Blurb:
A Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps brought an old woman back after finding her outside.
The old woman complained of backaches one day and leg pains the next, tricking the three young men temporarily staying at the Butterfly Mansion into waiting on her hand and foot.
The old woman, supposedly afflicted with every ailment of old age, lounged in a reclining chair, leisurely fanning herself. Beside her, a boy with a jagged scar on his forehead had been conned into kneeling and shelling sunflower seeds for her.
Looking at the old woman dozing in the afternoon, the boy asked in confusion, "Why are you staying at the Butterfly Mansion?"
The old woman was hard of hearing. She only caught half of what he said, and seemed to recall something as she sighed. "Do you want to hear a story...? All right. It happened decades ago. Back then, I was a young and beautiful girl. But I was terrible at judging people, sigh. I met a real villain, the really awful kind..."
The kindhearted boy didn't stop her rambling and planned to listen carefully.
A passing Pillar and the two girls beside her helplessly pulled him away.
"Granny's making up stories again to tug at your heartstrings. She does it on purpose so you'll feel sorry for her and let her boss you around."
The old woman, pretending to be hard of hearing, chuckled. She wasn't the least bit embarrassed at being found out.
"Granny, don't interrupt the others' training. I'll keep you company later."
As the boy was forcibly dragged away, he couldn't help looking back at the old woman, bathed in the evening glow.
It seemed he could smell blood and sorrow...
The heroine doesn't become an old woman until much later.
Theme: Sincere communication can solve problems.
