"I have not."
Completely unaware of what Muzan was currently thinking as she sat opposite him, Kokushibo—focused on the chessboard—asked proactively:
"Lord Muzan, has Mitsuba done something strange recently?"
"Not particularly."
Instantly returning to her senses upon hearing this, Muzan explained:
"It's just that some days ago, Mitsuba suddenly noticed that certain humans had been searching everywhere for information about the Blue Spider Lily. She felt something was amiss and applied to investigate on her own initiative.
Recently, I've also noticed that her position has been moving back and forth between two fixed locations. This situation has persisted for several days now..."
As the Demon King, Muzan possessed the ability to read the thoughts of all demons within her field of vision.
And for demons outside her field of vision, she could roughly sense their locations.
Instantly realizing what Muzan meant to express, Kokushibo nodded upon hearing this.
"In that case, I shall go see what she has been doing lately.
It just so happens that Mitsuba and I haven't seen each other for over a decade..."
"..."
Late at night, after leaving the Butterfly Clinic, Mitsuba traveled at extremely high speed and quickly arrived at the red-light district of the neighboring town.
"Master Yoriichi! Over here!"
Inside the familiar courtesan house, the geisha named Amei had been waiting in the corner for quite some time. The moment she saw Mitsuba wearing Yoriichi's face, she hurriedly came to greet her.
"Amei, where is that wealthy merchant now?"
"He is currently in a room upstairs. I shall take you up immediately, Master Yoriichi."
"Very well."
Leading Mitsuba quickly upstairs, Amei spoke as she walked:
"I have been keeping watch for you this whole time, Master Yoriichi. Since that wealthy merchant entered the room, no other man has entered it.
Presumably, the guest he arranged to meet this time has not yet arrived. If you wish to ask him for money, now would be the best opportunity."
"Understood. Thank you, Amei."
"Master Yoriichi need not be so courteous... This is the place."
As they spoke, the two finally stopped before a secluded room in the corner of the second floor.
After performing a bow, Amei departed on her own initiative, leaving the remaining time entirely to Mitsuba.
Her pupils transforming into the shape of mandala flowers, Mitsuba immediately pushed open the door and entered.
However, she who had believed all secrets would be revealed tonight was greatly disappointed the moment she clearly saw the mysterious wealthy merchant inside the room.
Because the man sitting in this room was truly just an ordinary, wealthy merchant.
He had no special background, no special abilities, had not come into contact with anything supernatural, and even his appearance was utterly unremarkable...
Among the numerous causal threads on him, the only useful one Mitsuba could see was:
[Two months ago, accepted a heavy commission from a wealthy merchant friend in the Kanto region, deciding to entrust someone to find a mysterious flower called the Blue Spider Lily for this friend.]
In other words, this mysterious wealthy merchant she had been pursuing was actually just a middleman paid to do a job...
This person had no idea what the Blue Spider Lily meant; he was simply searching everywhere for this flower because he had accepted someone else's money.
This was truly...
"Um, young master, have you entered the wrong room?"
Inside the room, the wealthy merchant looked at Mitsuba—who had suddenly opened the door and entered, then stared at him with a face full of disappointment—somewhat fearfully and tentatively asked.
[Well, fine. Although I didn't reach my goal in one step, I've still made some progress. Take it slowly...]
"No, I have not entered the wrong room."
Setting aside her regretful mood, Mitsuba immediately put on a smile, closed the door, and approached him in a familiar manner:
"Sir, I heard from a friend of mine that you have recently been searching for a flower called the Blue Spider Lily?
Coincidentally, I happen to possess some information related to it..."
"..."
"Master Yoriichi, how did it go?"
An hour later, Amei finally saw Mitsuba—who had finished her conversation with the wealthy merchant—outside the courtesan house.
"Mm, we have reached an agreement."
Looking at the somewhat nervous geisha before her, Mitsuba smiled and nodded.
"We have arranged that within one or two months at most, he will bring money to repay me.
We shall meet here again at that time. I will likely need to trouble you to notify me once more then, Amei."
Although she had not obtained the intelligence she truly wanted, from that wealthy merchant's mouth, Mitsuba still learned quite a bit of useful information.
The most important point among these was that those who had accepted the commission to search for the Blue Spider Lily were actually not limited to him alone.
According to what this wealthy merchant had heard these past two months, it seemed people everywhere in the country were currently searching for this mysterious flower.
Even that friend who had commissioned him seemed to have received a related commission from someone else, then turned around to commission him in turn...
Layer upon layer like this, even these merchants themselves did not know who was hidden at the very end—the one who truly wanted to find this Blue Spider Lily...
But what could be determined was that this mysterious person either possessed extraordinary wealth or extraordinary power; otherwise, they could absolutely not create such a massive spectacle.
Secondly... this mysterious person seemed to truly need the Blue Spider Lily?
In a daze, Mitsuba recalled what Lord Muzan had once told her about how he initially transformed from human to demon.
An unknown mysterious physician, some strange and unknown medicinal formulas.
And that mysterious effect which supposedly could make one's body incredibly strong if one persisted in taking the medicine for a period of time...
In fact, Lord Muzan did indeed later obtain a physique far surpassing ordinary humans.
But because he lacked the crucial Blue Spider Lily from the formula, he also became a demon who could not see sunlight and could only survive by devouring humans...
So, could there possibly be...
That somewhere in this world, another unknown mysterious physician had, by some coincidence, concocted a similar formula, then transformed some dying powerful figure into a second Demon King?
And this powerful figure, unwilling to resign himself to becoming a monster who could only survive on the flesh and blood of others, began using his own power to command people everywhere to search for the legendary Blue Spider Lily?
Hmm... Although this possibility was low, it could not be said to be completely impossible.
Of course, there was another possibility—that all of this was a trap.
There was no second Demon King, no mysterious person searching for the Blue Spider Lily.
Behind all these commissions, it was actually the Demon Slayer Corps who had set this up.
Were they deliberately using the Blue Spider Lily as bait, wanting to attract Lord Muzan to appear, then slay him?
Mitsuba felt that this possibility was probably the greatest.
Only one point she could not understand: How did the Demon Slayer Corps know that Lord Muzan had been searching for the Blue Spider Lily?
Although the Blue Spider Lily was no secret among demons.
But like Lord Muzan's name, all those low-ranking demons lacked the ability to leak this intelligence; otherwise, they would instantly explode and die.
So, assuming all of this was a trap set by the Demon Slayer Corps, from where exactly did they learn this intelligence?
And why were they so certain that it was true?
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