Chapter 27

Love Hashira—Kanroji Mitsuri. Sorry, some details weren't drawn well, please forgive me.

Spending a day, Zero returned to the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters. This time he headed directly to the Ubuyashiki estate, preparing to help Ubuyashiki Kagaya complete his final treatment.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya seemed to have anticipated that Zero would come today, so he and his wife, Ubuyashiki Amane, had been waiting for a long time in the room in the courtyard.

"Zero, welcome back! Thank you for what you have done for the Demon Slayer Corps over this past month, so that humanity is no longer plagued by the suffering of evil demons!"

(Evil demons: We are the ones being tortured!)

"You're welcome, this is my duty as a Hashira! I will now perform the final treatment for you. I believe that after this treatment ends, you will recover and need not worry about other conditions."

"Thank you, Zero!"

Taking out the 【Healing Pod】 and placing it in the room, Zero went directly to the door to wait. Ubuyashiki Amane had already made preparations for what would follow.

After a few minutes, Ubuyashiki Amane came to the door and said, "Lord Zero, everything is ready!"

"Mm."

Entering the room and looking at the data displayed on the 【Healing Pod】's monitor, he directly inserted one hundred energy crystals again and started it.

【Virus Clearance Mode Activated】

【Treatment Duration: 8 hours】

Since this was the third treatment and also the final one, the treatment time was shortened significantly.

After doing all this, Zero sat directly at the courtyard entrance, while Ubuyashiki Amane stood guard beside the 【Healing Pod】 as usual, waiting for the treatment to end.

With nothing to do and not knowing what to do next, he simply took out his notebook and pen, and completely reorganized all the information he had speculated about, including the information Tamayo had told him.

When he flipped to the 【Twelve Kizuki】 page, he fell into deep thought.

"Twelve Kizuki... hmm~..."

After thinking for a while, he wrote the characters 【Gyokko】 below the 【Upper Rank Five】 heading and marked it with an X, indicating he was already dead.

Below the 【Upper Rank Two】 heading, he wrote 【Doma】 and marked it with an O to indicate a mark for an encounter that hadn't been eliminated.

As for the 【Lower Rank demons】, it was the same; below the 【Lower Rank Three】 and 【Lower Rank Four】 headings, he wrote 【Wakuraba】 and 【Mukago】 and marked them with an X to indicate death.

But when seeing 【Upper Rank One】, 【Upper Rank Three】, 【Upper Rank Four】, and 【Upper Rank Six】, he fell into thought again and directly marked them with 【?】 to indicate they hadn't been encountered.

When seeing the 【Upper Rank One】 heading, Zero thought it over and finally made a bold guess: 【Tsugikuni Michikatsu】, who turned into an evil demon, was highly likely 【Upper Rank One】!

The reason he guessed this was by combining previous speculations, plus the fact that Kibutsuji Muzan had turned Tsugikuni Michikatsu into an evil demon during the Warring States Period.

Then, after hundreds of years of accumulation, plus Tsugikuni Michikatsu's Breathing Technique, combat skills, marks, and the so-called Transparent World, his strength was definitely the strongest among the Upper Rank demons of the Twelve Kizuki.

And his body contained Kibutsuji Muzan's blood; the concentration must be infinitely close. One can imagine what kind of level he would reach!

These were still just his own speculations for now, but only this possibility was closest to the answer, so he directly wrote the name 【Tsugikuni Michikatsu】 below the 【Upper Rank One】 heading.

It was just that he didn't know what name Tsugikuni Michikatsu went by among the Twelve Kizuki after becoming an evil demon, so he could only fill it in with his human-era name first.

"It's fortunate that it was Tsugikuni Michikatsu who turned into an evil demon, and not Tsugikuni Yoriichi. Otherwise, let alone the Ubuyashiki clan and the Demon Slayer Corps, whether the humans of this world could even exist in this world would be a question!" Zero thought to himself.

After doing all this, he put the notebook and pen back into the 【Nano Space】, turned around, and said to Ubuyashiki Amane, who was guarding beside the 【Healing Pod】, "Lady Amane, I'll return to the estate first. You keep watch here, and I will come back later."

"Yes, Lord Zero!"

He left the Ubuyashiki estate and headed toward his own estate.

"It's been a long time since I've seen Xiao Yue, I wonder how she is doing now? I happened to buy some gifts, let's give her a surprise!"

