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Chapter 173: Kocho Kanae: Suyan, You're Bad~
"Koharu, are you absolutely sure you don't have another name?" Suyan asked, looking at the little girl with deep expectation.
Koharu scratched her head. Even though Suyan had already asked her this exact question three times, she didn't show a single ounce of annoyance. She replied with her usual boundless energy, "Mr. Customer, I've answered three times! Koharu is just Koharu. I don't have any other names!"
"Fine, fine~"
With that, Suyan's hopes were finally dashed. He dropped the issue and shifted his gaze to the girls Koharu had brought back with her.
Two of them looked to be around Koharu's age, while the other two were significantly younger, barely coming up to Koharu's shoulder. However, to be purchased by the Kyogoku House as future Oiran candidates, their looks were naturally exceptional. Even though they hadn't fully matured yet, they were clearly beautiful little gems in the making.
However, they were far more timid and reserved than the hyperactive, overly-friendly Koharu.
Suyan didn't mind. He turned back to Koharu and asked, "So, it's just them who want to leave?"
"Mhm." Koharu nodded, explaining, "They're my best friends. As for the older sisters… some of them didn't believe me, and some of them just didn't want to leave."
"That's alright." Suyan gently patted Koharu's head to comfort her, then turned to the madam. "Madam, I'll take them as well. Is the money I gave you earlier enough for their freedom too?"
"Yes, more than enough!" The madam nodded emphatically.
Seeing the small handful of girls standing behind Koharu, she breathed a massive sigh of relief. Thank god it was only a few unimportant little trainees leaving with him. If the veteran girls had packed up and left too, she would have had to shut the Kyogoku House down permanently.
The madam paused, then spoke to Suyan with uncharacteristic sincerity. "From this moment forward, they belong to you. I hope you will treat them well."
"I will." Suyan's expression turned serious, answering her with absolute sincerity.
While he didn't view himself as a traditionally 'good' person, he certainly wasn't evil. Even if his initial thought was just to populate Greed Island and make it a bit more lively, he had absolutely no intention of mistreating these girls now that they were his.
Madam Omitsu had lived for over forty years and seen every kind of man the world had to offer walk through her doors. Even if she couldn't completely read someone's soul, she had a highly accurate gut feeling for when a man was lying. Hearing Suyan's promise, the heavy stone in her heart finally settled.
After giving Koharu and the others a few parting words of advice, the madam didn't linger. She spun on her heel and marched off to prepare the house for the evening's business.
Once the madam was gone, Suyan conjured a Contract Parchment for Daki, Koinatsu, Koharu, and the other girls. They didn't hesitate, quickly sealing the Equivalent Exchange pacts and formally transferring their ownership to Suyan.
Looking at the small group of girls now under his care, Suyan couldn't help but smile.
Kocho Kanae was going to be absolutely thrilled when he brought them back. She absolutely adored taking care of younger sisters.
And among them was Daki—Upper Rank 6 herself. Right up until her tragic death, Kanae had always dreamed of a world where humans and demons could coexist peacefully.
"Alright, let's go inside," Suyan announced, waving his hand.
A shimmering doorway materialized in the air out of nowhere—the Dimensional Gate connecting to Greed Island.
With that, Suyan stepped through, still carrying Daki on his back. Koinatsu, Koharu, and the others exchanged bewildered glances, but quickly scurried through the portal after him.
By the time they crossed the threshold, Suyan was already waiting for them on the other side. He threw his arms wide open, announcing with dramatic flair, "Welcome to my world: Greed Island!"
"So amazing!!" Koharu's eyes practically turned to stars as she let out a breathless gasp of pure awe. "I knew it! The Customer is the God who heard my prayers, and this must be his Divine Kingdom!"
It wasn't just Koharu. Even the older and much more composed Koinatsu was reeling from the sheer shock of it all. She had assumed Suyan simply possessed some kind of unique ability. She never imagined he was this powerful.
He owned an entire pocket dimension that looked like a literal paradise!
In an island nation where legends of eight million gods were deeply ingrained in the culture, an entity capable of something like this was absolutely worthy of being called a God.
Recovering from her shock, Koinatsu immediately turned to Koharu and scolded her gently, "Koharu, we belong to Lord Suyan now. You cannot keep calling him 'Mr. Customer.' It is incredibly disrespectful."
"It's fine." Suyan waved a hand, dismissing the formality. "If you want, Koinatsu, you can just call me Brother. I don't have a lot of strict rules here."
"I-is that really okay?" Koinatsu bit her lip, a flicker of hesitation crossing her features.
After years of grueling education in the Kyogoku House, the absolute importance of hierarchy and status had been practically beaten into her. This was the first time she had ever met a man of such immense power who completely disregarded his own status.
She felt a wave of profound gratitude wash over her. Thank god Lord Suyan was the one who bought her out of that hell.
