The man followed Muzan into a dark room and sat to the side. Muzan looked at the man's daughter.
She sat quietly next to her father, saying nothing.
Muzan looked back at the man. "Go into the inner room first."
The man glanced at his daughter. Muzan said, "Don't worry. It'll take only a few minutes. She'll come after you."
The man nodded and walked in, looking back with every step.
Muzan turned to the child. "Did you really help your father trick people so they could be eaten?"
The girl looked offended. "Don't insult the great God!"
Muzan: "…"
So the brainwashing is deep.
"Did you give sacrifices to this 'great God'?" he asked. He wanted to give her a chance.
"Of course!" she said proudly.
Muzan sighed. "Don't you think the people who were eaten were innocent?"
"They weren't eaten! They went to heaven!" she said.
Muzan: "…"
"Then why don't you go to heaven yourself?"
The girl fell silent.
Muzan stood up. He had tried. He wasn't a saint, and he wouldn't fix twisted ideas.
"Let's go," he said.
---
More than ten days passed. Muzan was "fed" every day. Strangely, not one of the people brought to him was innocent.
It was absurd. The girl was more "effective" than a demon.
As the town emptied, the Demon Slayer Corps noticed. When Muzan sensed them coming, he closed his book and left at once. He had no interest in fighting them.
Before leaving, he grabbed the girl who had been helping him.
She had just heard the Corps had arrived and was hoping for a bright future. Muzan appeared, grabbed her, and ran. Her face went pale. Would she ever escape this demon? Why did she lure those two people back then?
They reached a dense forest. With no nearby shelter from light, they chose to spend the night there.
Muzan tossed the girl to the ground. She curled up by a tree, too scared to speak. She feared being eaten—but following these two demons, she might starve anyway.
Muzan leaned against a tree and read. Ryuzawa Yoshitsugu also read while watching the girl. To him, she was food. He didn't understand why the Demon King avoided the Demon Slayers, but he didn't dare ask.
The forest was thick; almost no light came through. After a day, Muzan looked at the girl, deciding whether to eat her.
"Sir! Even if I did nothing great, I worked hard! Please let me go!" she begged.
Muzan picked her up, ignoring her pleas. He hadn't planned to let her live.
An arrow flew from the trees. Ryuzawa rushed in and caught it, eyes scanning the dark. More arrows shot from every side.
Ryuzawa couldn't stop them all. Muzan didn't want his clothes torn. He tossed the girl aside and caught the rest.
Almost the moment he let go, a Nichirin Blade swung for his neck. Muzan stepped back and dodged. The attacker was skilled—no Breathing yet, but strong.
Muzan grabbed the blade by the edge. It didn't cut him. He yanked it free. The swordsman let go to keep from falling. In those seconds, the girl was rescued.
The swordsman retreated and told his teammates to run with the girl. She finally breathed in relief—free at last.
A shadow caught up in an instant. Ryuzawa took her back, didn't meet her eyes, and snapped her neck in one clean move.
The Demon Slayers roared and attacked, but they were only ordinary fighters. Ryuzawa, now at least Lower Rank level, kicked them down easily. By Muzan's order, he didn't kill them—only disabled them.
Looking at the downed Demon Slayers, Muzan said, "Let's go."
Ryuzawa followed. Out of sight, Muzan's hand turned into a monster's mouth and swallowed the body in one bite. His hand returned to normal.
Ryuzawa stared. "S-Sir…"
"Enough. We move," Muzan said.
He thought ahead: Tamayo should be the first important demon he turned. She had strong medical skills—good support worth recruiting.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni wouldn't appear for about a hundred years. He had time to grow stronger. He didn't need to beat the ceiling—only outlive it.
He didn't know when Nakime would appear. Without the Infinity Castle, moving around was a pain.