SWNOVELXO Chapter 58: Chapter 058 - Muzan Kibutsuji
"I have a question!"
Kanae immediately raised her hand with enthusiasm.
"Where can we find the Blue Spider Lily—Aobanagiku?"
According to Reuel's proposed plan, it was impossible for Muzan Kibutsuji to resist the temptation: annihilating the Demon Slayer Corps and obtaining the Blue Spider Lily—Aobanagiku at the same time. This scenario was designed to lure Muzan into a trap.
However, the main problem was that, even though their defenses could be breached easily by Muzan, the blue flower itself was far more difficult to locate.
The flower had been hunted for over a thousand years by Muzan Kibutsuji. For centuries, not a single bloom had ever been found. No wonder the majority of civilians had never even heard the name "Demon Slayer Corps," let alone about such a rare flower.
"No idea."
Reuel's answer was short and very to the point.
"???"
The entire room froze. All eyes turned to him, as if Reuel had just said the sun rises in the west.
"You just outlined a whole strategy like that, but you don't even know where the Blue Spider Lily is?"
Shinobu Kocho's mouth twitched. If Reuel hadn't saved her sister earlier, she probably would've smacked him over the head with her sword hilt.
The blue flower only bloomed during the daytime, and only for a few days each year. What made it even harder to find was that it grew only in specific locations under highly particular environmental conditions.
"I just arrived in this world a short while ago. How the hell would I know where it grows?"
"...."
Some exchanged looks of disbelief. Apparently, the conditions for growing the flower really were that extreme.
No wonder Muzan had spent thousands of years searching in vain. For Oni who were only active at night, a flower that bloomed only under sunlight was basically a holy grail out of reach.
"This... is a real pain in the ass," muttered Ubuyashiki, massaging his temple.
"The Demon Slayer Corps is short on personnel. We can't afford to deploy teams just to look for a flower that may not even exist in our territory. But... the Ubuyashiki family still has a network across many regions. We can use their connections to expand the search—"
He paused for a moment, then added quietly,
"No. We have to be careful. If word gets out and Muzan hears about this, the whole plan could collapse before it even begins."
Ubuyashiki began thinking hard, trying to piece together potential locations based on extremely limited data: ideal temperature, humidity, elevation, climate patterns, and estimated bloom timing.
"If we miss the blooming window, we might have to wait more than a year..."
He turned back to Reuel, seemingly hoping for a sliver of another answer.
"Stop, stop, stop. You people... are really too stupid."
Reuel raised his hand, stopping what he considered a steadily worsening line of discussion. To him, all of this was too much trouble for something that could easily be faked.
"Why bother finding the real thing, if all we need to do is convince Muzan that we've already found it?"
He looked around the room, making eye contact with each of them before continuing calmly:
"Our goal is just to make Muzan believe that we have the blue Aobanagiku flower. We don't actually need the real one. So why go to such lengths to search for it?"
He gave a thin smile.
"Let me show you how it's done."
Reuel turned toward Shinobu.
"Shinobu Kocho, help me pick some red spider lilies."
"Huh? Oh—sure!"
Shinobu Kocho ran off reluctantly toward the garden, her steps half-lazy, but still obedient. She picked several stalks of red spider lilies blooming vibrantly under the shade of the trees.
These were the most common variety in the Lycoris family—scientifically known as Lycoris radiata.
Legend said these flowers bloomed wildly in moist, shaded, open areas. Their petals were reverse-lanceolate, curling outward in the signature graceful curves. Beautiful, yet carrying a somber meaning.
In Japanese cultural context, these flowers symbolized death, parting, and transition into the afterlife. Often planted in cemeteries or along paths to temples, they were known as "separation flowers"—markers of the boundary between the world of the living and the dead.
Shinobu returned with several stalks of Higanbana. Reuel took them without a word, then pulled out something completely unexpected: a bucket of blue paint, drawn either from a dimensional pocket or, more likely, from a space layer hidden inside his battleship cloak—Richelieu.
Expressionless, Reuel dipped the red flowers into the blue paint.
The petals were instantly soaked, turning a deep blue all the way to the stems and leaves.
"There. Now we've got ourselves some Blue Aobanagiku flowers."
"??????"
The Demon Slayer Corps suddenly panicked. Some even felt like the veins in their heads were about to burst.
What the hell was that...?!
So casual?!
Could a Spider Lily dipped in paint really fool Muzan Kibutsuji?! Could such a cheap trick actually work?
Reuel merely shrugged. "Like I said. Our goal isn't to find the real flower, but to make Muzan believe we found it."
He repeated his statement calmly, as if it had already been printed in some master strategy manual.
Then he turned toward Kagaya Ubuyashiki.
"The Ubuyashiki family has connections to the shogunate and the media industry, right?"
"Uh... ah? Yes." Ubuyashiki was still dazed in shock, nodding slowly.
"Good. Now, we move to the next phase."
Reuel casually tossed one of the painted flowers to a nearby corps member.
"Take a picture of this flower and save it. Make sure the lighting is good, the angle dramatic."
