"You came down the mountain to work on a day like this? You really are diligent."
"Be careful not to catch a cold."
The old woman sweeping snow in front of her house greeted him with concern.
"This weather is nothing. Would you like to buy some charcoal?" White breath escaped the scarred boy's mouth. "Do you still have enough charcoal at home?"
A door beside the road slid open, and a middle-aged man inside called out, "Hey, Tanjiro, I want to buy charcoal. Thanks for helping me patch up my paper door the other day."
"I want to buy charcoal too." A passerby in the distance called out as well.
A smile could not help but appear on Tanjiro's face.
"Ah, Tanjiro, you came at just the right time!" A nearby door was yanked open, and a young man with a bloody nose and mouth appeared in the doorway. He held something wrapped in cloth, while a woman behind him gripped the back of his collar with an unfriendly look in her eyes.
"They accused me of breaking the plate! Come help me out—smell it for me!" He broke free from the woman and stumbled toward Tanjiro, opening the cloth in his hands to reveal the shattered plate inside.
Tanjiro lowered his head and sniffed it. "It smells like a cat."
The woman covered her mouth. "Oh my, so a cat caused this..."
The young man instantly found his confidence. "See! I told you I didn't do it!"
"Tanjiro, could you come help me move some things?" A middle-aged man standing beside several boxes waved at him.
Tanjiro's arrival seemed to liven up the entire street, proving just how well-liked the boy usually was.
Inside the large estate at the end of the road, a pair of wine-red double