Are You a Monster?

The wind picked up, night fell, and the woods began to grow strange.

Han Zhiqi opened his eyes. Perhaps because of the atmosphere, from the moment he fell asleep until he woke up, he had somehow maintained "Total Concentration: Constant" the entire time. Naturally, he was also fully aware that Nohime had fallen asleep on his lap.

By now, his leg had gone a little numb. Yet this strange girl still had not woken up. She had said, "I'll keep watch for you," but she had ended up sleeping more soundly than anyone. She was so carefree—she had absolutely no sense of danger.

Han Zhiqi raised a hand and lightly patted her cheek. After a few pats, Nohime parted and closed her little mouth, murmuring softly.

"Wake up. Stop sleeping."

Han Zhiqi patted her a few more times. This girl talked too much and was annoying, but her soft pink cheeks did feel quite nice to pat.

"Mm? Is it time to eat?"

Nohime sat upright sleepily, pouted, rubbed her eyes, then turned to see Han Zhiqi staring coldly at her, a trace of anger on his handsome face.

"Han Zhiqi, you're awake." Nohime grinned and smiled happily.

Han Zhiqi had no idea where this girl had come from. Did she have no worries at all? Why was she always wearing that foolishly cheerful look?

No wonder everyone else disliked her. Low self-esteem and cowardice were one thing; her silly cheerfulness was probably another.

"It's getting dark. We need to get ready."

Nohime looked around. Sure enough, the sky was darkening at a speed that seemed almost visible to the naked eye. Even the scent in the air had changed—bloody, foul, dangerous, restless.

Only then did her expression become slightly serious, but her composure quickly crumbled, and Han Zhiqi fell with her.

It happened the instant Han Zhiqi lowered his head.

"Let's eat something first. Once we start fighting, we probably won't have the time or appetite to eat."

Han Zhiqi reached for the pack he carried behind him. The moment he lowered his head, he accidentally caught sight of a pale flash. Looking closer, he realized it came from Kanroji Noe's chest.

At some point, the front of Noe's shirt had come wide open, leaving half of her ample breasts completely exposed to the air.

Han Zhiqi flushed crimson in embarrassment and quickly turned his head away. In his haste, his nose struck the stone wall, and the pain nearly brought tears to his eyes.

Noe clearly had not realized what had happened. She only found Han Zhiqi's behavior strange. Seeing him hit his nose, she hurriedly asked with concern, "Are you all right?" She rose, trying to step forward and inspect his injury.

Han Zhiqi squeezed his eyes shut and hurriedly waved her off, stopping her from coming closer. Stammering, he said, "It... it's showing. H-hurry up and cover it."

Showing? What was showing?

Noe looked around herself and only then noticed that the buttons on her shirt had somehow popped open.

"Huh? How did they pop open again?"

Again? She actually said again! What kind of monster was this?

Every hair on Han Zhiqi's body stood on end. He wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the rocks.

As for Noe, she spoke calmly, completely unaware of how great an impact this had on others. To her, it seemed as ordinary as eating or drinking water.

"There, there. They're buttoned up now." Noe let out a long breath.

It was Han Zhiqi's first time seeing someone get tired just from putting on clothes. He was utterly speechless.

He glanced at Noe's chest and saw that it was indeed buttoned up. Only then did Han Zhiqi cautiously turn back around. His face was as red as a ripe apple as he snapped, "You're a girl—how can you be so careless about your dignity? If you know shirts like that easily come open, why don't you wear something else? Do you know how much trouble you cause other people by being like this?"

When she saw Han Zhiqi get angry, Noe's bright smile vanished. She slowly lowered her head like a child who had made a mistake and said timidly, "S-sorry. I... I don't have any other clothes to wear. I ran away from home in secret."

Seeing Noe's overly cautious look, Han Zhiqi's heart immediately softened. He even blamed himself for speaking so harshly. If she had run away secretly, that meant she had not even brought food with her.

Han Zhiqi looked Noe over. Sure enough, apart from the Nichirin Blade uniformly issued by the Demon Slayer Corps, she had brought nothing else.

Han Zhiqi had no interest in asking why she had secretly run away from home or why she had come to take the Demon Slayer Corps assessment.

He had no interest in other people's private matters. Besides, once the assessment ended, the two of them would never cross paths again. Even if he knew, it would be meaningless.

Han Zhiqi took out a simple pack from behind him and opened it. Inside were neatly stacked meat-and-vegetable flatbreads and several bottles of water.

Judging from the prepared flatbreads, the Butterfly Mansion trio had been rather thoughtful.

Han Zhiqi's impression of them improved somewhat.

"Have something to eat and drink some water."

Han Zhiqi took out one meat-and-vegetable flatbread and placed the rest between them, where either of them could reach them.

"Eat. The assessment has only just begun. While you still have the appetite, eat as much as you can. Over the next six days, you probably won't feel like eating even if you want to."

Noe looked at the meat-and-vegetable flatbreads in the bag beside her. They looked delicious. She wanted one but felt too embarrassed to take one. In the end, her growling stomach won out. She reached into the bag, took a flatbread, gave Han Zhiqi an embarrassed smile, and began eating with relish.

Han Zhiqi felt that women really were strange creatures—not only strange, but impossible to understand.

"Where are we going next?" Noe asked as she ate.

"We're not going anywhere. We'll stay here. We don't know the situation in these woods, so wandering around would be too dangerous. Those two little girls said we only had to endure seven days on the mountain, but they never said how. So even if we hide and do nothing, once seven days pass, as long as we're still alive, we'll have passed the assessment."

Noe nodded. "I'll listen to you."

"By the way, why didn't you want to join that group led by Kimura? They seemed quite interested in you. If you were willing, they would definitely welcome you."

Han Zhiqi gazed at Noe, feeling that she was like a blank sheet of paper, as though she understood nothing.

"Why should I join them? What does it have to do with me whether they like me or not? I don't even know them."

Noe seriously considered Han Zhiqi's words. They seemed to make sense, yet somehow they did not. "If they invited me, I'd definitely be happy. It's a shame they don't want me."

"Hmph. It's right that they don't want you. Not everyone is as foolish as you are. How have you even survived this long while being so stupid?"

Rather than becoming angry at Han Zhiqi's somewhat disdainful words, Noe was pleased. She knew that the boy before her had accepted her; otherwise, he would not have said such things. She shrugged unconcernedly.

"That's why I'm following you."