I don't want to be an elf!

Of course she knew who Osamu Dazai was.

In her original world, Osamu Dazai was Japan's most famous writer, a novelist of the Buraiha school, and one of the outstanding figures of the Taisho era, when Japanese literature reached its zenith.

Even in the first world she reached after transmigrating, she encountered another parallel entity of Dazai Osamu from another dimension.

However, Dazai Osamu is clearly different in different worlds.

Compared to that frivolous guy in Bungo Stray Dogs who looked like a male escort, this Dazai Osamu in front of him was obviously much more ordinary-looking, with no resemblance whatsoever.

However, the habit of liking to commit suicide but being unable to die is exactly the same.

Osamu Dazai from Bungo Stray Dogs also attempted suicide countless times, but each time he either luckily or unfortunately failed.

In this world, Dazai Osamu, now a demon, would find it even more impossible to commit suicide.

"Okay, I believe you're not lying to me." Kotori Itsuka rubbed her temples and asked, "You really decided to jump into the river today to commit suicide?"

“I’ve tried everything: cutting my wrists, lying on the train tracks, jumping off a building, taking pills, jumping into a river,” Dazai Osamu said with a bitter smile. “But after becoming a demon, no matter what I do, I can’t commit suicide.”

"Then why don't you just walk into the sun?" Kotori Itsuka asked speechlessly. "Don't you know that ghosts can't be exposed to the sun?"

“I do know that, and I’ve tried to commit suicide by walking into the sunlight,” Dazai Osamu said embarrassedly. “But as soon as I came into contact with the sunlight, the pain that came from the depths of my soul made me immediately give up on this method of suicide, because I’m quite afraid of pain.”

As he spoke, he looked expectantly at the sword at Tanjiro Kamado's waist.

Before he became a ghost, he had thought about suicide many times.

However, after becoming a ghost, all methods of suicide became ineffective.

Because ghosts are immortal.

For many people, this is a blessing from heaven.

But for Dazai Osamu, who already craved death, immortality was a curse he could not escape.

That's why he hoped that Tanjiro Kamado, as a demon slayer, could simply and cleanly cut off his head with his Nichirin Blade.

"The demon's fatal weakness isn't just sunlight, but also wisteria flowers," Kotori Itsuka continued. "Although powerful demons have strong resistance to wisteria flowers, you're clearly not one of them. Didn't you ever think of committing suicide by ingesting wisteria flowers?"

"Wisteria?" Dazai Osamu blinked. "Are you sure?"

"This should be common sense for ghosts."

"I'm sorry, I haven't been a demon for very long." Dazai Osamu smiled slowly. "And I was forced to become a demon, so there are many things I don't know."

"Forced?"

Kotori Itsuka became somewhat interested and continued to ask, "That's true. Someone like you couldn't possibly become a demon willingly. Tell us about the opportunity that led you to become a demon."

Upon hearing Kotori Itsuka's request, Osamu Dazai sighed deeply.

His face was filled with pain and turmoil, as if he were recalling some unpleasant memory.

After gathering his thoughts, he slowly began to recount his experiences.

"I am a novelist. Osamu Dazai is not my real name, but my pen name. I'm not bragging, but I am quite well-known in the literary world."

However, my life has not been happy. Perhaps it is related to my childhood. The older I get, the more I think, and the more I write, the more I believe that life is meaningless and that only death is the most beautiful art, which can give my disillusioned soul a place to belong.

So I chose to commit suicide.

Unfortunately, my first suicide attempt failed, and like today, I was saved by a kind person.

Then, a female reader who learned of my suicide attempt contacted me.

She said she really liked my book and said a lot of things that made me cherish life.

I was grateful, but I didn't listen.

Then I attempted suicide again, but I failed.

After being rescued once again, the female reader contacted me again.

She was furious, believing I had betrayed her and that I should pay the price.

Without saying a word, she shoved a clump of black liquid into my mouth, causing my body to undergo a strange transformation.

After that, I became a ghost.

After hearing his story, both Kotori Itsuka and Tanjiro Kamado felt a bit sorry for him.

"After becoming a demon, you should still be feeding on humans," Kotori Itsuka asked. "But why don't you smell of blood?"

"Because after I became a demon, I was imprisoned in the basement by that female reader and forced to write books all day long," Dazai Osamu said with a bitter smile. "I couldn't even go out, let alone hunt humans. My food was all prepared and brought to me by her."

It turns out she was being kept by a sugar daddy.

Kotori Itsuka nodded knowingly.

But soon, another question arose in my mind.

"Then why are you able to come out now?"

"Because that guy disappeared, probably killed by the Demon Slayer Corps." Dazai Osamu shrugged. "About half a month ago, I dug a hole myself and escaped from the basement."

"After you escaped, did you kill anyone?"

