Winter of 1908, in snow-covered mountains.
Now 1909, the year Kanae was originally fated to die, was just around the corner.
The Akatsuki Trading Company's Lower Moon hunt was truly a picnic in supernatural terrain. This operation excluded the humans Kanae, Shinobu, and Tsubaki, and went forth with several Servants.
Probably consideration since it's cold.
Ratatatat! KABOOM!
Hundreds of matchlock guns manifesting in the air spat fire. Nobunaga laughed heartily.
"Wahahaha! How about it, Master! Killing them, right? Oni bastards are swiss cheese before my firepower, swiss cheese!"
Lower Moon Two became tattered by her bullets and tried to flee, but this time an orange beast pounced.
"Woof! Don't run away! Cat's lunch, woof!"
Crunch!
Tamamo Cat pressed down the oni with giant claws. A cool slash finally split the space.
"Flame-Burst Drawing Sword Technique..."
Benienma's sword flashed. Lower Moon Two was cleaved in two by her iai slash.
"Ingredient preparation finishedy. Master, enjoyy."
Beside them, Shuten Douji, still with her purple kimono loosened despite the snowing cold, walked over shaking a sake bottle.
"Ma, everyone plays too rough, aru. My drinking snacks are all ruined."
Akira walked out leisurely and absorbed the oni's remains.
"Good work, everyone. As expected, it's easy with you guys."
"Of course it is! Because it's me! Master, where next? Any thicker-boned bastards? My body aches!"
Nobu patted Akira's back hard.
"It hurts, Nobu. Next is Tokyo outskirts. Tamamo said something looking like Lower Moon Six was observed there."
"Ooh, nice~ Let's go!"
And, the oni presumed to be their next target, Lower Moon Six.
Deep within Tokyo outskirts forest. Lower Moon Six hiding in an old abandoned house.
Mukago hugged her knees and trembled.
Her terror wasn't a day or two old. It was an instinct engraved deep in her bones since her human days.
Mukago was originally the daughter of a wealthy family. But her body had been weak since birth. aTF4RE5DbGowRWJBNjlXRzBRK3hYVVVGN3JxUW1teWluRSthSmsrNHZkUk10SWRhNXZvWUN6eVNhU3Yra1pEUQ
Her world was entirely atop blankets all year round. Outside the window, sounds of children her age playing could be heard, but it was scenery not permitted to her.
The room was always filled only with the bitter smell of medicine and coughing sounds mixed with blood.
'I don't want to die...'
Whenever her breath choked up every night, the young girl prayed crying. That she didn't want to disappear. That she wanted to run like those children too. Death was the most terrible, absolute terror to her.
The day that earnest wish was fulfilled in a twisted form, Kibutsuji Muzan appeared.
"Pitiful thing. I shall grant you eternal life."
She became an oni. Her illness washed away and vanished, gaining a robust body. For the first time, she ran through the forest, saw the night sky.
But ironically, after becoming an oni, her terror grew larger. Because she became healthy, she now had something to lose.
If her neck is cut by a Nichirin Blade, she dies. If she sees sunlight, she dies.
If she angers Muzan, she dies. Though she gained eternal life, to protect that eternity she had to spend every night trembling in the Demon Slayer Corps' shadow.
"Eek! No! Scary! Why give such a mission only to me! I hate fighting!"
Mukago covered her ears. The order given this time was to investigate a suspicious oni hunting group.
But her instincts were warning. Go there and die. Absolutely die.
This created a large difference between her and Rui. Rui didn't particularly feel fear and followed Muzan's words well. At least she didn't cower in terror or run away like Mukago.
Though she lived with similar conduct to Rui, the difference in treatment was vast.
Since she started as a sick child, Muzan sympathized and made her an oni, but Rui had the overlapping point of nearly being killed by family and somewhat resembling Muzan, so Muzan cherished her.
But Mukago, due to her unique fear and personality, was now just one of the so-so Lower Moons to Muzan.
That's when it happened. The forest air changed.
"Found it! You rat bastard!"
KABOOM!
