"Coming down the mountain on a day like this, you really are hardworking."
"Be careful not to catch a cold."
The elderly Woman sweeping snow in front of her house greeted him with concern.
"I'll be fine in this weather. Do you need to buy some charcoal?" The young man with a scar on his forehead exhaled white mist. "Do you have enough charcoal at home?"
The door of a house beside the road slid open, and a middle-aged man inside greeted him: "Hey, Tanjirou, I need to buy charcoal. Thanks for helping me paper my door a while back."
"I need charcoal too." A passerby not far away also called out.
A slight smile involuntarily appeared on Tanjirou's face.
"Ah~ Tanjirou, you came just in time!" The house door next to him was pulled open, and a young man with bloodstains around his mouth and nose appeared at the entrance, holding something wrapped in cloth. Behind him, a Woman glared fiercely while gripping the back of his collar.
"They accused me of breaking the plate! Please help me, smell it!" He struggled free of the Woman, stumbled toward Tanjirou, and opened the cloth in his hand, revealing the broken plate inside.
Tanjirou lowered his head and sniffed. "It smells like a cat."
The Woman covered her mouth. "Oh dear, it was the cat's fault..."
The young man immediately regained his confidence. "See! I told you I didn't do it!"
"Tanjirou, could you come help me move some things?" The middle-aged man, who had several boxes piled next to him, waved his hand.
Tanjirou's arrival made the entire street seem lively, proving how well-liked the young man usually was.
Inside the large manor at the end of the road, a pair of wine-red double pupils was closely observing the area from the attic.
Today is the day.
It matches.
Mizuki's fingers, holding a small notebook, unnaturally tightened around a corner.
She had forgotten this scene, but before forgetting it, she had recorded it, especially this incident highlighting Tanjirou's keen sense of smell.
After Tanjurou died, Tanjirou, the eldest son of the family, proactively shouldered the family burden with his small frame, coming down the mountain to sell charcoal every so often.
It wasn't the first time Mizuki had seen him. Because of Tanjirou's kindness and his willingness to often help others, the town residents trusted and liked this charcoal-selling young man very much.
Tanjirou smiled as he helped everyone and successfully sold the charcoal in his basket.
Carrying his basket, he walked forward, pausing momentarily as he passed the large manor.
But he quickly continued walking toward the distance.
"Forget it. A house this big probably doesn't even need charcoal."
Moreover, he always felt that this house was strange. Every time he passed by, it felt as if something was watching him through the door crack, sending a chill down his spine.
Tanjirou couldn't help but quicken his pace.
Creak~
The massive door, which had remained unopened for nearly two years, let out a mournful sound after Tanjirou walked away.
A color inappropriate for the season emerged from behind the door. This was the first time in hundreds of years that Mizuki had appeared outside without disguise; her wine-red long hair was strikingly different from the surrounding silver-clad landscape.
Those strange eyes watched Tanjirou's retreating figure.
Plop~
The accumulated snow on the eaves fell onto Mizuki's head due to the movement of the door opening, leaving her crown icy cold.
After a moment of silence, Mizuki lowered her head, brushed off the ice and snow, obediently put on her straw hat, wrapped white cloth around her face, gently closed the door, and walked in the direction Tanjirou had come from.
Today is the day Muzan will come to this mountain.
She had to temporarily move Tanjirou's family.
It was a good time in the early morning, and people coming and going on the street stopped along the roadside, casting curious glances toward the center, as if a pause button had been pressed.
Mizuki subtly tugged at her straw raincoat to prevent the Nichirin Blade at her waist from being exposed.
After she left, the play button was quietly pressed.
"Huh, that person just now seemed to be..."
"Yes, that's the Young Lady!"
"Why did she go out?"
"Looking at the direction, it seems she's heading into the mountains."
"No way, in such heavy wind and snow."
"Didn't Tanjirou also come down the mountain to sell charcoal despite the wind and snow?"
"Huh? How can a lady like that compare to Tanjirou..."
Mizuki didn't hear the subsequent whispers.
Following the mountain path, she arrived at Tanjirou's doorstep, where two children, a boy and a girl, were playing in the snow.
Nezuko, sitting on the veranda with a toddler with a bob haircut strapped to her back, couldn't help but smile as she watched the two run around in the snow.
"Don't play too wildly, be careful not to catch a cold."
As she spoke, her gaze unintentionally landed on the figure behind a tree.
"Hanako, Shigeru!" Nezuko subconsciously stood up and called out to the two, then quickly walked over herself.
She must have taken her for a suspicious person.
Mizuki thought to herself, walking out from behind the tree toward the group while removing her straw hat and the white cloth wrapped around her face.
When Mizuki stepped forward, Nezuko, slightly tense, guarded her younger siblings behind her, but after Mizuki removed her straw hat and unwrapped the white cloth, she completely relaxed.
Seeing her older sister staring blankly behind her, Hanako Kamado looked back curiously.
The next moment, her eyes widened slightly.
"What a beautiful older sister."
Shigeru Kamado also turned around, showing the same expression.
Mizuki lightly pursed her lips and smiled, saying, "Hello."
Nezuko withdrew her gaze from the strange eyes and nodded slightly. "Hello."
It must be said, this world judges by appearance.
When your face is kind and friendly, others cannot associate you with being a bad person.
Nezuko proactively asked, "Excuse me, did you get lost in the mountains?"
Mizuki shook her head and kindly asked, "Is your mother... at home?"
Nezuko was slightly stunned; she didn't recall having such a beautiful relative in her family.
While she was distracted, the two innocent children had already run toward the house, calling out repeatedly.
"Mama, we have a guest~"
Before long, a mature Woman wearing a purple Ichimatsu patterned kimono and a white square-collared outer garment appeared at the entrance.
Kie Kamado.
Tanjirou and Nezuko's mother, she had purple eyes, a beauty mark at the corner of her mouth, and wore a white headscarf. She looked very gentle, radiating a maternal glow.
Kie Kamado saw Mizuki outside, wiped her hands twice on her clothes, and walked forward.
"Hello."
While greeting her, Kie Kamado was also sizing up Mizuki.
She was someone she hadn't met before.
The strange red markings on her cheeks didn't detract from her appearance; instead, they made her look somewhat seductive.
Such a beautiful person, with such peculiar eyes—if she had seen her before, she would definitely remember.
"Hello, Madam. It might sound rude, but I am a Demon Slayer." Mizuki nodded slightly, revealing the Nichirin Blade at her waist, whose guard was wrapped in white cloth.
The moment she saw the blade, Mizuki could sense the other Woman's heart tightening.
In this era, not just anyone could carry a sword.
The Haitorei (Sword Abolishment Edict) had been enacted for decades.
Mizuki covered the long sword at her waist and continued, "I received intelligence that a powerful demon will attack this area tonight, so I would like to ask you, Madam, to take your children down the mountain for temporary shelter."
A normal person hearing this would only think the speaker was talking nonsense.
Setting aside the fact that the person asking her to evacuate wasn't even an official like a police officer, the reason for the evacuation itself was baffling.
A demon?
Isn't that just a folk tale?
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