After walking for ten minutes, he arrived at his estate. Entering the room, he saw Xiao Yue on the wooden platform in the side hall, holding fish feed twice her own size and feeding the little goldfish.

"Little goldfish, I wonder when Master will be back. Only you can keep me company to relieve my boredom. Stinky Master only knows how to execute missions all day long! He doesn't even know to come back and see me, hmph~"

Xiao Yue was talking to herself, completely unaware that Zero behind her was slowly approaching her. He reached out his hands to slowly approach Xiao Yue, then suddenly picked Xiao Yue up and held her in his hands.

Xiao Yue was also startled by this action. Just as she wanted to resist, she heard that familiar voice.

"Xiao Yue, what are you saying?"

"Master, you're back!"

"Mm, I'm back, and I brought you some gifts by the way."

"Really? Where, where?" Upon hearing that her master had prepared gifts, she opened her big eyes and looked at Zero, her eyes full of anticipation.

Zero was seen gently placing Xiao Yue on the futon cushion and taking a pile of items from the 【Nano Space】 and placing them in front of Xiao Yue.

There were delicious snacks, as well as some clothes, ornaments, and hairpins.

Looking at these gifts piled up like a small mountain, Xiao Yue was very happy.

"Waaa~ so many gifts, thank you Master!" Her body floated up to come before Zero and kissed him on the face, then happily unwrapped every gift.

"Master, I don't think I can wear these clothes, right?"

"You silly, don't forget you have the 【Growth Function】; you'll naturally be able to wear them when you grow up!"

"That's true, hehe~"

In the afternoon, Zero went from his estate to the Ubuyashiki estate.

Seeing the countdown on the 【Healing Pod】's monitor showing 【Finished】, he opened the lid and left the room to wait at the door.

Ubuyashiki Amane had also prepared clothes and helped Ubuyashiki Kagaya change into them.

The couple was already used to it, it's just that at that time Ubuyashiki Kagaya's body was relatively weak, and it was all Ubuyashiki Amane...

(Sorry, went off-topic???)

"Lord Zero, please follow me."

"Mm."

Entering the room and putting the 【Healing Pod】 back into the 【Nano Space】, he looked at Ubuyashiki Kagaya. At this time, he had fully recovered, his body exuding vibrant vitality, his complexion rosy.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya looked quite handsome after the curse was removed.

And their children also didn't know when they had arrived here, five of them sitting in a row behind the Ubuyashiki couple.

"You have now fully recovered, so you don't need to worry about the curse anymore. Besides... *cough cough*, be a bit more restrained..."

Zero felt a bit embarrassed when saying this, after all, this was someone else's family business. However, every time he saw Ubuyashiki Kagaya's five children, he thought: This is just too prolific!?

He didn't understand how the Ubuyashiki couple managed to conceive quintuplets all at once?

But what he admired even more was Tanjiro's father, who had a weak constitution but could still father six children with his own wife...

Ubuyashiki Kagaya originally didn't understand what Zero meant by this, but Ubuyashiki Amane had a hint of a blush appear on her face after hearing it.

Looking at his wife, he immediately understood something, but after all, he was the Master of the Demon Slayer Corps, so he naturally adjusted his mindset very quickly.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya: "Sorry, I've made you laugh."

Zero: "I should be the one saying sorry, I was abrupt!"

Ubuyashiki Kagaya: "Actually, this is nothing. I also really want to be like you, speaking freely without having to be constrained by those rules."

Zero: "At least those children of the Demon Slayer Corps all respect you, don't they? Let alone them, I also admire you very much, not only remembering the name of every person in the Demon Slayer Corps but also remembering their pasts, and even treating them as your own children."

Ubuyashiki Kagaya: "As long as I am still here, I will persist in doing what I can for the swordsman children."

Perhaps because of the unconstrained chat with Zero, this also made Ubuyashiki Kagaya no longer stick to minor details, chatting and laughing freely with Zero, chatting about the past and present of the Demon Slayer Corps one moment, and chatting about daily trivia the next.

And Zero was also very happy to accompany them in chatting like this. As for Ubuyashiki Amane, she sat to the side listening; she had never seen her husband have such a side before.

Perhaps it was because of the curse, plus the pressure accumulated for so long from those departed swordsmen being released, that he was like this.

And the couple's children sat in the back, keeping their big eyes open and maintaining smiles, looking like five aliens staring at you with big eyes...

