Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

All her causal rewriting of reality must be based on things that already exist in reality.

The farmer's backyard originally did not have that much money, so no matter how Mitsuha rewrote cause and effect, he could not change the family's circumstances at the time of his birth.

But as long as she buried the corresponding amount of money in the backyard, the farmer's fortune would be successfully replicated.

Secondly, the daimyo in the cause-and-effect relationship that Mitsuha created for this farmer, "being appreciated by the daimyo," did not actually appear out of thin air.

This daimyo is a real person, and indeed a daimyo with a strong passion for sword forging.

Therefore, Mitsuba was able to successfully create the cause and effect of "being appreciated by the daimyo" for the farmer.

Of course, this cause and effect did not affect the daimyo; in reality, the daimyo still did not know the farmer.

But within Mitsuha's territory, this farmer had already come to know this daimyo and had been forging swords for him for the past few decades.

Her modifications within her field are based on external reality, yet they remain independent of true reality.

Finally, and most importantly, the reason this farmer was able to become a blacksmith was entirely because Mitsuha had diligently studied forging techniques beforehand.

She was only able to successfully transform the farmer into a blacksmith because she already possessed extremely high levels of forging knowledge.

This is also the second major limitation of Mitsuba's new ability—

Within her domain, the limits of what she can rewrite depend entirely on her own understanding; the extent to which she understands determines the extent to which she can distort reality.

Of course, these limitations only apply to the causal replication of reality.

If it were simply a matter of copying ideas, it would be much simpler.

After all, human thought is the most changeable thing in the world, and any rewriting of it can be easily achieved without restriction.

Just like the farmer, when Mitsuha asked him to become a blacksmith, he obediently worked hard in that direction.

And that demon slayer from earlier, when asked to kill Doma, he went without hesitation.

That's how ideas are; they seem indestructible, but in reality, they break at the slightest touch.

So, given so many restrictions, what role can Mitsuba's new ability play besides influencing the enemy's thinking in battle?

The answer is simple: create a "cause of death".

If Mitsuha were to encounter some ridiculously strong demon hunters in the future, such powerful individuals who have never suffered any fatal injuries in their lives would be a formidable force to be reckoned with.

Mitsuha could have orchestrated this in advance, creating a potentially fatal "cause" for him, and then manipulated that cause to forcefully trigger his death.

What? You're saying you've never suffered this kind of injury before?

Hey! This isn't up to you. In my field, if I say you've done it, then you've done it! Here, my word counts! Even the gods have to step aside!

She will no longer be bound by the condition that "there must be a cause for an effect".

With the new ability of causal rewriting, Mitsuha is now able to create causal relationships at will within the scope of her own understanding!

It truly achieved that—if you're told to die, you must die!

That's just how unreasonable they are.

The only downside is that her new ability also cannot be used against evil spirits...

After all, there are no causal threads on evil spirits.

"Hey, Holy Maiden, wake up! Don't just sit here spacing out! I've already taken care of all those demon hunters!"

Mitsuha's wandering consciousness was gradually brought back. She came to her senses and saw Doma standing in front of her, holding a half-eaten female thigh in his arms.

The rear encampment was littered with corpses and in complete disarray.

Although Doma seems unreliable, he is surprisingly meticulous in his battles with demon slayers.

He left no survivors at the camp; all the ghost hunters there that night were confirmed dead.

Meeting Douma's smiling gaze, which seemed to be expecting something, Mitsuha blinked in confusion at first, then suddenly understood, and immediately smiled and praised:

"You did a great job, Knight Doma!"

"Thank you, Holy Maiden! Protecting you is my duty as a knight!"

Upon receiving Mitsuha's praise, Doma immediately put on a happy expression and handed the thigh in his hand to Mitsuha.

"By the way, Your Majesty, would you like some too? This little girl's meat is quite chewy, you know?"

"Ugh~ It's bloody and creepy, take it away..."

With a dismissive wave of her hand, Mitsuha immediately stood up and said:

"Alright, now that the mission is complete, that's all for tonight. I'm heading back. Call me if you need anything else..."

Yes, Mitsuha is preparing to go back.

Although she had made up her mind to observe the creature named Doma carefully, Mitsuha did not intend to stay by Doma's side all the time.

After all, she's not some perverted voyeur. She can observe people carefully when she needs to, but there's no need to stare at them all day long...

But at that moment, Douma suddenly asked:

"Hey? Is the Holy Maiden going back already? Won't you come with me to stroll through the flower market?"

"That's right, that's right~ There are lots of fresh and beautiful girls there, doesn't Your Majesty really want to go and see them?"

Recalling her experience strolling through the flower market nearly a hundred years ago, Mitsuha slowly nodded.

"Okay, let's go take a look together then."

She was also curious whether, after so much time had passed, humans had developed any interesting new ways to play...

(The timeline has been slightly altered, with some plot points from the original work moved forward a bit.)

Chapter 112 This is because the Holy Maiden has lived too long!

But soon, Mitsuha's expectations were dashed.

As it turns out, even a hundred years from now, places like red-light districts will only offer the same old carnal desires and the same old singing and dancing.

