"How are you feeling now?"
Tanjiro looked at Zenitsu beside him and asked.
"Yeah, I feel better now."
Zenitsu nodded. Some time had passed since he was rejected, and he wasn't as heartbroken as he had been when he was first rejected.
"But I'm feeling a little hungry now..."
"You're traveling alone outside, didn't you bring any food with you?" Tanjiro asked.
"Without..."
Zenitsu replied in a low voice, the lingering disappointment of his failed proposal and the empty feeling in his stomach leaving him completely listless.
Seeing Zenitsu's expression, Tanjiro thought for a moment, then took out a rice ball from his pocket and handed it to him.
"Here, rice ball!"
"Ah, thank you!"
Zenitsu reached out and took the rice ball, took a bite, and the two continued walking forward.
Chewing on the rice ball helped Zenitsu regain some of his energy.
Zenitsu glanced at Tanjiro, who was walking silently beside him, and asked, " Tanjiro, aren't you going to eat?"
Tanjiro chuckled and shook his head. "No, after all, this rice ball is the last one I have!"
Upon hearing this, Zenitsu was slightly taken aback.
There was only one rice ball, why didn't he save it for me?
Zenitsu thought for a moment, then broke off half and handed it over.
"Here, let's split it in half!"
"Huh? Is everything alright?" Tanjiro asked.
Zenitsu nodded. "After all, this rice ball was originally yours!"
"Thanks!"
Tanjiro took the rice ball and smiled.
After taking a bite out of the rice ball, Tanjiro couldn't help but smile with satisfaction.
Then, looking at Zenitsu beside him, he asked, "If Zenitsu- kun is so afraid of death, why did you become Demon Slayer? Compared to other professions, Demon Slayer must be very dangerous, right?"
Zenitsu chewed on his rice ball. "I didn't want to either, but I was tricked by a woman, ended up with a mountain of debt, and the old man who paid it off was a trainer. I had no choice but to go on like this."
"I see..." Tanjiro said in a low voice, "But even so, you can't make things difficult for the sparrow!"
Zenitsu was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. "Eh? Making things difficult for the sparrow? Is the sparrow in a difficult position? How did you know?"
Tanjiro nodded, raising his hand to let the sparrow flying beside him land in his palm.
" Zenitsu is such a handful—he doesn't work, flirts with girls, and even snores in his sleep! It's giving it a real headache!" That's what it said.
The sparrow chirped at just the right moment to indicate its agreement.
"Hahaha... Tanjiro, are you kidding me? How would you know what the sparrow was saying? Besides, I don't snore when I sleep!"
"I don't know if Zenitsu snores when he sleeps, but that's what the sparrows say!" Tanjiro replied.
Zenitsu was somewhat surprised. "Huh? You're kidding, right? How could a human possibly understand birds?"
"Gah~"
A harsh caw rang out, and Tanjiro Zenitsu looked up at Matsuemon Tennoji flying through the air.
Run! Run!
Tanjiro, Zenitsu, run!
Let's head to the next mission location!
Run! Run faster!
Zenitsu turned to Tanjiro, "Hey, Tanjiro, you're the best! You made me hallucinate! I just heard that crow talking!"
Tanjiro looked at Zenitsu and replied, "It did speak just now, telling us to hurry to the next mission location!"
Zenitsu's pupils gradually widened.
"Eh... Eh? Eh!!"
In the mountains and forests.
Tanjiro Zenitsu walked up the mountain one after the other.
"Hey, Tanjiro, maybe I shouldn't go? I'm super weak, and if I go, I won't be able to help, I might even be a hindrance!" Zenitsu suggested.
Tanjiro's nose twitched slightly, not paying attention to Zenitsu's words.
The ghostly aura is growing stronger; this ghost must be on this mountain.
Seeing that Tanjiro couldn't do it himself, Zenitsu spoke up again to remind him, "Hey, Tanjiro, I'm talking to you!"
Hearing this, Tanjiro also came to his senses, "Huh? Zenitsu, what did you just say?"
"I told you I wouldn't go, you can go by yourself. If I go, I might just make things worse!"
Tanjiro shook his head. "No, Zenitsu, you have to go. Since you've chosen this path, you'll have to face demons sooner or later. You're safer with the two of us together now. What will you do if I'm not by your side?"
"But I..."
Zenitsu paused abruptly halfway through his sentence.
"Hey, Tanjiro, did you hear anything?"
"What's that sound?" Tanjiro asked, puzzled. He listened quietly but didn't hear anything strange.
"No, Zenitsu heard something."
"It was a very loud sound..."
Zenitsu raised his hand and gestured in front of him.
"Boom!"
"Hahaha..."
"Come on, try dodging again! Try dodging again!"
Inosuke laughed wildly in the dimly lit room.
"Um, are we really going to get out like this?" a boy in brown clothes asked from behind.
Beside him stood a boy dressed in white.
Inosuke retorted, "Huh? Get out? When did I tell you I was going out? I'm going to find those three demons and kill them!"
"Then... what do we do?" the boy in white asked timidly.
Although the Boar's Head boy in front of me didn't seem like a good person either, he was still better than the three ghosts who wanted to eat my flesh yesterday.
At least the two of them survived because they stayed by each other's side.
"What does this have to do with me! I came here to kill ghosts, not to save people! If it weren't for you guys getting in my way, I would have killed those three ghosts last night!"
The boy in the brown shirt said, "But... but didn't we remind you that you had gunpowder on you that could blow this house up?"
"Stop rambling on and on, what do you want?" Inosuke asked angrily.
"Can we continue to stay by your side?" the boy in the brown clothes asked.
"Alright, but I won't specifically wait for you!"
"Yes!" The two nodded in agreement.
Ignoring the two people behind him, Inosuke put his hands into his pockets.
When he pulled it out again, several black gunpowder pellets were firmly held between his fingers.
Watch me!
Beast Breathing!!
Boar Blast!!
boom!
boom!!
boom!!!
A violent explosion rang out.
The firelight instantly illuminated the entire room, bathing everything in a crimson glow.
The hot air surged and billowed like boiling water, carrying wood chips, dust, and anything else that could be swept up, dancing wildly in the air.
Those areas directly hit by gunpowder were riddled with holes, exposing passageways and houses outside.
The remaining flames stubbornly burned, licking at every corner with crackling sounds and releasing thick smoke that shrouded the entire room in chaos and ambiguity.