Following the address they had been given, Han Zhiqi brought Nohime to an inn. He knocked on the door, and after waiting a moment, faint footsteps came from inside the courtyard.
"W-who is it?" The voice was kept low, trembling as it asked.
"Guests looking for a room."
"No rooms left. Go ask somewhere else." With that, the footsteps sounded again, moving away from the courtyard gate.
Han Zhiqi continued knocking on the gate, this time with much greater force. The loud banging startled the neighboring households, and they hurriedly extinguished their lights.
Seeing the eerie state of the street, Nohime felt a chill run through her. She pressed herself tightly against Han Zhiqi's side, occasionally glancing toward dark corners as though something terrifying lurked within them.
"D-don't knock... Stop knocking already." An anxious voice came from the courtyard.
Han Zhiqi ignored it.
Before long, the door opened a crack, and a head cautiously poked out through the gap.
Using the lanterns on either side of the entrance, the man looked Han Zhiqi and Nohime over. When he spotted the Demon Slayer Corps uniforms beneath their haori and the Nichirin Blades at their waists, surprise and delight appeared on his face.
"You're Demon... Quick, please come in." The courtyard gate was opened halfway, and a young man warmly waved them inside.
Once they had entered the courtyard, the man stuck his head out to look up and down both sides of the street before closing the gate again.
"You've finally arrived. I'm terribly sorry about earlier, but those disappearances have everyone on edge. These days, once night falls, no household in Shimizu Town dares open its door."
Han Zhiqi said nothing. He swept his gaze around the courtyard before it settled on the two-story building in front of him. The