Kapitel 174: Take Responsibility?

Butterfly Mansion.

Usually, the old-fashioned courtyard of the Butterfly Mansion always exuded warmth and provided a truly beautiful view.

Not only were there flowers and plants but also many precious herbs, emitting fragrances that attracted numerous butterflies, making them dance gracefully in the air, a sight to behold.

Located somewhat remotely, the courtyard seemed to have escaped unscathed from the attacks of demons, avoiding destruction.

However, when Riezel arrived at this place, he found many wounded people. Groans and cries emanated from various rooms, reaching even the courtyard, which overshadowed its picturesque scenery.

"Sorry! Excuse me!"

"Make way! Wounded coming through!"

"Hurry, bring the stretcher over!"

One by one, members of the Kakushi brought the wounded into the Butterfly Mansion.

Several little girls in white clothes also emerged from the mansion, directing the others to transport the wounded inside while carrying medicine boxes back and forth, seemingly engaged in constant healing work.

Clearly, this bustling scene caused many people, sweating profusely from their efforts, to lament.

"There are too many wounded! We can't possibly attend to all of them!"

"Moreover, Lady Shinobu is injured. We can't even treat the wounded properly without her..."

"When will Lady Shinobu recover?"

"Enough, let's focus on our work!"

"Yes..."

Conversations like these intermittently arose from the Butterfly Mansion's personnel, making Riezel realize how chaotic this place had become without Shinobu's presence.

Deciding not to disturb them, Riezel proceeded directly into the courtyard, heading toward the room where Shinobu resided.

Surprisingly, the room was quickly revealed by a hurriedly passing little girl, who seemed too preoccupied to spare a thought for who Riezel was or why he was here, saving him the trouble of explanations.

Soon, Riezel arrived at a relatively quiet room, pushed open the door, and entered.

What greeted him was a rather ordinary room.

Despite being a sick room, it was decorated warmly, giving no hint of its true purpose.

Shinobu lay on the innermost bed, sound asleep.

Riezel closed the door behind him and approached the bed, looking at the sleeping Shinobu.

At this moment, she appeared to have received initial treatment, as the bloodstains on her body had been cleaned, and her clothes had been changed to a patient gown.

Shinobu lay in bed, oblivious to his arrival.

As Riezel saw her, her face was pale, lips devoid of color, her hair left untied, cascading into long strands, rendering her appearance much frailer than before. Faintly, he could see bandages wrapped around her body, stained with blood, indicating the severity of her injuries.

"Seriously, your condition is much worse than when I was brought in here before..."

Riezel muttered to himself, then extended his hand and pressed it against Shinobu's forehead.

Perhaps due to being truly weakened, her temperature seemed high, indicating a fever.

Riezel furrowed his brow, then began chanting a magic.

"Healing droplets, tears of light, eternal sanctuary."

"Compose a medicinal hymn - three hundred, sixty, and five. The melody of the healer's almanac saves all things."

"Come, destruction of evil."

"The burial of wounds, interment of disease."

"Curses be gone in the light of vitality."

"In the name of all that is holy - I heal you."

A pure white magic circle expanded beneath Riezel's feet, covering the area of the bed.

"Dia Fratel."

He completed the chant, unleashing the top-class healing magic from the world of Danmachi.

In the next moment, rays of light showered down, landing on Shinobu's body.

Under these rays of light, her pale complexion visibly began to recover, her once bloodless lips regaining color, and even her high body temperature seemed to gradually return to normal, making the breathing of this heavily injured Insect Hashira stable.

Riezel spared no expense in utilizing his mind, maximizing the effectiveness of Dia Fratel, rendering the healing magic's effect surprisingly astounding.

At least, compared to the Level 2 Airmid, Riezel, who had reached the limit of Level 5, surpassed her in both level and MAG.

While Airmid was known as the best healer, capable of supporting an entire frontline single-handedly with Dia Fratel, Riezel, with a higher level and much stronger MAG, displayed a naturally evident effect when he unleashed his magic without holding back.

And so, in just about ten seconds, Shinobu seemed to be completely healed. Although one couldn't see how the wounds under her bandages were, they must have all been fully healed.

With the healing magic finished, Riezel stopped using it and prepared to move his hand away. However, just as he was about to move his hand away, another hand suddenly reached out and grasped it.

"Elder Sister..."

Shinobu tightly held the hand on her forehead, as if feeling warmth and nostalgia, murmuring unconsciously.

With tears welling up in her eyes, she continued her dreamlike state.

