"I think that if Mr. Tanjuro picked up this Nichirin Sword… you could kill a demon like me quite easily."
Soma glanced at Tanjuro Kamado, then lowered his eyes again, gently running his fingers along the edge of the blade.
After a moment, he lifted the sword.
Holding it by the blade itself, he extended the hilt toward Tanjuro.
"Go on, Mr. Tanjuro," he said calmly. "Take a look. Isn't this a perfect blade for cutting off my head?"
Tanjuro stared at the sword being offered to him.
Then at the demon holding it out so casually.
His frail body—so thin it looked ready to collapse at any moment—suddenly began to tremble.
This demon was openly handing him the very weapon that could kill him.
Which meant he had clearly prepared for this moment.
He wasn't afraid of dying.
But even if Tanjuro killed him…
How would he protect his family?
How would he protect his wife?
His children?
Seeing that the old man didn't take the sword, Soma seemed mildly bored. He pinched the blade between his fingers and casually held it over the campfire.
The flames licked at the steel.
And at his hand.
The fire slowly roasted his skin.
Anyone could clearly see it—his hand turning red, then blistering, then charring under the heat. The flesh bubbled and split, and the faint smell of burnt meat drifted through the cave.
Tanjuro's eyelid twitched.
Before he could react, someone rushed forward.
Kanao Tsuyuri grabbed Soma's wrist and yanked his hand out of the flames.
Her eyes were red, wide with anger and distress.
She looked almost frightening like that.
Soma only chuckled softly and patted her head.
Then he sat back down by the fire, speaking calmly.
"All demons crave human flesh. There are no exceptions."
"But in this world… surely there must be demons who don't want to eat humans, right?"
As he spoke, he turned his hand over and held it out to Kanao.
"It's fine, Kanao. Look."
"It was only burned by the fire. See? It's already healing."
The hand that had just been charred black was already recovering.
Within seconds, the blisters vanished, the burnt flesh knitting itself back together as if nothing had happened.
Kanao's eyes remained red.
She held his large hand carefully in her small ones, inspecting it from every angle.
Then, awkwardly, she began blowing on it.
As if that childish gesture might somehow ease the pain from the burns.
Tanjuro lowered his gaze.
"This child clearly cares about you very much," he said quietly. "Could you really bring yourself to eat her?"
Soma looked down at Kanao for a moment.
"That's why," he said softly, "I want to be a demon who doesn't crave humans."
"But…"
"It's very hard."
He lifted his head and looked at Tanjuro.
"My stomach is always hungry. Terribly hungry."
"Do you know what that feels like?"
Tanjuro turned his head away.
Outside the cave, he could see Tanjiro Kamado stumbling through the deep snow, struggling toward them step by step.
He didn't care whether this demon was hungry or not.
And he certainly didn't believe the demon wouldn't eat the girl who adored him.
Soma didn't truly expect Tanjuro to understand the torment of that hunger anyway.
That pain could only be endured alone.
Anyone who hadn't experienced it would never understand even a fraction of it.
Speaking about it would only sound ridiculous.
So he simply poured himself another cup of sake and drank it quietly.
Then he sighed.
"For humans, alcohol can drown sorrow. But for demons… it does absolutely nothing."
As he spoke, he slid the untouched cup of sake back toward Tanjuro.
But his gaze drifted outside the cave, toward the approaching boy.
"You're about to die," Soma said calmly.
"There must be people you can't bear to leave behind."
"It's frustrating, isn't it?"
"But there's nothing you can do."
"That's just how humans are."
He let out a quiet sigh.
"Humans get sick."
"They grow old."
"They grow weak."
"No matter how strong someone once was… illness can turn them into nothing."
"No matter how powerful you are, you're still made of flesh and blood."
Tanjuro's dim eyes grew even darker.
After a moment of hesitation, he finally reached out and took the cup.
"Don't worry," Soma said with a smile. "There's no poison."
"You don't have long to live anyway. Why would I bother?"
Tanjuro paused.
Then slowly raised the cup and took a sip.
The sharp, burning taste of the alcohol slid down his throat—
And for a brief moment, it felt as if a spark of life returned to the old man's fading body.
"Speak," said Tanjuro Kamado quietly. "What exactly do you want?"
At that moment, he wasn't looking at the demon.
His gaze remained fixed on the cave entrance, where his son was slowly making his way through the snow toward them. It was as if he wanted to carve every detail of the boy's face into his memory—so that even after death, he would never forget it.
"I'm looking for a flower," said Soma.
"A flower that blooms only during the daytime."
"It's called the Blue Spider Lily."
He leaned forward slightly, crimson eyes locked onto Tanjuro's face.
For a long time now, he had sent Kanao Tsuyuri searching for it.
But they hadn't found it anywhere.
He had tasted countless flowers.
All kinds.
None of them were the one he was looking for.
Beside him, Kanao also looked toward Tanjuro with wide, curious eyes.
Tanjuro frowned and thought for a long time.
Finally, he slowly shook his head.
"I don't know any flower called the Blue Spider Lily."
His voice carried no emotion. It was quiet and steady.
Soma leaned forward slightly, his crimson eyes staring straight into the old man's face.
