Chapter 99

Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters.

Butterfly House Meeting.

After the conclusion of the Yoshiwara Flower District incident, Ubuyashiki Kagaya held a Pill Meeting for the first time.

All twelve Pill Members, including former Flame Pill Rengoku Shinjuro, were gathered here.

Uzui Tengen recounted the entire story of Upper Rank Six in meticulous detail.

Everyone now understood the general course of events.

“That’s how it went—I fought Upper Rank Six once. He’s incredibly strong! If not for Zero’s help, I might have died!”

“Zero? Who’s that?”

“Hahaha, Zero is of course Zero—he’s the one in his gorgeous cross-dressing outfit…”

Shhh!

Bam!

Everyone: !!!

Before Uzui Tengen could finish speaking, two springs had mysteriously appeared beneath the cushion he was kneeling on, launching him into the air.

His head was stuck in the ceiling, his body dangling helplessly, swaying freely.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya and his wife, Ubuyashiki Tane, were both startled.

All eyes turned sharply to Zero.

He sat cross-legged, calmly sipping a cup of hot tea he’d somehow produced, utterly composed.

The atmosphere around them grew quiet.

“Where were we?” Zero silently retracted the spring pad into his [Nanospace], acting as if nothing had happened.

As though the incident had nothing to do with him.

“Brother-in-law… just now, Master Uzui said you were in cross-dressing attire…”

“What cross-dressing? You misunderstood.”

“But we all heard—”

“You misheard.”

“But just now—”

“Kocho Shinobu, you didn’t see anything. There was no cross-dressing. Do you understand?”

Zero’s face darkened, yet he smiled innocently as he slowly approached Kocho Shinobu.

Glurp~

Looking at her brother-in-law so close, Kocho Shinobu involuntarily swallowed.

She felt her brother-in-law had become strangely unfamiliar.

He’d grown unexpectedly cunning.

She wondered who he’d learned it from…

Moments later.

Uzui Tengen was pulled down from the ceiling and resumed his report.

But not a word was spoken about Zero’s cross-dressing.

He silently grumbled inside: This Zero is just as cunning as Miss Shinobu…

The meeting lasted until nightfall.

Zero pretended to leave the Butterfly House normally, returned to his residence, and locked himself in his room.

“My god… I almost got killed by Uzui Tengen~ Phew… phew…”

Meow~

A cat’s cry echoed. A tricolor cat with a talisman stuck to its head appeared by the window.

“Chachamaru, how did you find me? I didn’t think you could track me here.”

Chachamaru trotted to Zero’s feet, tugged at his coat, and pointed to the small bundle behind him.

Inside, he found two vials of medicine and a handwritten letter from Juu Shi.

“Thank you, Chachamaru.”

After retrieving the items, he stroked Chachamaru’s head.

Meow~

Chachamaru enjoyed the affection, then turned and left the Demon Slayer Corps to return and report.

He carefully placed the vials aside and opened the handwritten letter.

【Zero, long time no see.】

【Thanks to the blood you sent me, my research achieved a major breakthrough.】

【After years of effort, I’ve finally developed a medicine that can turn demons back into humans. As promised, I’m sending you one vial.】

【But I haven’t tested it on an actual demon yet, so I’m unsure if it will work.】

【If possible, could you help me test it? Whatever you ask for, as long as I can do it, I’ll grant it.】

[Juu Shi_Personal]

He picked up the vials beside him and examined them.

“So this is the medicine that turns demons back into humans?”

He activated his [Analytical Glasses] for analysis.

【Analyzing… Analysis complete.】

【Item: Humanizing Medicine】

[Description: Handcrafted by an individual named ‘Juu Shi’. When ingested by a demon, it restores the user to human form.]

Although the [Analytical Glasses] clearly stated the medicine could turn demons human,

out of caution, Zero decided to capture a malevolent demon in his jurisdiction tonight for testing.

If it worked, let that lucky bastard get a stroke of fortune…

Too bad one vial would be wasted.

But at least it meant Nezuko could become human again—she could finally stand in sunlight and reunite with her family.

That would be a beautiful thing.

Having decided, Zero immediately set out for his jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, Uzui Tengen was sprinting wildly around the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters, seemingly to burn off excess energy.

He could have asked his three wives to help him with this.

