Demon Slayer: I am a Demon

Chapter 135 This girl... is worth it

As dawn pierces the darkness and gentle sunlight bathes the earth, the evil spirits have long since retreated.

At the summit of Fujikasa Mountain, those who had spent a harrowing night emerged, basking in the sunlight and feeling its warmth for the first time in a long time.

"How wonderful it would be if sunlight could shine on every corner of the earth, allowing every ghost to be bathed in sunlight and burned alive by it."

A swordsman emerged from his hiding place with a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing feelings, thoughts, and reflection).

"There's no way around it; where there's light, there's also darkness, and there will always be places where the sun doesn't shine."

A swordsman sighed softly.

"That's why the Demon Slayer Corps was born. So, when those dark creatures wreak havoc at night, we will appear to slay the demons and protect humanity. This is the very meaning of the Demon Slayer Corps' existence."

But many more people, having clearly experienced the danger of the night, were filled with fear. When the sun shone on them, they thought of the perilous night before and silently chose to walk down the mountain, ending this dangerous test and withdrawing from the perilous path of ghost hunting.

At the summit of Fujikasa Mountain, while everyone else was joyfully celebrating the arrival of daylight, jumping and basking in the sunlight, Makomo, still hungover, slowly opened her eyes.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

My head still hurts a bit, and I don't feel too well overall.

"Drink some hot water."

As soon as she lifted the thick clothes covering her body, she heard a gentle voice. Makomo couldn't help but look up and saw a tall man standing in front of her, handing her a bamboo tube filled with steaming water.

"Thanks."

Makomo took the bamboo tube in a low voice, held it with both hands, and sipped it slowly.

"I never imagined I drank so much yesterday, and even got drunk."

As the girl drank warm water, she murmured to herself, thinking about what had happened yesterday. Even now, she still couldn't quite believe that she had done it.

"Are you feeling any better?"

Su Mu smiled.

"Much better."

Makomo lowered her head and took another sip of hot water. The steam from the bamboo tube hit her face, and she felt much more relaxed than before.

"If you keep everything bottled up inside for too long, you'll feel suffocated. Just find someone to talk to and you'll feel much better."

Su Mu offered his advice with a smile.

"Um.

""

Makomo nodded, but seemed somewhat lost. Everyone she knew had either died while taking the Fujikasake Mountain swordsman exam or while hunting demons. Now, the only people she knew besides her most respected master Urokodaki were the people in front of her.

It seems that deep down, they are also willing to share some of their own things with the other person.

However, many of these are private matters unique to a girl, and since the other party is a boy, it's often impossible to talk about them.

After taking another sip of water, Makomo noticed that there were quite a few people around the campfire, which surprised her.

"They all came over last night while you were asleep."

Su Mu spoke gently.

"Am I sleeping so soundly? I didn't sense a single sound."

Makomo was somewhat annoyed. If a ghost had appeared at the end yesterday, wouldn't that have been very dangerous?

"When they arrived, I specifically told them not to make any noise, so they didn't disturb you."

Su Mu gave an explanation.

Makomo nodded.

She reached out and combed her long hair back, then put on a smiling fox mask with her eyes closed, covering her kind and pretty face that gave off a friendly, girl-next-door vibe.

The newcomers were gathered around the newly built campfire, munching on rice balls.

As Su Mu and Zhen Gu walked over, they both stood up.

Leading the group was Kaiyue, with black hair and blue eyes, and a magatama pendant around his neck. When he saw Su Mu coming over, Kaiyue lowered his head slightly.

Everyone felt the commotion here yesterday, especially Kaigaku, who clearly knew what kind of powerful demon had come here last night.

But such a powerful evil spirit was slain, which shows the strength of Su Mu and his group.

Su Mu nodded to the group and then said with a smile, "I already told you my name yesterday, so I won't introduce it again. Now, let me introduce the person next to me."

Everyone turned their attention to Makomo.

They had actually seen the girl's appearance yesterday, and it was quite outstanding. However, now she was wearing a fox mask with her eyes closed, but even so, she still gave off a very playful and cute feeling.

"This is Makomo, a disciple of Urokodaki-senpai. You all should have heard the commotion yesterday. Indeed, an extremely powerful demon came here, but Makomo killed it with a single strike."

Su Mu introduced them to the group.