"..."

Watching this scene, Riezel fell into silence.

He looked at Shinobu, who was holding his hand tighter and tighter as if she didn't want him to leave. Of course, if he wanted to break free, it would have been easy for him, but he decided not to.

Riezel just stood there by the bedside, maintaining the posture of his hand resting on Shinobu's forehead, quietly watching her sleeping in the bed.

In the end, this went on for a while, for who knows how long.

"Umm..."

At some point, with a vague murmur, Shinobu lying in the bed struggled to open her eyes.

"Are you awake?" Riezel asked lightly.

"Hmm?"

Shinobu's awareness seemed somewhat blurry, unable to immediately grasp what had happened.

It wasn't until a while later that her pupils began to focus, seeing Riezel standing by the bed, seeing herself lying in the bed, and naturally, seeing the scene of herself tightly holding hands with him.

In the next second, Shinobu fell silent.

Riezel didn't rush to speak, continuing to quietly watch her.

After a while, Shinobu finally spoke with a soft voice.

"Given this situation, can I ask you to take responsibility?"

Her words nearly made him roll his eyes.

"I can't take responsibility, but paying you could be considered, actually."

After saying this, Riezel freed his hand from Shinobu's.

"That's too much."

Shinobu complained, though it was unclear whether she was referring to his action of freeing his hand or to his words.

"How do you feel?" Riezel asked calmly. "You shouldn't be feeling any pain, right?"

"...Indeed, I don't..." Shinobu sat up, glanced at her body, and made a surprise expression. "Wait, how long have I been asleep?"

It was not weird for her to ask this question.

She hadn't forgotten the multiple injuries she sustained at the hands of the Upper Six.

Without a doubt, those were injuries severe enough to render even the most robust individual incapacitated. According to her understanding as a professional doctor and pharmacist, recovery to full health would take at least two to three months.

However, now she felt as if all her injuries had healed, aside from the slight discomfort caused by the bandages wrapped around her body, she no longer felt any discomfort.

Clearly, this made Shinobu somewhat skeptical, wondering if she had slept for two to three months straight, sleeping until all her injuries had already recovered.

"You've slept for a night. The demon invasion happened just last night."

Riezel quickly dispelled her doubts.

"A night, you say?"

Shinobu was truly dumbfounded.

Only one night had passed? Did that mean all of her severe injuries were healed within one night? How could that be possible?

With this astonishment, she quickly thought of something.

"What did you do to me?" Shinobu looked at him with intense eyes.

"Your words will cause people to misunderstand, Missy..." Riezel replied calmly. "I didn't do anything, okay?"

"Liar." Shinobu didn't believe a word. "Apart from you, who else could do such a thing?"

It was worth noting that, in the three months prior, Riezel had defied logic more than once.

For the evolution of Sun Breathing, he had been trying desperately. Just when he was at death's door, he would miraculously recover the next day, continuing his practice as if nothing happened.

Evidently, this made Shinobu suspect earlier that Riezel might have some special body constitution.

After all, in this world, there were indeed some people born with very special body constitutions.

Like Tanjirou, who possessed an extremely keen sense of smell, being able to discern others' emotional fluctuations by scent alone, which was unbelievably unscientific and nonsense.

Zenitsu and Inosuke were also examples, one with inhuman hearing, the other with an inhuman sense of touch, both manifestations of special body constitutions.

Among the Hashira, there were also quite a few individuals with special body constitutions.

Kyoujurou was born with greater strength than ordinary people, hence he always saw protecting the weak as the duty of the strong.

Tengen, having been a former ninja before joining the Demon Slayer Corps, possessed a certain degree of poison resistance and tremendous strength, not inferior to Kyoujurou, with even better speed, surpassing the entire Hashira.

Mitsuri's muscle density was eight times that of an ordinary person. When her body was tensed, her defensive power would significantly increase, making her strength even greater than that of males.

Additionally, there was Sanemi, who possessed a rare blood type that demons found irresistibly attractive, just a whiff of its scent was enough to intoxicate them.

All of these were examples of special body constitutions.

Shinobu had previously regarded Riezel's abnormal ability to recover as a special body constitution, but now, it seemed like it wasn't as simple as that.

Nevertheless, she didn't believe that she could recover from such severe injuries overnight without him having done something to her.

"Could you please tell me~? Tsu~gi~ku~ni~" Shinobu asked with a teasing tone.

Following this, she leaned in close to his face with a mischievous smile, getting very, very close.