But this was nothing, after all, in Zero's eyes, these five little dolls were at least thousands of times cuter than those aliens in the starry sky.

Night fell.

Zero, having left the Ubuyashiki estate, returned to his home again.

"Xiao Yue, I'm back. Xiao Yue? Not here... she must have gone to the Butterfly Mansion to play with Kanae... forget it, might as well take a bath!"

Arriving at the bathroom, he put his clothes aside, wearing only a pair of white briefs, picked up a towel, and opened the bathroom door.

But unexpectedly, he saw another holy scene.

Kochou Kanae was seen appearing in the bathroom of his estate at some point, taking a bath with Xiao Yue.

Kochou Kanae was sitting on a small stool, using a towel to scrub her body, and she had also stopped her movements because the bathroom door opened.

Seeing Zero standing at the bathroom door, her face turned incomparably red with a "thump," and heat was rising from her head...

"Uh... hallucination! It must be a hallucination..." Zero said this with his mouth, but unexpectedly, two streams of blood shot out from his nostrils, his eyes rolled back, and he fell straight to the ground!

"Zero!"

"Master!"

Seeing this, Kochou Kanae couldn't care about the current situation and immediately stepped forward to check, discovering he had only fainted, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.

But thinking of what just happened, she felt very ashamed...

She hurriedly shook her head, picked up the bath towel Xiao Yue handed her to wrap herself, and then helped Zero up...

Xiao Yue looked at her fainted master and immediately revealed an aunt-like smile, thinking to herself: "Hehe, I must tell Sister Luo Li about this after returning to the starry sky!"

The next day.

After waking up, Zero found himself lying on the bed. Recalling the events of last night, he was immediately startled and jumped up from the bed.

Looking down and seeing that his clothes were still on his body, he finally felt relieved.

"It must have been a dream... if this were real, that would be too terrifying... Kanae is really just a little kid..."

Shaking his head to throw out the strange images from last night, he picked up a glass of water on the table that he didn't know who had prepared and drank it.

"Ugh~"

Zero, who was drinking water, heard this sound, turned his head, and discovered it was Kochou Kanae sleeping at the foot of his bed. He hadn't noticed it just now, so he didn't know.

"So it was Kanae, forget it..."

Continued to drink water calmly... calmly... the hell it is!!!

"Pfft!!!" Zero, who had just reacted, sprayed all the water he had in his mouth out.

"What's the situation?! Why is Kanae here?!"

Zero, who was confused, had a brief system crash in his brain. By the time he reacted, Kochou Kanae had also woken up.

"Haa~" Kochou Kanae, who had woken up, yawned and stretched.

"Ara, Zero, you're awake, how do you feel? Nothing serious, right?"

Kochou Kanae stood up and came before Zero to check his condition. Zero immediately reached out his hand to block her, his mechanical left hand pinching his own brow.

Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down.

Afterward, he asked, "Kanae, you didn't do anything to me last night, did you?"

Kochou Kanae: "???"

"No, I mean, you didn't do anything to me last night, right?"

Kochou Kanae: "Ah-leh?"

"No, no, no, I meant to say, I wasn't done anything to by you last night, right?"

Kochou Kanae: "Uh..."

"Wait... let me calm down first..."

Zero, whose heart was a bit panicked, originally wanted to say whether he had done anything to Kochou Kanae last night, but the more he spoke, the more chaotic it became.

He forced himself to calm down again and reorganized his language.

"Kanae, last night... you shouldn't have done anything to me..."

The surrounding atmosphere became awkward again because Zero said the wrong thing.

If there were a crack in the ground right now, Zero would definitely crawl into it without hesitation.

"Ara, Zero, are you trying to say that you didn't do anything strange to me last night, right?"

"Mm, mm, mm!"

"Then do you wish it had happened?"

"Of course not!"

"But I was seen all over by you! I remember this is the second time, right, fufu~"

"Uh..." Zero only then remembered that when he saved Kochou Kanae, he had seen it once, but that time Kochou Kanae's life was hanging by a thread, and it was a last resort.

But this time it was accidental...

"Sorry Kanae, to show my apology, I can promise you any two requests!"

"Ara, Zero, you said that yourself, okay!"

Kochou Kanae seemed to like seeing Zero's embarrassed state and couldn't help but reach out her hands to pinch his face again.

"Zero, you look so cute like this, fufu~"

Pinching his face intentionally or unintentionally, making Zero's face turn red, and he didn't even dare to move...

