Chapter 2: Chapter 02: Cruelty [02]

02: Cruelty [02]

—

Tanjirou smiled at their goodbyes and walked. However, he stopped as Nezuko, his sister, appeared in front of him, carrying their youngest brother, Rokuta, on her back. Tanjirou stared at them for a while before they reached him.

“Big Brother!” Nezuko said.

“Hey, Nezuko.” Tanjirou smiled.

“I was putting Rokuta down for a nap, or he’d make a scene when you leave.” Said Nezuko, looking a bit saddened. “…He misses Dad a lot since he passed away.”

Tanjirou’s expression turned a little sour, but he toughened up for his siblings before he patted Rokuta’s head lightly.

“And everyone follows you wherever you go,” she said, looking at him fondly. “See you later.” They bid him farewell, and Tanjirou made his way down the mountain.

The skin-piercing winds smacked his cheeks as Tanjirou ventured, for his family, so that he could earn enough to feed them. Tanjirou reached the town before he started selling charcoal to the kind townsfolk. They had quite a good relationship with him, all things considered.

As Tanjirou sold them the charcoal, his mind was wandering around. He and his family members didn’t have an easy life, but they were happy with what they’d got. Especially after his father passed away. Though Tanjirou had learned a very important lesson at his passing. Life wasn’t always the same, it would have its ups and downs.

It could change like the weather. Shift, and then move on.

Like the seasons, too, life moved on.

It wouldn’t stay sunny, and wouldn’t always stay snowy either.

Sometimes, here, life could get turned upside down pretty fast. And… whenever happiness was destroyed, there would always be the smell of blood.

During the day, Tanjirou sold his charcoal and helped a kid find his cat with the help of his smell. Tanjirou had a really good nose, he could, quite literally, sniff out anything. He had always wondered why it was like that, it was so over-the-top sometimes that Tanjirou wished he didn’t have such a keen nose.

Approaching night, Tanjirou made his way back up the mountain. While walking, however, he felt dizzy, again. Tanjirou stopped near the base of the mountain and breathed in and out for a while. He’d been feeling quite dizzy today, he didn’t know why though. After gathering himself, Tanjirou was about to continue his ascent when old man Saburou, whose house was just there, at the base of the mountain, called out to him.

“Hey, Tanjirou!” shouted old man Saburou.

“Hmm?” Tanjirou turned to give him a look.

Saburou looked a bit concerned, “Are you gonna go back to the mountain? You’d better not. It’s too dangerous.”

How kind.

Tanjirou couldn’t help but smile as he answered, “I’ve got a great sense of smell, so I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll put you up for the night. Come on. Get back here.” The old man vehemently shook his head and beckoned Tanjirou inside.

“But…”

“Oh hush! Don’t Argue! Come on!” He sounded stern. “Before the demons show up.”

Tanjirou sighed and got into his house. Inside, Tanjirou was served a meal; he finished it.

You are reading story My Maid System at novel35.com

“Thanks for the meal!” Tanjirou said to Saburou. “Hey, old man Saburou, what are demons like?”

“Man-eating demons have always prowled the land once it gets dark,” Saburou said. “That’s exactly why you should never stroll around at night.”

“If you’re done eating, go to bed. You can set off for home at first light.” Saburou said, and Tanjirou got into bed obediently.

“These demons wouldn’t come inside your house, would they?” Tanjirou asked once he was lying down. Though as he asked this question, a headache pierced his head.

“Yes, they’d come in.” the old man answered.

“Then, everyone would get eaten up by the demons,” Tanjirou said with a bit of difficulty as the old man turned the lights off.

“That’s why the demon hunters protect us by slaying them since way back when.” The old man said. “Lights out now. Go to sleep.”

The last words of old man Saburou were very faint, Tanjirou was falling unconscious; the headache piercing his brain was too much to bear.

During the night, Tanjirou’s whole body convulsed, and writhed, though not a whimper escaped through his mouth, he was seemingly in a lot of pain. He was in pain due to two reasons. First was the ‘Dream’ he was having. In the dream, a boy whose facial features weren’t visible was watching a square made of light. On the square of light, was the image of Tanjirou’s whole family lying dead in their house.

The second reason, however, was something completely different. Unknown to Tanjirou, another person was taking over his body, killing his soul, and merging with his mind. Tanjirou just writhed on the ground, sweating buckets for a while before his body seemingly went limp, and his breathing stopped.

***

In the morning, Tanjirou bid old man Saburou farewell before he started making his way to his home through the perilous paths in the snow. The howling wind, which pierced his skin, wasn’t anything he enjoyed, but he had to bear it if he wanted to go and see his family.

Last night’s strange dream—which he’d already forgotten—was making him all fidgety for some reason, and Tanjirou wasn’t really feeling good about whatever It was. As he got near his house, Tanjirou’s nose twitched before he stiffened. He reluctantly sniffed the air, a hard, twisting feeling wrenching at his stomach.

“The smell of blood!” Tanjirou cried, panicked, and ran up to his house. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!

Tanjirou’s mind was a mess.

He couldn’t comprehend what he was seeing.

The basket of charcoal fell, and he rushed to his house, stopping in his tracks near the corpses of his sister and brother, Nezuko and Rokuta.

“Ahhh!” Tanjirou cried, running up to her. “Nezuko!” he knelt down beside her and picked her up, tears welling in his eyes.

“What happened!? What’s going on?! What happened here?!” he questioned, his mind taking a strain as his head creaked to the side. He got up, walked a few steps to his house, and fell to the ground.

Mom… Hanako… Takeo… Shigeru… Nezuko… Rokuta…!

Everyone was dead. Their lifeless corpses lay just a few meters in front of him. surrounded by a pool of blood, were his family members. His sister, Hanako, was lying eyes open, though they lacked the luster they usually had. Her neck was twisted in a brutal way, blood was gushing out of the open wounds, and her legs… her legs weren’t there, only a mess of intestines coupled with Shigeru’s eyeball.

“N-no,” Tanjirou’s mind was completely blank.

**
**
**
Lord_Kismet: This is it for the backstory, which was kind of unnecessary, but anyways, next chapter, the MC will take over, and things will happen - kind of like the real chapter 01.

You can find story with these keywords: My Maid System, Read My Maid System, My Maid System novel, My Maid System book, My Maid System story, My Maid System full, My Maid System Latest Chapter