He paused for a moment, then turned again to Ubuyashiki.
"Lord Ubuyashiki, contact the editors and reporters. This week, I want every major newspaper to run this story on their front page."
His tone was firm and left no room for objection.
---
"Shock! A wealthy foreign businessman, Reuel, arrives in our land in search of the elusive Blue Aobanagiku flower to cure his sister's rare illness. He offers a massive reward to anyone who can find it!"
"Sources claim he has already found several confirmed traces of the flower and is now working exclusively with the Demon Slayer Corps!"
---
"Oh, and don't forget the follow-up. In a few days, we 'discover' the blooming site and time. Add new photos. Stir in some drama. The more realistic, the better."
Reuel's tone remained calm—almost like a teacher giving his students a masterclass in professional media manipulation.
What he didn't say was this: He was fully imitating the news style of Morgan from the world of One Piece—a mixture of propaganda, drama, and public perception engineering. Naturally, he chose not to mention that in front of the demon slayers.
"..."
"..."
Silence engulfed the room. Everyone was stunned.
Reuel's ideas were far too advanced, too alien to those who had lived their lives thinking directly and honestly.
But one thing became clear:
If Muzan was truly hiding among humans, then sooner or later he would see the news—whether by accident or design. And as the story spread from person to person, a lie could transform into truth.
The tale of a rich foreigner searching for a legendary flower to save his dying sister? Who wouldn't talk about something like that?
The logic was simple: Even if he didn't believe it, Muzan wouldn't be able to sit still. He'd investigate.
"How the hell did you come up with something like this?..."
The Demon Slayer Corps and Ubuyashiki looked at Reuel with a mix of awe and confusion.
Compared to Reuel's thinking, they felt like schoolchildren just learning basic arithmetic.
"Sociology. Journalism. Communications. Amazing, isn't it?" Reuel replied as he gently patted Shinobu's head, who stood beside him.
"Grow up into a fine woman and study hard."
He gave a small smile, then turned to everyone, his gaze sharp.
"Muzan may have lived for a thousand years, but he's just a fossil with a rusty brain. We live in the information age. We don't need swords to win—just ideas."
"Get ready. Wait for him to come to us… and then we crush him."
"..."
The ship girls standing in the corner exchanged glances. There was something unspoken in their eyes.
For a moment, they truly felt outmatched.
"Commander, your imagination is too damn powerful."
---
Three Days Later – Japan, 1912
"Big news!"
"Big news! A wealthy businessman from Great Britain has just arrived in Tokyo! Rumor has it he's searching for the Blue Aobanagiku flower here in the Empire, and he's offered a massive reward!!"
The cries of newspaper hawkers echoed through the streets. Newsstands were packed with people, and every major newspaper—Daily News, Yomiuri Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Nichi Nichi Shimbun, and Hochi Shimbun—ran the story as their front-page headline.
A businessman from Great Britain, named Reuel, was said to have crossed the ocean to the Dai Nippon Teikoku in search of the legendary Blue Aobanagiku flower—from a far-flung corner of the world.
Driven by the jealousy of journalists and the news industry's insatiable appetite for sensation, the story quickly evolved into an over-the-top narrative shamelessly drenched in drama.
"They say his little sister suffers from a rare illness that prevents her from being exposed to sunlight? And only the Blue Aobanagiku can cure her?"
"He traveled all that way for the sake of his family... how touching…"
Passersby stopped, gathered, and read the newspapers together, whispering in awe about the sensational headline.
The reward offered? 500,000 yen—a sum large enough to change anyone's fate in an instant.
"With that kind of money, you could build a hundred mansions... You could found an entire noble village."
In the corner of a reading lounge, a middle-aged man murmured quietly, squinting at the newspaper's front page.
"Are British merchants really that rich?" he asked in disbelief.
In this era, news like this exploded like wildfire—igniting the public's curiosity in seconds. No different from a modern-day lottery shop promising billions of yen.
Five hundred thousand yen in the Taishō era was a sum far beyond imagination. Even the Prime Minister of Japan earned an annual salary of only around 7,000 yen. A noble residence could be built for just 1,000 to 3,000 yen. Living comfortably for a family? Only 300–500 yen per year.
500,000 yen didn't just mean a house—it meant a future, honor, even power.
"But… a disease that makes you unable to be exposed to sunlight... Isn't that strange?"
"Sounds like an Oni from the old stories…"
Some began linking the news to ancient, whispered legends. Even though the Demon Slayer Corps wasn't widely known, the elites had heard whispers of their existence.
"I'm from Great Britain, and I've never heard of any Oni there. What nonsense," a snide young man cut in.
"That's not what I meant…"
Among the crowd, a pale man in a sharp suit came to an abrupt stop.
His steps were calm, but his eyes were sharp and deep. He handed a few coins to the newsstand vendor.
"One copy of that paper," he said curtly.
From the outside, he looked like a high-ranking office worker. But as his eyes scanned the article, his breath quickened.