Looking at her face up close, which was not only fair-skinned but also extremely beautiful, Riezel was at a loss for words.

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Kapitel 175: Invitation

Riezel couldn't help but feel that Shinobu truly looked beautiful.

Even when being this close to her, he couldn't see pores or even a hint of sweat on her face. All he saw was a flawless complexion, like porcelain, and features so perfectly proportioned they seemed sculpted, leaving a very good impression at first sight.

However, the most shocking part was that such a flawless face didn't even have makeup on, what one called a bare face.

To have such exquisite beauty even without makeup, one could only say that such a person, in Riezel's eyes, could only exist in 2D.

Actually, when it came to appearance alone, many people could rival Shinobu.

For example, Ais was universally acknowledged as beautiful, comparable to a goddess. Additionally, compared to Shinobu, Ais was only stronger, not weaker.

Not to mention Riveria, a member of the elven royal family, whose beauty surpasses that of most goddesses, enough to make even goddesses jealous.

Additionally, there was Lefiya, only fifteen years old, with a hint of immaturity and childishness. Yet, as a member of the elf race known for their outstanding beauty, her appearance definitely surpassed that of over ninety percent of the world's population.

In the Akasha Continent, there were also plenty of beauties, like Yuri, who was no less stunning compared to Ais. Even Marilyn, Ain, and Ian, who served as her attendants, had remarkably outstanding appearances. As for her younger sister, Mediste, who was still fourteen years old, she also possessed an unusually lively charm, the kind of princess who would easily be pampered by anyone in Riezel's past life.

Needless to say, Riezel had never observed beautiful women like them up close before. Hence, when Shinobu's face got so close to him, it was somewhat challenging for his heart.

As a result, Riezel instinctively pushed away Shinobu's face.

"Don't get so close to me." Riezel said with a somewhat heartless tone.

"You're unreasonable..." Shinobu protested.

"It's you who's being unreasonable." Riezel retorted, looking at her face expressionlessly. "I've already helped you get better, but you don't appreciate it and just mess around. Should've let you lay another two days before healing you..."

"So, you admit it then?" Shinobu stared at him with a peculiar look. "You admit that you're the one who healed me?"

"Yeah..." Riezel admitted honestly. "I stripped you naked and treated you from head to toe. Happy now?"

Upon hearing this, the smile on Shinobu's face froze instantly.

Was it the truth? Would her words earlier about him taking responsibility become a reality?

Now, even Shinobu couldn't help but feel a bit flustered.

She quickly stared at Riezel, trying to discern the truth from his face, but unfortunately, she didn't have that kind of time.

"Message! Message!"

A Kasugai Crow suddenly flew in through the window, hovering in mid-air while its sharp beak emitted a series of sounds.

"Tsugikuni Yoriichi is requested at the temporary headquarters for a meeting! Urgent meeting!"

Undoubtedly, this was an invitation from Kagaya and the Hashira.

"I'll be leaving then. You rest well." Riezel stood up.

"Wait! I'll go with you." Shinobu stopped overthinking and said with a serious tone.

With that, she quickly got out of bed.

"You sure?" Riezel asked tentatively. "Don't you want to rest a bit more?"

"No need, I feel better than ever physically." Shinobu resumed her cheerful demeanor. "If you are interested, you can work at the Butterfly Mansion. I can request Master for you to receive a salary, any amount you want."

"I'll consider it." Riezel said casually. "I'll wait for you outside then."

"Okay." Shinobu picked up her clothes to change.

Riezel turned and headed toward the door, but before he could reach it, Shinobu suddenly asked a question.

"Did I say anything while unconscious?"

Shinobu's question made Riezel's footsteps halt.

In the next second, with his back to her, he answered calmly.

"None."

After saying this, Riezel finally left the room, leaving only Shinobu standing still, holding onto her clothes, staring blankly for a while.

"Tsugikuni really enjoys tricking people..." Shinobu muttered softly.

After being silent for a while, she quietly sighed.

Although at that time she had already lost consciousness, she faintly felt the warmth and the hand placed on her forehead, which left a deep impression on her.

Under that long-lost warmth and nostalgic touch, she was well aware that she would involuntarily say something at that moment.

"Forget it, let's go to Master's place first."

Shinobu shook her head, pushing aside the complex thoughts in her mind before finally taking off her patient gown.

===

About half an hour later, Riezel and Shinobu arrived at the temporary headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps and entered the room filled with tatami mats.

Kagaya sat at the main seat, accompanied by his wife and children.

