[So that's how it is...]
Hearing his words, Shinobu Kocho's eyes suddenly dimmed somewhat.
[If that's the case, then even Mitsuba also...]
"However, I believe that this pair of siblings definitely haven't harmed any true ordinary people..."
Akaza hurriedly added.
"What do you mean by that?"
"What I mean is, for hundreds of years, this pair of siblings have always strictly limited the scope of their consumption to demon slayers. They have never laid hands on any other humans besides this."
"Why... are you telling me this?"
"I simply don't want your friend, Butterfly, to misunderstand."
Looking directly into Shinobu's puzzled eyes, Akaza replied seriously:
"Although this pair of siblings can't be considered good people in the traditional sense, they aren't the type to be extremely vicious and evil either.
"In fact, if we evaluate them purely from the standard of good people, they have actually already done their best within the scope of what they could do."
Akaza truly believed this.
Setting himself aside, with Mitsuba's Blood Demon Art abilities, if she wanted to, she could truly turn this world into a hellish landscape!
She wouldn't even need to directly kill people herself, because that efficiency was too slow.
She only needed to slightly alter the thoughts of the leadership groups of a few major nations, and she could make war spread across this world, reduce living things to charcoal, and cause human civilization to begin systematically self-destructing.
This would be countless times faster than killing people with her own hands.
But she did not do this.
Holding terrifying power sufficient to overturn the entire world and cause devastating damage to human civilization, yet content to be just a newspaper editor, sitting in the editorial department every day reading interesting news, occasionally going out to play.
Even in terms of consuming humans, she always maintained restraint, not engaging in indiscriminate consumption.
Honestly, from the standpoint of Mitsuba's position as a demon and the power she held in her hands, even if she wasn't a saint, she wasn't far from one.
Akaza even felt that the Demon Slayer Corps should actually thank her.
Thank her for having no malice toward this world and humanity. She just wanted to live a happy and free life.
And fortunately, her happiness was not built upon others' suffering.
For Akaza, Mitsuba was the one who gave him a second life, an existence like both an elder sister and a mother, so it was only natural that he repaid her.
Although he didn't know how, it seemed Shinobu had suddenly learned of their identities.
But considering Mitsuba's concern for this pair of Butterfly sisters, Akaza felt he had the obligation to make things clear, trying his best not to let them develop any hostility toward Mitsuba.
"Is that so..."
Hearing this, Shinobu lowered her head and fell into silence.
She subconsciously wanted to say that demon slayers' lives were also lives, but ultimately didn't speak it aloud.
After all, purely from the standpoint of demon slayers and demons, there simply didn't exist that kind of bandit logic of "only I can kill you, but you eating me is not allowed."
Rather, holding extraordinary power yet willing to always limit one's killing desire within a narrow scope—Mitsuba was actually already very restrained.
The key problem lay in the fact that demons could only devour humans and couldn't supplement their nutrition through anything else.
"Then Hakuji, what do you think—is there any way to change this problem?"
Shinobu suddenly asked.
"Uh, well..."
Raising his hand to scratch his head, Akaza replied:
"I have heard that there's something called the Blue Spider Lily that could do it.
"But honestly, no one has ever seen this thing. Whether it even exists is a question. I reckon it's probably just the fantasy of that parent of this pair of siblings, something born from self-deception..."
Speaking this out, he wasn't afraid of being scolded by Lord Muzan. As the powerful Upper Rank Three, Akaza had actually never believed in the existence of the Blue Spider Lily.
The reason was simple—if this thing truly existed, it would have been found long ago.
Something that couldn't be found for over a thousand years definitely didn't exist!
But looking at Lord Muzan's obsessed appearance, he felt somewhat embarrassed to point this out. Normally he maintained an attitude of—
"Ah yes yes yes, it exists, it all exists, I'm also working hard to find it, let's work hard together."
Only when talking with Shinobu right now could he slightly complain about it.
"Blue Spider Lily..."
Repeatedly chewing over this term, Shinobu continued asking:
"Then, what are its characteristics?"
She seemed to have developed the idea of wanting to find this flower.
"Characteristics? I'm not too clear on this either. I've only heard that it's a blue spider lily.
"And then, as long as one has it, demons can definitely overcome their weakness to sunlight and complete their evolution or something..."
"Evolution..."
Not knowing what she thought of, Shinobu hurriedly asked:
"Hakuji, can you tell me—how exactly are demons as creatures born?"
Regarding how demons were born, Demon Slayer Corps members truly didn't know. The vast majority of demon slayers had never considered this question either.
There was no need to think about it—just kill them.
But right now, Shinobu urgently needed the answer to this question.
Because the birth of demons was not natural. Even the progenitor of demons, Muzan, had only lived for a little over a thousand years so far.
Over a thousand years ago, the progenitor of demons, Muzan, was also human. Only this point could be confirmed.
This meant that the birth of demons originated from acquired changes in humans.
Her thinking as a science student told her that as long as it was a change that could be artificially achieved, it could definitely be further changed through artificial means.
But first she had to know—in the progenitor of demons Muzan's initial transformation, what exactly was he lacking? Why did he consider himself imperfect?
That legendary Blue Spider Lily—what exactly could it provide for demons?
Only after these questions were answered could the next steps be planned.
Yes, Shinobu had already made her decision.
Between the Demon Slayer Corps and Mitsuba, she ultimately chose to stand on Mitsuba's side.
She wanted to help Mitsuba and the others compensate for their deficiencies, help them overcome their weaknesses to sunlight and the need to devour humans.
This was not a difficult choice.
First, if she could help Mitsuba and the others break free from their physical deficiencies and return to normal human life, this would be a good thing no matter for whom.
Demons wouldn't need to devour humans anymore, and the Demon Slayer Corps wouldn't need to keep chasing demons to cut them down—everyone would be happy.
Second, as a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, out of duty, Shinobu felt she also had the obligation to keep a good eye on Mitsuba by her side, not letting her secretly do bad things or something...
Yes, exactly like that!
Choosing the Demon Slayer Corps would lead to a very terrible ending, but as long as she chose Mitsuba, then all problems could be easily solved!
Exactly right!
...
(Little Shinobu: There's always someone laughing at me for being a clueless person, only knowing how to secretly run ahead and stab my sister in the heart... Now it's time to show you all what true operation looks like!)