Under the cover of night, Kawanishi sprinted swiftly through the forest.
From Black Fang's memories, he had learned that the town ahead was called Ishibashi Town, much more bustling than the one at the foot of the mountain where he had been before.
He wanted to find Tanjiro, but Kawanishi had no idea where he was. He needed to stop by Ishibashi Town to gather information and confirm his location before heading to the previous town to search for Tanjiro.
At a bright stream reflecting the moonlight, Kawanishi came to a halt.
He lowered his head and slowly cast his gaze at the mirror-clear surface of the water.
Kawanishi didn't want to see a savage and monstrous demon face.
"Whew, thank goodness."
Seeing his current reflection, Kawanishi let out a breath of relief.
The face in the water still looked mostly like it used to, though his complexion was pale to the point of sickliness, giving him an eerie, fragile look.
But when Kawanishi opened his mouth, he could clearly see a mouth full of sharp fangs.
"These fangs… I should be able to control them, right?"
His fingernails could turn razor-sharp with a thought, and he could return them to normal at will.
The fangs should be the same.
Focusing his mind on them, Kawanishi tried to retract the fangs.
After a while, the sharp teeth slowly shifted into smooth, flat ones. Only two stubborn fangs remained—shorter now, but still protruding firmly in his mouth, refusing to change any further.
"Well, I guess they look like little tiger teeth… kinda cute. I'll keep them."
Originally, Kawanishi had thought about breaking them off to see if he could grow back controllable ones, but now that he saw them, he figured they were tolerable.
With some distaste, he glanced down at his dust- and blood-stained clothes and body, then leapt into the stream with a smooth dive, immediately clouding the clear water.
A few small fish floated belly-up, and Kawanishi scratched his head awkwardly before submerging fully, letting the cool stream wash over him.
"There seems to be a larger pool further downstream."
"Let's go there. This creek's too shallow to be any fun."
The water here only reached his chest, and the banks were narrow—barely two meters wide. It was enough for a quick rinse, but not for the kind of full-body release he was looking for.
Right now, his body felt like it was overflowing with energy and strength he couldn't burn off.
Black Fang had given him a great deal of power, but Kawanishi still needed time to fully absorb it.
Without surfacing, he dove and swam downstream at speed, heading for the pool Black Fang had remembered. He loved the sensation of being fully submerged—it let him forget all his worries for a while.
He surfaced now and then to take a breath, and after about ten minutes, he reached the pool.
"Black Fang, did you misunderstand something when you said 'pool'?"
"This is clearly a lake!"
As Kawanishi gazed out, the water sparkled under the moonlight, and now and then, a large fish would leap as if searching for a mythical dragon gate that didn't exist.
Kawanishi paused briefly, then entered the lake through a tributary.
He dove deep into the water, not stopping until he was about ten meters down.
A massive carp over a meter long swam lazily past him, and Kawanishi mischievously tugged its tail. The startled fish gave a powerful flick and shot forward with all its strength.
Its dumb, clumsy reaction made Kawanishi smile.
That heavy weight of responsibility he always carried on his back suddenly felt a little lighter.
Kawanishi suddenly accelerated underwater. Demon physiology really was remarkable—he shot forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Sensing danger, the big carp panicked and lost its bearings, then darted upward toward the surface.
Kawanishi gave chase, the distance between them closing quickly.
He reached out—just one finger-joint away from grabbing the tail—but the carp thrashed again and burst from the lake into the air.
But even though the fish jumped first, Kawanishi was faster. As they broke the surface, he snatched the carp mid-air.
Landing on the opposite shore, soaking wet, Kawanishi gave the fish a few pats before tossing it back into the lake, watching it flee into the depths in terror.
But just then, he felt a breeze—a soft, gliding wind that brushed the back of his neck and suddenly flicked upward, slicing off a lock of his hair.
"Hm? What was that wind?"
Kawanishi looked up and saw a graceful figure, like a butterfly, bathed in moonlight, gazing down at him from above.
For a moment, it felt like he was seeing a flurry of violet butterflies dancing in the moonlight.
Then a pair of strange eyes met his.
People in this world had all sorts of odd hair and eye colors, but Kawanishi swore—these eyes were the most unique and beautiful he had ever seen.
On that delicate, lovely face, her eyes faded from deep purple at the bottom to pale gray at the top, with an invisible dividing line between the two.
To Kawanishi, those dual-colored eyes were impossibly beautiful and captivating.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
A clear, pleasant, and gentle voice reached Kawanishi's ears.
He froze for a second, then calmly replied, "I was just passing through. Got the urge for a bath, that's all."
Behind her back, Shinobu Kocho's hand trembled slightly as it gripped her Nichirin blade.
She had nearly mistaken him for a demon and cut him down.
Just moments ago, she had been leaping through the trees, hunting demons in the Blue Ridge Mountains, when Kawanishi suddenly burst from the water, startling her.
If she hadn't stopped her blade at the last moment, she would have killed him in an instant.
(End of Chapter)