Makomo couldn't help but look up at Su Mu. She knew perfectly well that she hadn't killed the ghost.

When everyone heard that he was Urokodaki's disciple, they were quite surprised. After all, Urokodaki's disciples were well-known for their training in the Fujikasake Mountain swordsmen's examination. There was no other "pillar" like him who, after becoming a "trainer," not only failed to teach his disciples to pass the Fujikasake Mountain examination, but also failed to survive.

This is an unprecedented event.

Everyone thought that Urokodaki's disciples were weak, even at the bottom of the rankings. Now, hearing that even such a powerful demon was killed by him, it seems that the truth may not be as rumored.

After Su Mu finished introducing Makomo, Kanao who was beside him, and Tanjiro who had woken up and walked over.

Kaigaku then introduced himself, "Kaigaku, Momoyama, a disciple of Kuwajima Jigoro, practices the 'Breathing of Thunder'."

The others then introduced themselves: "Izumi Shinichi, I practice 'Wind Breathing'."

"Watanabe Masashi practices 'Flame Breathing'."

"Kenichi Nishimura practices the 'Breathing of Rock' technique."

"Akio Inoue practices 'Wind Breathing'."

"Masaki Ono practices 'Water Breathing'."

Su Mu glanced at the group. They were all young and their faces were somewhat immature. Perhaps it was because they had experienced the attack of the evil spirit for the first time last night, and some fear still lingered on their faces. But even so, they did not choose to go down the mountain. They were obviously going to continue on the path of hunting ghosts.

No sooner had the introductions finished than Kenichi Nishimura couldn't contain himself: "We'd like to stay with you for the next few days, is that alright?"

After Kenichi Nishimura finished speaking, the others looked at Su Mu with expectant eyes. They could probably tell that Su Mu was the one who would make the decision.

"Makomo, what do you think?"

Su Mu, however, looked at Makomo beside him.

"I'll listen to you."

Makomo spoke softly, her words carrying an unconscious hint of dependence.

"Alright then, you can come with us from now on, but I can't guarantee your safety."

He gave a heads-up beforehand, since if he successfully passed the assessment and became a Ghost Hunter, he could form a team with him in the future, which wouldn't be a big problem.

Su Mu chatted briefly with the group, told them to continue eating their dumplings, and then led Makomo, Tanjiro, and Kanao back to the nearby campfire.

However, one of them, named Kenichi Nishimura, followed him over, and when he saw him looking at him, he put on a fawning smile.

Su Mu smiled and had Tanjiro share some of the prepared food with the other person.

Kenichi Nishimura nervously accepted the gift and, at Su Mu's invitation, sat down by the campfire.

Kenichi Nishimura was pleasantly surprised to find that there was some dried meat in the food he was given.

"It's a pity we're out of wine. If we had any, I'd share some with you."

Su Mu heated up the rice balls while speaking with a smile.

"This is good enough, very good enough."

Kenichi Nishimura said hurriedly.

Su Mu smiled, placed the heated rice ball in Kanao's palm, and said with a smile, "Your name is—uh, right, Kenichi Nishimura, right?"

"Yes, yes, Mr. Mu has a really good memory."

Su Mu smiled and poured the boiled water into a bamboo tube to cool it down, so that the scallion would taste better later.

While doing his work, he glanced at Kenichi Nishimura again and saw that the other man was eating jerky while glancing in his direction from time to time with a hesitant expression.

"If you have anything to say, just say it. Everyone here is someone you can trust."

Su Mu added a piece of wood to the campfire, speaking softly as he did so.

Tanjiro and Makomo also glanced at Kenichi Nishimura.

Kenichi Nishimura gave an awkward laugh, then nervously glanced back at the campfire where he had been standing before before moving closer. "Maki-kun, I do have something I want to tell you."

"Please speak."

Su Mu put down his work and looked at the other person calmly.

"I—I just wanted to warn you, to warn you to be careful of that guy named Kaigaku."

When he spoke, Kenichi Nishimura noticeably lowered his voice.

"Oh?"

Su Mu appropriately showed a look of doubt.

Kenichi Nishimura glanced at the campfire again, then moved closer and lowered his voice, saying, "There were quite a few people who followed Kaigaku, but none of them survived. I estimate—"

Kenichi Nishimura didn't say anything more, but he had already conveyed most of what he meant.