On the other hand, the Hashira were divided into two rows, sitting on either side like loyal subjects.

As Riezel and Shinobu arrived, they immediately caught everyone's attention, causing all the Hashira to freeze.

"Kochou!" Kyoujurou exclaimed first, pleasantly surprised. "You can get out of bed now?"

"Yes, Rengoku." Shinobu replied with her usual smile. "Thanks to Tsugikuni, my injuries seem miraculously healed. As you can see, there's no longer any problem."

Shortly afterward, she knelt before Kagaya, who was seated in the main seat.

"I apologize for being late, Master."

"It's alright, Shinobu. Please, have a seat." Kagaya seemed delighted, his eyes narrowing with a smile.

It was evident that he was in a good mood.

After all, not only had Shinobu already recovered and could resume her duties, but all the Hashira were also gathered again. Despite the life-threatening crisis of three Upper Ranks invading their headquarters, not a single Hashira had fallen.

It was clearly a stroke of wonderful luck.

Just this alone was enough to lift Kagaya's spirits.

"Yes, Master."

Shinobu responded respectfully before taking a seat beside Mitsuri, exchanging smiles with her.

"You should also take a seat, Your Excellency."

Kagaya had a special seat prepared for Riezel, right across from him.

All the Hashira sat directly on the tatami mats, with only Kagaya and Riezel having cushion-like seats, indicating that Riezel held a very high position of influence in Kagaya's eyes.

Although some of the Hashira subtly furrowed their brows at Kagaya's preferential treatment, they had nothing to say.

At this point, Riezel had earned the right to sit on equal terms with the other Hashira and even Kagaya himself.

Last time, Riezel slew the Upper Three.

This time, Riezel had managed to defeat the Upper Four, the Upper Five, and the Upper Six, three Upper Ranks falling under his sword, leaving only two Upper Ranks remaining.

With such achievements and merits, it was worth the Demon Slayer Corps to regard him as the most distinguished guest.

Of course, Riezel had earlier explained that the Upper Ranks he had truly slain were only the Upper Five and the Upper Six, the lowest-ranking Upper Ranks, while the main body of the Upper Four had escaped, not encountering his sword.

Furthermore, the Upper Three appeared to have surpassed his limits and managed to remain alive even after his head was chopped off.

For this reason, up to now, only two Upper Ranks have truly died in his hands, both being the lowest-ranking Upper Ranks, which were the Upper Five and the Upper Six.

However, it couldn't be denied that there were quite a few Upper Ranks who lost to Riezel, including the Upper Three and the Upper Four. Although they all managed to escape death, it still proved that they were not his opponents and met a crushing defeat at his hands.

With such strength, no one could question it now.

Hence, even Sanemi and Obanai, who had conflicts with Riezel before, though they still didn't show much expression, acknowledged his treatment to be on par with Kagaya's.

Riezel naturally noticed the change in attitude among the Hashira, but he didn't care much. After all, he knew that among these Hashira, there were quite a few problem children, and many had a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

Riezel ignored the gazes of the Hashira and silently sat down in front of Kagaya.

"Do you have something on your mind?" Riezel asked straightforwardly and concisely.

"I have a bit of news." Kagaya smiled at him, cleared his throat, and then continued. "We're preparing to relocate the Corps' headquarters."

"Including the Ubuyashiki family, Rengoku family, and all the families of Demon Slayers in the town, everyone will be relocated along several predetermined hidden routes to another location."

"As for this place, we must leave behind."

Truthfully, this decision didn't surprise Riezel.

Once the headquarters of the Demon Slayer Corps was exposed, the urgent priority was to relocate quickly to avoid another demon invasion.

Whether it was members of the Ubuyashiki family or residents of the town, they were all ordinary people without the ability to resist demons. If they were to face another invasion, the Demon Slayers would have to protect them while fighting demons, which would be somewhat difficult.

For this reason, relocating the headquarters was necessary.

As for where to relocate, Kagaya soon brought it up.

"We're preparing to temporarily relocate to the Swordsmith Village..." Kagaya sighed. "Since the level of secrecy there is comparable to our current headquarters, the Swordsmith Village is undoubtedly the best choice for a temporary headquarters we can think of for now."

After listening quietly, Riezel finally spoke up with a calm voice.

"And then? Why are you telling me all this?"

"I'd like to invite you to join us."

Kagaya answered immediately, gazing at Riezel's calm eyes, his expression becoming more solemn and sincere.

"Has your opinion changed? If I were to invite you to join the Corps again right now, what would you say?"