“No, she still has some meat stored at home, and I’ve been living off it all this time,” Dazai Osamu said helplessly. “If I eat it sparingly, the meat will probably last for another week. If I still can’t commit suicide before then, I’ll have no choice but to walk into the sunlight.”

As he spoke, he sighed deeply again.

“My life has been miserable enough, and now I’ve even been reduced to a monster who eats people to survive.” Dazai Osamu closed his eyes in pain. “Although I’m a coward who’s afraid of pain, if I really have to kill people to survive, I might as well grit my teeth and endure the pain to commit suicide.”

“Commander,” Tanjiro Kamado couldn’t help but say, “this gentleman was forced to become a demon, and he has no blood on his hands. He’s not inherently evil either. Why don’t we let him join us?”

“Yes, that’s what I think too.” Kotori Itsuka nodded. “There are very few Oni who meet the requirements to join Ratatoskr. It’s rare to find one, so of course we can’t miss it.”

"Eh, join...join?"

As Dazai Osamu recalled his tragic experiences during this period, he couldn't help but sob, and his tears froze.

He forced a smile and quickly waved his hand in refusal, saying, "There's no need to join. I don't want to eat people anymore. You just need to cut my head off with your Nichirin Blade."

"Don't worry, we have a medicine that will allow you to survive without having to eat people."

"But I didn't want to live anymore in the first place," Dazai Osamu said, half-laughing and half-crying. "Could you please do me this small favor?"

"We'll help you with this, but you have to do us a favor first."

"What's the deal?"

"Join Ratatosk and assist us in completing our mission."

Kotori Itsuka helped him up, patted his shoulder, and said with a smile.

"In exchange for our mission being completed, I can grant you a painless death."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Demon Slayer Corps' Invitation (Part Two)

By a twist of fate, Dazai Osamu became a member of Ratatoskr.

However, not everyone is happy about this.

For example, Yushiro.

Upon learning that Kotori Itsuka had taken on a new member and was going to dump the burden on him and Tamayo, his handsome scholarly face turned ashen with anger.

But there is nothing that can be done about it.

Although she could use her self-healing flames to remove the curse from Dazai Osamu's body, allowing him to immediately break free from Muzan Kibutsuji's control, only Tamayo could improve his diet.

After settling Dazai Osamu in, Kotori Itsuka returned to the Rengoku family home in the heart of Tokyo.

In order to make sure the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons knew about Ratatoskr's existence, she went out too frequently recently.

Now that Ratatosk's reputation has been established, she no longer needs to take matters into her own hands.

She handed over the task of slaying demons to Tanjiro Kamado and Osamu Dazai, and then returned to the Rengoku family.

Although the eldest brother, Rengoku Kyojuro, is rarely home at the Rengoku family mansion, and their father, Rengoku Makijuro, seems indifferent to everything, and their youngest brother, Rengoku Juro, doesn't care about anything, it's still inevitable that it would arouse suspicion if Kotori Itsuka disappeared for ten days or half a month at a time.

So, for the next three weeks, Kotori Itsuka stayed at the Rengoku family mansion, playing the role of Hakuko Kotori for a period of time.

Three weeks later, Chachamaru, Tamayo's calico cat, appeared in Kotori Itsuka's room with a letter.

The letter contained very little information, just a single line.

The Demon Slayer Corps has found us.

The handwriting is elegant and sophisticated, clearly the work of Tamayo.

However, compared to her previous handwriting, it is clear that she was not in a calm mood when she wrote this line.

"Found it? Much faster than I expected."

Although the Demon Slayer Corps' speed was unexpected, Kotori Itsuka remained completely calm.

In the original story, Tamayo's mansion was exposed during the Demon Slayer Corps' all-out search.

It was precisely because the Demon Slayer Corps found Tamayo that she appeared as reinforcements for the Demon Slayer Corps before the final battle.

In this world, the Demon Slayer Corps found her much earlier.

This is also a matter of course.

After all, in this world, Tamayo and Yushiro joined Ratatoskr, and Ratatoskr had very frequent contact with the outside world, leaving behind quite a few clues.

With the Demon Slayer Corps' connections, they're sure to find it if they're willing to search with all their might.

And this is also part of the plan.

After casually burning the letter to ashes, Kotori Itsuka told her family she was going out, then summoned her Divine Armor and swiftly returned to Tamayo's base in Asakusa with Chachamaru.

Traveling at full speed, she led Chachamaru through the illusory wall in less than an hour and arrived at Tamayo's mansion in Asakusa.

"Commander, you're finally back!"

Upon seeing Kotori Itsuka's appearance, Tanjiro Kamado, who had been anxiously waiting, seemed to have found his anchor, and his expression visibly softened.

"I thought the Demon Slayer Corps had come straight at us."

After checking her surroundings and finding no one around, Kotori Itsuka removed her mask.

"If the Demon Slayer Corps attacks directly, how will we have a chance to send you a message?"

"It's also possible that the Demon Slayer Corps forced you to write it to lure me in, isn't it?"