Chương 72: Nezuko and Magic Stones

Tanjiro was so happy that he almost cried. Knock, knock. As if responding to Tanjiro, a knocking sound came from the box. Tanjiro quickly put it down.

"Nezuko, are you awake? Sorry, the constant shaking must have made your sleep uncomfortable." With a creak, the small wooden box opened, revealing a cute girl less than one meter tall. She had long black hair tipped with red, wore a pink kimono and a dark haori, and always held a bamboo tube in her mouth. She slowly crawled out, her eyes adorable and completely lacking any sense of danger.

"Oh, so cute." Cael was immediately struck by Nezuko's tiny appearance. If the other Hashira had not been around, he might have wanted to run over and press his face against hers.

"Is this Tanjiro's sister? I met her at the Hashira meeting last time. I was very impressed. It was the first time I had seen a demon who did not eat people," Obanai said.

"That's right. Her name is Nezuko. When we met Upper Rank Three, she did her best to protect the passengers on the train. No matter what others think of her, I will fully acknowledge her," Rengoku said.

"You are seriously injured, so stop speaking so loudly, Rengoku," Obanai said.

"Thanks to my Skills, even if I am seriously injured, as long as I do not die, I will be in good condition. Hahaha."

"I was not praising you."

"Here, let me test something." To confirm his suspicion, Cael took out a Magic Stone from his pocket and placed it in his palm.

"Hmm." Nezuko made a cute sound. When she saw the Magic Stone in Cael's hand, her eyes lit up. She quickly ran over in small steps, saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth. She stretched out her small hands to hold the Magic Stone, shook her head like a puppy, dropped the bamboo tube from her mouth to the ground, and impatiently stuffed the Magic Stone into her mouth. Her cheeks bulged like a little squirrel's. Crunch, crunch. The sound rang out, and no one knew whether it was the stone breaking or her teeth.

"Ah, ah, Nezuko, do not eat things casually! That is a stone, right?" Tanjiro rushed over in surprise and shook Nezuko's head.

"Spit it out. You will get sick! Spit it out!"

"Hahaha, it really is true." This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Cael suddenly laughed. Demons ate people to replenish energy. After all, in the world of demons, there was nothing more nutritious to demons than humans, so they could only eat humans to maintain their body functions. Just as humans had to eat to maintain their body functions, demons' bodies far exceeded those of humans, so ordinary food would definitely not fill them.

If what they needed was energy, then the Dungeon had endless energy. Any monster they killed would leave behind a Magic Stone. As long as energy could be replenished, even demons would not need to eat people.

"Captain Cael, you are feeding Nezuko strange things," Tanjiro, as the eldest son, suddenly became angry.

"Idiot! Look carefully! That is a Magic Stone, the energy core inside a monster's body. Your sister may be using it to replenish energy," Tengen immediately said, smacking Tanjiro on the head.

"Huh? Is that so?" Tanjiro was stunned.

"Demons eat people to replenish energy. Your sister sleeps to restore energy. Since Magic Stones contain a large amount of energy, it can be inferred that your sister can recover by taking Magic Stones, without needing to sleep or eat people." As Cael spoke, he took a few more Magic Stones from his waist bag and placed one in his hand. Nezuko pounced on him like a kitten on food, opened her small mouth, bit the Magic Stone in Cael's hand, and then licked his palm.

"Wow, you are so cute." Cael fed Nezuko another Magic Stone and touched her head.

"So that is how it is. I misunderstood you. I am very sorry." Tanjiro immediately bent down and apologized loudly.

"Come, come. Eat slowly. Big brother has plenty." Cael picked Nezuko up. She was very light. Could becoming smaller also affect weight? As he thought this, he kept taking Magic Stones from his waist bag and feeding them to Nezuko. Nezuko grabbed Cael's shoulder with one hand and a Magic Stone with the other, then put it into her mouth and made a cute sound.

"Nezuko is very close to the captain," Tanjiro said in surprise. Nezuko was basically not close to anyone except family.

"Nezuko!" Zenitsu suddenly turned gray-white and seemed to crack in half. His whole body fell into despair as he mumbled, wondering why girls kept getting close to the captain. Even Nezuko was like this.

"Hmph. You are a coward, a sleepyhead, and a crybaby. No girl would like you," Lili snorted with a stern face. Then she quickly tugged the corner of Cael's clothes.

"Lord Cael, it is time to decide where we should rest. Should we find a quiet place to camp, or go to the adventurer town and stay at an inn?" Really, girls came up one after another whenever Lord Cael met them. Although this girl was still little, Lord Cael was still a playboy.

"Wahhh, this is too much. I was rejected by such a young girl," Zenitsu suddenly said aggrievedly.

"Although I really want to go to Rivira now, there is no way to stay there without paying more than one hundred thousand Valis per person. Let us find a quiet place to camp."

"Once our injuries are almost healed, we will go to Rivira." Soon, they found a wide meadow halfway up the mountain. Lili, Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke quickly put up the tents.

"Fortunately, the backpacks were not lost on the way here. Otherwise, camping would have been very troublesome. Lili also picked up many drops. Although they are basically all from Hellhounds." Lili rummaged through the backpack as she spoke, taking out pots and pans. As a supporter, these were basically necessities when following adventurers to the Middle Floors. All the injured companions also drank healing potions bought in advance in Orario.

Although they were only the lowest-grade healing potions, each one cost a full five thousand Valis, and Cael had basically spent all the money he had earned before. Now their only option was to take the drops from the backpack to Rivira and sell them for money. In less than two hours, everyone's injuries had improved greatly. Basically, they could recover after two days of rest. For now, they could only leave the Dungeon after healing. At this time, Lili finished cooking.

Everyone gathered around the bubbling pot, bowls in hand, eating hot food and chatting about the previous battle.

"At the last moment, I felt some power awakening in my body. Whether strength, sword skills, physical strength, or reaction speed, everything became much stronger and very domineering," Rengoku said energetically.