“… Brave? ”

“… Stay overnight...? ”

Hearing this, he looked at the Aoi branch in front of him and the five children who followed behind.

He was silent for a moment.

- Five children, and even one very young.

- Looking at the mud marks on his body, he must have been walking for a while.

- The clothes on his body were mud-stained, but not shabby, but he didn't carry anything else.

- Rushing out of the house?

- But... There is no ghost breath on his body.

Meanwhile.

Takeo, Shigeru, and Midouzi, who were standing on the opposite side of the scales, were also secretly observing him.

Scared, scared me to death!

Kamato was covered in cold sweat, he touched his chest and took a deep breath, he was standing next to his mother just now.

His expression was a little weak.

The old man in front of him: "Huh! "It just appeared!

Silently! It's still dark!

He also wears a red tengu mask!

It's scared to death!

Shigeru looked at the scales in a panic, and subconsciously moved closer to his mother.

Compared with Mao, Takeo is a little more stable.

- If you throw away the cold sweat from his palms.

Midouzi looked at the scales in surprise and left near.

Aoi Aoi's expression gradually became solemn, and she was a little nervous at the moment.

Now that the scales in her husband's mouth have really appeared, then...

The danger in the mountains, what the hell is ...

Tanjuro...

Aoi Zhi clenched her hands.

After a while.

The eyes of the scales that were hidden under the mask were slightly lowered.

The smell was so thick that he could smell it.

He looked up at Aoi Eda on the stove.

- Panicked, uneasy.

— is the smell of lying.

- It wasn't the Righteous Courage who let them come.

He looked at Aoi Eda quietly.

After thinking for a moment, Scales waved his hand at Aoi Zhi and the others:

"Come with me."

Although he could detect that Aoi Zhi was lying, he also realized that Aoi Zhi was not a bad person, so Scales did not break the stove door Aoi Zhi.

Turning around, he sighed softly.

Brave this kid.

"Thank you very much!" Aoi Zhi of the stove door bowed slightly, and Mao next to him hurriedly learned to nod and thank him when he saw this.

……

Time passed slowly, and before I knew it, it was already night.

Stove door house.

Yamashita.

"It's already so late."

Tanjiro Kamado was walking slowly in the snow with an empty bamboo basket on his back, and he was walking towards the mountain, and he was smiling and muttering to himself:

"It's nice to be able to sell them all."

Creak...

Then.

There is a small house on the side of the road leading to the mountain.

A figure appeared by the window and shouted at Tanjiro's back:

"Hey! Tanjiro! ”

"Are you going back to the mountains? It's too dangerous! ”

"Come back, it's too late, come and stay at my house."

……

……

Not far from the town.

Creak...

A black leather shoe stepped on the snow.

“… Well, all the way from Asakusa here. ”

The white trousers were very slim, and the person who came was wearing a black suit top and a white top hat.

The black suit has inconspicuous but gorgeous lines on it, and it is obviously expensive.

He reached out and slightly touched the brim of his top hat, the pale skin making the green tendons on the back of his hand visible.

The snowflakes fell on the back of his hand and did not melt.

The plum-red pupils observed the empty snowy streets, and her voice was low and eerie:

"Let's end the experiment here..."

He looked up, feeling the human aura that filled the town, and frowned slightly.

On the previous journey, the humans who inhabited towns and villages had already been experimented with by him.

- Not to mention overcoming the sun.

- Not even a single individual survived, without exception.

There was a hint of anger on his face hidden in the shadow of his top hat, and the tip of his nose twitched slightly, feeling the aura around him.

- The smell is the same as I've seen before, and so are the humans who want to come to this town.

- Extremely fragile.

Humans are very weak, and if they are given a little blood, the cells will collapse and become a puddle of rotten flesh mixed with blood.

Weak.

"Tsk."

He wasn't going to waste his blood here any longer.

Walking slowly, his eyes fell on a hill outside the town.

Mei's red pupils looked in the direction of the top of the mountain.

Rarely, a hint of interest appeared in the man's pupils.

O people who live on the top of the mountain...

He remembered that the haunting ghost slayer team used... What kind of knife is coming?

It also seems to be forged from ore from the top of the mountain?

Then, will the people who live on the top of the mountain all year round be a little different...

The man's experimental spirit seems to have been exhausted, and now he is simply looking for a reason for his own pastime.

……

……

The other side.

Narrow Foggy Mountains.

In the hut of the left near time.

"Whew..."Scales recently blew out the candle flame and looked back at the children who had fallen asleep, the tengu's mask obscuring his expression.

A few lively children can toss him a lot.

With that in mind, he stood up and walked out the door.

Step out the door.

Creak......

The wooden door behind him was slowly closed by the scales.

Outside the door.

Aoi Kamado was facing away from the hut and looking up at the moon in the sky.

"What's the matter?" Scales looked at the stove gate Aoi Zhi who called him out: "The children have already gone to bed, and the time is not early." ”

Aoi turned and thanked Scale.

"It's rude, Mr. Scale."

Aoi Zhi bowed slightly, her tone was a little hurried, she straightened up with a serious expression, and confessed bluntly:

"Actually, I don't know the swordsman surnamed Tomioka, I lied."

“… I know. Scales' voice came from under the mask, looking a little dull, and it was obvious that he was suddenly choked by Aoi's words.

He felt very strange.

Zuo Jinji thought that Kwai Zhi was to avoid the enemy or something, and he had heard the name of Yiyong, so he came here.

- After all, Yiyong is an upright child.

- Whenever someone asks, they will say things like 'I'm Yoshiyoshi Tomioka of the Demon Slayer'.

As if to see the confusion of the scales, Aoi Zhi continued:

“… My husband told me that there was danger in the mountain where we lived and that he had to stay. ”

"He asked me to find Mr. Scales and tell Tomioka the name."

"He said he didn't have time to explain, and after telling you like that, you'll tell me what's going on."

Aoi Eda looked straight at the red tengu mask on the left side of the scales, and said a lot of words in one breath, panting slightly, obviously a little emotional:

"It's rude." She swallowed her saliva unconsciously, and her eyes were full of anxiety as she looked at the scales:

"Can you please tell me what's going on?"

- That's the truth.

The scale is perceptible to the left near-second.

The situation - it doesn't seem to be quite the same as I thought...

After listening to Aoi Zhi's words, Scales looked at Aoi Zhi in a daze, and did not answer her question, but raised another question in a serious tone:

“… I'll get you out of your way, but until then. ”

"Mrs. Kamato, please tell me first."

"No, your husband, where is the mountain where you live?"