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"Miss Tamayo, Miss Butterfly."
After a silence that wasn't particularly long, Yoriichi slowly raised his head, looking again at Tamayo and Butterfly before him, and said seriously:
"Thank you for your help and companionship these past few days. Previously, I had seriously considered more than once whether to introduce you both to Master.
But thinking about it now, this is ultimately still somewhat inappropriate...
Not only because the Demon Slayer Corps has now been destroyed, more importantly, the enemy's strength has exceeded my expectations. I don't have absolute confidence that I can protect your safety during battle.
To continue burdening you both with such risks, I truly feel guilty.
So, let us part ways here..."
His eyelids lowered, Yoriichi spoke, forcing a slight smile with difficulty toward the two people before him.
"What follows—whether it's Muzan, Mitsuba, or Elder Brother—I will handle alone, in my own way. I'm sorry..."
"Mr. Yoriichi..."
As his words fell, Yoriichi gave the two no chance to stop him, leaping out of the courtyard in one bound and disappearing into the bamboo forest in a few steps.
As if having anticipated this outcome, Tamayo said nothing. She simply stood in place watching Yoriichi's departing figure, then turned her gaze to Butterfly beside her.
"Then what about you, Doctor Butterfly? What do you plan to do now?"
"I..."
Butterfly heard this and lowered her head in thought.
Honestly, even now, she still had a faint sense of unreality about everything she had experienced these past few days.
Everything seemed like a dream.
First meeting Elder Brother Yoriichi, whom she had only heard about from Mitsuba's mouth, whose strength was simply inhuman.
Then meeting Tamayo, whose appearance was no different from humans but who neither ate nor drank and absolutely could not touch sunlight.
And hearing from these two that Mitsuba, who should have died, had also become a demon...
Demon Hunters, demons, the Demon King, Blood Demon Art...
All of this strongly impacted Butterfly's understanding of the world.
So the world was actually this colorful?
"I plan to follow what I said before—find a quiet place and conduct my research. Would you like to come too?"
During Butterfly's silence, Tamayo actively extended an invitation.
Regarding how to kill Muzan in the future, Tamayo had discussed extensively with Yoriichi these past few days.
Unlike Yoriichi, whose own strength was formidable, Tamayo had never agreed with confronting the current Muzan head-on.
In her view, this was simply unrealistic.
If she had once thought of relying on Demon Hunters' strength to defeat Muzan,
then after witnessing Tsugikuni Mitsuba's Blood Demon Art with her own eyes, Tamayo had completely abandoned this idea.
Impossible.
Humans absolutely could not defeat such an opponent.
To thoroughly kill Muzan, one must first defeat Tsugikuni Mitsuba, and to defeat Tsugikuni Mitsuba, one could only rely on... the power of demons.
Yes, this was the only method Tamayo could think of.
Tsugikuni Mitsuba was an opponent that only demons could defeat.
After all, although her Blood Demon Art was incredibly powerful, it was only effective against humans and completely ineffective against demons.
As long as one was a demon, she couldn't see their karma, couldn't predict or control their death.
Therefore, her own kind were her greatest weakness.
Of course, Tamayo didn't believe she could catch up to Mitsuba's exceptional demon talent in raw strength.
This was impossible—she knew her own limitations well.
The only means she could use was to maximize the one area where she surpassed Mitsuba: medical expertise.
Yes, Tamayo planned to conduct research.
Just like the mysterious doctor five hundred years ago who had used medicinal combinations to transform Muzan from human to demon,
Tamayo felt she might also be able to research a drug that could reverse demons back into humans.
As long as she could develop this drug and find a way to make Muzan or Tsugikuni Mitsuba consume it, no matter how powerful these two were or how terrifying their Blood Demon Arts, they would eventually have to obediently revert to ordinary humans!
Yes, this was the only method Tamayo could think of that might truly defeat and kill both Muzan and Tsugikuni Mitsuba.
And to achieve this goal as quickly as possible, she felt she might also need the assistance of Butterfly, whose medical skills were equally extraordinary.
Although Butterfly had clearly shown a stance leaning toward Mitsuba, she still wanted to try.
After all, having one more clever brain to help with research was better than researching alone...
"Miss Tamayo."
However, facing Tamayo's active invitation, Butterfly didn't immediately give an answer.
After a long silence, she turned to Tamayo and suddenly asked:
"I want to confirm once more—the information you mentioned before about the Blue Spider Lily, is it true?"
"I cannot be completely certain."
Vaguely guessing her purpose in asking this, Tamayo still answered seriously:
"After all, all information about the Blue Spider Lily I heard from Muzan's mouth.
Including that obtaining the Blue Spider Lily can make demons fully evolve and no longer fear sunlight—all of these were solely his claims, which I cannot verify...
But what I can confirm is that Muzan has indeed been searching for this flower's whereabouts for the past several hundred years."
"I see... this is enough."
A slight smile suddenly appeared on her face. Butterfly tightened the medicine basket on her back, looked at Tamayo, and seriously expressed her refusal.
"I'm sorry, Miss Tamayo, I still don't wish to participate in your research.
I have my own plans. I've decided to search for the Blue Spider Lily myself, or cultivate it with my own hands."
"Doctor Butterfly, you..."
"Moreover, I also very much want to find Mitsuba... Thank you for sharing with me and Mr. Yoriichi these past few days. I'm very sorry, let us also part ways here..."
As her words fell, Butterfly didn't wait for Tamayo to stop her either, turning and leaving on her own.
Thus, these three people who had by chance gathered together seemed to have each made different choices in facing the problem of demons...