After a while, El took a deep breath, calming his mind. Without hesitation, he began to stride towards the village at the foot of the forest, a clear goal in mind.
El's purpose in giving Shinobu this gift was not to make her feel indebted or expect praise. It was simply a token of appreciation, for inconveniencing him more than he should.
Although Shinobu was a doctor, El still remembered how troublesome Shinobu was taking care of many other tasks.
With steady steps, El focused her attention on finding something appropriate, without considering whether her gift would be appreciated or not.
This action was part of her obligation to act according to what she deemed appropriate, not out of personal desire or hope for reward.
...
The sunlight began to fade on the horizon, casting a soft golden glow in the late afternoon sky.
The air was cool, with a light breeze blowing slowly, carrying the scent of wet leaves after a light rain.
The sky, which had been clear and cloudy, was now slowly dotted with tinges of orange and purple, creating a peaceful yet slightly somber atmosphere.
Amidst the scene, El walked slowly through the courtyard, carrying a small gift box in his hand.
There was no special expression on his face, just his usual calmness. To El, the gift box was nothing more than an item she happened to be carrying.
Shinobu was waiting for him at the doorway, standing with her trademark charming smile, but this time there was something else behind that smile, a sinister impression, like a sharp knife hidden behind softness.
To Shinobu's left, Naho was trembling in fear that something bad might happen. 'Hawawa... Shinobu-sama is angry, this is bad!'
Shinobu's insect-like eyes flashed as if hiding an intent that was not entirely clear, a gaze that was mixed between friendliness and something darker.
"Ara, Adrian-san. Is the walk satisfied?" said Shinobu in a soft voice, but there was a faint cold tone at the end of her words.
"Didn't you cough up enough blood yesterday? A patient like that should just rest, do you want me to tie you up, so you don't leave until you recover?" Shinobu looked at El from head to toe in turn.
El just shrugged, not really thinking about the hidden intentions behind Shinobu's smile.
To El, Shinobu's reaction didn't really matter. From the beginning, El was not interested in dating a waifu in the world of Kimetsu no Yaiba. El's main goal was to deepen the Breathing Style and obtain the Demon Slayer Mark.
"Here's a gift box for you." El said flatly, glancing at the box, as if she didn't care whether it would be accepted or thrown away.
Shinobu's smile widened slightly, but the sinister impression was even more pronounced. "Is this a bribe?" asked Shinobu with a friendly expression, but there was deadly poison in it.
The night wind suddenly blew colder, but El stood calmly, unaffected by the eerie atmosphere that slowly enveloped the place.
To El, this interaction was just a casual encounter, but in Shinobu's eyes, there might be an ulterior motive at play, and El didn't care whether she was involved in it or not.
"Sorry to trouble you yesterday. I went to the village to buy you this. If you don't like it, you can throw it away. I have no problem." El said coldly and flatly, but there was no ill will.
Shinobu sighed. "Alright, I accept your gift." said Shinobu while taking the gift box El gave.
"Adrian-san, please remember, you're not bothering me at all, it's my duty as a doctor. You are the patient and it is my duty to treat you until you recover." Shinobu said in a soft tone of voice, full of wisdom.
"Hn," El nodded slowly, without expression or contradiction of emotion in it.
Seeing Shinobu's calmer reaction, Naho sighed, 'Fortunately, Adrian-sama was not punished. Shinobu-sama when she's angry, is so scary! Giyu-sama was once has victim.'
...
In the infirmary that seemed to be drowning in darkness, illuminated by the dim but soft light of the ceiling lamp that was almost out of light.
The surface of the walls looked gloomy, filled with faintly moving shadows, while thick curtains covered the windows, blocking the moonlight from entering.
The smell of medicines and antiseptics hung in the air, creating a cold and lonely atmosphere.
In the midst of that silence, El sat cross-legged on the floor, close to the bed, right in front of him were three test tubes neatly lined up in front of him.
In addition to buying gifts in honor of Shinobu, El also did not forget to buy some of his needs. Like buying lunch and some test tubes.
In two of the three tubes, there was a thick red liquid swirling slowly, reflecting the dim light from the room lamp.
One tube was empty, while the other two contained the blood of Tamayo and Nezuko, the two Devils who escaped Muzan's curse.
In the silent darkness, El's two eyeballs underwent a drastic transformation. His eyes lit up purplishly, sparkles of light emanating from the active Rinnegan, as if piercing through the darkness that enveloped the room.
When the Rinnegan in El's eyes was active, the air around her seemed to change, like there was an invisible yet very real force, turning the atmosphere heavy and oppressive.
The world in his line of sight changed drastically. As Rinnegan activated, the world before El changed drastically, from being shrouded by a curtain of darkness, his view was now reduced to only two colors: black and white, as if all life around her had been sucked out of all forms of color.
Like a bleak monochrome movie, the boundary lines between light and darkness became very strict. Every object, every human being, appears to be nothing more than a moving shadow, lifeless and bereft of meaning.
Once the Rinnegan was activated and aimed at the test tubes filled with Demon blood, the blood seemed to boil before the eyes of the ruler.
Every blood-forming cell trembled in fear, receiving the gaze of El's two eyes directly. "Is that so? Every composition of these two Devil's blood looks different in the form of mutations."
"What happens if Nezuko and Tamayo's blood is mixed?" murmured El, slightly wondering out of curiosity. "No problem trying. I have plenty of demon blood Upper Moon in my storage ring."
With a steady hand, El took the test tube containing Nezuko's blood, then mixed it with Tamayo's blood.
Ignoring El's gaze, the two bloods in the tube swirled and merged, creating a seemingly calm yet powerful flow.
As the two elements met, the substance in the tube churned and slowly bonded with each other.
Tamayo's demon blood, which had lived for hundreds of years, refined Nezuko's demon blood, forcing Nezuko's blood to develop resistance to sunlight more quickly.
This happened because in their hearts, Nezuko and Tamayo accepted each other completely.
Hence, there was no resistance when their fiery red blood touched, as if the two were destined to unite.
"This..." El muttered in a flat tone, there was no trace of surprise on his face. The emotion that had once been within him, was now slowly fading away due to Rinnegan's use.
El stared blankly at the serum in his hand, as if it was just a meaningless object. "Oh, I just made a serum that can turn humans into demons," he continued, his voice cold, without feeling.
It was as if what El had just created was just something simple, not something terrible. There was no doubt, no pride just a total void.
Of course, the fact that his empathy would fade away like an ink trail on wet paper, with each use of Rinnegan was well known to El.
However, El had already accepted the consequences of such power. After thinking, El thought that every power must have a cost.
It was the same with his Rinnegan. El began to not care if he became a machine without empathy. Now El did whatever needed to be done.