The so-called "feral beast" here is a collective term used by the local hunters for wild animals that, instead of properly hibernating in the dead of winter, come out and harm people.
This name, for the man-eating bear, was indeed very fitting.
But the prerequisite was that the man-eater actually had to be a bear.
By listening to the old hunter's advice to the girl, Horitake also understood roughly what was happening with her.
The girl's name was Yae. Her father was an experienced hunter in Sukuzu. Although Yae was young, she had learned many skills from her father.
However, sometime earlier, her father was killed by a rampaging bear.
Yae's personality was already stubborn, and after suffering such a tragedy, she became even more extreme, wanting to kill the man-eating bear at all costs to avenge her father.
Sure enough, these past few days, every evening, Yae had been patrolling and hunting in the surrounding mountains, but unfortunately, she hadn't found anything.
Luckily you haven't found anything!
Horitake thought to himself, If you really ran into that guy, you would have lost your life long ago!
She had been wandering the mountain forests at night for so many days and hadn't encountered any danger; this girl was truly lucky!
Regarding the old hunter's advice, the stubborn Yae remained silent for a while, then still chose to refuse.
She took her dog and turned to leave, muttering as she walked away: "I will not give up!"
How could Horitake let this girl just leave? He quickly took a few steps, caught up with Yae from behind, grabbed her shoulder, and stopped her to ask:
"Miss Yae, I'm very interested in the man-eating bear you mentioned. Could you tell me some information about it?"
Yae turned her head, looked at Horitake, and asked with a strange expression:
"Huh? Who are you?"
It wasn't just Yae who was surprised; the several old hunters around, seeing the unfamiliar person who had suddenly appeared, especially with a sword hanging at his waist, all became curious and wary.
"You're an outsider, aren't you? What are you doing in our Sukuzu?"
"You heard too, there's a man-eating bear here, it's very dangerous."
"Yes, if you have nothing important, it's better to leave early."
"Why are you asking about the feral beast? You don't look like a hunter, why are you so concerned about this kind of wild animal?"
Facing these old hunters, Horitake gave a somewhat incoherent explanation:
"Well, I'm not that interested in man-eating bears.
But I'm worried that what's eating people might not be a bear. It might be something far more terrifying and worse than a bear, and that would be troublesome.
My profession is specifically to deal with those things, so I came to Sukuzu to see if there's any work to be done."
Because Horitake's explanation was disjointed, the hunters did not lower their guard.
"It's not a bear that's eating people?"
"Something more terrifying and worse than a bear?"
"What is that thing?"
"I don't know, but he seems to understand what's going on."
"Young man, could you please explain what exactly you're here for?"
"Yes, this feral beast has already eaten nearly twenty people, we must deal with it!"
Yae didn't speak, but she also didn't leave. She just stood by, cautiously watching Horitake, who was surrounded by the hunters.
In her eyes, besides wariness, there was also some... hope.
Looking at the hunters surrounding him, Horitake felt a bit troubled:
"It seems I've been labeled as a strange person.
No choice, I'll have to explain a little to everyone.
I'm worried that what's eating people isn't a bear, but a demon.
That's right, the kind of demon you've heard about in legends, that can only appear at night, a terrifying monster with powerful regenerative and self-healing abilities.
My profession is specifically to kill demons."
The old hunters looked at each other, their faces full of disbelief.
It made sense; for such an outlandish matter, anyone who hadn't seen it with their own eyes would be skeptical.
Suddenly, an old hunter pointed at Horitake and exclaimed in shock:
"Wait! That strange uniform you're wearing! I think I've seen it somewhere before!
That's right! Last year, there was a family living by selling charcoal in the mountains over there. They suffered some unknown calamity, and everyone in the family was killed!
It's said that when that family was killed, people wearing strange uniforms like yours appeared nearby!
Speak! Who exactly are you!?"
After speaking, the old hunter quickly took the gun from his back and aimed his hunting rifle at Horitake.
The surrounding hunters, upon hearing this, also became alarmed and aimed their respective hunting rifles at Horitake.
Horitake, for a moment, found himself surrounded by hunters holding guns, with many rifles aimed at him.
This time, it was Horitake who was dumbfounded.
Horitake couldn't help but carefully consider the old hunter's words.
The information in those words was quite significant.
He had just said that last year, there was a family living by selling charcoal in the mountains over there, and everyone in the family was killed by some unknown calamity.
He also said that when that family was killed, people wearing strange uniforms like Horitake's appeared nearby.
Combining this with Horitake's previous conjectures, the situation was already very clear.
The family this old hunter spoke of was Tanjirou's family, the Kamado family!
He didn't expect to actually find Tanjirou's home nearby; this was a pleasant surprise!
The person wearing the same strange uniform who appeared near the Kamado family when they were killed, as mentioned by the old hunter, must have been Tomioka Giyuu!
Having obtained crucial information, Horitake felt satisfied.
However...
Looking at the hunting rifles aimed at him from all sides, and the several old hunters glaring menacingly, Horitake felt a moment of speechlessness and considerable helplessness.
"Uncle, the strange person you mentioned, the one wearing the same strange uniform as me, was he dark-haired, with a poker face, and wearing a strange haori?
His haori pattern was very peculiar, split down the middle: one half was dark reddish-brown, and the other half was a yellow and green checkered pattern.
Was that him?"
The old hunter was startled, and held his hunting rifle at Horitake with even greater caution:
"How do you know? Could it be that you're an accomplice of that person!?"
Horitake was completely at a loss.
Tomioka Giyuu, oh Tomioka Giyuu, you troublemaker, you've really caused me a lot of trouble!
Not only were you mistaken for a murderer, but I, as your colleague, am also being implicated and misunderstood because of you!
Although Horitake wasn't afraid of hunting rifles or bullets, asking him to attack ordinary people was indeed quite troublesome.
Horitake scratched his head, beginning to think about how to explain this:
"Gentlemen, don't be nervous. I'm not some strange person, nor am I a murderer or a criminal.
The strange person I just mentioned wasn't a murderer either. He's my colleague, and we both work to kill demons.
The reason my colleague appeared near that charcoal-selling family last year was purely by chance. The people of that family were certainly not harmed by him.
Seriously, how am I supposed to explain this to you!?"
Due to the historical problem left behind by that scoundrel Tomioka Giyuu, Horitake truly found it difficult to explain clearly.
"Ara ara, isn't that Horitake-san? It looks like your situation isn't too good."
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