Shinobu Kochou's keen senses immediately signaled that something was wrong.
Inside the massive cold storage warehouse, despite the overwhelming piles of vegetables and meat, Shinobu's ears—far more sensitive than those of an ordinary person—caught a faint, peculiar sound coming from the deepest corner of the room.
The noise was minuscule; had she not been listening with absolute focus, it would have been easy to overlook.
It sounded like... the muffled, rhythmic whimpering of a living creature struggling for breath.
Oh no! Someone is in there!
The realization struck Shinobu instantly. She began frantically pulling away the mountains of produce and carcasses, heedless of the ingredients tumbling onto the dirty floor. Her only priority was saving a life.
Moving with the fluid grace and speed of a Hashira, she quickly cleared a narrow passage through the wall of food. Squinting through the dim, flickering light, Shinobu peered into the gap.
It was indeed a person. Tucked away in the furthest reaches of the chilled room was a human being.
Driven by the urgency of the rescue, Shinobu didn't hesitate. She crawled into the cramped space, navigating through the piles of ingredients on all fours. As she moved deeper, she couldn't help but feel a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature.
While it was technically warmer in here than the biting winter air outside, it was significantly lower than a healthy room temperature. Prolonged exposure in such an environment would inevitably lead to hypothermia and a fatal loss of consciousness.
Thinking of this, Shinobu's movements grew even more frantic.
Lunging forward, her hand finally brushed against fabric. She gripped the person's clothes, and in doing so, felt the rough texture of ropes binding them tight.
The victim had been shoved so deep into the warehouse and bound so securely—likely gagged as well—that it was no wonder the chefs never noticed. Between the victim's inability to make noise, the abysmal lighting, and the chefs' own paralyzing fear that kept them from lingering in the storage area, the poor soul had remained hidden in plain sight.
Shinobu grabbed the ropes and hauled with all her might.
With a loud thud and a cascade of scattered food, the "unlucky fellow" was finally dragged out into the open.
Once she could see him clearly, however, Shinobu couldn't hide a flicker of disappointment.
Why the disappointment? Because this boy was not her target. He was not Senjuro Rengoku.
Though he was a handsome youth of about fourteen or fifteen, his black hair and dark eyes clearly signaled that he shared no blood with the Rengoku family.
Refusing to give up, Shinobu ducked back into the cold storage to sweep the area one more time. Eventually, she had to face the truth: there was only this one captive. No one else was hidden within.
Looking at the trembling boy on the ground, his eyes wide with panic and confusion, Shinobu felt a wave of perplexity.
"He is indeed a young boy, but... he doesn't seem to be the Flame Hashira's brother. Where could Senjuro be? And why was this child locked in a cold storage warehouse?"
Standing nearby, Horitake surveyed the surrounding storage area, his voice carrying a distant, contemplative tone.
"As for why he was locked in there, the answer is quite simple. Shinobu-san, what is a cold storage warehouse typically used for?"
Shinobu answered without a second thought, "For storing ingredients, of course."
"And for a demon, what counts as an 'ingredient'?"
"It would be... humans. I see..."
The realization hit Shinobu like a physical blow. She looked down at the bound boy, the puzzle pieces clicking into place.
The demon was treating this child as fresh produce. The cold storage served as a perfect refrigerator to preserve the "meat." As long as he was shoved deep enough, tied tightly, and gagged, he was "safe" until the demon was ready to eat.
Horrific as it was, one had to admit the demon was disturbingly organized—a "talent" in its own morbid way.
The fifteen-year-old boy, bound like a cocoon, squirmed on the floor like a caterpillar. He let out a series of muffled, desperate whimpers, pleading with Horitake and Shinobu to untie him.
However, neither of them was focused on him at that moment. The "unlucky fellow" was momentarily ignored as they grappled with a bigger problem.
Shinobu understood the logic now, but another question remained:
"This boy is young and handsome, fitting the profile of the demon we've been tracking. That confirms the demon is here. But where is the Flame Hashira's brother? They were both kidnapped. Why aren't they together? Why wasn't he in the cold storage? Could he... have already met a grim end?"
Horitake shook his head, dismissing her dark hypothesis.
If Senjuro Rengoku were dead, the System would have already notified him of a quest failure. Since there had been no such alert, it proved the boy was still alive.
Shinobu looked distressed. "Then where is he? Where do we even begin to look?"
Horitake looked toward the rows of concrete basins used for holding seafood and let out a cryptic, knowing smile.
"I don't know exactly where Senjuro is either. However... we can just ask the culprit."
With those words, Horitake began to walk forward.
Sensing the weight behind his words, Shinobu followed his lead, her expression turning solemn as she matched his pace.
In this storage area, aside from the large cold warehouse, the most prominent features were the numerous basins dug into the floor and lined with cement. These pools varied in size and depth, serving a single purpose: keeping seafood alive and fresh.
In an era without modern refrigeration, the cold storage warehouse relied on the basement's natural chill and blocks of ice. However, seafood was different. It didn't just need cold temperatures; it needed water.
The entire storage area was a subterranean basement—cool and stable in temperature. But since fish needed more than just cool air, these sunken pools were the ideal habitat for "fresh" stock.
Horitake walked past the shallow basins containing crabs and shellfish without a glance. He headed straight for the very back of the storage area, toward the largest and deepest pool of them all.
This particular basin was massive, dug deep into the earth to ensure that large sea fish could stay active and alive.
Standing at the edge of the pool, Horitake and Shinobu looked down.
The water was deep, and with the poor lighting, the depths appeared as a void of pitch-black ink. It was impossible to see what lay beneath the surface.
Shinobu couldn't help but ask, "Horitake, are you suggesting the demon is inside this pool? How is that possible? Even demons need to breathe."
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