The porcelain shop was now sealed off by the police, its doors tightly shut. Musashi peered through the window; inside, only normal porcelain items were displayed. He didn't find anything suspicious. In broad daylight, Musashi couldn't go in to investigate.
"Hello, may I ask what just happened?" Musashi patted a man who had been discussing nearby, beside the porcelain shop, and asked him, hoping to get some useful information.
The man turned around upon hearing Musashi's voice, sized him up, and said, "Isn't it obvious? The shop owner killed someone and was arrested by the police."
"Uh, I wanted to know more details, like why the owner killed someone, or if there were any unusual circumstances," Musashi explained to the man.
"Why are you asking about this?" the man asked Musashi.
Musashi's mind raced, and he came up with an excuse.
"I'm quite interested in stories like this," Musashi replied.
The man looked at Musashi with some surprise upon hearing this, and said to him, "I didn't expect you, kid, to have such a twisted interest, even though you're handsome."
"I..." Musashi's mouth opened and closed, but he ultimately said nothing in rebuttal.
Are all people interested in such stories perverts?
Musashi was skeptical of the man's conclusion.
"Alright, since you want to know, I'll tell you. Anyway, everyone in town pretty much knows about it," the man said, despite calling Musashi's interest twisted, he still chose to tell him the story.
"The owner of this shop is named Kira No. He's been running this porcelain shop here for a long time. Originally, he was always fine, and the things he sold were all normal. Although not particularly exquisite, they were quite ordinary and looked good when placed at home.
But starting about a month ago, he suddenly became obsessed, promoting an incredibly ugly ceramic pot to everyone he met.
The patterns on this pot weren't the problem, but its shape was clearly distorted and completely asymmetrical, definitely due to a lack of care during production. Besides that, the pot always had a fishy smell.
Originally, this was something no one would want even if given for free, but the shop owner insisted on selling it at a high price. If people didn't want to buy it, he'd try to force the sale.
His shop's items were already just ordinary goods, and there were other porcelain shops in town. After he started doing this, his business naturally plummeted.
However, he still continued to act as he pleased, kept promoting that pot, and became increasingly frantic, even getting into arguments with customers and injuring them.
And that's not all! Just three days ago, everyone in town who had been promoted the pot by this owner but didn't buy it, all died mysteriously that night. Moreover, their bodies were dismembered and stuffed into the pots the owner had promoted, placed in the most conspicuous spots in the house. Their family members were no exception either."
The man recounted what he knew. Even just narrating the situation to someone else sent shivers down his own spine, let alone those who actually discovered these pots.
A neighbor of one of the victims, after calling out for a long time without a response, entered his room and screamed upon seeing the pot displayed on the living room table, fainting from fright.
Musashi, listening nearby, had unknowingly clenched his fists. Although he had long understood the cruelty of demons, this situation was infinitely worse than anything he had known before.
"The most consistent point among the victims is that they had all been promoted the pot by this owner but didn't buy it. So, the first suspect was definitely him. After reporting it to the police, they also investigated and found that these pots were indeed from his shop, which led to what you just saw."
After saying all this, the man sighed.
"Alas, it's truly depraved. I heard there were even infants less than a year old and pregnant women among the deceased..."
"Hmph..."
Taking a deep breath to force his anger to subside, this demon had become the person Musashi hated most now, second only to Muzan.
"Thank you for telling me all this..." Musashi suppressed the anger in his heart and said to the man.
"No problem. Fortunately, this shop owner has already been arrested by the police, otherwise, who knows what other shocking things he might have done. I think he must have some mental issues. I hope the police keep him locked up and never let him out," the man waved his hand and said to Musashi.
In their perception, this incident must have been done by the shop owner.
In fact, although the shop owner was a participant, it was mainly the work of a demon.
"I also wanted to ask where I can find the kind of pot you just mentioned," Musashi asked again.
From the man's words, it was already clear that this demon was definitely related to the pots he mentioned. Therefore, Musashi wanted to start his investigation with these pots, but he hadn't seen the kind of pot the man described when he looked through the porcelain shop's window earlier.
Musashi's words made the man size him up again. Now, the man was starting to suspect that Musashi might not be entirely normal either. A normal person, after hearing all this, should clearly feel fear and want to avoid these pots, but this young man in front of him not only wasn't scared but kept asking for more information.
"All these pots have been collected by the police," the man replied.
"I see..." Musashi fell silent upon hearing this, pondering his next plan.
Since the police had collected these pots, their current situation could be said to be very dangerous. Musashi planned to first find a way to get these pots out, solving the danger to the police while also investigating the demon's clues from these pots.
After finalizing his plan, Musashi turned to leave, but the man behind him called out to him.
Musashi turned his head, a little confused, and saw the man hesitate before saying, "Although there's nothing wrong with having your own interests, I still recommend you see a doctor."
Then, perhaps fearing Musashi's anger, the man quickly added, "Of course, I'm not saying you're sick. I just think it's good to get a check-up even if there's nothing wrong."
...
This was the second time Musashi had heard someone suggest he see a doctor recently. Now, he was also starting to wonder if there was truly something wrong with him.
He had originally thought he was one of the few normal people among the Hashiras, but now it seemed that wasn't the case...
"I understand..." Musashi replied after a moment of silence.
"Haha, I wish you a speedy recovery," the man chuckled twice and said to Musashi.
"Thanks..."
Musashi felt a little speechless. Wasn't that just treating him as if he were sick!