Chapter 299

Tanjiro gazed at her adorable appearance, a relieved smile spreading across his face.

Nezuko, your brother will definitely turn you back to how you were...

"Would you like a bowl of soba noodles?"

The bald shop owner poked his head out from inside the shop and spoke to the brother and sister sitting on the bench.

"Then, please give me a bowl of mountain yam juice soba noodles."

"You got it."

While Tanjiro sat on the bench waiting for his soba noodles.

Two agile, light figures leapt across the distant rooftops, soaring toward this place.

"Mountain yam juice soba noodles."

"Thank you."

The instant Tanjiro took the noodles from the bald shop owner's hand.

The two figures landed before him from the air, one after the other.

Tanjiro was stunned.

He raised his eyes to look.

A beautiful woman wearing a butterfly haori, with black hair and purple eyes, her face full of smiles, stood before him alongside a single-ponytail girl of equally outstanding looks and an expressionless face.

Upon seeing the Nichirin blades and Demon Slayer Corps uniforms in their hands, Tanjiro's expression hardened.

Demon Slayer Corps?

Shinobu Kocho, wearing the butterfly haori, gazed at the boy before her with a smile and said:

"Are you Kamado Tanjiro?"

Looking for me?

Why would the Demon Slayer Corps come looking for him?

Tanjiro was puzzled inside.

The drowsy Nezuko, at that very moment, tilted her head and fell onto Tanjiro's shoulder.

Tanjiro, holding the steaming bowl of soba noodles in his hands, was shaken to his core.

Could it be... for Nezuko!?

Shinobu Kocho and Kanao both turned their gazes to Nezuko beside Tanjiro at the same moment, their eyes narrowing.

"It's actually... a demon?"

Shinobu Kocho, still smiling, reached out and gripped the Nichirin blade at her waist.

In Tanjiro's suddenly contracting pupils.

Without the slightest hesitation.

She drew her blade directly and slashed toward Nezuko at extreme speed.

At the very last moment, Tanjiro pulled Nezuko forward, barely dodging that strike, but the bench was split clean in two, and the steaming soba noodles hit the ground with a splat.

"Hm? What's going on?"

The bald shop owner smoking inside the shop heard the noise, poked his head out to look, and happened to see Kanao drawing her blade to slash at Nezuko, only to be blocked by Tanjiro's swing.

"Wh-what?!"

The bald shop owner was scared out of his wits.

Isn't it forbidden now for samurai to carry weapons and fight?

What on earth is going on with these people?!!

"A Demon Slayer actually protecting a demon — truly unimaginable."

Shinobu Kocho, holding her slender Nichirin blade, walked up to Nezuko with a smile and swung her blade down at her.

Tanjiro, entangled by Kanao, saw his pupils contract sharply.

"Nezuko!"

Just as that slender Nichirin blade was about to slash at Nezuko's neck.

About to sever Nezuko's head.

A tall figure suddenly appeared beside Shinobu Kocho.

Compared to the one-meter-fifty-one, petite Shinobu Kocho, the black-clad youth who had suddenly appeared beside her was simply far too tall, like a mountain, his shadow completely enveloping Shinobu Kocho.

That sudden, overwhelming pressure made Shinobu Kocho's beautiful purple pupils contract.

The next second.

A large hand gripped Shinobu Kocho's wrist, halting her poisoned blade just two inches above Nezuko's head, unable to advance another inch.

"That's enough — you can't just kill this girl off so casually."

Shinobu Kocho looked up.

That person looked down at her from above, his features hidden in shadow, revealing only a pair of calm, composed blue eyes that held a domineering, world-scorning air.

It was a gaze Shinobu Kocho had never seen before.

Even as one of the nine Hashira — the Insect Hashira — Shinobu's mind was momentarily seized by it, her heart going utterly blank.

Tanjiro stared blankly in that direction, as if all the strength in his body had vanished at once, his whole person going limp.

Nezuko... thank goodness...

"I-it's him?!"

The bald shop owner rubbed his eyes, dumbfounded.

He recognized him — wasn't this the customer who had been eating noodles here just a couple of days ago?!

Suddenly.

Tanjiro caught a scent.

It was a familiar one — a scent he would never forget!

Tanjiro grabbed the Nichirin Blade at his side, whipped his head toward a direction, and his pupils contracted sharply.

That's right!

It was the scent left behind at home.

Why, why would it appear here?!

That guy…

That demon who slaughtered his whole family and turned Nezuko into a demon — Kibutsuji Muzan's scent!

A surge of immense fury and hatred welled up in Tanjiro's heart.

He wished he could chase after that wisp of scent right away.

But Nezuko's current condition left him unable to set his mind at ease.

Tanjiro clenched his teeth.

"Dammit!"

Just then.

"You smell it too? That guy's scent."

A young man's voice rang in Tanjiro's ear, jolting his heart.

He looked up sharply at the tall figure who had saved Nezuko.

Under the dim yellow glow of the streetlamp.

He got a clear look at the man's face.

He wore a long black robe, a gourd of sake hung at his waist, his long black hair was tied in a single bundle behind his head, his build was even and upright, his features were handsome, and his pair of azure-blue eyes were gentle and calm, as if they could see straight through a person's heart.

The instant their gazes met, an involuntary sense of awe toward the man before him rose in Tanjiro's heart.

"Go. With me here, she'll be fine."

Hearing the man's words, and recalling the moment he had saved Nezuko earlier.

An inexplicable calm settled over Tanjiro's heart.

After casting a deeply grateful glance at Luo En, he no longer hesitated, gripped his Nichirin Blade, and ran toward the direction the scent came from.

Kibutsuji Muzan — I will never let you get away!

Kanaho watched his retreating back, then glanced toward Shinobu Kocho, looking uncertain.

"How long do you plan to keep holding my hand?"

Shinobu Kocho's gentle voice sounded in Luo En's ear.

Luo En glanced down at her and said with a smile, "Sorry, I forgot."