But he’d promised Zero he’d send his three wives to Zero’s residence to help Kamado Kie with household chores.

So he had no choice but to do it this way.

The cause of this situation? Naturally, Kocho Shinobu.

After the Pill Meeting ended, Uzui Tengen was about to leave when he was intercepted by the Kocho sisters and Mitsuri.

“Master Uzui, please wait,” Kanae called out.

“Miss Kanae, what is it?”

“Come with me. I have something to ask you.”

Without waiting for his consent, she led him straight into the parlor.

“Miss Kanae, what do you want to ask me?”

“It’s about Zero… my husband. Could you tell me what really happened?”

Mitsuri nodded beside her, equally curious.

“No way! I’m the glorious God of Festivals—I promised Zero I’d never speak of it!”

“Is that so? What a shame.”

Just then, Kanzaki Kanae entered with four cups of hot tea, placing one before each of them.

This was Kocho Shinobu’s instruction to Kanzaki Kanae after she entered the Butterfly House.

Uzui Tengen picked up his tea and drank it without hesitation.

Then he continued: “I’m sorry, Miss Kanae. If you truly want to know, ask Zero directly—he’s your and Mitsuri’s husband, after all.”

Finally, he rose and left the Butterfly House.

Kanae did not give up. She remembered that Tanjiro and the others had also been on that mission.

They must know something about Zero—why not just ask them?

And Kanae was especially curious about Zero’s cross-dressing.

Watching Uzui Tengen depart, Kocho Shinobu smiled cunningly to herself: “Have a pleasant night.”

In the tea Kanzaki Kanae brought, Kocho Shinobu had already slipped in a specially prepared concoction.

She instructed Kanzaki Kanae to add it to all the cups.

Kanzaki Kanae didn’t understand why, but asked no questions and obeyed without hesitation.

The concoction was a concentrated blend of a powerful sedative and a tenfold-strength energy stimulant.

Imagine someone who wants to sleep, but suddenly feels an inexplicable, overwhelming heat—unable to rest at all.

What could they do?

So Uzui Tengen thought to relieve it with a hot spring bath.

But instead of helping, it only intensified the drug’s effect.

Then he thought of going to find his three wives to help him solve it.

Only then did he remember that all three of them were at Zero’s mansion helping Lady Kuei with household chores.

So none of them were home.

With no other choice, Uzui Tengen changed into his clothes and used training to release his excess energy.

“Huff～huff～What’s going on? Why is it so hot? So ungraceful!”

Helpless, Uzui Tengen sped up his running pace.

Achoo!

“Strange, who’s talking about me? Why do I have such a bad feeling?”

Zero, on his way to his assigned territory to hunt demons, suddenly sneezed for no reason.

A chill ran down his spine, as if something terrible was about to happen.

Yet, the truth proved exactly as he had feared.

At this moment, Tanjiro and the two others were called together by Kanao and asked about Zero’s daughter in Yoshiwara.

The honest Tanjiro truthfully revealed everything.

After learning the general story, Kanao was satisfied and let them go.

“Oh my, my dear husband, would you be willing to dress in women’s clothing and perform for me? Hehe～”

Just imagining Zero in women’s clothing made Kanao extremely excited.

Mitsuri was somewhat puzzled, wondering what had gotten into Kanao.

Still, she too was curious about what Zero would look like in women’s clothing.

The scene shifted back to Zero.

At this moment, after hours of travel, he arrived in his assigned territory.

He had been searching here for demons.

Yet, after searching for so long, not even a demon’s shadow could be found.

Could it be that Muzan Kibutsuji was anemic?

So he couldn’t create any demons anymore?

If that were true, then his current occupation as a demon slayer would be equivalent to unemployment!

Thinking of this, Zero longed to find Infinity Castle again and storm into Muzan Kibutsuji’s stronghold.

He wanted to grab Muzan Kibutsuji by the throat and demand: “Where are the demons?!”

As the Demon King, how dare he show such disrespect? He wanted to ask if Muzan looked down on the profession of demon slayers!

As a Ghost King, how dare you show such disrespect to yourself? I’d like to ask—are you looking down on the profession of Ghost Hunters?!

Muzan Kibutsuji, while conducting an experiment, suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

He instinctively turned to look behind him.

“What’s going on? Why do I feel watched?” Muzan Kibutsuji thought.

