Hearing Shinobu say this, Horitake was not annoyed; instead, he was quite pleased:
"Now this is the Shinobu-nee-san I know. A Shinobu-nee-san with principles and boundaries. One who won't be blinded by emotions, and certainly won't abandon her principles and boundaries because of them. That's one of the reasons I like you, Shinobu-nee-san!"
Shinobu gently pushed Horitake away as he tried to get closer, saying impatiently, "Alright, don't flatter me. I'll take that as your agreement. I still need to observe Nezuko-chan's situation in the future. If it's truly as you say, then when it comes time to explain to everyone, I'll be willing to vouch for Nezuko-chan with you."
"Shinobu-nee-san is truly wonderful, truly kind. You are the embodiment of human kindness!"
Seeing Shinobu relent and agree, Horitake, of course, launched another barrage of sweet words. Regardless of whether Shinobu-nee-san accepted these sweet words, he had to throw them out; the attitude had to be there.
And so, Horitake and Shinobu chatted and laughed for an unknown amount of time, until it was almost late night. Logically, everyone should have been resting by this time. But unexpectedly, Yaeko, whom they had been tending to, showed signs of waking up.
Looking at Yaeko, who seemed about to wake, Horitake found it a bit strange: "This child had such a high fever; I thought she'd sleep until tomorrow morning. Why is she waking up now? It's too strange."
"Not strange at all," Shinobu explained. "She's been going out every night these past few days, her biological clock has adapted to that habit."
"That's true," Horitake agreed.
Just like that, under their gaze, Yaeko in the futon frowned and gradually opened her eyes. Still a bit groggy, Yaeko asked curiously, "Here… where is here?"
At this moment, Shinobu's gentleness was fully apparent. She leaned closer, placing her face next to Yaeko's, gently feeling Yaeko's temperature. "Oh my, it seems the fever has broken."
Horitake, watching this scene of the two girls, instantly felt a surge of emotion in his heart—a feeling of "yuri is great!" Hiss… relationships between girls seem pretty good too!
As soon as Yaeko opened her eyes, she saw a beautiful older sister right beside her face, looking at her with concern and gentleness. This made Yaeko both shy and surprised. The child, like a startled rabbit, shot up and retreated to the corner, her face flushed. Seeing a man in the room, Yaeko nervously pulled the blanket over herself to shield her body. "Who… who are you? Wh-what happened to me?"
Thankfully, Yaeko was wearing proper, modest sleepwear, otherwise, the future Zenitsu would surely try to kill Horitake.
Horitake spread his hands and began to explain, "Do you remember us, Yaeko-chan? You fainted right in front of me. Shinobu-nee-san here quickly caught you, found you had a high fever, and brought you to the inn where we're staying to take care of you."
Yaeko was initially very wary of the strange man, Horitake. However, upon seeing the beautiful older sister Shinobu, her heart immediately relaxed considerably. "Oh… it's, it's you. Thank you, thank you for taking care of me."
"You're welcome…" Shinobu said gently, bringing Yaeko a cup of herbal medicine. "Here, drink this. After you drink it, your illness will get better."
Yaeko took the cup and saw dark brown, steaming herbal medicine inside. "What… what is this?"
"It's medicine to help you recover, it's very good for your illness and your tired body."
Yaeko looked at the beautiful older sister. "Are… are you a doctor?"
"Of course!" Horitake interjected, "Shinobu-nee-san is the most famous and capable doctor in our area. Hundreds, even thousands of people there basically rely on Shinobu-nee-san alone for injuries and illnesses. Her medical skills are not to be underestimated."
"I see…"
Yaeko felt the kindness of these two people and chose to trust them. She took the cup and began to sip the herbal medicine. However, because the medicine tasted truly awful, Yaeko frowned but eventually chose to tilt her head back and gulp it all down in one go. From this detail, one could discern Yaeko's character. Horitake was now incredibly certain that this child, Yaeko, would definitely be able to handle Zenitsu; these two were indeed a good match!
After finishing the medicine, Yaeko thanked Shinobu-nee-san and then, looking at her surroundings, couldn't help but ask, "What time is it now?"
Horitake replied, "It's almost deep night, probably close to midnight."
"What!?" Yaeko stood up urgently. "It's already this late!? No, I have to go immediately, or I won't have enough time for today's patrol area!"
Because she was in a hurry, Yaeko paid no mind to Horitake, the grown man, being there. She quickly pulled on her coat and the thick, cold-resistant clothes. Horitake and Shinobu exchanged glances, both seeing helplessness in each other's eyes.
Horitake still couldn't resist advising Yaeko, "Yaeko-chan, it's very dangerous to go into the snowy forest this late."
"It's fine! I have Taro with me!"
Saying that, Yaeko patted the Akita dog named Taro. Shinobu looked at Yaeko helplessly, but finally, her tone became somewhat serious as she decided to be frank with the young girl.
"Yaeko-chan, why do you go out into the snowy mountain forest to search every night? It's so dangerous, with only you and your dog, you could lose your life at any moment. Are you truly searching for that man-eating bear? Or are you looking for something else?"
At this question, Yaeko's body stiffened slightly. She quickly masked it, responding quietly, "Of course, I'm going to kill that man-eating bear! That man-eating bear killed my entire family! I have to kill it no matter what! To avenge my family!"
Horitake shook his head. "I'm afraid that's not it, Yaeko-chan. You must know some unknown circumstances. For example… in this area near Azusa, the one who has been continuously eating people isn't that killer bear, but a demon! A man-eating demon!"
Yaeko's demeanor became even more unnatural. "I don't understand what you're talking about, demons and such. I think you're the ones playing tricks. I'm very grateful that you took care of me, and I'll repay you if I get the chance, but tonight I really don't have time. I have things to do, so I'm leaving now! I'm sorry!"
With that, Yaeko, who had already changed into her clothes and was ready to go, took her dog, opened the door, and left the room, departing from the inn. Outside, the night was very dark, and snow and wind had begun to pick up in the deep mountains. The wind and snow howled, intensely cold. Yaeko was not at all deterred by the terrible weather. With her dog, she plunged into the wind and snow without hesitation, without looking back.
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