Arthur blinked and his view changed.

The frosty breeze brushed past his cheeks and ruffled his black hair, while delicate snowflakes fell gently from the sky above. Though it was only noon, the thick dark clouds enveloping the sky made it seem like either dusk or dawn. The sun was nowhere to be found...

He found himself in the woods, possibly in the mountains that housed the Tanjiro family... The contractor wouldn't drop him too far from their house, that is, if they really wanted to save the mil—Tanjiro's mom, Kei Kamado.

The frigid sensation on his cheeks made him miss his beard.

'Hm, well, considering the age of all the cast, I had to revert back to my 19-year-old self. ...  I'll get used to it in a few minutes, anyway.'

Changing his skin or appearance, in a sense, his age, was only possible in the void or after gaining the Supreme Heal skill...

He stepped forward to venture deeper into the forest, but his feet staggered, and he nearly stumbled face-first. Switching between worlds always made Arthur a bit dizzy, so he took a few deep breaths after closing his eyes, feeling and getting ahold of all his senses, meditating for a couple of minutes.

Opening his eyes again, he felt completely clear-minded, and his senses had returned to normal.

Arthur continued to walk through the snow-covered forest. This pleasant and cold view was something new to Arthur, as the crisp air seemed to freshen his lungs. He admired the atmosphere of this world.

The goal of his little stroll was to find a low-level demon, as he wanted to conduct experiments on the immortal man-eating species. After walking sufficiently deep into the forest, he withdrew dozens upon dozens of drones for the job from his inventory.

Luckily after an hour or so, a drone that went to investigate a cave was destroyed... the camera caught a glimpse of it... A demon's.

From the footage, the demon's appearance didn't ring any bells, indicating that it was probably just a mob demon. Hence, its power shouldn't be of any concern. His gadgets should suffice in dealing with it, Arthur guessed.

The specimen had yelled, "Annoying bird," before crushing his drone, indicating that it wasn't suspicious of it. Moreover, due to the fear of the sun being out there, the specimen wouldn't dare run away from the cave.

Nodding, Arthur sent another drone to keep an eye on the demon. The cave was over 30 kilometers away from Arthur's position, and he couldn't use automobiles on the mountain as they would leave suspicious traces and a peculiar smell.

It was the auspicious day on which Muzan massacred Tanjiro's entire family. Arthur couldn't afford to cause any butterfly effect that day by triggering Muzan's paranoia. Plus, Arthur really didn't want to drive right now. So, he simply sprinted away from the mountain at his top speed. The falling snow should at least cover his footprints; he barely left any anyway.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the cave, he surveyed the surroundings for a moment. He knew most of the layout of the cave from the drone that was destroyed. It was just a deep crevice in the mountain without any intricate turns or anything, and at the very end of it, behind a small boulder, was where the demon was hidden.

After scratching his thumb, Arthur donned a gas mask equipped with thermal vision and threw several smoke bombs, tear bombs, and gaseous sedatives inside the cave to weaken the demon.

Arthur doesn't know if they'll have much effect on the demon but at least they should surprise the creature and will give him a good enough chance to capture the 'specimen' alive.

Soon after, several explosions reverberated within the cave, accompanied by coarse and deafening screams that pierced the air. Smoke clouds poured out of the cave, obscuring everything in their wake.

This was the moment Arthur had been waiting for.

He gritted his teeth and charged inside, lobbing bombs at the demon as he went. The demon, despite being blinded by the smoke and eyes all burned due to the tear gas, could sense Arthur's presence through its remarkable senses, and it lashed out with razor-sharp claws. Arthur, however, deftly dodged the claws with ease.

Perhaps the sedatives had an effect on the demon, or this one was just too weak. Regardless, Arthur used a laser-thin jet of water from his inventory to slice off the demon's hand. A neat trick he learned in the HOTD universe. He can eject already stored liquids from his inventory with any amount of pressure and volume. This laser jet water that could cut through even steel was an application of that discovery.

The demon snarled in anger, "You're minced meat now, you bastard!", he looked at its hand intently, and with cracking sounds, the flesh on its slitted arm wriggled and moved to restore itself.

Arthur's specimen muttered in confusion, "How did you slay my hand without those accursed katanas?"

Arthur narrowed his eyes as he observed, 'Well, it seems that this one's willing to communicate, at the very least.'

Suddenly, a pair of scorpion-like tails erupted from the demon's back, and it let out a rugged roar before collapsing lifelessly onto the floor.

"So, tranquilizers do work on them, huh..." Arthur muttered to himself as he stowed the tranquilizer gun back in his inventory.

.

.

.

Several hours had passed, and the sun had long since set. It was now nighttime, and Kei Kamado was tucking her children into their futons. Her daughter, Hanako, was particularly worried about her brother Tanjiro, who had yet to return home.

"Mom, Mom, when will Nii-Chan will come back home?", Hanako asked childishly to her mother as she looked at her cozily tucked in her futon.

"He's probably resting in town for the night," Kei patiently reassured her daughter. "It's quite dark outside and the snow-covered paths are dangerous."

"But where do you think Onii-Chan is staying? Do you think he's safe?" The cute little girl asked again.

Kei giggled softly at her daughter's cute worried face, "Your brother is kind to everyone, and when you're kind to others the kindness is returned to you as well, Hanako. Don't worry, someone must have let your big brother in their home for the night."  She explained to her calmly.

"Hm, but next time I will go with Onii-chan, Mom, good night!" Hanako smiled and closed her eyes.

Kei got up and tucked the other kids in their futons as well. After a while, she was done with the chores and was just going to turn the lamp off, she heard a knock on the door.

'Must be Tanjiro, who else?' She thought and walked towards the door to open it.

"Hello, Ma'am, are you Kei Kamado, Tanjiro Kamado's mother?" A young boy with blue eyes and black hair asked her with a small smile. He was wearing a green haori and a scarf that covered his ears.

Kei was immediately filled with worry and anxiety. "Has something happened to Tanjiro?" she asked.

The boy shook his head. "No need to worry, ma'am. Your son is safe and sound. The reason I'm here is actually because I..." Before he could finish his sentence, Kei felt a sharp but instantaneous pain in her neck before her world blurred and then darkened.

Arthur, with a chop on Kei's neck, knocked her out unconscious, "I wanted to kidnap you is all..." He muttered.

Before Kei could fall to the ground, Arthur caught her and stored her in his inventory. Removing his wooden sandel/ geta before he stepped into the old wooden house.

Removing his footwear was mostly an involuntary action on his part. Well, considering the fact that Arthu had lived five years in HOTD, with mostly Japanese people, he was sure to pick up on their culture.

He looked at the five children sleeping peacefully, tucked neatly in their futons.

Four kids were destined to die at the hands of the progenitor demon and one was cursed to live as a demon for the next few years...

'The job only called for saving Kei,' he thought to himself.

But...

==============

Thanks for reading!

And so, the new arc begins.

Ah, Here is an image of Kei's ass... Is she in Harem? I've got no idea. Let's have a vote then. Oh, do note that your vote doesn't have any power. 

I just get the opinion of masses thats all.

Support me and read ahead on pa treon upto 5 advanced chapters!

Pat-reon Link: https://www.pat reon.com/marveller

Ko-fi Link: Ko-fi.com/marveller

(remove the space)

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/T3GN7nqKgS