"This is so unoriginal. I thought that after so much time, these people would have come up with something new..."

The result is either that they come to mate, or they perform the same old tunes over and over again. Don't they ever get bored?

In a private room on the second floor of a brothel in the geisha district, Mitsuha, who had transformed herself into Yan Sheng's appearance, sat by the window.

She rested her chin on her hand, listening to the faint sounds of traditional Chinese string and wind instruments coming from the next room, feeling utterly bored.

Doma sat opposite her, and the room they were in was extremely quiet.

But this wasn't because they didn't bring in a geisha to perform; rather, the geisha who was originally in charge of the performance was now being held and kissed by Doma.

It means "to gnaw" literally.

"That's because the Holy Maiden has lived too long~"

With his mouth full of blood and flesh, Douma laughed upon hearing Mitsuha's pointless remark:

"Unlike us, who have infinite lifespans and can live forever in this world, human lifespans are so short and life is so fragile that we can die suddenly if we are not careful."

Yet these pitiful and pathetic creatures must dedicate a large portion of their already short lifespan to rest and making a living, further compressing the little time they have left for enjoyment.

This is why most people cannot enjoy all the pleasures of the world in their short lives.

Most of the time, they are immersed in the suffering of this world, unable to feel any joy in living...

"Your Holiness, how could such unfortunate people possibly find these pleasures boring?"

As Doma spoke, tears welled up in his eyes.

He seemed to truly empathize with the suffering people in the world, and felt compassion for them.

But under the clear light of the world, Mitsuha could clearly see that the sorrow that Doma was showing was still only reflected in his facial features.

This was still just his performance; he didn't actually feel anything at all.

"Oh, I never expected that Knight Doma could say something so profound. It's truly astonishing."

But Mitsuha didn't expose him, because she wanted to see more of Doma's performance.

She really wanted to know where this thing's limits were.

"Hmm~ Of course, after all, I am the founder of your Eternal Bliss Cult, Your Majesty..."

"By the way, Your Majesty, wouldn't you like a bite? This girl tastes quite good too, you know."

As he spoke, Doma extended a section of his arm to Mitsuha, extending another invitation. He seemed genuinely interested in dining with Mitsuha.

Perhaps in his view, this should be a way of expressing friendship?

But Mitsuha really disliked this bloody way of eating, and...

"No, I only eat demon hunters."

Yes, for the past two hundred years, Mitsuha's diet has remained very simple; she has only ever eaten demon slayers.

"Huh? Why?"

"Why……"

Meeting Doma's questioning gaze, Mitsuha began to seriously consider this question that she had never thought about before.

"Hmm... From a physical point of view, this might be because after I transformed into a demon, the first human I devoured upon waking up was a demon slayer, which is why my body has come to like this original taste?"

From a nutritional perspective, the physical strength of demon hunters far surpasses that of ordinary humans.

Therefore, the physical strength that can be replenished by devouring them is far superior to that of devouring ordinary humans. One can be equivalent to several, making it extremely cost-effective.

From a personal emotional perspective, I would not want to devour ordinary humans, since every life in this world is precious.

If I could, I would actually really hope that all kind-hearted people could live to be a hundred years old…

Upon hearing Mitsuha's words, Doma's face showed an even more puzzled expression.

"Your Excellency, isn't there a contradiction in what you're saying?"

“This is not contradictory, Knight Doma.”

Knowing perfectly well what Doma was wondering about, Mitsuha simply smiled, shrugged, and said in a completely nonchalant tone:

"Because the 'humans' I see do not include demon hunters."

Or rather, I viewed the demon hunters as enemies before I considered them as human.

Knight Doma, would you show mercy to your enemy?

"Not at all!"

"That's right!"

They instantly clicked, and Mitsuha and Doma immediately raised their hands and gave each other a high five in perfect unison.

But immediately, as if he suddenly realized something, Doma first looked down at the beautiful geisha in his arms who had been dead for a long time, then looked up at Mitsuha in front of him, and made a wronged expression on his face.

"Then, Your Holiness, if I hurt ordinary people in front of you like this, won't you be very unhappy?"

After all, you dislike hurting ordinary people the most…

"Absolutely not!"

Smiling and waving her hand, Mitsuha said nonchalantly:

"Because my standards only apply to myself. What others do is their business. I will not use my standards to demand things of others."

However, if you, Knight Doma, are willing to use the same standards as me, I would be very happy~

"Hey—Your Holiness is so mean! You're actually using this method to coerce me? You really do hate this kind of behavior of mine, don't you?!"

"Hmm, I never said anything like that~"

This guy is indeed incredibly smart.

Mitsuha smiled as she gazed at Doma, who was on the verge of tears, and inwardly marveled.

It's incredible that someone who is emotionally empty themselves can so keenly perceive the hidden emotions in other people's words.

How exactly did this kind of human being come into existence?

"Since that's the case, in order not to be disliked by the Holy Maiden, I will try my best to get closer to her in the future..."

After weeping bitterly, Doma looked at the geisha in his arms and seemed to have made up his mind.

"It's decided! Starting tomorrow, unless I absolutely can't find anything to eat, I will only devour beautiful female demon hunters from now on!"