The abandoned house's roof flew away. A demon king waving a red cape descended from the night sky.
"Huh? A horned brat? Lower Moon Six they said, but the vibe is totally off!"
Oda Nobunaga aimed her matchlock gun with a thud.
Following behind, monsters appearing one after another. Orange beast (Tamamo Cat), cool murderous swordsman (Benienma), and an oni exuding bloody smell and alcohol scent (Shuten Douji).
Mukago felt her breath stop. Terror on a different dimension, incomparable to the Demon Slayer Corps.
"Woof! This time I'll do it!"
"Chirp. Too small, nothing to eat eveny."
"Cute looking. Can I smash the horns?"
Mukago surrounded by monsters. She couldn't even think of fighting, falling into panic and crawling on the floor.
"No! Don't shoot! I surrender! Surrender!"
"Surrender to an oni, what! The order from Master is annihilation! Farewell!"
Click.
The moment Nobu mercilessly pulled the trigger. Mukago, with death fear at its peak, screamed a tearing shriek.
"Nooooooo~!! Don't wanna dieee~!! Please save meee!!"
That resounding high-tone scream. A clear-toned shriek mixed with crying, yet strangely piercing to the ear.
That moment, Akira and the Servants' movements simultaneously stopped dead.
"Wait! Nobu, stop!"
Akira urgently raised his hand.
"Huh? Why, Master? Not finishing? Gets boring."
Nobu lowered the gun muzzle and scratched her ear. Akira strode over to Mukago. Mukago, tear-streaked, looked up at him trembling.
"Sniff... I, I was wrong..."
Akira looked back with a serious expression.
"Hey, you guys. This voice... doesn't it sound very familiar from somewhere?"
At Akira's words, they simultaneously stared piercingly at Mukago. In their memories, they had encountered countless Servants.
The first to react was Nobu. She recoiled in disgust.
"Wha?! Master, this voice... it's exactly like Ishtar's?!"
"Right, right. Exactly the same voice as that underworld goddess who came the day before eviction and got evicted right away."
Shuten Douji giggled while fiddling with Mukago's chin.
"Woof! I see, the so-called Rin-face smells! But she's kinda pathetic, woof!"
Tamamo Cat sniffed and delivered the confirming shot.
Akira shuddered.
No way Lower Moon Six was Mukago. To Akira, Mukago was his favorite among Lower Moons. The design, the realistic personality, and representatively, the voice.
That voice, the same as Tohsaka Rin's.
'This is fate.'
Akira's eyes burned with an otaku's desire. Lower Moon Six's nutrients weren't important. But meeting his favorite, an oni with that voice.
"Decided. I'm collecting this one."
"Haa? Master, serious? Just a whiny oni. Let's just shoot her."
Nobu slung the gun over her shoulder as if finding it ridiculous.
"Nobu, you don't understand. How precious it is to be insulted with 'Baka!' by that voice."
"...Wow, Master. That line just now was kinda creepy? Well, if that's your taste, won't stop you though."
Nobu clicked her tongue and turned her head. Benienma looked at Akira as if finding him pathetic, but Shuten laughed as if finding it amusing.
"Hey."
"Ye, yes...?"
"You, don't wanna die? Wanna live at my place? Will give food and a place to sleep. But, there's a condition."
"Wh, what condition...?"
"Every morning must say to me 'Hmph, it's not like I woke you up for Master's sake or anything!'"
"...Huh?"
As Mukago stared blankly, Nobu cut in from the side.
"Hey brat. When Master says he'll spare you, just do it. Or should I turn you into swiss cheese?"
"I'll do it! I'll do it! Will say the line a thousand times!"
Mukago grabbed and hung onto Akira's pant leg.
"Good, then let's go?"
Grabbing Mukago from behind, he immediately shoved his hand into her head.
Crunch!
"Cough!?"
"Now, stay still."
Akira removing Muzan's curse while stirring inside her head. Now seemingly familiar, he did it skillfully, and Mukago convulsed while feeling the pain.
Soon, the characters 'Lower Six' disappeared from Mukago's eye.
