"Turn back into humans..."
Tamayo muttered, repeating the words.
This was indeed an extremely effective shortcut, but the difficulty could easily be imagined.
Tamayo looked at Ryosuke, a deeper doubt flashing in her eyes.
"What makes you think I would trust a Demon Slayer? And what makes you think I can do it?"
"What makes me think?"
Ryosuke scoffed, grinding his foot down on Yushiro warningly, drawing a painful groan from the latter.
"Because I could slaughter him right now, or leak your location to the Demon Slayer Corps, or even to Muzan."
"Lady Tamayo, you don't have a choice."
His tone was relaxed, but every word pierced the heart.
Looking at the twisted expressions of anger on Tamayo and Yushiro's faces, Ryosuke changed the subject.
"Of course, that is only the worst-case scenario."
"I chose to come and talk because I believe your hatred for Muzan is real, and your abilities are also real."
"After hundreds of years of research, you are closer to the answer than anyone else. You are just missing certain key elements... or an ally."
Tamayo fell deep in thought, somewhat swayed.
Yushiro, on the other hand, struggled even more violently.
"Lady Tamayo! Don't believe this Demon Slayer's words! He is just using and toying with us! There is absolutely no medicine that can turn demons into humans!"
"Lady Tamayo, run away quickly! Run away!" Yushiro roared hoarsely.
"You're so damn noisy!"
Ryosuke violently swung his sword, chopping off one of Yushiro's arms.
"You annoying simp brat! Do you have the right to speak here?!"
"I've already shown you the utmost mercy by not cucking you right in front of your face!"
As everyone knows, cucking is a simple word, but a very graphic action.
"..."
Yushiro was drenched in cold sweat from the pain, emitting a grinding sound from his teeth.
Ryosuke ignored him and continued speaking.
"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Lady Tamayo, I believe you understand this logic too."
"Let go of Yushiro first."
Tamayo relented, agreeing with Ryosuke's words.
Ryosuke nodded, silently lifting his foot.
Yushiro's severed arm had already regenerated.
He clutched his chest and climbed up from the ground, the look he gave Ryosuke filled with resentment and humiliation.
He was ready to pounce at any moment and tear this hateful human to pieces!
"You bastard! How dare you threaten Lady Tamayo!"
"Yushiro!"
Tamayo sharply stopped him. "Stand down!"
"Yes..."
Yushiro lowered his head and returned to Tamayo's side.
Digesting the sudden and massive turn of events, Tamayo extremely reluctantly made a gesture of invitation towards Ryosuke.
Ryosuke shrugged and walked straight in.
"Ryosuke."
"What?"
"My name is Ryosuke Yasui," Ryosuke introduced himself.
"Mr... Yasui."
Arriving inside the room, Tamayo tentatively addressed him. "Please take a seat."
She looked at Yushiro. "Yushiro, go prepare some tea."
Yushiro glared fiercely at Ryosuke and squeezed out a word from between his teeth:
"...Yes!"
Ryosuke looked in the direction Yushiro disappeared, then glanced at Tamayo's side profile. That subtle "NTR" feeling in his heart popped up again.
It was weird and strange, subtle yet slightly satisfying~
Only the two of them were left in the Japanese-style room.
Tamayo lowered her eyes, seeming to organize her chaotic thoughts.
A moment later, she looked at Ryosuke and asked the question hovering in her mind.
"Mr. Yasui, who exactly are you? And why are you so obsessed with killing Muzan? To the point of even seeking out demons like us?"
"Lady Tamayo."
Ryosuke's voice was very light, carrying an inquiring tone. "Do you think that killing Muzan will bring peace to this world and make it a beautiful place from then on?"
Tamayo was slightly startled.
This question was too direct and too sharp.
She shook her head, her movements very light.
Ryosuke smiled. "You've lived longer than I have, so you definitely see things more clearly than I do."
"Humans are sometimes more terrifying than demons. Even if Muzan is killed, the tragedies in the world still won't decrease. This is the current state of the world, and it is an unchangeable fact."
Tamayo nodded.
She strongly agreed with Ryosuke's statement.
This human world had never been peaceful.
Tamayo had lived for hundreds of years, and she had watched for hundreds of years.
She had seen too many beasts dressed as fine gentlemen, and she had also seen souls that still maintained the brilliance of kindness in the midst of despair.
War, famine, plague, the greed and backstabbing of the human heart...
These things will never disappear, will never stop.
The boundary between good and evil has always been blurred.
Just as this world has never been entirely black or white, but a gray area in between.
"However."
Ryosuke's voice abruptly shifted. "Muzan's existence allows the evil in this world to be prolonged, twisted, and magnified."
"Because of him, those damned evil people gain eternal life, possess stronger power, and persecute the human world even more unscrupulously."
"Because of him, some good people are also forced to become evil."
Tamayo's delicate body trembled.
Ryosuke softened his voice. "Lady Tamayo should be very clear about this point, but you are brave, as well as gentle and kind."
"Thank you."
Tamayo nodded slightly.
Yes. Back then, tortured by illness and on the verge of death, she met Muzan.
He promised to cure her illness, coaxing and tempting her.
But after turning into a demon, the mindless hunger caused Tamayo to commit an irrevocable sin, shouldering a blood debt she could never forgive herself for.
As the memories crept up, Tamayo instinctively clutched her chest, her eyes turning red.
Ryosuke sighed softly, his voice full of compassion.
"This is the reason I want to kill Muzan. I want to sever the root of this evil."
"Even though I cannot guarantee that doing so will make the world incredibly beautiful, and heaven won't descend because of it."
"But this way, at least people can safely go out at night without worrying about monsters lurking in the darkness!"
"It will allow the tragedies in the world to happen a little less!"
"It will allow those who were supposed to have a stable life to avoid the pain of having their families destroyed and killed!"
Tamayo stared blankly at the young man in front of her.
Her tightly locked heartstrings suddenly trembled.
Ryosuke also looked at her, his tone gentle:
"Lady Tamayo, sometimes humans are the real demons, wearing human skin and committing demonic acts. While you, although you are demons, act more human than many humans do."
Sob—
Tamayo could no longer hold it in.
Ryosuke's last sentence was like a key, unlocking her long-frozen floodgates of emotion.
Four hundred years of loneliness, remorse, struggle, the pain of being misunderstood, the despair of being treated as a monster...
At this moment, they were gently pointed out by the young man.
He said she acted human!
These simple words weighed over a thousand pounds to her! It was the validation she had been desperately seeking!
Tears broke through the dam and streamed down, sliding across her pale cheeks.
Right at this moment, the door opened.
Yushiro, holding a tea tray, stood stiffly at the door, frozen in shock.
He glared at Ryosuke, all his previous resentment and hatred erupting completely.
"You bastard! What did you do to Lady Tamayo!!!"
Yushiro recklessly lunged at Ryosuke.
"Yushiro!"
Tamayo abruptly raised her head, tear stains still fresh on her face, and her voice fell coldly.
"You are not allowed to speak to Mr. Ryosuke like that!"