Demon Slayer: Starting with the Kingdom

As soon as Yan Sheng finished speaking, Nakime came out of the room next door with two samurai swords and placed them in front of Gyutaro.

"Um, Lord Kokushibo..."

Looking down at the two swords in front of him, Gyutaro tentatively raised his hand and said awkwardly:

"I... I've only ever used a sickle since I was a child..."

Ironware has always been expensive.

For Gyutaro in his human form, the rusty scythe that a customer accidentally left behind was the best weapon he could find in his entire life.

It was also the thing he was most comfortable using.

In response, Yan Sheng simply said calmly:

"It's alright, you're still young, and you can still change your fighting habits now."

From that day on, the Gyutaro siblings officially moved into Kokusatsu's dojo and became one of his many disciples.

Following Kokusatsu's instructions, Gyutaro abandoned his beloved twin scythes and, at Kokusatsu's request, began practicing "dual-wielding" with two samurai swords.

Although he lacks the talent for breathing techniques, he is unable to use them.

However, thanks to the combination of pure martial arts skills and his own Blood Demon Art, this training still greatly increased Gyutaro's potential.

At least, it's better than him waving the sickle around haphazardly.

As for Xiaomei, after much deliberation, Yan Sheng finally devised a suitable weapon for her in response to her Blood Demon Art—

This unique weapon, with its incredible resilience and unpredictable twists and turns, perfectly complements the characteristics of her Blood Demon Art, making it extremely easy for Xiaomei to wield.

If used well, it might give you a significant advantage when fighting demon slayers who generally wield Nichirin Blades.

Even if Xiaomei's talent is a little lacking, it doesn't matter. Even if she's a genius, if she practices the same thing repeatedly for a hundred years, she'll eventually learn something.

Moreover, Yen Sheng is quite confident in his ability to teach others.

Anyway, let's get started, boys and girls!

Chapter 120 The arrival of the Black Ship heralded the beginning of a new century (Bonus Chapter)

After handing the Gyutaro siblings over to Kokusatsu, Mitsuha's time began to pass rapidly once again.

If lifespan becomes too long and one experiences too much, the brain's perception of time gradually becomes dulled; this may be a common problem for most intelligent beings.

For Mitsuha, the only things worth remembering about the Twelve Demon Moons and Demon Slayers throughout the 18th century were the Gyutaro siblings becoming disciples of Kokukatsu, and the siblings' successful ascension to the sixth Upper Moon at the end of the 18th century...

Speaking of the new Upper Moon Six, it's worth mentioning that the original Upper Moon Six, Doma, had already defeated the original Upper Moon Two in a bloody battle more than a decade before Gyutaro and his sister, thus becoming the new Upper Moon Two.

That was a very exciting match.

Not only Mitsuha, but even Muzan-sama, who was rarely seen at the scene, came to watch the battle.

For over a century, the original Upper Moon Two's position has never wavered.

Even Mitsuha once thought that this friend, who was the closest to her among the Twelve Demon Moons besides her older brother, would definitely continue to exist from now on, but she never expected that she would still reach the end on that day...

It's truly regrettable.

But it must be admitted that Doma is truly gifted to have jumped from Upper Moon Six to Upper Moon Two in one leap...

Akaza seems to be feeling a bit unwell.

Especially after seeing Doma defeat the original Upper Moon Two and climb over him, Akaza looked like he was constipated, his face scrunched up.

Mitsuha could somewhat guess the reason for this.

After all, Doma, like her, is one of the few among the Twelve Demon Moons who is relatively "warm-hearted" and also likes to "play around" with Akaza.

However, because Akaza is usually a bit shy and also a bit arrogant, he doesn't seem to like interacting with others much.

She always showed extreme resistance to Mitsuha and Doma's enthusiasm.

In the past, Akaza could at least vent his anger by beating up Doma.

But now, he's gradually losing the ability to beat Doma.

The two demons who usually loved to tease him were now both stronger than him. It's no wonder Akaza had that expression, feeling so frustrated and powerless...

Oh, what a poor child.

Perhaps, this is also a kind of experience...

Mitsuha later heard from Nakime that ever since Doma was promoted to Upper Moon Two, he had been using his "superior" power to mentally harass Akaza every day.

This pushed Akaza to his breaking point, and he went directly to Muzan to report Doma, forbidding him from initiating any further mental dialogue with him. Whether this is true or not is unknown...

In short, these are some of the interesting things that happened during the twelve Ghost Months of the 18th century.

The rest was just odd jobs to replenish the ranks of those Lower Moon demons who kept dying unexpectedly...

As for the Demon Slayer Corps, there's not much to say.

The battle between demon hunters and demons continues as it has for centuries.

Aside from the time when Doma was promoted to Upper Moon Six, the demons unexpectedly discovered and raided the other Demon Slayer Corps locations several times afterward.

But in the end, all that was done was kill some ordinary swordsmen who could regenerate at any time, and one or two Pillars.

The demons did not inflict any real damage on the Ubuyashiki clan, the true core of the Demon Slayer Corps.

Having divine protection is like this: every time, either you get advance notice and escape, or you suddenly have a telepathic connection and turn misfortune into good fortune. It's truly enviable...

But to be honest, Mitsuha was almost tired of this boring fighting game.

For the Demon Slayer Corps, they replace their members with a new batch approximately every ten years.

Standing on the side of the Twelve Demon Moons, Mitsuba, a demon who has survived since the Warring States period and whose lifespan is nearly three hundred years, has already faced demon slayers for what can be said to be dozens of generations!

Three hundred years, dozens of generations, each generation practicing the same breathing techniques, using the same moves, wielding the same Nichirin Blade, and chanting the same words...

Then, like a clone, it attacked her again and again, only to be killed by her without any suspense in the end.

Mitsuha was utterly bored with this unoriginal grass-cutting game.

She gradually came to understand why Lord Muzan had previously abandoned the Twelve Demon Moons, placing all power and responsibility solely in her hands…

That despicable Muzan-sama is exploiting his own subordinates like this!

Time gradually moved into the nineteenth century.

In the middle of this century, a very special, even epoch-making, event occurred in this small island nation—

In the 1850s, the emerging United States, located across the ocean, dispatched a fleet of four black warships to forcibly enter the port of Edo Bay.

These well-equipped, steam-powered warships of the new era greatly shocked the island nation, which was still in the age of sailing warships at the time.

The following year, under pressure from the United States, the shogunate broke its more than two-hundred-year-old policy of national isolation...

Mitsuha, a former daimyo, was keenly aware of the subsequent impact of this incident.

The intervention and oppression of a powerful external force will inevitably trigger social unrest within the island nation.

In order to maintain its rule, the shogunate would inevitably carry out strong suppression of the people, the biggest source of this unrest, and the confrontation between the two sides would further exacerbate this unrest.

A change of fortune has arrived; the Tokugawa Shogunate's rule, which has lasted for more than two hundred years, is about to come to an end.

This island nation, which has barely maintained peace for over two hundred years, will inevitably be engulfed in war once again.

Of course, although Mitsuha was keenly aware of this future, she didn't care about it.

There was only one thing she cared about—

The social environment of this island nation is finally about to undergo a new change!

For nearly three hundred years, this small island nation has undergone almost no substantial changes.

She was already tired of the same social environment, the same people, and the same uninnovative and unchanging cultural atmosphere after three hundred years!

If things don't change in this little place soon, Mitsuha might have to ask Muzan for permission to travel abroad!

Now, following the Black Ships incident, foreign powers will inevitably intervene significantly in this island nation, which will inevitably bring new cultural customs, new foreign populations, and new social trends born from this integration!

This is absolutely brilliant!

An era of change is about to begin... no! It has already arrived!

And she, the "Changemaker" Mitsuha Tsugikuni, will surely lead the Twelve Demon Moons onto this ship of the new era, heading towards that brand new age!

That's right, the era when demons could only hide in dark caves under the night is over. Mitsuha will lead the Twelve Demon Moons to start a new life for demons!

Of course, if it were Muzan, he would definitely not agree to Mitsuha doing this.

After all, after meeting Yoriichi, Lord Muzan completely embraced a low-key approach.

Not only Muzan himself, but also the demons under his command, he always demanded that they keep a low profile and avoid attracting attention if possible.

But that doesn't matter, because the Twelve Demon Moons are now under the jurisdiction of Mitsuba.

Apart from the blue spider lily, Muzan no longer interferes in anything related to demons.

So, what everyone should do is now up to Mitsuha!

(In later chapters, some things may appear before their original era, don't mind meow~)

Chapter 121 Newspaper Editor Mitsuha

"Uh huh huh~"

Tokyo, late 1890s.

Early in the morning, in an ordinary downtown apartment in Tokyo, Mitsuha started getting dressed in front of the full-length mirror right on time.

First, she wore a black shirt and navy blue trousers, then a coffee-colored women's trench coat, with neat, shoulder-length short hair, a pair of simple silver earrings, and finally a pair of black square-framed glasses.

"Very good. Perfect."

Walking to the vanity mirror, Mitsuha picked up the lipstick from the box and carefully applied it to her lips. Then, she snapped her fingers at her reflection in the mirror.

Reaching the entrance, she changed into her black low-heeled shoes, picked up the black umbrella standing to the side, and quickly pushed open the door to leave.

A new day begins.

After decades of development since the Meiji Restoration, Tokyo has undergone considerable changes.

The dirt roads have gradually been replaced by stone brick roads. The streets are crowded with people, trams pass by one after another, and you can often see a few Westerners with distinctive appearances. Every now and then you can see a few European-style buildings.

Mitsuha walked briskly through the street with her umbrella, quickly boarded a tram, and finally got off a few streets away in front of a newspaper office with a sign that read "New Era Daily".

That's right, this is the place where Mitsuha works now.

She was the newspaper's chief translator and editor.

"Good morning!"

Pushing open the door to the editorial department, Sanye folded her umbrella and greeted a female editor colleague next to her who was writing furiously.

Good morning, little clover.

The two gave each other a high five with practiced ease. The female colleague looked up, her face full of surprise, and instinctively said:

"Unbelievable... Mitsuha, you actually managed to get to the editorial department before work today. Did the sun rise in the west?"

"Even I sometimes want to wake up early~ Don't always make it sound like I'm late every day..."

With a helpless tone, Mitsuha carefully avoided the sunlit areas of the editorial department and sat down at her own desk in a corner where she wouldn't be exposed to the sun.

"So? What articles are you preparing for publication tomorrow? Has any important news broken?"

"Yes, yes, yes!"

Immediately, a male colleague dressed as a reporter ran over and stuffed a pile of miscellaneous manuscripts, waiting to be revised and polished, into Mitsuha's hands.

"Breaking news: Our diplomats met with diplomatic delegations from Western countries yesterday to begin negotiations on revising past unequal treaties!"

If nothing unexpected happens, this time my country may be able to successfully abolish most of the unequal treaties signed with Western powers since the Black Ships incident!

This means that we will officially begin to be accepted by Western countries and become partners with whom we can conduct diplomacy on an equal footing!

Mitsuha, the president just came to remind me that there will definitely be a result in the next few days, and this news will definitely become a super hot headline!

You absolutely must hurry and finish the article first. Make sure your wording is stirring and full of emotion! Then our newspaper will definitely…”

"These boring political topics again..."