"Of course it is," Suyan affirmed.
"Then… B-Brother…" Koinatsu mumbled, her face flushing crimson. She couldn't even meet Suyan's eyes, and her voice was so quiet it was barely louder than a mosquito's hum.
Koharu immediately seized the opportunity to tease her. "Ooooh~ Sister Xiao Hong is blushing!"
"Koharu!!" Koinatsu stomped her foot, the blush exploding across her face and spreading all the way down her neck.
"Sister Xiao Hong is gonna hit me! Run!" Having successfully provoked her, Koharu grabbed her friends and bolted off into the distance.
Still heavily influenced by her rigid Oiran training, Koinatsu maintained her graceful composure and didn't immediately sprint after them. She glanced at Suyan, feeling the need to explain herself. "Lord Suyan, please don't listen to Koharu, I—"
"Just call me Brother," Suyan said softly.
"Huh?!"
Suyan offered a mild "Hmm?" and looked at her calmly.
Koinatsu felt like she was sitting on pins and needles. She opened her mouth, and her body betrayed her, instinctively breathing out the word, "B-Brother…"
Suyan nodded in satisfaction.
"I'll… I'll go find Koharu now." Koinatsu gently lifted the hem of her kimono to avoid tripping and hurried off in the direction the younger girls had vanished.
"Careful, don't trip!" Suyan called out.
Naturally, the moment the words left his mouth, Koinatsu's foot caught on the grass, and she nearly face-planted.
Suyan couldn't help but shake his head. He turned his attention back to the demon clinging to him. "Daki, time to get off."
"No!" Daki replied stubbornly.
"Are you sure?" Suyan teased. "I'm about to walk out into the sunlight."
That sent a violent shiver down Daki's spine. Instantly forgetting the intoxicating allure of Suyan's aura, she launched herself off his back out of pure reflex.
She absolutely did not want to die.
Standing in the shade, Daki glared at him, clearly unhappy about being forced off. Suyan just chuckled.
Without warning, he grabbed Daki's wrist and forcefully yanked her arm out toward the blazing sunlight.
"No!" Daki shrieked in sheer terror.
If a demon was struck by sunlight, not even their hyper-regeneration could save them. Even a fraction of a second of exposure would leave their skin bubbling, searing it into a hideous, melted mess like boiling water. And for a woman as vain as Daki, becoming ugly was a fate far worse than death.
She struggled furiously against his grip, but it was like fighting a mountain. She couldn't break free.
She stared at Suyan in disbelief, her eyes widening. The intricate, floral demon crest instantly manifested across her face. The nails on her free hand extended into razor-sharp talons, pure survival instinct preparing to attack him to save herself.
The very next second, her arm was bathed in sunlight.
"Ahhh!!" Daki let out a shrill, piercing scream like a terrified groundhog.
But… the agonizing burning she expected never came. Instead, the sunlight washing over her skin felt incredibly warm, like huddling next to a roaring fire on a freezing winter night.
It's… the sun?!
"What is going on?" Daki opened and closed her fingers, hesitantly pulling her arm back into the shade and then cautiously thrusting it back out into the light. She looked at Suyan with deep suspicion.
Suyan just smiled, offering no explanation.
While Tamayo hadn't successfully synthesized the immortality elixir yet, and the Blue Spider Lily hadn't bloomed, meaning he couldn't permanently cure a demon's weakness to the sun in the real world... this was Greed Island.
Daki was now his personal property. Why would his own island ever harm something that belonged to him?
Seeing that Suyan wasn't going to answer, Daki didn't press the issue.
Having been hidden away in the dark for hundreds of years, the sudden, gentle warmth of the sun was an absolute revelation. She quickly lost herself in the long-forgotten sensation.
In that moment, it was as if Daki had completely reverted to her innocent human self. Kicking off her wooden sandals, she ran barefoot into the sun-drenched grass, laughing wildly.
The silver-haired demon danced freely beneath the brilliant sun, her lithe, graceful body twirling in the light. Her pale, flawless skin seemed to glow with a radiant, pearlescent luster.
She looked like a pure, ethereal fairy dancing in the daylight. Breathtakingly beautiful.
For a moment, the sight was so mesmerizing that even Suyan almost forgot she was a vicious, man-eating demon.
Perhaps calling her Daki wasn't right anymore. The girl dancing before him was a reborn Ume!
While Daki had been hesitating in the shade, Koharu and the other girls had already run off and stumbled upon another breathtakingly beautiful woman living on Greed Island: Kocho Kanae.
"Oh my, what an adorable group of little sisters."
Being confronted with a flock of cute little girls instantly ignited Kanae's intense sister-complex. She waved them over, asking with an almost obsessive sweetness, "Come here, tell Big Sister your names."
"Mr. Customer?" Koharu looked back nervously, searching for Suyan, who was just walking up with Ume in tow.
