As she spoke, Mitsuba once again shifted her gaze to the samurai.
"Hey~ Mr. Samurai, can you hear me? I'm asking you a question, why did you suddenly stop answering?"
"Wh-what... what kind of people are you?!"
Trembling uncontrollably, barely suppressing the surging fear in his heart, the samurai looked up at Mitsuba before him and finally asked in a quivering voice.
This woman, and that white-haired man with colorful eyes beside her.
These two had suddenly appeared just now, then somehow cast some kind of sorcery that instantly made him kneel on the ground without any ability to resist, unable to even stand up.
Not only that, this woman could actually accurately recount the siblings' background, his transaction with the madam, and everything he had done before!
Not a single detail wrong!
It was as if... as if she had seen everything with her own eyes!
What a joke!
How could this be possible? Could these two people before him be demons?!
"I-I warn you! I am a samurai! My lord is a daimyo who governs the territories of several nearby provinces!
I don't care if you're demons or whatever you are, if you dare harm me, my lord, he-he definitely won't let you off!"
Under extreme terror, the samurai subconsciously issued a threat.
"Samurai? Threatening me?"
Looking at his trembling appearance, Mitsuba was immediately amused.
"What era is it still calling yourself a samurai? I used to be a daimyo myself, who do you think you are?"
"You...!"
"Alright, kneel back down. I didn't tell you to stand up."
With a wave of her hand, she made the samurai who had excitedly tried to stand up kneel back down. Mitsuba fiddled with the mandala flower in her hand while slowly speaking:
"Back to the main topic, Mr. Samurai. May I assume that you simply coveted that young girl's beauty, so you wanted to take advantage of her brother's absence to force the young girl to pleasure you.
But instead of stealing the chicken, you lost the rice—getting your eye poked out by the young girl instead. Then in your shame and anger, you decided to burn her alive.
That wasn't enough, you even planned to take out her brother in one fell swoop. Is that how it was?"
Facing Mitsuba's questioning, the samurai man simply kept his head down, not making a sound.
But this wasn't because he was being tough; he was already so terrified he didn't know what to say.
He would die! He would definitely die!
This demon woman would definitely kill him!
"Please, don't pretend to be deaf, okay? I never said I would definitely kill you."
Looking at the samurai man's appearance, Mitsuba sighed helplessly.
"For humans who aren't Demon Slayers, I'm still very reasonable, and I absolutely don't harm good people by mistake.
So, as long as you can give me a reason that convinces me, Mr. Samurai, I guarantee you can leave safely."
"R-really?!"
The one who responded to Mitsuba wasn't the samurai, but the madam whom she was sitting on.
Yes, Mitsuba wasn't sitting on a normal chair at the moment.
Beneath her, that madam was kneeling on both knees, hands propped on the mud ground covered with thin snow, using her own flesh as a seat for Mitsuba.
Hearing Mitsuba's words just now, the madam who had been trembling uncontrollably and biting her teeth to endure immediately showed a delighted expression and shouted impatiently:
"Good lady! I-I'm a good person! I'm different from him! I've never killed anyone! I beg you to let me go..."
"Shut up."
Mitsuba slapped the madam's face with a crisp sound.
"Daring to lie even when death is imminent. Just in the past twenty-plus years, the number of girls who died from your exploitation in that courtesan house of yours is so many I can hardly count.
More lives stained on your hands than mine, and you still have the face to call yourself a good person?
Pah, face full of powder makeup, hitting you even dirties my hands."
"That's not right, Holy Maiden. Considering your appetite over the past two hundred years, the number of lives on your hands should still be more than hers."
Doma beside her suddenly spoke, solemnly correcting her.
To this, Mitsuba simply explained:
"Knight Doma, I've told you many times before—Demon Slayers' lives don't count as lives in my eyes, and they shouldn't in yours either. Understood?"
Saying this, Mitsuba looked again at the samurai who was also kneeling on the ground:
"Mr. Samurai, have you thought about how to convince me? If you truly have nothing to say, I'll have to let that child make his move, you know?"
Mitsuba's gaze glanced at the Gyutaro siblings lying in a pool of blood not far away.
Though the siblings seemed like they were about to die, they were actually still alive and well.
Mitsuba had used her Blood Demon Art to forcibly create karma to temporarily sustain their lives. As long as her domain remained open, these two siblings absolutely could not die.
If she didn't will it, even the gods couldn't snatch people from her hands.
"I have! I have!"
Perhaps truly sensing the approaching death, the samurai who had been trying to threaten Mitsuba just moments ago was finally willing to act according to reason.
He knelt forward, crawling all the way to Mitsuba's feet, looking up at her, and defended himself in a trembling voice:
"I-I am a samurai. According to shogunate law, for those lowly commoners who offend me, I have the right to dispose of them as I please!
My lord, look! My eye! That little wretch poked out my eye! So I want her life, that's very reasonable, right?!"
"That is indeed true."
Hearing this, Mitsuba nodded.
"The current shogunate does indeed have this law. According to the rules of the human world, your handling of that young girl was indeed reasonable and fair. However..."
The tone suddenly shifted. Just as the samurai rejoiced that he could survive, Mitsuba looked at him meaningfully and asked:
"What about her brother? Mr. Samurai, wanting that young girl's life is one thing, but why not spare her brother either?
I don't recall any shogunate law that allows you to exterminate their entire family."
"I, this..."
The samurai was stunned upon hearing this, then hurriedly shouted:
"Th-this is because that little beast will definitely come to retaliate against me later!
Everyone in the entertainment district knows this little beast treasures his sister like a jewel! If he knew I killed his sister, he would definitely come to retaliate against me!
My lord! I am-I am eliminating future troubles! I am acting in self-defense, my lord!"
"Mr. Samurai, I've already said before—don't give me that 'you think I think' nonsense. We must act according to reason when doing things..."
"Reason, reason... Yes! Yes! My lord, you may not know, but this little beast is actually quite brutal!
When collecting debts for people on ordinary days, he's very heavy-handed, always injuring and crippling people..."
"Mr. Samurai, I'll repeat once more—please don't bring up these irrelevant topics.
The shogunate has no law stating you can judge others. Even for extremely evil criminals, you don't have the qualifications to do so. That is the power of the magistrate's office..."
[Then what gives you the right to judge me here?!]
Rejected by Mitsuba again and again, the samurai was nearly breaking down.
But this question in his heart—he absolutely didn't dare to ask it out loud.
Because he knew very well that this female demon before him was much stronger than him. If he showed even the slightest hint of defiance, she would definitely... wait!
Stronger... than him?
He thought of it!
____________________
This story has ended in chapter 315, you can read on patreon.com/dzeref887 for faster access or wait until August to read on WebNovel until the story ends.