After searching so long, only a few hours remained until dawn.

Zero decided to search a little longer; if he still found no demons, he would have to check other Pillar territories.

Suddenly, Zero noticed a furtive figure not far ahead in the village.

It looked like a female demon.

“Thank heaven and earth, I’ve finally found a demon.”

He silently crept closer and arrived behind the demon.

Catching it off guard, he grabbed it and dragged it into a secluded grove.

But this demon did not show fear as expected—instead, she told Zero to leave her alone.

“Go! Leave quickly! I don’t want to hurt you!”

She seemed terrified of losing control, constantly restraining herself.

This sight made Zero curious.

So he didn’t act immediately, but leaned quietly against a tree and asked: “Can you tell me why?”

So he didn’t rush to act, but leaned quietly against the tree and asked, “Can you tell me why?”

The female demon hesitated for a long time, then finally told Zero what had happened.

Earlier that week, she had traveled to a distant town to sell vegetables and earn money to support her family.

On her way back, she met a strange man.

Without a word, he thrust his finger into her body, injected blood, and turned her into this state.

After becoming a demon, she developed an overwhelming craving for flesh and blood.

She had even killed and eaten two innocent villagers!

Afterwards, the demon deeply regretted it.

She also worried terribly about her only daughter at home.

With sheer willpower, she barely managed to suppress her urge to keep eating humans.

She dared not appear during the day, hiding instead, and only returned to her village under cover of night.

But she feared her appearance would frighten her daughter—or worse, hurt her.

So every night, she silently watched from afar, quietly observing her daughter.

When hungry, she ate her own hands to fill her stomach, or hunted wild rabbits and pheasants in the forest.

For several nights, she had often seen her daughter standing at the door, waiting for her mother to return…

At this point, the demon could no longer hold back her tears.

“Ah…” Zero sighed silently.

It reminded him of what was called 【maternal love】—even as a demon, she constantly worried for her child.

“What if I told you I have a way to turn you back into a human, so you can reunite with your daughter?”

“What if I told you I have a way to turn you back into a human, so you can reunite with your daughter?”

“It’s true—but only possibly. It might fail.”

The demon thought for a moment and replied: “If it fails, can you promise me one thing?”

“Say it. If I can do it, I will.”

Seeing Zero agree, the demon pulled out a small pouch of coins from her chest.

“Please give these to my daughter, and tell her to live well.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’m a bad person who’ll take the money and run?”

“I trust you. I can feel—you’re not ordinary.”

“I believe you—I can feel it, you seem truly extraordinary!”

Then Zero took out the vial and handed it to the demon.

Then Zero took out the potion and handed it to the female ghost.

Zero knew Muzan Kibutsuji might see through the demon’s eyes, but he didn’t care.

If Muzan Kibutsuji came looking for him, all the better!

Soon, the demon drank the potion.

But she felt no significant change.

“Strange… is this potion ineffective?” Zero thought.

The sky began to lighten.

Though disappointed, the demon accepted the outcome calmly.

She would no longer be able to live with her daughter.

“Sir, thank you…”

The demon smiled, a single tear falling.

She walked slowly toward the distant sunlight.

Zero wanted to stop her, but held himself back.

It was her choice.

The morning sun struck the demon, igniting flames that would reduce her to ashes.

In her eyes, there seemed to be both relief and a certain reluctance…

But then, something strange happened.

The burning sensation stopped. The burned skin began healing.

Clearly, the potion had not been ineffective.

“I… I’m…?” The woman, now human again, touched her face and looked up at the sky.

“I… I’m…?” The woman, returned to human form, touched her face and looked up at the sky.

Zero was glad for her.

He handed back the small pouch of coins.

“You should give this to your daughter yourself.”

Finally, watching her thanks, Zero saw her return home.

The woman saw her daughter and could no longer hold back her tears—she embraced her and wept bitterly.

The woman, seeing her daughter, could no longer hold back her tears and embraced her, weeping bitterly.

These days, she had been truly frightened and anxious.

Looking at the reunited mother and daughter before him, Zero felt a quiet, indescribable joy.

He could sense that he had acquired many new emotions since before.

Instead of remaining cold and empty, as he once had.

Finally, after countless words of gratitude from the mother and daughter, he left.

Since the potion worked, he must return quickly and have Nezuko take it, to restore her humanity.