Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

Because overall she is fine, it's just that occasionally, her left thumb will suddenly become numb and unable to move.

Or you might suddenly feel dizzy, lightheaded, and unsteady...

Although these were just minor symptoms, not enough to affect Mitsuha's daily life, her retainers still invited doctors from the city to examine her several times, considering her current status as the head of the family.

Although the doctors ultimately couldn't find anything wrong with her health, they simply advised her to take good care of herself...

However, Mitsuha herself could clearly feel that there were some problems with her body.

After all, how could a normal person's body constantly experience numbness in their fingers or dizziness?

"Okay, take me there."

Without refusing, Mitsuha nodded slightly and followed the guards toward the south of the city.

"Butterfly?"

To be honest, before seeing it with her own eyes, Mitsuha never imagined that the renowned traveling doctor the guards were talking about was actually a woman who looked to be no more than twenty years old.

"Okay~ Next one~"

Mitsuha was deeply moved as she looked at the beautiful woman on the street, dressed in light, simple clothes, with a smile on her face, sitting in front of her stall taking pulses and asking questions of the townspeople who were queuing up.

In this day and age, it is extremely rare for a young woman to dare to practice medicine alone in a foreign land.

But amidst the shock, Mitsuha couldn't help but doubt the other party's medical skills.

Because they are too young.

At just over twenty years old, if this were anywhere else, he would probably still be an apprentice or assistant to senior doctors in a clinic, let alone have the qualifications to practice medicine.

Could he be some kind of con artist?

"Oh my, what a beautiful young lady! Are you here for a checkup too?"

Just as Mitsuha hesitated, the line in front of the woman's stall ended.

Having just found a moment of free time, she spotted Mitsuha standing not far away and waved to her with a smile.

Now that she had been noticed, Mitsuha no longer hesitated. She immediately stepped forward and sat down in the seat in front of the stall, with the guards standing on both sides behind her.

Unfazed by the spectacle, and showing no intention of questioning Mitsuha's identity, the woman simply smiled and asked:

"Hello, I am a doctor who has traveled from the Shikoku region. You can just call me Dr. Butterfly. Is there anything wrong with your body?"

Chapter 11... Oh well, let's just cut it...

Without responding to the doctor's enthusiastic words, Mitsuha remained silent and extended her wrist in front of her.

"Hmm, she seems to be a very shy girl..."

The doctor, who called herself Butterfly, didn't care about Mitsuha's indifferent attitude. She just smiled and joked, and then began to skillfully take Mitsuha's pulse.

"Hmm... there's nothing wrong with the pulse, it's just that the spleen and stomach aren't quite right."

Little sister, you should try to avoid worrying, relax, do more things that make you happy, and take good care of yourself.

Having quickly assessed Mitsuha's condition, Butterfly, still with that smiling expression, looked at her and asked:

"Besides that, do you feel any discomfort in your body?"

"To be honest, doctor, my young lady sometimes feels numbness in her fingers, and she also feels dizzy and so on..."

Before Mitsuha could speak, the guards behind her offered their explanations on her behalf.

"Numbness in the fingers, dizziness..."

Upon hearing this, Butterfly frowned immediately. Although the smile on her face did not change, the fingers pressing on Sanye's pulse unconsciously tightened a little.

"How often? How frequently do these symptoms occur?"

"Sometimes it happens once every few days, and sometimes it happens several times a day. It's not fixed."

Mitsuha answered truthfully.

"Besides that, are there any other symptoms?"

Her tone suddenly became quite serious, no longer as gentle and cheerful as before.

Mitsuha shook her head slightly. She looked down at her wrist, which had two red marks from the butterfly's touch, and asked, "..."

Do you know what illness I have?

Finally releasing Mitsuha's pulse, the smile on Butterfly's face gradually faded. She looked at the puzzled Mitsuha in front of her, her expression hesitant.

"Dr. Butterfly".

Just then, the guard behind Mitsuha stepped forward again and spoke on her behalf:

“My young lady has been suffering from this strange illness for quite some time now. We've had doctors from the city come to examine her before, but they couldn't find anything wrong with her…”

"If the doctor can cure my young lady, the nation will surely reward him handsomely."

"Wow~ This isn't about how much I'll thank you..."

Butterfly looked very troubled. Under the questioning gazes of the people in front of her, she suddenly raised her hand to hold her head, her fingers unconsciously scratching her hair, her face full of confusion.

"Ah! Okay!"

But after only a short while, Butterfly quickly recovered.

She quickly tidied her messy hair, then looked at Mitsuha in front of her again, and that reassuring smile returned to her face.

"Don't worry, little sister! I've already made some guesses about your strange illness. As the most skilled doctor in the four countries, I'm sure I have a way to cure you!"

It just so happens that I'm planning to stay in this city for a while longer. If you don't mind, you can come to this clinic I've temporarily rented anytime... Ah, of course! If it's inconvenient for you, I can also come to your residence to see you and deliver medicine..."

"No need, I came to find you."

Mitsuha interrupted the butterfly and immediately agreed.

With a keen intuition, she vaguely realized that the woman in front of her, named Butterfly, seemed to be hiding something about her illness.

But Mitsuha didn't care.

For her, it didn't matter if the butterfly couldn't be cured. As long as she could use this excuse to leave the cold and oppressive place of the country from time to time and get some fresh air, that was enough.

As for her strange illness...

It's just occasional numbness in my fingers and occasional dizziness, nothing serious. Even if it never gets cured, it's not a big deal...

"Take care! Remember to come for your treatment on time!"

After smilingly watching Mitsuha and the guards leave, Butterfly, who was sitting in front of the stall, immediately stopped smiling, raised her hand to scratch her head, and her face was full of frustration.

"Oh no! My fingers are numb, and I sometimes feel dizzy and lightheaded. Isn't this a sign of a stroke?"

Not only is this disease difficult to treat, but judging from the young lady's condition, it's highly likely that it's already past the early stage, which is basically a death sentence!

Butterfly, you idiot! What were you trying to prove? That young lady's identity was clearly not simple, why did you impulsively take on this task?!

"What if I accidentally kill her while treating her? What if those armed guards drag you out and behead you?!"

Frantically scratching her hair, Butterfly finally collapsed onto the table in front of her, her arms hanging limply, looking like a dying salted fish.

"Sigh, oh well, let's just try. After all, it's kind of pitiful to die so young..."

And so, from that day on, Mitsuha's life gained a doctor who called himself Butterfly.

Although she is young, her medical skills are truly superb.

Since she temporarily settled in the city, quite a few patients have come to her makeshift clinic every day, leaving the city's original doctors with no "business".

If Mitsuha hadn't secretly sent people to warn and appease these doctors, they probably would have already started sabotaging Butterfly behind her back.

This is normal; after all, taking away someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.

In this world, only a minority of doctors truly study medicine to heal the sick and save lives. Most doctors simply use their medical skills as a convenient means to make money.

True idealists are often a tiny minority; the majority of the rest are always driven by self-interest and calculation.

Mitsuha, who has been in the position of head of the family for over a year, is particularly aware of this.

"Speaking of which, the doctors in this city are all pretty nice people..."

In a small, separate room inside the makeshift clinic, Butterfly, who was performing acupuncture on Mitsuha's left arm, suddenly spoke up with these words.

Mitsuha, who had been resting with her eyes closed, snapped out of her reverie upon hearing this and asked curiously:

"Why do you say that?"

"Because so much time has passed, they haven't come looking for trouble with me yet!"

Butterfly inserted a silver needle under the skin of Mitsuha's left arm and counted on her fingers as she said:

"Mitsuba, you don't know this~ When I used to do free clinics in other towns, if I stayed for even a little bit longer, the local doctors would start looking for all sorts of ways to find fault with me!"

Things like hiring someone to fake illness to scam me, secretly soaking the herbs in my clinic in water in the middle of the night, or hiring thugs to cause trouble...

At their worst, they would even deliberately throw excrement at the entrance of my clinic!

This is absolutely intolerable! Those quacks! They don't even bother to learn proper medical skills; they can't cure many illnesses, but they're full of ways to rip people off!

Chapter 12 The Man with the Instant Noodle Hair

With a face full of anger, Butterfly stabbed another silver needle in. She took several deep breaths before regaining her usual smiling tone.

"So, compared to those unethical bastards I've encountered in the past, the morals of the doctors in this city, Mitsuha, are simply off the charts. They haven't bothered me for so long..."

"Who knows..."

Upon hearing this, Mitsuha unconsciously raised the corners of her mouth in a slight smile.

"Perhaps someone secretly stopped them?"

Hearing her seemingly pointed remark, Butterfly Acupuncturist's hands abruptly stopped. She looked up at the meaningful smile on Mitsuha's face, blinked, and then suddenly widened her eyes, saying:

"Did you do all of this, Mitsuha?!"

Mitsuha smiled without saying a word, but Butterfly already understood everything. She immediately clapped her hands and began to speak eloquently:

"Great! So that's why no one's been bothering me all this time. Turns out it was all because of you, Mitsuha... Tell me! How did you manage to do that?"

No, no, no! Let me guess first! To have such methods to keep those quack doctors so well-behaved, one must either be rich or powerful. Could it be…?

Mitsuha, are you actually related to the daimyo of this city? His daughter? His younger sister? You're so young, you can't be the older sister, can you?

"Why can't I be the daimyo?"

Mitsuha smiled and asked a question at the right moment. Looking at the shocked expression on Butterfly's face, a little bit of smugness had already appeared on her face.

At that moment, the oppressive aura that usually enveloped her seemed to dissipate considerably.

"No, no, no! That's impossible! How could a girl become a daimyo..."

Unaware of the subtle change in Mitsuha, Butterfly initially shook her head in denial, but after a moment's thought, she nodded repeatedly.

"Ah, but it seems that such situations can indeed occur under special circumstances. I heard of similar cases when I was practicing medicine in Kyushu... so~"

In a flash, she teleported to Mitsuha's side and sat down next to her, shoulder to shoulder. Butterfly held a piece of paper and a pen that she had pulled out from somewhere, and said in a high-pitched, serious voice:

"Respected head of the Mitsuba family, hello. Would you be willing to answer a few questions from your good friend, Dr. Butterfly?"

For example, how exactly did you, as a woman, rise to the position of daimyo? What were your feelings after becoming a daimyo?

And what was your mindset when you launched your assault on this seemingly impossible position?

Butterfly had intended to take this opportunity to learn more about Mitsuha, but she never expected that the moment she finished speaking, the expression on the girl's face would freeze instantly.

As if she had suddenly fallen from the clouds to the mortal world, the smile on Mitsuha's face gradually disappeared. She lowered her eyes, her face was quite gloomy, and the oppressive atmosphere that had previously dissipated once again swept over her whole body.

"I don't want to become a daimyo..."

She suddenly said in a low voice.

"……Eh?"

"I never wanted to become a daimyo, nor did I want to be the head of a family that succeeds to the throne. I never wanted to..."

"Eh? Um, Mitsuha..."

"Sorry, butterfly."

Just as the butterfly was at a loss, Mitsuba returned to "normal" on her own.