"Congratulations. Cat, heal her with a talisman. Being a Lower Moon, regeneration is slow."
Mukago's recovery was slow, perhaps from having her head stirred. Cat, who though inferior to Tamamo can perform simple magecraft, took out a talisman and healed Mukago.
Now going back and having Tamamo form a forced contract magecraft would be perfect.
Thus Mukago became part of the Akatsuki Trading Company family. All the way back, Shuten Douji and Nobu played with her like a toy.
"Your horns are soft. Perfect for drinking snacks."
"Eek! Those taste bad!"
"Hey brat. Can you sing well?"
"Si, sing? Not sure..."
"What a boring kid! I'll perform a song! Don't fall for my Atsumori!"
"Nyaang!? Nobu's singing is noise pollution, woof!"
Thus time passed.
Mukago's daily life settling into the Akatsuki Trading Company was rough. Scolded by Benienma in the kitchen, chased by Cat in the yard, teased by Nobu and Shuten in the living room.
One afternoon, living room.
"Now, Mukago. Today try saying 'We, well, it's not like I did this worrying about you or anything!' as embarrassingly as possible."
Akira presented the script. Mukago's face became beet red.
"Um, Master... must I really?"
"If not, tonight's marksmanship training with Nobu."
"I'll do it!! We, well, it's not like I did this worrying about you or anything! Hmph!"
"Good! Perfect! That trembling tone is art!"
Akira clapped like a seal. Nobu, lying on the sofa chewing senbei, giggled.
"Kukuku, Master really has bad tastes. That kid's gonna cry, gonna cry. Hey brat, wouldn't it be better to just take a hit and end it?"
"Sniff... Nobu-sama, please be quiet!"
"Oh? Now talking back? As expected of that girl's voice, has spirit!"
Nobu laughed holding her stomach whenever Mukago got angry, saying Ishtar overlapped in her vision.
Benienma brought tea and shook her head.
"Chirp. Mukago is getting pitifuly. But... the voice really resembles those goddessesy. Surprises me sometimesy."
Mukago, not understanding why, due to Akira and the Servants' peculiar tastes, had her life spared and settled as the Akatsuki Trading Company's tsundere voice specialist.
The mountain of potatoes she had to peel was high, and Nobu's teasing was mischievous, but at least her days were peaceful(?) without worry of her head flying off.
And.
"Master. I've found a household with someone named Mitsuri of the Kanroji family."
"Really? Then, immediately send a proposal for marriage talks. I knew the Kanroji family was a wealthy household setting, but didn't expect them to be an upper-class noble family. A position equivalent to Count by Western standards."
Akira's next target was talent who would become a Demon Slayer Corps Pillar.
He was aiming for Kanroji Mitsuri.
"If only I could have done this from the start. Could have recruited Pillar-level talent earlier. Don't even know where the Pillars live, plus the timelines don't all match. If only I knew the location, could recruit the Tokito brothers too, so many regrets, right?"
"I'm searching, but not easy. Tokyo alone is vast, and getting involved with the Demon Slayer Corps becomes troublesome."
"Just keep doing as now. Even if we miss, it's just regretting, not a problem."
Akira trying to inversely recruit talent who would become Demon Slayer Corps Pillars. Of course, even if missed, nothing to regret. Good if we have, fine if we don't.
Among them, Mitsuri was talent who joined the Demon Slayer Corps for the very light and ridiculous reason of finding a marriage partner in the first place. Being the chairman of the Akatsuki Trading Company, Japan's top leading trading company, was enough level to exchange marriage talks with a prestigious noble family like Kanroji.
"But Master."
"Hmm?"
"Um, you're not really planning to make her your wife, right?"
"She's 14 now. Soon 15?"
"I'm 12 by modern standards?"
"You're ageless, Kiyokiyo. Who treats you like a child in the first place. Perhaps jealous?"
"Lately, Miss Kanae's eyes looking at you are unusual, you know."
"Sigh, had no intention of grooming at all."
"Weeell, this Kiyo will trust you."
Somehow, Kiyohime's gaze felt sharp to Akira.