"Don't worry, she's not a bad person," Suyan said gently. "You can just call her Sister Kanae."
"Sister Kanae~" Koharu hesitated for a second before calling out sweetly. Following her lead, the other girls chimed in with their own choruses of "Sister," and quickly introduced themselves.
"So good. Here, Big Sister will give you some candy." Kanae gently patted each of their heads, pulled out a handful of sweets, and distributed them.
The moment they had the candy in their hands—before they even tasted it—their voices became exponentially sweeter. In perfect unison, they cheered, "Thank you, Sister Kanae!"
"Good girls." Kanae's eyes curved into happy little crescents, practically radiating joy.
"By the way, Kanae, what are you doing in here?" Suyan asked.
Kanae sighed dramatically. "I accidentally made Shinobu mad, so I'm hiding in here until she calms down. You absolutely cannot tell her where I am!"
"You made Shinobu mad?" Suyan was intrigued. He had spent the night with Kocho Shinobu just yesterday. Considering they shared physical sensations, exactly how had Kanae managed to get bullied by Shinobu, only to somehow end up making Shinobu angry in the process?
"Suyan, you're so mean~" Kanae refused to answer, playfully poking Suyan's cheek with her index finger. She shot him a deeply resentful look. "You knew Shinobu and I share our senses, but you didn't tell me! You and Shinobu bullied me together last night!"
Suyan had no defense against that.
Suddenly, Kanae's eyes lit up with mischief. "Hey, how about we bully Shinobu back tonight?"
"Again? Do you have a death wish?" Suyan asked incredulously.
Kanae puffed out her cheeks, clearly annoyed. But then she seemed to remember something and quickly changed the subject. "Never mind that! What about you? Weren't you out doing a mission for the Demon Slayer Corps with Shinobu? Why are you back so soon?"
Suyan pointed to Ume, who was frolicking in the distance. "Look over there. Upper Rank 6. I brought her back."
"What? That little sister is Upper Rank 6?!"
Kanae stared in absolute shock at the girl who had initially acted too arrogant to play with Koharu and the others, but had quickly caved to her own tsundere nature and joined their games.
She was stunned that this girl was a demon, let alone an Upper Rank, and even more shocked that Suyan had casually brought her into Greed Island.
As one of Suyan's contracted partners, Kanae knew exactly what that implied.
"So humans and demons truly can coexist peacefully?" Kanae asked softly.
Suyan shook his head.
A demon might occasionally be able to peacefully coexist with a human, but demanding that humans universally coexist with demons was practically impossible.
Demons in this world were remarkably similar to the Ghouls from Tokyo Ghoul. Both species found human food repulsive to the point of severe nausea. Even if they forced themselves to swallow it, they would inevitably vomit it back up.
But at least Ghouls could drink coffee to stave off the hunger. Demons strictly required human flesh.
Humans naturally felt empathy when slaughtering livestock for food, but when a person was truly starving, they would butcher and devour a beloved pet without a second thought. Under those biological conditions, even the Ghouls who successfully lived alongside humans were exceptionally rare.
For demons, it was even harder.
Even if Tamayo's drug—the one that allowed demons to stomach human food—was perfected and mass-produced, demons and humans still couldn't truly coexist. Why? Because to a demon, humans weren't just food; they were the raw material required to grow stronger.
"Then what about that child?" Kanae asked, confused.
"She's a special case," Suyan replied cryptically.
Meanwhile, far away in a completely different dimension.
Inside the Infinity Castle, a man in a pristine white suit sat elegantly on a chair. One hand rested casually on the armrest, while the other held a crystal wine glass. He gently swirled the vivid crimson liquid inside, watching it cling to the glass.
Vibrant and dazzling, exactly like blood.
He looked exactly like a noble, aristocratic vampire from Western mythology.
He raised the glass to his lips, preparing to take a sip.
CRACK!
The veins on the back of his hand suddenly bulged violently, and the glass shattered in his grip. Shards of crystal rained onto the floor, and the crimson liquid soaked his hand.
If anyone else had been present, they would have been horrified as a heavy, coppery stench immediately filled the air. The liquid wasn't wine; it was pure human blood.
And this elegant man was the progenitor of all demons, the entity the Demon Slayer Corps had hunted for a thousand years: Kibutsuji Muzan.
"Upper Rank 6… has disconnected!!"
Muzan's pupils shrank to terrifying slits, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
This was the first time since that man's death that an Upper Rank demon had simply vanished without being killed in a formal Blood Battle challenge. The sudden, inexplicable loss sent a violent wave of panic through his usually cold, calculating mind.
It took a long time for Muzan to calm down. He tapped his finger against the armrest—tap, tap, tap—and finally spoke into the empty air.
"Nakime. Summon all of the Twelve Kizuki. Bring them to me immediately!"
Twang!
The sharp, resonant twang of a biwa echoed through the Infinity Castle in response.
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