Ryoma stopped, his ice-blue eyes narrowing slightly as his gaze locked onto a haggard young man not far away.
A distraught young man stumbled along the street, his eyes vacant, clutching a woman's hairpin tightly in his hand. His lips moved soundlessly as he mumbled to himself.
Ryoma's hearing far surpassed that of an ordinary person, and he clearly caught the desperate whisper.
...Satoko...why...just a moment ago...she was fine...
Seeing this distraught young man wandering the streets, the townspeople began to talk about him.
"Look at Kazumi-san."
"So pitiful, he looks so haggard."
"It's because Satoko was snatched right beside him."
"Every night makes me uneasy."
"It's terrifying. Once night falls, you don't know which girl will be next."
The scent of fear had long hung over the town like a dark cloud, thick and suffocating.
Hearing these words, Tanjiro understood that this was very likely a clue to finding the demon.
So he immediately said to Ryoma, "Ryoma, let's go meet Kazumi-san, I remember his scent."
Ryoma nodded slightly, and the two walked through the crowd towards the young man named Kazumi.
Kazumi stood dazed in front of a jewelry shop, his gaze fixed on the hairpin clutched tightly in his hand. It was the same style as the samples displayed in the window, only the one in his hand was soaked with the cold sweat from his palm.
"Excuse me, are you Kazumi-san?" Tanjiro asked softly.
Kazumi slowly turned his head, his bloodshot eyes staring blankly at the two.
His cheeks were sunken, his beard disheveled. He clearly hadn't rested properly for a long time, and he looked as if all vitality had been drained from him.
He asked, "Who are you?"
Ryoma said straightforwardly, "We heard about the missing girls here and wanted to understand the situation."
"We'd like to ask where Satoko-san disappeared."
"Satoko!"
That name was like an electric shock, startling Kazumi awake.
He grabbed their sleeves, his knuckles white from the force, his voice trembling uncontrollably. "You...you can help me find Satoko? She's okay, isn't she? She'll definitely come back."
"Please calm down."
Tanjiro supported his trembling shoulders, patting them twice to offer a hint of comfort,
"We are here for that very reason. Please take us to where it happened."
Kazumi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. He then led them to a quiet alley.
He pointed to the empty depths of the alley, his voice again torn by a sob. "That night, Satoko disappeared in this alley..."
He covered his face in pain. "I just...I was just walking ahead... and when I looked back, she was gone... without even a scream."
"Disappeared?" Ryoma frowned.
"Can you describe the situation in detail?"
"I don't know, she was just there... and when I turned around, she was already gone." Kazumi covered his face in pain.
"I've been looking for her all this time, but there are no clues at all."
"I should have walked behind her then, I should have held onto her, if only I had held onto her then..."
Tanjiro and Ryoma exchanged a look. This situation was very strange. Ordinary demons wouldn't have the ability to make people disappear.
"Besides Satoko, have any other girls gone missing?" Ryoma continued to ask.
"Yes, several young girls have already gone missing." Kazumi wiped away his tears,
"They all disappeared suddenly at night."
Ryoma squatted down, his fingertips gently brushing the ground.
The residual energy fluctuations in the air were extremely faint, but his magical senses still picked up a trace of an anomalous imprint.
"There are still some traces here, but it's very strange, as if she was dragged directly underground." Ryoma pointed at a few shallow marks on the ground.
Tanjiro squatted down and sniffed. "There's a faint residual scent of a demon, but..."
He frowned. "It feels a bit off, blurry."
Ryoma stood up and asked Tanjiro, "It will definitely act again after dark, we must stop it before it succeeds. Tanjiro, your nose is more sensitive, can you smell blood, or can you find its approximate area of activity based on the demon's residual scent?"
Tanjiro sniffed carefully again, then replied, "I don't smell blood. However, there's a residual demon scent here. I'll do my best to find it."
Subsequently, Tanjiro began to search for the demon's scent all over the town based on the residual scent there.
Ryoma and Kazumi followed behind Tanjiro, who was alternately bending down to sniff here and squatting to sniff there.
Looking at the strange glances the townspeople gave them, as if they were looking at fools, Ryoma felt a bit awkward.
Although it was his suggestion for Tanjiro to search, his performance was... difficult to describe.
Time passed like this, little by little, until only a sliver of the setting sun's red light remained in the sky.
Kazumi, who had been following them, began to waver. "Please believe me, Satoko really disappeared into thin air."
Tanjiro stopped, turned to Kazumi, and replied with a serious expression, "I believe you. We came here for this very reason."
As night fell, Kazumi watched Tanjiro, who was still searching, and hesitated, wanting to say something.
Ryoma interrupted what Kazumi was about to say. "Don't worry. Before it was just to confirm and narrow down the scope, and those things are active at night. Now is just the right time."
As Ryoma's words fell, Tanjiro immediately spoke up, "Ryoma, I've found a new scent nearby. That guy should be around here."
Ryoma understood upon hearing this that the demon was about to strike again.
Meanwhile, Kazumi, after hearing Ryoma and Tanjiro's words, was somewhat confused but seemed to have realized something.
"Those guys...are you...really...?"
"Ryoma, the scent is getting stronger and stronger."
Tanjiro suddenly looked up, then sprinted in one direction.
Ryoma also left Kazumi behind and quickly followed, simultaneously releasing his magical senses to sense the surroundings.
Watching them suddenly run off, moving incredibly fast and effortlessly leaping onto rooftops, Kazumi finally felt that Demons and the Demon Slayer Corps really existed.
Tanjiro and Ryoma arrived at a small alley and stopped, then drew their nichirin swords.
Ryoma's magical senses could detect unusual fluctuations emanating from underground, but he couldn't pinpoint the exact location.
It still depended on Tanjiro, who, following the strongest scent, plunged his blade down.
Then a faint cry of pain was heard, and the ground became like water, with something resembling clothing surfacing.
Ryoma stepped forward, and before the girl could be swallowed, he reached out like lightning, grasping her arm, and yanked upwards.
A huge suction force came from the black bog. But Ryoma's arm muscles bulged, and he forcefully pulled the girl out of the "quagmire," then carried her to safety.
"Tanjiro!"
"Understood!"
Tanjiro's heart settled when he saw the girl was unharmed.
He retracted his blade and took a defensive stance. As his legs slightly bent, his gaze was locked on the black swamp that was still wriggling eerily, like a living thing.