"But just now, didn't you let that... owl swordsman go?"
Tamayo somewhat awkwardly called out the nickname Mitsuba had given to that young swordsman.
Honestly, it was strangely fitting.
"I don't understand. Since you view Demon Hunters as enemies, why did you let him go?"
"Because he was a good person."
Mitsuba looked at her with an expression of "why would you ask such a question," and replied matter-of-factly:
"Miss Tamayo, didn't you see how desperately he protected us just now? Could you really strike down someone who risked their life to protect you?
How heartbreaking... Could it be that you are naturally the type of person who doesn't repay kindness, or even bites the hand that feeds you?"
Questioning sentence by sentence, Mitsuba narrowed her eyes, revealing a meaningful smile on her face.
How could Tamayo not hear the implications in Mitsuba's words? She was almost choked with anger again.
Tsugikuni Mitsuba—this person truly never let go of any opportunity to attack her heart.
As long as there was a chance, she would definitely use these harsh words to stab fiercely at her heart.
Tamayo certainly knew that all of this was Mitsuba's revenge for that night when she deliberately allowed Demon Hunters to attack her while she was unconscious.
Therefore, regarding Mitsuba's mockery, Tamayo never refuted it, only silently endured.
"I was simply curious about your reasons for doing this, nothing more."
"My reasons are exactly what I just said. That owl swordsman was a warm-hearted good person who enthusiastically protected me, so I was quite willing to slightly adjust my standards for him and let him live. It's that simple."
"Your standards are truly complex and ever-changing."
As if finally seizing an opportunity, Tamayo similarly learned from Mitsuba's tone and mockingly retorted without mercy.
"Oh—"
As if her cat-like little resistance had sparked interest, Mitsuba immediately revealed a smiling expression and leaned in again.
"Miss Tamayo, are you that eager to put shackles on me?
Rules have always been used to restrict others, not to restrict oneself. How could you not understand such a simple principle?
My rules—naturally, I say what I want to say, and do what I want to do.
If you feel uncomfortable in your heart, you can completely make your own rules, can't you?"
Appreciating the delicious expression of defeat on Tamayo's face, Mitsuba laughed lightly like this, then suddenly changed the subject again.
"Alright, just joking. As the former head of the Tsugikuni household, I naturally know the price of arbitrarily breaking one's own rules.
I guarantee to you that this time I only decided to let him go because that child was cute.
Next time if I encounter other Demon Hunters, I will definitely eradicate them completely, kill them thoroughly, and absolutely not disappoint you. Is that acceptable?"
"How you do things is your business. It has nothing to do with me."
Choked into speechlessness by Mitsuba once again, Tamayo, who had lost in verbal sparring once more, took a deep breath to calm herself and walked forward on her own.
"Alright, didn't you want to go to Nagasaki? Let's go quickly."
"Yes~"
"..."
On the other side, Michikatsu returned to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters from the Tsugikuni household.
As soon as he returned, before he even had time to find Yoriichi to explain Mitsuba's situation, he heard shocking news.
The cause of those marked Demon Slayers' sudden deaths had been found.
It wasn't that their bodies had any problems, nor that they were attacked by some mysterious Blood Demon Art... but lifespan.
Those marked Demon Slayers who passed away in their sleep were without exception "at the end of their lifespan."
They had reached their lifespan limit of twenty-five years old.
...Twenty-five years old?
Demon Slayer Corps swordsmen were usually either off on missions here or there. They rarely had opportunities to gather together, let alone celebrate each other's birthdays.
Therefore, at first, completely no one had thought in this direction.
It wasn't until a physician who was collecting the remains of deceased marked Demon Slayers uniformly asked and recorded their information that this detail was suddenly noticed.
Among the marked Demon Slayers who had died so far, all those whose specific birth dates could be confirmed were exactly twenty-five years old, and all had died on the very night they turned twenty-five.
Why twenty-five years old?
No one could figure out this question.
But the current situation was enough to make the Demon Hunters understand that the gift of the Demon Slayer Mark was not without cost.
While Demon Hunters obtained the powerful strength it brought, their own lifespans would also be greatly compressed to twenty-five years.
Once this limit was reached, they would die directly.
This shocking news instantly caused a huge uproar within the Demon Slayer Corps.
And among them, Michikatsu was naturally the one most deeply affected.
To join the Demon Slayer Corps, he had hidden his identity, abandoned his wife and child, thrown aside his younger sister, given up his family...
He had paid such a tremendous sacrifice, trained so hard—not because he had any strong sense of justice in his heart, nor because he had any intense hatred toward demons.
All of this was simply because he wanted to chase after Yoriichi.
He wanted to possess power as strong as Yoriichi's, to have that miraculous swordsmanship, and ultimately become a true heaven's chosen son like Yoriichi!
Michikatsu had always been a very hardworking person.
Once he set his goal, he could strive forward in that direction day after day for decades, never slacking off.
But... why?
Clearly, through such arduous efforts, having given up so many things, he had finally reached this step, finally become the person closest to Yoriichi in this world.
But now you're telling me that everything I've obtained requires paying such a heavy price?
Twenty-five years old, twenty-five years old...
He was already almost twenty-three years old now.
He no longer had a future.
With only two or three short years of life left, he no longer had any time to chase after Yoriichi through continuous training.
This blow was devastating to Michikatsu.
Everything was over.
All his efforts over so many years had now turned to nothing...
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