But no matter how carefully he watched, he couldn't tell whether Tanjuro was lying.
"You truly… don't know?"
His eyes narrowed slightly.
Tanjuro fell silent again, thinking carefully.
After a while, he shook his head once more.
"I don't."
"Then have you ever seen a flower… that seemed unusual?"
Tanjuro lifted his eyes toward the demon.
He didn't understand why this creature cared so much about a single flower.
But with a demon standing before him, threatening the safety of his family…
He was afraid.
Terribly afraid.
If he could, he would have killed the demon already to eliminate the danger forever.
But he didn't dare.
Killing this demon might be easy.
Yet if the demon was so fearless about being killed… then surely it had prepared something in advance.
Some kind of safeguard.
Some kind of trap.
They were both adults—not naive children.
Tanjuro wasn't foolish enough to ignore that possibility.
He didn't dare gamble.
And he didn't want to gamble.
All he wanted was to send this demon away.
All he wanted was for it to leave his family alone.
At this moment, the way he looked at Soma even carried a faint trace of pleading.
"Think carefully," Soma said quietly.
He glanced outside again at the boy approaching through the snow.
"It's just a flower."
"How could a flower possibly be more important than your family?"
"More important than the people you're trying to protect?"
Tanjuro closed his eyes in pain.
He truly didn't know anything about a Blue Spider Lily.
But the demon before him clearly didn't believe that.
"A… special flower…"
Tanjuro forced himself to think harder.
Then suddenly, he remembered something.
Once, his wife had picked a flower he had never seen before.
"During the time when spring turns into summer," he said slowly, "there's a flower that blooms for only a very short time."
"My wife, Kie Kamado, once gathered some of them."
"Where?" Soma suddenly stood up, staring at him intensely.
"Where did she find them?"
Tanjuro looked directly into the demon's crimson eyes, now only inches away.
"Will you spare my family?"
Soma answered honestly. "I never intended to harm them."
Tanjuro stared at him.
But he couldn't see any trace of lies in the demon's eyes.
Even so…
That didn't mean he believed him.
Who would believe a demon?
Soma seemed to understand what he was thinking.
"I know you won't trust me," he said calmly.
"But you're dying."
"You have no other options."
"You have no choice but to believe me."
He looked straight at Tanjuro Kamado.
"Unless… you kill me."
"But if you do," Soma continued calmly, "it won't be long before another demon comes."
His voice was soft.
Yet the crimson glow in his eyes carried a chilling cruelty.
"And when that demon arrives… it will walk into your home in the dead of night."
"It will destroy everything you're trying to protect."
This time, he wasn't lying.
In the future, Muzan Kibutsuji would indeed come here.
He would slaughter the entire Kamado family.
Only Tanjiro Kamado would survive by sheer luck.
And Nezuko Kamado would become a demon.
"Ha…"
Tanjuro's breathing suddenly grew uneven.
His fist clenched tightly… then slowly loosened again.
What could he do?
What could a dying man possibly do?
In the end, he could only let out a weary sigh.
"I don't know the exact location of the flower," he said slowly.
"I only remember that it was the day we went to pay respects to our ancestors."
"My wife had just returned from the family graveyard."
"It seemed to grow beside the grave of the ancestor our family has guarded for generations…"
"…the grave of Yoriichi Tsugikuni."
Soma's crimson gaze immediately shifted toward Kanao Tsuyuri.
Kanao looked confused.
She had gathered flowers from that graveyard many times.
Every single one she saw.
There was no way she could have missed any flower growing there.
Soma trusted her completely.
Which meant the reason she hadn't found it… could only be because the timing was wrong.
"Spring turning into summer…"
"A flower that blooms only at a specific time…"
He muttered to himself.
Then suddenly—
He burst into laughter.
"No wonder."
"No wonder I searched for so long."
"No wonder even knowing the location didn't help."
He laughed loudly, unable to hide his excitement.
No wonder Muzan Kibutsuji had spent centuries searching in vain.
A flower that bloomed only during the day.
A flower that appeared only at a specific time.
Perhaps a flower that didn't even exist anywhere else in the world.
How could Muzan ever have found something like that?
Soma laughed again and casually clapped Tanjuro on the shoulder.
But as he laughed…
His laughter slowly faded.
He fell silent and looked at the old man.
Tanjuro was staring at him with eyes full of pleading.
As if Soma truly were the monster who would harm his family at any moment.
Of course.
From a human's perspective—
He was a demon.
And more importantly…
He truly was a demon.
Even if he had never once intended to hurt the Kamado family, no one would believe him.
Who would ever trust a demon?
"Heh…"
Soma chuckled quietly.
Looking at the desperate plea in Tanjuro's eyes, he said softly,
"I won't harm your family."
The old man still looked unconvinced.
Soma lowered his gaze.
"Believe it or not… what difference does it make to you now?"
"You're dying."
"You can only trust me."
"Trust a demon you will never truly believe."
"You don't have a choice."
"You never had a choice."
His voice was quiet.
It sounded as though he was speaking to Tanjuro—
But perhaps… he was also speaking to himself.
...
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin