Time has passed, and the era has arrived at the early 18th century.
For the Tokugawa Shogunate, this was a rather special point in time.
With the realm at peace for a hundred years, the Genroku culture—representing the emerging social forces—had reached its peak of prosperity during this period, and the trend of extravagance was gradually rising.
After reaching its zenith over the past century, the Tokugawa Shogunate's rule gradually began to show signs of fatigue during this era. The shogunate's finances encountered difficulties, and the shogun's authority occasionally waned.
Meanwhile, among the common people, as commerce gradually developed, the power of civilian merchants also began to grow. The emergence of numerous "great merchant houses" caused tremendous impact upon the traditional feudal economy of this small island nation.
The samurai class, once illustrious in the past, thus fell further into decline. The lower-class common people suffered exploitation, famines arose everywhere, and small-scale uprisings occurred continuously...
The signs of the shogunate's decline were gradually emerging.
As for the Demon Slayer Corps and the demons, the slaughter between them naturally continued as well.
Merely twenty years after the failed subjugation of Mitsuba, the Demon Slayer Corps organization once again rose from the ashes.
Under the long night, the two sides once again engaged in that slaughter which had already continued for hundreds of years.
Of course, these matters had little to do with Mitsuba.
Because she had actually been quite busy recently.
"Miss Mitsuba, please help me quickly..."
"I understand, the esteemed Lady Miyano. Please calm yourself first."
Nagasaki, within the area specifically designated by the shogunate for foreign merchants to conduct trade.
An ordinary black tent stood quietly in an inconspicuous corner.
Outside the tent, guards, servants, and palanquins were all present and accounted for.
Inside the tent, a beautiful noblewoman dressed in gorgeous kimono and elegant makeup was wiping her face with a handkerchief while sobbing softly to the fortune teller before her.
"That deadbeat, he was clearly someone who married into our Miyano family. He clearly said back then that he would love me forever...
He's been eating our food and living in our house all this time, yet now he actually dares! He actually dares to find a lover behind my back! Wuu~"
"Lady Miyano, haven't I already told you all this in my previous divination?"
Opposite the beautiful woman, a young fortune teller with clearly European features sat behind the table, listening quietly with a smile on her face.
Without a doubt, this fortune teller who appeared to be European was Mitsuba's new identity after changing her appearance.
Nagasaki, as the place within the entire island nation with the most frequent contact with the outside world, had gradually seen a large amount of European cultural customs spread here along with the frequent trade with European merchant ships.
It was among these that Mitsuba learned about European "divination."
Of course, Mitsuba wasn't fascinated by it. As a terrifying demon who controlled the karma of this world, she naturally wouldn't believe in such things.
She simply thought that this might be a good method for making money.
Yes, making money.
As the saying goes, people are always fond of the new and tired of the old.
Compared to the fortune-telling and divination that had been commonplace for hundreds or thousands of years, European divination was a fresh novelty for this small island nation.
Inside that small tent—the dim and mysterious atmosphere, a bit of calming incense, a beautiful crystal ball, luxurious decor that met the expectations of the wealthy class, and finally, a pretty European girl...
Compared to the fortune-telling old men who set up stalls and squatted by the roadside all day, wasn't this much more attractive?
Especially for those wealthy landlords and ladies with nothing to do all day—the more mysteriously you made it, the more they believed you.
Not to mention, Mitsuba herself possessed the ability to see through karma.
It was no exaggeration to say that she, Tsugikuni Mitsuba, was currently the most accurate and authoritative divination master in the world!
Perhaps someone might ask—if it was just for money, wouldn't it be faster to simply use her Blood Demon Art to make people obediently hand over their money? Why bother with this role-playing?
Ah~ you wouldn't understand.
Life always needs a bit of ceremony, after all~
In this long demon life, one always needs to find some amusement. If it were really just for that bit of money, wouldn't it be faster to directly rob a money house?
"Yes! Miss Mitsuba, you're absolutely right! It's all my fault last time—I didn't believe you... Please, I beg you, tell me what I should do now?
I—I want to kill that vixen! I want to make that deadbeat never able to leave me! I want him to stay by my side for his entire life!"
"Lady Miyano, look at what you're saying. Divination isn't omnipotent. I can't control your husband's thoughts and make him revolve around you forever.
However, if it's simply helping you deal with that vixen you mentioned, perhaps I can manage that... Akaza."
As Mitsuba's words fell, in the corner of the tent, Akaza—who had been lying there bored reading a book—immediately put on a sour face, got up, and walked over carrying an iron box beside him.
"Madam, please pay first."
Akaza—this was the name Kokushibo personally bestowed upon Hakuji after he transformed into a demon and rose to Upper Rank Three.
For Akaza, Mitsuba was a special existence.
Akaza had no memories of his human life. The furthest memory he could recall was the first day he became a demon.
And the first person he saw when he opened his eyes was Mitsuba.
This woman who looked very beautiful yet somehow familiar—for reasons even Akaza himself didn't know—had been disciplining him in various ways from the very first day of his demon life.
He wanted to find someone to fight, and she said he couldn't use violence casually—he could only fight Demon Slayers.
He was hungry and wanted to casually grab someone to eat, and she said life was precious and couldn't be harmed casually—he could only eat Demon Slayers.
He saw a weak person on the road, felt inexplicably annoyed and wanted to kill them, and she jumped out to stop him again, saying he couldn't bully the weak just because he was powerful—he could only bully Demon Slayers...
He wanted to practice martial arts, and she insisted he learn to read and write, even making him memorize those messy things like the Three Character Classic, the Analects, the Tao Te Ching...
Damn annoying woman! Those books thicker than my fist—are they even meant for people to memorize?!
You're really annoying, you woman! There are so many demons in the Twelve Kizuki, why do you always keep your eyes on me, this Lower Rank One?
After enduring this for decades, Akaza—finally at his limit—issued his first and only fair challenge to Mitsuba in his demon life.
This was a fair challenge without relying on Blood Demon Art or that legendary supreme realm—a pure contest of martial arts alone!