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. I know you didn't mean it. Actually, this is my fault too. I came to play with Xiao Yue last night and took a bath by the way. I didn't know you would come back at this time, so sorry, Zero!"

"But you just said you promised me two conditions, I wonder if they still count?" Kochou Kanae asked.

"Of course they count!"

"That's good, but I haven't thought about what they are yet, so let's save them for later!"

"Can do!"

"Then it's a deal, Zero!"

"Mm, but can you help me with one thing?"

"Go ahead."

"Can you stop holding my face?"

Kochou Kanae only then noticed that she was doing it like last time, her hands not knowing when they had become holding Zero's face, and she even pushed him against the wall, as if Zero had been "wall-pinned" by her.

"Ara, I'm really sorry, a-heh~" Kochou Kanae stuck out her tongue again as if acting cute and knocked on her own head.

"This little girl, she really knows how to tease people... sigh... I don't know if this is good or bad..." Zero thought to himself.

Time flies like an arrow, years pass like a shuttle.

In the blink of an eye, another half a year had passed.

Over this past half year, counting the previous time, Zero had joined the Demon Slayer Corps for almost a year.

During this period, Zero not only exterminated all those unprofessional evil demons in his jurisdiction who hid whenever they saw him and didn't have the awareness of being evil demons, but also took advantage of his boredom to run to the jurisdictions of Hashira closer to his own and clear out the evil demons there as well.

Every time other Hashira rushed to the scene, they only saw members of the Cleanup Squad cleaning up the scene. Let alone the shadows of evil demons, even the ashes of the evil demons had been scattered; not a single bit could be seen...

This made them suspect whether the Messenger Crows had reported false information, until they realized later that it was all Zero's doing.

Shinazugawa Sanemi's eyes were even filled with bloodshot veins, so angry he was furious, almost taking off on the spot, roaring: "Zero, you guy, you don't even let go of the evil demons in my territory! If you have the ability, go directly to find Muzan and exterminate him together!!!"

After a roar, he fell into deep thought.

He didn't understand how much hatred Zero had for evil demons that he would even exterminate the evil demons in the jurisdictions of other Hashira?

Could it be that all the evil demons in his own jurisdiction were dead?

If Shinazugawa Sanemi knew that Zero had no hatred for evil demons and that exterminating evil demons was just to kill time, he didn't know what he would think?

"Tch, Zero, this guy, I won't lose to you! I am the Wind Hashira!"

Afterward, he picked up his Nichirin sword and also learned from Zero to go to the jurisdictions of other Hashira to exterminate evil demons.

The goal was very simple: what Zero could do, he, Shinazugawa Sanemi, could also do, and he would do it better than him!

"These evil demon bugs! Just you wait for me! Hehehehe..."

Zero, who was catching evil demons in Iguro Obanai's jurisdiction to kill time, suddenly felt a chill and sneezed.

"Achoo! Strange, why did I sneeze?"

Not thinking about it anymore, he continued to catch evil demons to kill time.

"Ah-leh? Where are the evil demons?" Kanroji Mitsuri looked at the evil demons in her jurisdiction that had been eliminated, her face full of confusion.

She had received a mission from the Messenger Crow, informing her that several incidents of evil demons harming people had occurred in her jurisdiction.

But by the time she rushed over, there were only members of the Cleanup Squad cleaning up the scene.

Afterward, she learned what was going on through her own Messenger Crow.

"So it was Mr. Zero who helped me eliminate the evil demons! Why would he do this? Could it be that Mr. Zero has feelings for me..."

Kanroji Mitsuri instantly imagined other scenes, her face starting to turn red and hot, covering her face with both hands and shyly saying: "Mr. Zero, you can't! I'm still just a child! No, no, no... a-hehehe~"

If Zero knew that Kanroji Mitsuri would have such thoughts, he would probably regret coming to her jurisdiction to eliminate evil demons.

Girls with romantic brains are the most terrifying; they can always imagine some whimsical, dream-like scenes and stories on their own.

Seeing Kanroji Mitsuri covering her face and talking to herself there, the members of the Cleanup Squad were all dumbfounded.

"What's wrong with Love Hashira?"

"I don't know, could it be because she's hungry? I heard Love Hashira eats a lot!"

"Alright, alright, hurry up and finish dealing with things here, this isn't something we should be thinking about!"

"Oh, oh!"