Sounds of scuffling and chasing echoed through the misty air. Unfortunately, only Roy could hear them.
The water boiled, pushing open the lid with soft rhythmic clinks. Tanjiro's eyes and hands were quick—he lifted down the flask and poured a cup of hot tea, passing it over while whispering, "Why do I feel this place is eerie, like someone's watching us?"
Father Tanjuro was the first person in the Kamado family in a thousand years—since ancestor Kamado Sumiyoshi—to step into the "Transparent World." Perhaps inheriting his bloodline, perhaps blessed by ancestors, Tanjiro was gifted with an exceptionally keen sense of smell.
Years later, having trained in Water Breathing, he could actually smell Sabito's blade movements, predict his attacks in advance, and thus cleave his mask—clearly showing signs of one hand touching the edge of the Transparent World. Therefore, detecting some abnormalities now by intuition alone wasn't surprising.
"What do you smell?"
"Don't know... somewhat like Uncle Nanno's scent." Tanjiro's nostrils twitched, not knowing how to describe it.
In places he couldn't see, several cold winds blew, surrounding him in the middle. Among them were the scuffling Shinsuke and Fukuda.
"Whoa—this guy has such keen sense of smell! Just like Master, able to capture a demon's location from scent alone and how many people it's eaten. Looking at it this way, perhaps he's more suited to learning Breathing Techniques than Giyu."
Chirping away, several living souls were drawn out by Tanjiro's words, circling above his head, yet not one rashly passing through his body. Clearly, they understood the principle that living souls would impact living people's souls.
Tanjiro took a sharp breath, wondering why it suddenly got colder. He quickly hugged his shoulders, squeezing closer to Roy's side.
Roy focused on eating dumplings, washing down the last bite with hot tea. Looking up, he noticed the boy and girl accompanying Sakonji Urokodaki also looking over with some surprise. His gaze calmly passed straight through their bodies, settling on Sakonji Urokodaki beside them.
The old Water Pillar carved masks one stroke at a time, merged with heaven and earth, seemingly existing yet not existing. Without looking carefully or coming specifically with purpose, it was easy to overlook him.
This state somewhat resembled Zetsu—both perceiving nature and merging with nature, using nature to reduce one's own presence. The difference was one relied on sealing all Nen within the body to enhance five senses, while the other relied on extraordinary craftsmanship honed over decades. How many similarities and differences existed between them was worth exploring—provided he was willing to give an opportunity for consultation.
Wood shavings flew. The carving knife Sakonji Urokodaki held had been switched at some point. Perhaps the new one wasn't yet comfortable, or perhaps having observers disturbed his heart. This stroke slipped.
Result: the fox's mouth went crooked, as if mocking him. What use was carving skill when he couldn't even protect his own disciples?
"Master..." Makomo crouched nearby, silently watching. Beside her, silent Sabito stood guard.
Sakonji Urokodaki froze for seconds, replaced the ruined mask with new wood, and continued carving, seemingly not yet noticing people outside.
Making Tanjiro anxiously rub his hands. The young man ultimately couldn't contain his nature. "Should I knock?"
Door? What door was here? Pillars didn't need doors to block demons—they themselves were doors.
Roy took a sip of hot tea, saying unhurriedly, "If you can't sit still, go catch some game in the mountains." Too many dumplings lacked fat—perfect to use meat for a proper meal.
"No, I'll stay here with you." Tanjiro shook his head. He felt something wasn't right and didn't want to separate.
"If you won't go, I will." Roy stood up. Ignoring Tanjiro calling him, he took two steps in one, feet using Shadow Step, flashing out of sight.
His speed was truly too fast—fast enough to leave an afterimage in place, making people mistakenly think he remained stationary.
Cold wind blew. Several gazes, as if rehearsed, uniformly turned over, yet still half a beat slow, only catching Roy's exhaust.
Fukuda cried out strangely. "This person has such fast speed! Shinsuke, I'm not seeing wrong, am I?"
Shinsuke glared at him irritably. "You're just dead, not blind. Whether you saw wrong—do I need to lend you my eyeballs?"
In just that glance, Roy returned, holding two wild rabbits, strolling back. Chaos erupted. Flames dancing on the fire leaped irregularly.
The living souls previously surrounding Tanjiro surged toward Roy en masse, curiously examining him, seemingly wanting to see if he had an extra leg. But they dared not approach too closely. As Roy moved, they automatically divided to both sides. At the end stood Sabito, gripping his katana.
"If you'd had this kind of speed back then, you wouldn't have died, right?" Makomo stood up, her beautiful eyes brightly reflecting Roy's figure, somewhat disbelieving.
Sabito was silent. Indeed, if he'd had this speed back then, even unable to win, he could have easily escaped. But could he really have escaped? After escaping, what about Giyu? He'd been a crybaby coward back then—facing that guy, he probably couldn't even hold his sword.
Sabito shook his head with a smile, turning to look seriously at Makomo, changing the subject. "This time I really think there's a chance."
"Hmmm... let's watch them eat first."
Fire melted snowflakes, radiating heat waves outward. Roy took out the axe from his waist and used the just-boiled hot water to process the rabbits. He and Tanjiro each took one, skewered them on wooden sticks, and roasted them over the fire.
Fat turned to oil, dripping down and fueling the fire. Soon both rabbits were roasted, glistening with oil and quite tantalizing. Unfortunately, they had no cumin, no barbecue seasoning. In the freezing weather, they couldn't find scallions and ginger for marinating in advance. The only seasoning available was a small jar of salt Tanjiro dug from the basket.
But even so, it still attracted many "greedy ghosts." Like Fukuda, like Shinsuke, like Makomo. The little girl stared fixedly at the roasted rabbit in Roy's hand, licked her lips, and said to Sabito, "Hey, Sabito, think of something... I want to eat."
'What method could I have? You said it yourself—"watch" people eat.' Sabito was speechless and directly chose silence. From the corner of his eye, inadvertently glancing, a faint gleam flashed.
"Rabbit not pre-oiled and marinated will have an earthy smell when eaten. If you two don't mind, follow this old man inside—I'll handle it."
Sakonji Urokodaki had appeared beside the fire at some point. That ruined fox mask lay quietly discarded on the tree stump.