Zenitsu's actions startled Sadayo a bit, and she carefully took half a step back.
"Sorry, he's just like that." Musashi smiled helplessly and apologized to Sadayo.
"It's fine." Sadayo heard him, smiled, and shook her head, indicating she didn't mind.
Then, Musashi looked at the small ornaments hanging on Sadayo's cloth bag and said to her, "Your ornaments are quite nice. I'll buy some."
Musashi guessed that the reason this little girl gave away wisteria sachets was to protect people from demon attacks. While he didn't quite understand why she refused to take money for them, the other ornaments weren't special. Surely, she wouldn't refuse money for those.
She looked so poor and sensible, and her heart was so kind, Musashi also wanted to help her as much as possible.
"Okay, which one do you like?" Sadayo heard him and brought her cloth bag in front of Musashi, showing him the ornaments on it.
"If you don't like these, I have some more over there." Sadayo said, pointing to the ornaments displayed on the small stall behind her.
Although she insisted on giving away wisteria sachets to atone for her sins, she still needed to live her daily life. She would naturally be very happy if someone was willing to buy what she made.
Musashi pretended to look at all the styles of ornaments, then waved his hand and said, "I like all of these! I'll take them all!"
"Eh!" Sadayo heard him and immediately cried out in surprise. Although her ornaments weren't many, all of them combined were quite a lot, and there were also many duplicate styles.
She immediately thought that this person was doing this out of sympathy for her and was about to refuse, but then she heard Musashi continue with a slightly bitter tone, "I'm often disliked because I'm not very good at talking. When I saw these beautiful ornaments you made, I thought I could buy them to give to my companions so they wouldn't dislike me anymore…"
Musashi knew that this little girl was stubborn and strong-willed. If he directly bought all her ornaments, she might refuse because she would think he was pitying her. Therefore, he told a small lie, putting himself in Giyuu's shoes and fabricating a small story.
…
At this moment, Giyuu, who was walking on the road,
"Achoo!"
He suddenly sneezed without warning. Giyuu rubbed his nose expressionlessly.
Someone must be thinking about me… It seems I'm not disliked after all…
Thinking of this, Giyuu's mood lightened considerably, and his steps became brisker.
…
Back to this side, Sadayo looked at Musashi's bitter expression and believed what he said, but still asked with some confusion, "But even so, you don't have to buy all of them, do you? There will definitely be a lot of extras."
Musashi heard her and showed an even more dejected expression, almost on the verge of tears.
"I've offended many people because I'm not good at talking, and I'm disliked by many. I want to make up for my previous actions.
Therefore, these ornaments will definitely be given away, you don't have to worry." Musashi said to the little girl.
"Is that so… All right then."
Musashi's superb acting skills made Sadayo completely believe that he was a person disliked for not being good at talking. She nodded and agreed to Musashi's request.
"Thank you! If I give these to them, my relationship with them will definitely improve."
Musashi's face showed a smile, and he looked up slightly, seemingly lost in longing.
To be honest, his act had many loopholes. The most important point was that he didn't seem like someone who couldn't talk to others at all, but his expression was so well-acted that Sadayo even overlooked this point.
If it were Tomioka Giyuu himself, it would be the opposite: he truly couldn't talk to others, but at the same time, he was expressionless and seemed indifferent, not like someone who was disliked.
It's hard to say which of the two would be more believable.
After seeing Musashi's appearance, Sadayo became even more convinced of his words. She packed up the ornaments hanging on her cloth bag and those displayed on the small stall and handed them to Musashi, then told him the price.
Musashi did not overpay; he paid her the exact price Sadayo stated.
"Goodbye!" After paying, Musashi smiled and waved to Sadayo, and Sadayo also bid him farewell.
Then, Musashi turned and pulled Zenitsu, planning to leave. Sadayo, whose ornaments were all bought, did not go back but continued to stay here, giving wisteria sachets to passersby.
"Zenitsu, stop grinning like an idiot. Hurry up and lead the way. I don't know which way Peach Mountain is."
Looking at Zenitsu, who was still foolishly grinning while holding the sachet Sadayo gave him, Musashi patted his shoulder and said to him helplessly.
"Huh? Oh, oh, okay."
After being called by Musashi, Zenitsu emerged from his own world. After putting away the wisteria sachet, he walked ahead to lead the way, and at this point, he finally returned to normal.
After walking a few steps, Zenitsu thought of what happened last night. He walked and turned his head, asking Musashi with some confusion, "Musashi, why did you keep asking that Old man about that Temple and the blind monk last night?"
Behind the two, Sadayo, who was giving wisteria sachets to passersby, suddenly trembled.
"Do you know Stone Hashira Himejima-san?" Musashi asked Zenitsu upon hearing him.
"You mean that big guy who's always crying?" Zenitsu had been at the Demon Slayer Corps Headquarters for so many days, so he had naturally seen the Stone Hashira.
Musashi nodded upon hearing him and said, "Exactly. Himejima-san told me about his past experiences. What he told me and what that Old man said last night about that Temple were basically consistent.
Himejima-san fought a demon until dawn to protect the children he adopted in the Temple, but he was accused of being the murderer. From then on, he became completely disillusioned with children and grew suspicious.
After hearing what that Old man said last night, I thought about whether there was any way to help Himejima-san resolve his inner turmoil."
After hearing what Musashi said, Zenitsu felt a bit shocked.
"It's such a coincidence? And Himejima-san is so miserable."
"I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence…"
Musashi also felt strange about the coincidence of this matter. He didn't expect that the location of his mission would actually be Himejima-san's hometown, and it happened to be the Temple where he had lived.
Just then, Musashi suddenly felt a hand grab his clothes. He turned his head, slightly puzzled, and found it was Sadayo, who had just given him the wisteria sachet. For some reason, she was now crying and trembling all over, looking very distressed.
"What's wrong with you? Are you feeling unwell somewhere?" Musashi asked anxiously when he saw her, feeling somewhat confused, as she had been fine just a moment ago.
Under the Transparent World, Musashi also found no problems with Sadayo's body.
Sadayo did not answer Musashi's question. At this moment, her heart was in torment, especially after hearing about Himejima-san's current situation from Musashi.
After struggling internally for a while, she still asked Musashi, "Do you… know Himejima-san…?"