"I understand."

Su Mu smiled and said, "Thank you so much."

"It's...it's okay."

■8■■g8■

Kenichi Nishimura returned, and Makomo approached her, asking in a low voice, "Should I get rid of Kaigaku?"

Perhaps because they were too close, the girl's warm breath tickled his neck. At that moment, Makomo realized that they were too close and quickly moved to the side. Then he pretended that everything was normal. If it weren't for the mask covering his face, he could probably see the girl's rosy cheeks.

"Why do you want to drive them away?"

Su Mu countered with a question.

"Just now, that person said that Kaigaku is not a good teammate."

Makomo doesn't really like to speak ill of someone, but she attributes Kaigaku to him not being a good teammate.

They are people who cannot entrust their backs to others.

"Perhaps, Kaigaku isn't a good teammate."

He repeated it softly before continuing, "But can every swordsman truly entrust their back to their teammates with complete peace of mind?"

"Even if you're confident, is the teammate you're entrusting your back to truly capable of shouldering the responsibility of protecting you?"

Makomo felt somewhat resentful upon hearing this. Even if she was looking for teammates, it shouldn't be someone like Kaigaku. She felt a little uncomfortable having such a treacherous and despicable person following her.

"Regardless of what exactly happened before, the strength of the Hand Demon is beyond doubt, so it's not hard to understand why Kaigaku chose to run away."

He spoke softly, and seeing that Makomo was still holding her head high, he continued, "Even if you choose to drive away every single person like that, are the people who follow you truly the ones you can entrust your back to?"

"That's not necessarily true, is it?"

"Furthermore, Kaigaku is a disciple of Kuwajima Jigoro, so his strength should be considerable, that's already clear. As for his personality, you've also come to understand him. Are you really going to drive away someone you've already seen through, someone who's even quite strong?"

Makomo frowned slightly.

Su Mu said softly, "In the future, Makomo will also continue on the path of demon hunting. As her strength grows, she will not only be an ordinary swordsman, but may also lead a team, or even become a 'Pillar.' Perhaps she will also lead a team to hunt demons. Such a powerful swordsman, like Kaigaku, is completely tolerable as long as he is at your service. As for his personality, Makomo knows it herself."

As he spoke, he patted Makomo on the shoulder: "What do you think?"

Makomo frowned slightly. It was clearly the first time she had heard such words. In the past, Master Urokodaki had taught her a lot, but most of it was about how to train, how to draw the sword faster, and how to deal with various unexpected situations.

As for how to treat others, no one really told her that.

It was only after listening to Su Mu's words that I suddenly felt as if I had gained a higher perspective.

When Makomo actually tried to think from this perspective, and looked at Su Mu again, she always felt that this person was full of wisdom and there was so much for her to learn.

A sense of admiration arose in my heart.

Su Mu was unaware of the girl's inner turmoil. In fact, he already knew what kind of person Kaigaku was. Even if Kenichi Nishimura hadn't told him these things, he knew that in the future, Kaigaku might even surrender to Kokushibo and become the second Demon Slayer Corps swordsman to become a demon.

Regardless of whether Kaigaku made this choice when he was completely without help or when he was forced to do so by overwhelming power, he ultimately abandoned his beliefs as a member of the Demon Slayer Corps and chose to become a demon.

Ultimately, Kaigaku is just a person who lives for himself.

But who doesn't live for themselves?

Just like him, he didn't have the same lofty beliefs as Rengoku Kyojuro, so naturally, he didn't think there was anything wrong with Kaigaku's choice.

Of course, if he had to choose, he would naturally choose a teammate like Rengoku Kyojuro, who is willing to sacrifice himself for others, to protect his teammates, and to protect his juniors.

He prefers people like that.

He still prefers others to sacrifice for him, rather than him to sacrifice for others.

Of course, for him—

He couldn't help but look at Kanao, who was sitting next to him, quietly eating her rice ball.

Although I don't like to sacrifice for others, if there really is such a person, it would probably only be the very obedient Kanao in front of me.

To be honest, he never thought he would have such thoughts. He always considered himself a person who only lived for himself.

But regardless, the feeling of having someone you're willing to sacrifice for, and even the sacrifice itself, isn't actually that painful.

There exists such a girl.

Actually, I'm quite happy inside.

But only if the girl is worthy.

.