"R-right! Because I'm stronger than him!"
As if suddenly enlightened, the samurai immediately grabbed Mitsuba's leg and shouted with wild joy:
"My lord, think about it— isn't this world just like this? The strong prey on the weak, the strong conquer the weak— isn't this also the truth of this world!
Because I'm stronger than him! Because my blade is harder than his! So I can kill him! Take his life! This is very reasonable, right?!"
"Oh my~ I never expected you could think of defending yourself from this angle..."
Surprised by the samurai's words, Mitsuba first paused, then a brilliant smile bloomed on her face.
"That's right—the strong preying on the weak is natural and right, this is the most universal truth in this world.
Very well, you've convinced me. I personally don't intend to kill you anymore. Hurry and get up..."
"Thank you, my lord! Thank you, my lord!"
Hurriedly kowtowing in gratitude, the samurai quickly stood up.
[Wonderful! I survived! I finally survived from this female demon's hands!]
[Monster! Just you wait!]
[When I return, I'll report everything about you to my lord! I'll have my lord dispatch an army to surround and annihilate you!]
[When that time comes, all the humiliation you put me through tonight! I'll return it all to you doubled! I'll make you serve me as a slave and maidservant...]
"However..."
Just as the samurai was filled with joy preparing to run away, behind him, Mitsuba suddenly spoke again.
"According to your reasoning, Mr. Samurai— if this little one is stronger than you, can he also arbitrarily take your life?"
As her words fell, the samurai suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
Before he could react, he saw Mitsuba leisurely speak again:
"Go, little one. Since Mr. Samurai has already explained the reasoning to you clearly, then follow this rule and settle your grievances.
The strong preying on the weak is natural and right— since this is the rule Mr. Samurai himself stated, I believe the gods will certainly forgive you for the sin of killing him."
"Wait, my lord! I... ugh!"
A flash of blade light. The samurai had just turned around wanting to say something when he felt his vision spin wildly.
As heaven and earth inverted, he seemed to see his own body... that headless corpse.
Before everything went completely dark, the last thing he saw was Gyutaro—finally released from Mitsuba's restrictions, leaping up with red eyes roaring, using the sickle in his hands to cut apart his body slash by slash.
The samurai ultimately couldn't escape.
This was a natural result, because Mitsuba never intended to let him go from the very beginning.
She was wicked. She had no human morality, no human conscience.
So, for this human she despised, she wanted to trample him thoroughly first, crush his self-righteous arrogance bit by bit, and finally let him be completely crushed by those he looked down upon in that false hope.
Only such a result would bring physical and mental delight.
"Holy Maiden is truly wicked~"
Having seen through Mitsuba's intentions from the very beginning, Doma simply propped his chin on his hand, crouching nearby and watching with great interest as Gyutaro madly outputted his rage on the samurai's headless corpse.
"Clearly wanting to kill him from the start, yet deliberately giving him that bit of false hope, playing with him repeatedly before finally allowing him to die—this is truly too wicked~"
"Can't help it~ Who made me a kind-hearted demon, naturally loving to punish these evil people?"
Hearing this, Mitsuba simply smiled and spread her hands, completely unbothered by Doma's teasing.
"Wow~ Holy Maiden can say such lies with a straight face, so amazing!"
"Appropriate lying is a necessary skill for surviving in this society, Knight Doma.
Although people always say they want to be honest people, in over two hundred years of life, I've never seen anyone who truly never lies.
So don't feel guilty about telling lies, because this is something everyone does."
Saying this, Mitsuba finally stood up from the back of the madam beneath her.
She casually tossed the mandala flower in her hand beside Ume—who had been burned into charcoal but still had her last breath remaining—then shouted loudly to Gyutaro who was still angrily whipping the samurai's corpse:
"Little one, don't forget about this madam either~
Also, when you take your sister to find a doctor later, remember to bring the flower I placed there. It can preserve her last breath for one hour. Bye bye~"
After speaking, Mitsuba turned to leave.
"Eh~ Holy Maiden isn't going to heal those two children?"
Doma quickly caught up, asking curiously.
"Can't do it. Most of the money I earn is taken by that lord for research, so I'm actually quite poor.
And that little girl was burned to that state—she definitely can't be healed. Just leave some time for the siblings to say their goodbyes..."
"No, I meant Holy Maiden your Blood Demon Art. You should be able to do this kind of thing, right?"
"That's even more impossible. My Blood Demon Art only works within my domain. Outside my domain, they'll still die if they're supposed to die.
Moreover, if you save someone, you have to take responsibility for them. Helping them get revenge is no problem for me.
But having me take responsibility for those two children from now on—this is a bit difficult for me.
Just managing Hakuji that child is already giving me enough headaches. I don't want to take on this kind of trouble..."
Mitsuba waved her hand.
Thud!
But before she and Doma could walk a few steps, they suddenly heard a dull sound from behind.
"Oh my..."
The two subconsciously turned back to look, discovering that after killing the samurai and the madam, Gyutaro was holding his carbonized sister and heavily kowtowing toward them.
"Two great lords! I beg you to save Ume!"
"Hey hey hey, little one, don't be like this. Hurry and get up. I haven't been kneeled to in many years."
"That's right, that's right! The last person who knelt to Holy Maiden was me!"
"As long as you're willing to save Ume, I'll do anything you want! I beg you, I beg you..."
Paying no heed to Mitsuba and Doma's persuasion, Gyutaro—his face covered in tear stains—simply knelt before the two, repeatedly and heavily kowtowing his head against the mud ground full of snow water.
Mud water splashed all over his entire face, mixed with the fine snow falling from the sky, making him appear incomparably filthy and wretched at this moment.
Honestly speaking, Gyutaro didn't actually know the identities of this strange pair of men and women before him. He didn't even know if they were good people or not.
But that didn't matter.
Although Gyutaro had been controlled by Mitsuba's Blood Demon Art and unable to move throughout the entire process just now, his ears could still hear, and his eyes could still see.
He only knew that these two humans who didn't seem very human must possess some extraordinary power in their hands.