Chapter 205 — Brother, It Hurts!
Who could understand the feeling of having a needle inserted into your body, only for the nurse to start stirring it around before pulling it out?
The patient immediately felt uncomfortable all over.
He sat on the bench, one hand gripping his thigh tightly.
His other hand was completely at Shinobu's mercy.
He endured it until he could bear it no longer, then cautiously reminded her.
"Ah~! Sorry. Kanzaki Aoi, come over quickly and take this patient to get his wound bandaged."
Aoi Kanzaki had just found the bed sheets when she heard Shinobu's instructions.
She immediately came over and led the patient away.
Afterward, the patient was delighted to receive a complimentary bandage package.
Shinobu, looking somewhat distracted, said, "Next."
The patients waiting behind him immediately exchanged glances.
Then a young man stepped forward.
He had witnessed what happened to the previous patient with his own eyes.
Although he trusted Shinobu's abilities, he couldn't help saying, "Miss Kocho, please be a little steadier."
Shinobu nodded.
"Don't worry. I've been doing this for half my life. There won't be any problems."
Hearing that, the young man breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's good. A little discomfort is acceptable."
With that, he bravely extended his arm, looking as though he were facing his execution with righteous determination.
Shinobu began treating him.
Coincidentally, this patient also needed an injection.
So she called for Aoi Kanzaki and asked her to prepare the necessary equipment.
Meanwhile, Ren's treatment speed was practically like a rocket.
Because the Butterfly Mansion was short-staffed, Ren had only opened the simplest of the four departments: surgery.
After constantly fighting outside, the Demon Slayer Corps members naturally had the most external injuries.
Most of the people in line had only suffered minor wounds.
They were relatively easy to treat.
Patients with more serious conditions were sent directly to the wards, where they would wait until Shinobu had time to treat them. Aoi Kanzaki was responsible for handling the less serious cases.
As for those with even more severe injuries...
Some never made it back at all. They had already ended up in a demon's stomach.
With Ren's current level of medical skill, he needed only fifteen seconds per person to treat these external injuries.
The only time-consuming parts were operating the equipment, applying simple bandages, and handling similar tasks.
Aoi Kanzaki would immediately come over to change a bandage or hand him an instrument.
"Forceps."
"Scissors."
"Syringe."
Ren treated the patients in an orderly fashion, his hands never stopping as he quickly worked his way through the people at the front of the line.
And Ren himself had entered a profound and mysterious state.
You have entered the Domain of Time!
Your concentration has increased!
To demonstrate his determination, Ren directly activated his Domain of Time.
At his current level, even activating the domain for fifteen minutes no longer consumed his mental energy.
So Ren simply activated his domain whenever he needed to deal with something.
"Good. Next."
Before long, Ren had finished examining another patient.
The man's injury was on his arm.
A fracture and a laceration.
Ren analyzed the wounds and quickly understood what had happened.
The man had obviously been beaten down by a demon first, resulting in the fracture. Then, during a mutual charge with blades drawn, the Demon Slayer had been rather unlucky.
His Nichirin Sword had gone in the wrong direction.
But his opponent had anticipated it.
The demon tilted its head and, almost in perfect coordination, extended its neck toward the blade of its own comrade.
And thus, one of the most unjustly killed souls in the history of the Demon Slayer Corps had been born.
The wounds on his body had also been caused by the demon's claws.
It was worth pointing out that for this man to still be alive—and even able to walk into the Butterfly Mansion on his own to receive treatment—his vitality had to be exceptionally strong.
"Practice your technique properly. Don't try to make unnecessary predictions."
"Ah... Oh."
The Demon Slayer froze for a moment.
Then he remembered that the person standing before him was a Hashira and gave an awkward smile.
So even the Hashira know about my situation. I really am somewhat famous...
"Next."
Ren called toward the back of the crowd.
Immediately afterward, a young female Demon Slayer rushed out.
She ran straight up to Ren.
"Big Brother, I'm hurt!"
Ren calmly asked, "Where does it hurt?"
The female Demon Slayer grabbed Ren's hand and pressed it against her chest!
Ren was startled and immediately pulled his hand back.
"Have some self-respect, will you?"
The young woman secretly regretted it when her plan failed.
So she simply said, "Brother Ren, my heart hurts."
Her voice was so sweet and saccharine that it was almost nauseating.
Crack!
The sound of glass shattering rang out.
Shinobu, who was administering an injection to a patient nearby, suddenly crushed the glass syringe in her hand.
The young man receiving the injection froze instantly.
Then he watched as his blood traveled back through the needle and rapidly spilled out.
But he didn't cry out from the pain.
It wasn't that he had forgotten to.
He simply didn't dare!
He was a fairly clever man.
After all, who didn't know that Miss Kocho was considered the weakest among the Hashira?
But now, she had suddenly crushed a small glass syringe with both hands.
What did that mean?
It should be noted that although the glass syringe was small, it was by no means easy to crush!
Yet Miss Kocho had crushed it without even blinking.
The young man secretly glanced at Shinobu.
He discovered that Shinobu was still staring in Ren's direction.
She hadn't even noticed that his blood had begun flowing out and had gotten onto her hand.
The young man then looked toward Ren.
My God!
That girl's voice was so sweet when she called him "Brother"!
It almost made him stand at attention!
My God! She clearly has no intention of surviving another day at the Butterfly Mansion!
Who didn't know that Miss Kocho and Lord Ren were a match made in heaven?
In the young man's eyes, trying to steal Lord Ren right in front of Miss Kocho was no different from seeking death.
He really wanted to know what that female Demon Slayer was thinking.
Sigh!
At that thought, the young man couldn't help sighing.
Why am I always the one who gets hurt whenever this happens?!
Perhaps in response to the young man's emotions—or perhaps the warmth of the blood finally brought Shinobu back to her senses—Shinobu accidentally looked up at him.
Her voice was gentle.
"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry. I was being too careless. I'll get you another syringe."
"N-No... no need."
The young Demon Slayer stammered.
At this moment, all he wanted was to escape.
"It's fine."
Shinobu smiled again.
If one ignored the two enormous "#" symbols floating above her head, that is.
"It's fine."
Shinobu repeated mechanically.
"It's fine..."
"Miss Kocho, are you all right?"
The young man asked worriedly.
What he was most concerned about was whether he would be able to leave this room alive today.
Shinobu smiled.
"Oh? I'm fine. As long as you don't die, these are all minor problems."
Young Demon Slayer: "!!!"