"No, Tanjiro!"
Hugging Tanjiro's thigh tightly, Zenitsu said with a miserable expression:
"Let's not run around the mountain fighting. Wouldn't it be better to just find somewhere to hide?"
"We can't! If we do that, we'll be disqualified from the selection!"
"What's so bad about being disqualified? Then we could be together..."
"Oh my~ Are you two adorable little ones having a quarrel?"
In the forest, right as the two were arguing, a cheerful female voice suddenly sounded from behind them.
"Who's there?"
Startled, both Tanjiro and Zenitsu—who was still on the ground—turned around simultaneously.
Standing behind them was a young woman who appeared to be more than ten years their senior.
A beautiful young lady wearing a kimono.
Over one of her shoulders, she carried a strange long rectangular box—no one knew what was inside.
The woman's appearance was extremely sudden. It was as if she had simply materialized here. Before she spoke, neither of them had heard even the slightest sound.
Especially Zenitsu—he was practically terrified out of his mind.
Having possessed superhuman hearing since childhood, capable of distinguishing even the subtle differences in human heartbeats, how could he have completely failed to hear this big sister's approaching footsteps?!
What was going on? Did she just fly over here?
Though this big sister was quite pretty. Wonder if she's married?
If she's not married, perfect—because he's not married either, hehe...
"Big sister, could you tell me your name?"
Compared to Zenitsu, who was already grinning foolishly, Tanjiro's expression was much more serious.
Unlike Zenitsu, Tanjiro didn't possess superhuman hearing. But he had his own superhuman sense of smell.
His nose was sensitive enough to distinguish the emotions of others.
Yes, in Tanjiro's olfactory perception, every person in this world had their own unique scent.
And when people displayed different emotions, the scent on their bodies would change accordingly with subtle variations.
But from this mysterious big sister before him, he smelled nothing.
Her body had no scent whatsoever—not even the slightest trace!
How could this be...
Before today, Tanjiro had only encountered a similar situation with one other person.
That was his father, Kamado Tanjuro.
What was this extraordinary thing that this mysterious big sister shared with his father?
"A name, huh..."
Looking at the two boys before her, Mitsuba first raised her head in thought, then looked back at them and said with a smile:
"As for names, I suppose it's better to save the introduction for the very end."
"The very end? What do you mean by the very end?"
Tanjiro quickly asked. He had a vague feeling that something was off about Mitsuba's words.
Speaking of which, who exactly was this suddenly appearing big sister?
Why didn't he remember seeing this big sister at the camp earlier?
Could she be a member of the supervision and rescue team stationed on Mount Fujikasane?
However, Mitsuba didn't answer Tanjiro's questions.
She simply raised her hand and pointed toward the deepest peak of Mount Fujikasane, saying:
"Tanjiro, there's a very terrifying demon hidden in the deepest part of this mountain. Remember to go there early—don't delay too long.
Also, when I came over just now, I saw an injured boy over there. It seems he failed the assessment and tried to sneak into Mount Fujikasane. He's quite badly hurt.
If you're willing, you can go save him. If not, you can just leave him there..."
After speaking, Mitsuba waved her hand, carrying that strange long box on her back, and walked directly toward the direction of the peak.
"That's about it. I still have some other matters to attend to. You two should hurry and come quickly."
Tanjiro didn't respond.
He simply frowned, silently watching Mitsuba's back disappear into the forest.
Driven by some keen intuition, he vaguely sensed that something was wrong with this mysterious big sister, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what exactly was off...
"Zenitsu, what do you think..."
"I think this big sister is so pretty. Wonder if she's married, hehehe..."
Looking at where Mitsuba had disappeared, Zenitsu's face showed a slightly lecherous smile—who knew what was going through his mind.
Looking down at him like this, Tanjiro—who had been about to speak—let out a deep sigh.
"Let's go, Zenitsu! We're heading this way first!"
Shaking his head helplessly, he turned around and quickly hurried in the direction Mitsuba had previously indicated—where someone was injured.
No matter what, he could never abandon an injured person.
In any case, save them first!
"Ah! Tanjiro! Wait for me!"
"..."
The two ran frantically through the forest, sprinting several hundred meters in one breath, until they were nearly approaching the wisteria forest at the outer edge of Mount Fujikasane, when they finally discovered the injured person Mitsuba had mentioned.
"Hey! Are you alright?"
This was a boy with a rooster-comb hairstyle and fierce facial features.
Quite tall, when they found him, he had collapsed beneath a large tree, his face pale white, with a pool of blood beneath him.
Tanjiro had an impression of this boy. His name was Shinazugawa Genya, supposedly a swordsman who trained in Wind Breathing.
Despite this, during the earlier assessment phase, Genya couldn't execute even a single form of Wind Breathing, and thus was disqualified from participating in the Final Selection.
At that time, watching Genya's departing figure, Tanjiro had assumed he had already gone home.
He never expected that he actually intended to sneak into Mount Fujikasane!
How could he do something so reckless!
"Hold on! I'll treat you right away!"
At a glance, Tanjiro assessed Genya's injuries and quickly rummaged through his backpack.
On one side of Genya's abdomen was a hole about the thickness of a finger, with blood slowly seeping out.
This injury was somewhat strange.
Because under normal circumstances, wounds caused by demons should be lacerations—almost never such puncture wounds.
Even if there were punctures, it should be several holes from a single claw strike. Yet Genya only had this one hole.
Moreover, if Genya had been attacked by a demon within Mount Fujikasane,
then why didn't the demon proceed to eat him after the attack?
Could he have been rescued by a nearby rescue team member?
If so, why didn't the rescue team member treat Genya's wound, instead leaving him alone here?
How strange...