first person he saw when he opened his eyes was Mitsuha.

This woman, who looked beautiful but also seemed strangely familiar, had been disciplining Akaza for some reason he himself didn't know, from the very first day of his ghostly life.

He wanted to find someone to fight, but she said he wasn't allowed to use violence casually, and that if he wanted to fight, he could only find a demon hunter.

He was hungry and wanted to grab someone to eat, but she said that life is precious and cannot be harmed casually, and that if he wanted to eat someone, he could only eat a demon hunter.

He saw a weak person on the road and inexplicably felt annoyed and wanted to kill them, but she jumped out to stop him, saying that one cannot bully the weak just because one is strong, and that if one is to bully, one should only bully demon slayers...

He wanted to practice martial arts, but she insisted that he study and learn to read, and even memorize those nonsensical Three Character Classic, Analects, and Tao Te Ching...

That damned woman! How can anyone carry those books, thicker than my fist?!

You're such a nuisance! There are so many ghosts in the Twelve Ghost Months, why do you always keep targeting me, the Lower Moon One?

After enduring this for decades, Akaza, finally unable to bear it any longer, launched his first and only fair challenge against Mitsuha.

This is a fair challenge that doesn't rely on Blood Demon Arts or the legendary Supreme Realm, but simply uses martial arts to spar!

Chapter 104 Akaza just wants to give up

With his superb martial arts skills, Akaza successfully punched the woman who was always nagging beside him!

Although hitting a woman is immoral, Akaza felt incredibly relieved that day as he watched Mitsuha leave alone and forlorn.

Finally! He's finally free!

That wretched woman who came from who-knows-where! He finally got rid of her! From now on, he's officially starting his new life as a ghost!

A new ghost life completely under his own control!

Then, just a few hours later, Akaza, who was preparing to go on a killing spree and release the pent-up frustration of the past ten years, was struck by Mitsuha, who reappeared, and made him question his existence with a bamboo sword...

What's going on? How did this wretched woman suddenly become so strong?

It wasn't until much later, when Akaza rose from the lower moon to the upper moon, that he finally learned the truth about that night.

It is said that after being punched by him, Mitsuha, feeling guilty for her laxity, immediately returned to the Infinity Castle to practice swordsmanship with her brother, who was also an Upper Moon One, for several hours. Then she came back and beat him up...

In other words, this woman only practiced seriously for a few hours, and was able to hang him up and whip him after decades of hard work in martial arts.

This is impossible, absolutely impossible...

How could such an absurd thing happen in this world? How could such an extraordinary genius be born?!

How could the gods allow such a person to exist in the world?!

Mitsuha Tsugikuni...

You're a monster! Your existence only disrupts the natural order of things!

You, you...!