Tanjiro was still in a daze.
This, this was too, too fast. No, it was bloody and brutal.
Takeshi, passing by his side, tapped his forehead with his hand and said, "What are you standing here for? Is the fire lit? Is dinner ready yet?"
Two questions in a row left Tanjiro dumbfounded.
He had just lit the fire in the dilapidated hut, putting the bread on the fire to bake, when he smelled the scent of a demon. Worried about the two people outside, he had chased after them.
Now, the bread on the fire, was it okay?
Ah—
Tanjiro took off running back. He had to rescue the bread he was baking. If he was lucky, he could still salvage some of it to eat.
Returning to the dilapidated hut, the bread had long been burned black, as black as charcoal. Footsteps came from outside. It was Senior Aoyama and his sister coming back.
Tanjiro shifted his body, just enough to block the fire pit and those 'dead' pieces of bread.
Takeshi flicked his fingers, signaling Tanjiro to stand aside. Tanjiro smiled awkwardly and stood to the side. Takeshi's eyes fell on the fire pit and those unidentified black objects.
"Let's eat grilled fish! I suddenly have a craving for grilled fish."
Tanjiro's features lost all expression at once. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said, "Senior Aoyama, there are two rice balls left. Let's just make do with that for dinner, okay?"
Takeshi didn't really want to make things difficult for Tanjiro. He took the rice ball and split it in half, throwing one half to Tanjiro.
"Since we're making do, let's eat less! We'll save the extra rice ball for tomorrow morning."
Takeshi, while munching on the rice ball, frowned slightly and turned his head to ask, "What were you worried about just now? Were you worried that the demon would hurt us?"
Tanjiro swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "I wasn't worried about anything. I just wanted to go over and see if you needed any help."
As he said those words, now that he had calmed down, he did have worries at the time.
Smelling the scent of a demon, he was worried that Senior Aoyama and his sister would be attacked.
Now that he had calmed down, his worries had changed. He was worried about what Senior Aoyama would do to his sister...
Tanjiro! What are you thinking about? Senior Aoyama would never do anything bad to his sister! Tanjiro shook his head hard, shaking away those thoughts in his head.
Arriving at the town that the crow had mentioned, Tanjiro was eager to find the demon that was devouring young girls. Takeshi grabbed Tanjiro's collar.
"Eat first! How can we work if we're not full!"
"But..."
Tanjiro felt that finding the demon was the most urgent thing.
Takeshi raised his finger and pointed at the sun overhead, saying, "Do you think that demon will come out when the sun is out?"
He raised his hand and patted Tanjiro's shoulder, continuing, "Your brain is a good thing; you have to use it often. Otherwise, it'll rust!" After speaking, he walked towards a noodle shop on the street.
Takeshi had already estimated the time in his heart. It was still early, so after eating his fill, he would have time to rest for a while, stroll around, find the location of that wealthy family, and then wait for the demon to come to his doorstep after dark.
Seeing that the person had already walked into the noodle shop, Tanjiro, carrying the wooden box, quickly followed.
Coming out of the noodle shop, Takeshi patted his full stomach. It was so comfortable. This was life. Even if they were slaying demons, they had to eat and drink well.
A staggering young man, with lifeless eyes, accidentally bumped into Takeshi.
The women next to them were whispering something. From their conversation, Takeshi knew that the person in front of him was Mr. Kazumi, who had just lost his fiancée.
"Mr. Kazumi, right? I want to ask you something. Can you tell me the truth? Where did your fiancée disappear?"
The man grabbed Takeshi, like grabbing a lifeline. "Help me, they're all laughing at me. My fiancée disappeared, right next to me! It was a demon, definitely not a person."
"You have to believe me, really, she just... disappeared... right next to me..."
Takeshi waited for the man to finish speaking and said calmly, "We believe you. Take us there now."
Now, the people in the entire town only believed that the disappearance of the young girls was the work of some heinous person.
This Mr. Kazumi told everyone that it was the work of a demon, but no one believed him. Instead, they secretly gossiped that he had lost his mind.
Now that someone had finally affirmed that they believed him, he couldn't wait to take them to the alley where his fiancée had disappeared.
"It was here. Satoko disappeared here. She suddenly disappeared," Mr. Kazumi recalled the sad events of that night.
Takeshi closed his eyes slightly, fully opening his sense of smell. This alley did have the scent of a demon having been here, but the scent was weak. But that was enough.
He would remember this scent, find that wealthy family, and wait for the demon to take the initiative to come to his door tonight.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw that Tanjiro was already lying on the ground, trying hard to smell the scent.
Without saying a word, Takeshi went forward and picked the person up from the ground.
"Pay attention to your image! Stop smelling scents. Follow me. Tonight, we're going to stay in a good place." After speaking, a smile appeared on Takeshi's lips.
Mr. Kazumi, seeing this, was a little confused. What was this person doing? He had just said he would help him find Satoko, but now he was going to find a place to stay?
Takeshi strode forward a few steps. Seeing that the two people behind him hadn't moved, he had no choice but to come back, putting his arms around one person on each side. "Don't worry. These demons, I'll kill them tonight!"
As he said this, a gentle smile appeared on his face, as if he wasn't talking about life and death or man-eating demons, but about the weather.
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