"...Giyu?"
"...stay the night...?"
Urokodaki paused when he heard this. He looked at Kie in front of him and the five children following behind her.
He was silent for a moment.
'Five children, one of them still a babe.'
'Judging from the mud stains on their body, they must have been walking for a while.'
'Are they in a hurry to leave?'
'But… there is no demon smell on them.'
Takeo, Shigeru, and Nezuko, who were standing opposite Urokodaki, were also secretly observing him.
'Oh, this old guy scared me to death!'
Shigeru was covered in cold sweat. He touched his chest and took a deep breath. He had been standing next to his mother just now.
His complexion is even paler, if that is possible.
The old man in front of him appeared with a "whoosh!"
'He was so silent! It was already dark! He was also wearing a red tengu mask! It was terrifying!'
Shigeru looked at Urokodaki in panic and subconsciously moved closer to his mother.
Compared with Shigeru, Takeo seemed more steady.
If you ignore the cold sweat on his palms.
Nezuko looked at Urokodaki with surprise.
The expression on Kie's face gradually became serious as she tried to calm down her nervousness about the situation.
Since Urokodaki, whom her husband had mentioned, had actually appeared, then...
What kind of danger on their mountain supposed to be?
'Tanjuro...'
Kie gripped her hands that were holding Shigeru tightly.
For what felt like eternal moments,
Urokodaki's eyes, hidden under the mask, finally relented.
The surrounding atmosphere was filled with uncertainty and nervous energy, and he could smell it.
He raised his head and looked at Kie.
'Flustered, uneasy.'
'It's the smell of lying.'
'It wasn't Giyu who sent them.'
He looked at Kie quietly.
Urokodaki waved his hand at Kie and the others.
"Come with me."
Although he could tell that Kie was lying, he also realized that Kie was not a bad person, so Urokodaki did not expose Kie.
Turning around, he sighed softly.
That child, Giyu.
"Thank you very much!" Kie bowed slightly, and Shigeru, who was next to her, quickly followed to nod and thank him.
---
Time passed, and before I knew it, night had fallen.
"It's already so late."
Tanjiro Kamado, carrying an empty bamboo basket on his back, slowly trudged on in the snow, heading toward the mountain. He has been smiling since all of his charcoals are sold out.
"It's great to be able to sell them all."
As Tanjiro walked, he came upon a small house by the road leading to the mountain.
A figure appeared at the window and shouted at Tanjiro.
"Tanjiro!"
"Are you going back to the mountain now? It's too dangerous!"
"Come back; it's too late. Come and stay at my place."
---
---
On the other side of town.
A black leather shoe stepped into the snow.
"I walked all the way from Asakusa to this!?"
The white trousers were very slim-fitting, and the person wore a black suit jacket and a white top hat.
The black suit had subtle but gorgeous patterns, and it was obviously expensive. He reached out and slightly adjusted the brim of his top hat, his pale skin making the blue veins on the back of his hand clearly visible.
The snowflakes fell on the back of his hand but did not melt.
The plum-red pupils observed the deserted snow-covered street, and his voice is deep and has a strange quality to those who listen to it.
"Let's end the experiment here..."
He raised his head, feeling the human aura that filled the town, and frowned slightly.
On the road before, the humans living in towns and villages had already been experimented on by him.
How a demon overcame the sun.
Not even one subject survived.
The face hidden in the shadow of the top hat was slightly angry, and his nose moved slightly, feeling the breath around him.
"The smell is the same as the ones I've seen before, so I guess the humans in this town are the same."
Weak.
Extremely fragile creature.
If they are given a little blood, their cells will collapse, and they will turn into a pool of rotten flesh mixed with blood.
Disgusting.
"Tsk."
He didn't intend to waste his blood on this endeavor any longer.
Walking slowly, his eyes fell on a mountain outside the town.
The plum-red pupils looked toward the direction of the mountaintop.
Rarely, a hint of interest appeared in the man's pupils.
Oh, you who live on the mountaintop...
He remembered the swords used by those persistent Demon Slayers... what were they called?
It seems to be forged from the ore of the mountaintop?
So, will people who live on the top of the mountain all year round be a little different...?
The man's experimental spirit had been exhausted, and now he was just looking for a reason for his own pastime.
---
---
-Location: Mount Sagiri-
In Urokodaki's hut.
"Hoo..." Urokodaki blew out the last candle. He turned around and looked at the children who had already fallen asleep. The tengu mask blocked his expression.
The few lively children really gave him a hard time.
Thinking this way, he stood up and walked toward the door.
The wooden door behind him was slowly closed by Urokodaki to see...
Kamado Kie, facing away from the cabin, looking up at the moon in the sky.
"What is it?" Urokodaki looked at Kie, who had called him out. "The children have already gone to sleep, and it's not early anymore."
Kie turned around and thanked Urokodaki.
"Excuse me, Urokodaki-san."
Kie bowed slightly; her tone was a little hurried. She straightened up and looked serious and said frankly,
"Actually, I don't know any swordsman named Tomioka Giyu. I lied."
"...I know." Urokodaki's voice came from under the mask.
He felt confused as to why Kie came forward with the lie.
Sakonji had thought that Kie had come to him because she was trying to escape from her demon pursuer or something and had come across Giyu on the road.
After all, Giyu is a straightforward child.
Whenever someone asked him, he would say things like, "I'm Tomioka Giyu of the Demon Slayer Corps."
Seeing Urokodaki's confusion, Kie continued.
"My husband told me that there was danger on the mountain where we lived and that he had to stay."
"He told me to find Tengu-Man Urokodaki and tell him Giyu Tomioka sent us."
"He said he didn't have time to explain, but if I told you this, you would tell me what was going on."
Kie looked straight at Urokodaki's red tengu mask and said a long passage in one breath.
"That's the truth." She swallowed unconsciously, looking at Urokodaki with anxiety in her eyes. "Can you tell me what's going on?"
Urokodaki stays silent.
'The situation—it seemed to be a little different from what I had imagined.'
After listening to Kie's words, Sakonji Urokodaki stared blankly at Kie but did not answer her immediately. Instead, he asked another question in a serious tone.
"I will answer your questions, but before that…"
"Kamado-san, please tell me first."
"Where is your husband? No, the mountain where you live?"