"...The Blue Aobanagiku…"
"To cure the fear of sunlight…"
Familiar. Far too familiar.
Muzan Kibutsuji read every word as if the entire world had shifted colors.
Years of fruitless searching had made him question whether the flower even existed. But now, this news injected a dangerous new hope.
The flower might truly be real.
And if so, there was a strong chance it existed here, in the Teikoku. After all, what kind of man would cross an ocean from Great Britain without a damn good reason?
"To cure someone afraid of sunlight... that hits too close to home for demons…"
If he weren't concerned about his identity being exposed, Muzan would've approached Reuel directly by now to ask—was there also an Oni in his household?
But he held back.
"NO..."
He closed his eyes, trying to calm his thoughts.
"Stay calm. Observe. Don't rush…"
His hand carefully folded the newspaper. He tucked it into his suit pocket, turned, and walked away—with an expressionless face, though his mind was already spinning at full speed.
The Next Day
At ten o'clock at night, Muzan returned to the same newsstand, buying a newspaper as usual.
The topic hadn't died down. It still occupied the front page.
Everyone seemed obsessed with the tale of the British tycoon hunting for a mysterious treasure, and newspapers across the country continued to cover the story from every possible angle.
According to the botanists accompanying the trade delegation, the blue-petaled flower only bloomed during the daytime—and its blooming period was incredibly brief, occurring only once a year.
"More than 3,000 people have claimed to have found relevant clues. The research team is currently sorting through each report…"
For centuries, Muzan Kibutsuji had hunted this flower in vain. He had been deceived, used, and ambushed time and again.
Nearly a thousand years of searching—every trail led to a dead end.
But one sentence in that article shattered all his confusion:
The Blue Aobanagiku only blooms during the day.
In that instant, the riddle that had bound him for centuries crumbled.
The answer he had sought for a millennium was that simple.
Of course he had never seen it bloom—because he, an immortal creature of the night, could never step beneath the sunlight.
A faint smile formed on Muzan's lips. A rare smile.
Not of triumph, but of revelation.
For a moment, he even considered thanking the British entrepreneur. If not for Reuel, he might have remained trapped in ignorance for yet another century.
Of course, Muzan's idea of "thanks" was not a warm embrace or a letter of appreciation.
As the progenitor of demons, the highest form of gratitude he could give… was a curse of immortality in a form far removed from humanity.
And as far as he was concerned, the story was entirely believable.
Every detail of Reuel's tale struck too precisely. It pierced straight through to the most hidden weakness of the Demon King.
As if it were written specifically—and indeed, it was written specifically—to lure and deceive Muzan Kibutsuji.
---
Several Days Later
The newspapers continued to run updates on Reuel's "treasure hunt"—which, of course, was entirely fictitious.
Report after report, filled with twists, fabricated luck, and rich narrative drama, made everything feel all the more real in the public eye.
One article featured a young blonde girl with twin pigtails who was said to have found a crucial clue and received several thousand yen as a bonus.
Her story went viral.
Inspirational.
It ignited the common folk's imagination, driving them to join the hunt for the mythical flower.
While the whole nation was swept up in Aobanagiku fever, Muzan was no exception.
He followed the unfolding story as if it were his greatest hope.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, Reuel simply sat quietly in his room, carefully crafting his lies.
He wasn't chasing a flower—he was chasing an enemy too afraid to face the light of day.
The King of Demons. Muzan Kibutsuji.
Muzan was once tempted to act early—to kill Reuel, plunder his mind, and extract all the information by force.
But he held himself back.
Too early. Too reckless.
He chose to wait.
To wait until everything ripened.
To wait until the flower was truly in Reuel's hands—and that would be the moment to strike.
---
One Week Later
The night seemed as ordinary as any other.
Muzan bought another copy of the Asahi Shimbun. His nightly routine had started to feel like a ritual.
But tonight was different.
As he glanced at the front page, his steps halted.
His breath froze.
Headline:
"Search team has found the exact location of the Blue Aobanagiku."
"Once collection is complete, the flowers will be transported back through Tokyo Bay within the next few days."
Nearly half the page was taken up by a single large photograph.
The Aobanagiku in full bloom.
Real.
Captured on camera.
Though color photo quality in the Taishō era was far from perfect, Muzan recognized it without hesitation.
That was the Blue Aobanagiku.
Not red. Not white. But blue.
The rarest of them all.
The one he'd longed for.
The one that had lived only in legends and frustration.
At last… it had been found.
His hands trembled as they touched the newspaper's surface.
He traced the flower's petal lines with a fingertip, as if to carve the image into his memory.
Thousands of years of searching.
Thousands of years of failure.
And now, that hope was so close, so real.
Without wasting another moment, Muzan activated his primal demon power.
His command echoed across the entire Infinity Castle.
"Kokushibo, Akaza, Hantengu, Gyokko, Kaigaku, Enmu, Wakuraba, Mukago, Kamanue, Rui… and all remaining Kizuki."
"Gather in the Infinity Castle immediately."
"I have a task for you."
---