Snow.
At some point, it had begun to fall.
At first it was sparse, only a few scattered flakes drifting through the air. But before anyone noticed, the snowfall thickened.
Soon, great feather-like flakes filled the entire sky.
Makomo walked through the snow alongside a group of swordsmen led by Furukawa Hiroshi.
No one spoke much.
After searching for so long, they still hadn't found the demon they were tracking.
"Are you sure the demon we killed the day before yesterday wasn't the one we were looking for?"
Makomo rubbed her hands together, shrinking them into her sleeves to warm her chilled fingers as she looked toward Furukawa Hiroshi walking ahead.
Over the past several days, they had been searching tirelessly for that demon.
Along the way, they had even discovered and slain several others—demons that had been hiding deep within nearby villages and towns.
"No."
Furukawa Hiroshi shook his head.
"The demon we killed yesterday definitely wasn't the one we're after."
Makomo tilted her head and glanced at him.
She had never actually seen the demon they were chasing. She didn't know what it looked like, nor did she understand why Furukawa was so certain.
"Captain… are you sure you're not mistaken?" one of the swordsmen beside them asked quietly, his hands tucked inside his sleeves against the cold.
"Yeah," another muttered. "You've never even seen that demon's face. How do we know what it looks like?"
Over the past few months, they had searched the surrounding region nonstop.
In that time, they had already killed three demons.
It felt increasingly likely that one of those three had been the one they were originally hunting.
"It wasn't him."
Furukawa Hiroshi's voice was resolute.
He had seen that demon's back.
On that night long ago, the image of its silhouette had been burned into his memory. It was something he would never forget.
The group fell silent again.
But the exhaustion on their faces only grew more obvious.
For months, they had been running nonstop, investigating every possible lead and digging through clues across nearby villages and towns. After so much effort, they had uncovered three demons hiding among humans.
Yet each time they finally killed one, their leader would say it wasn't the one they were searching for.
Seeing the fatigue in everyone's eyes, Furukawa Hiroshi understood that continuing like this might be meaningless.
Still, he couldn't suppress the unwillingness in his heart.
Looking up at the distant mountains, he finally said,
"Let's check this last lead. If we still don't find anything… we'll head back and hand over the mission."
He paused before adding quietly, "Everyone… is too tired."
"…Alright," one of the swordsmen replied reluctantly.
This latest clue came from something strange that had happened several months ago.
Someone—an odd stranger whose identity no one knew—had been going around different villages at night asking about the address of a charcoal-selling family with the surname Kamado.
It was certainly strange to ask around in the middle of the night.
But it didn't exactly sound like the behavior of a demon.
After all, if it were a demon, why wouldn't it simply break into a house and satisfy its hunger?
If this mysterious person truly were a demon, wandering through so many villages… how could it possibly have gone that long without devouring anyone?
And besides—
Why would a demon care about asking for a charcoal seller's address?
But their leader insisted on following the lead.
According to recent reports, that strange person had been seen traveling with a child.
And that detail reminded Furukawa of something.
Back then, the demon he was chasing had also been seen leaving the city with a child. Because of that, he had briefly lowered his guard… allowing the demon to escape.
Still, most of the group found the reasoning hard to accept.
A demon traveling with a human child?
Given a demon's hunger for human flesh, how could it possibly resist food that was practically walking beside it?
If that mysterious person were really a demon, the child should have been eaten long ago.
And yet…
During their investigation, witnesses repeatedly mentioned that the strange traveler treated the child very well.
In several villages they visited, the child had still been alive and unharmed.
There was no sign at all that the child had been eaten.
"The mountains ahead should be where the Kamado family lives," one of the swordsmen said, pointing toward the distant peaks.
"That's right," another replied. "But the Kamado family lives deep in the mountains. Should we head there tonight?"
His voice carried clear fatigue.
Furukawa Hiroshi thought for a moment before shaking his head.
"No. If we go now, we'll probably arrive well past midnight."
He glanced around at the snow-covered surroundings.
"Let's find somewhere to rest first."
"I remember there's a member of the Kakushi nearby."
"Yes, there is," another swordsman spoke up. "A member of the Kakushi named Saburo lives around here. Many years ago, Saburo was traveling at night with his family when they were attacked by a demon. Only he managed to escape."
"The Demon Slayer Corps arrived afterward, killed the demon, and avenged his family. After that, Saburo joined the Kakushi and became one of our support members."
He pointed toward the mountains ahead.
"Saburo lives at the foot of that mountain."
"Alright," said Furukawa Hiroshi. "Let's head there. We'll rest for the night and ask him about the Kamado family while we're at it."
...
When Saburo learned that swordsmen from the Demon Slayer Corps had arrived, he immediately welcomed them in and arranged a place for everyone to stay.
Makomo bent down and stepped into the house. The moment she saw the burning hearth inside, she hurried over with light steps and crouched beside it.
"The snow today is really heavy… and it's freezing," she said while warming her hands. "I thought I was going to freeze to death out there."
The warmth from the hearth made her sigh softly in relief. Beneath her fox mask, her beautiful eyes curved into crescent moons.
"Yes, the snow this year is unusually heavy," said the Kakushi member, Saburo.
He handed Makomo a cup of hot tea, then picked up another cup to pour one for Furukawa Hiroshi.
"In past years, the snowfall was never this heavy. But with weather like this, charcoal should sell very well."
"Thank you, Mr. Saburo," Furukawa Hiroshi said politely as he stood and accepted the tea.
Soon everyone gathered around the hearth, sitting in a circle as the warmth slowly drove the cold from their bodies.
After Saburo sat down, Furukawa Hiroshi spoke again.
"We actually came here because we wanted to ask you a few questions."
"Of course," Saburo replied.
"It's about a family living deep in the mountains. Do you happen to know someone named Tanjuro Kamado?"
"Yes, I do."
Saburo looked at him with mild confusion.
"The Kamado family are actually relatives of mine. Did something happen?"
"We're just hoping to understand more about their situation. Have there been any unusual events in their household recently?"
Saburo looked puzzled but didn't think too deeply about it.
"The Kamado family has lived deep in these mountains for generations, making a living selling charcoal," he said. "The current head of the family is Kamado Tanjuro. His wife is Kamado Kie. They have several children—Tanjiro, Nezuko, Takeo, Shigeru…"
Furukawa Hiroshi listened carefully but didn't hear anything unusual.
"Has anything unusual happened to them recently?"
Saburo sighed.
"Actually… yes."
"Starting the year before last, Tanjuro suddenly fell ill. No one knows why. His condition has only gotten worse since then."
"They've invited several doctors to examine him, but none of them could find the cause. All they said was that his body temperature was slightly higher than normal."
"But aside from that, there's nothing wrong with him. In fact, physically he looks even healthier than most people."
"And yet… his body just keeps getting weaker."
"That's strange," Makomo said curiously, lifting her head while holding her teacup.
"Yes," Saburo nodded. "Tanjuro used to be an incredibly strong man. Very capable too."
"Some time ago, there was even a bear in the mountains that had killed people. It was Tanjuro who killed it—with a single swing of his axe."
"With one swing… he killed a bear?"
Makomo was stunned.
Even many swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps couldn't pull off something like that.
"Was Tanjuro once a warrior?" Furukawa Hiroshi asked.
In the old days, some martial artists possessed incredible abilities. A few of them were even stronger than the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps.
However, their strength was mostly meant for fighting humans. They might have been terrifying in battle against people, but when it came to slaying demons, they were far less effective.
And with firearms gradually becoming more common, those old martial traditions had slowly declined.
"If it were someone else, I might not know," Saburo replied. "But Tanjuro… I know him well."
"He has never left these mountains. He's never studied swordsmanship either."
"He's not a warrior."
Saburo shook his head, a trace of sorrow appearing in his eyes.
"That whole family depends on him to survive."
"If he really can't hold on much longer… I can't imagine how they'll manage."
"Even the eldest child, Tanjiro, is still so young. How could he possibly shoulder the responsibility of the entire family?"
"Will they have to rely on Kie alone?"