Dozens of kilometers away from the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters, there was a bustling town.
It was far from the infestation of demons, and the streets were filled with heavy traffic.
Clanging trams drove along the bluestone-paved roads, and on both sides were buildings where Japanese wooden houses and red-brick Western-style buildings alternated.
The hawking from the streets rose and fell, full of the vitality unique to the era.
The combination of a handsome man and a beautiful woman walking on the street naturally attracted many sideways glances from passersby.
Yamada had an upright posture with deep, cold features. Shinobu was gentle and walked with elegance.
The two walked together holding hands, causing the street vendors to steal extra glances.
"That's the new shop ahead." Shinobu pointed to a shop at the corner of the street with a "Sweet Shop" sign, her tone filled with a bit of excitement.
This shop was doing extremely well, and there was already a long line outside the door.
Yamada frowned, he had always hated wasting time waiting in lines.
Just as he was about to suggest going somewhere else, Shinobu tugged at the corner of his coat.
"Experiencing ordinary life once in a while isn't bad." She looked up at him with a sparkling smile in her eyes.
"When my sister was still around, we would also wait in line for over half an hour just to buy a delicious sakura mochi."
Hearing her take the initiative to mention Kanae, and noting that her tone no longer carried that impenetrable sorrow, Yamada suppressed the irritation in his heart.
"Fine, I'll listen to you."
The two queued in the middle of the line. Yamada's tall frame blocked the crowd and the cold early autumn wind for Shinobu.
Just then, a few young men in flashy suits and looking like hooligans walked by.
The young rich master in the lead, with his hair slicked back, stopped and fixed his gaze on Shinobu's face, his eyes full of amazement and greed.
He pushed aside the people blocking his way, walked straight up to Shinobu, and took off his top hat, thinking he looked suave.
"My beautiful lady, how tiring it is to wait in line in a place like this. I am the son of the town's Chamber of Commerce president, and I have booked a private room at the Western restaurant ahead. Would I have the honor of inviting you to lunch?"
His tone was full of arrogance, completely ignoring Yamada, who was holding Shinobu's hand, and he even reached out, wanting to touch Shinobu's shoulder.
A trace of disgust flashed in Shinobu's eyes, and she habitually reached for her waist, but found nothing. She hadn't brought her sword out today.
Just as she was about to use her sharp tongue to berate this ignorant fellow, a tall figure had already blocked her path.
Yamada switched the cloth-wrapped long sword in his hand to his left hand and slid his right hand into his coat pocket.
He looked down at the man, who was half a head shorter than him, without the slightest emotional fluctuation in his deep, black eyes.
"Get lost."
"Who do you think you are? How dare you talk to me like that!"
The slick-haired young master felt he had lost face in front of the beauty and, in a fit of rage, called to the few lackeys behind him, "Throw this poor, shabby kid out of this street for me!"
Several thugs immediately rolled up their sleeves and surrounded them.
Shinobu stood behind Yamada, not only unafraid but actually looking at these unlucky fellows with some sympathy. Of all people to provoke, they had to pick this living Shinigami who treated Upper Ranks like punching bags.
Yamada didn't even blink, merely releasing a hint of the killing intent he had tempered through slaughter.
The temperature of the air instantly dropped to freezing.
The thugs rushing up suddenly felt their breathing hitch. In their vision, behind this black-haired young man, a Shura made of mountains of corpses and seas of blood loomed, watching them with a cold gaze.
Thump!
The thug in the lead felt his legs go weak and knelt on the bluestone, his teeth chattering uncontrollably, and the smell of urine began to spread from his crotch.
"Demon... monster..."
The few men were so scared they scrambled away, pushing through the crowd and fleeing toward the street corner like crazy, abandoning even the young master of the Chamber of Commerce.
The slick-haired young master stood alone, cold sweat instantly soaking his expensive suit shirt.
Looking at Yamada's pitch-black, calm eyes, he felt his legs go soft and his mind went blank.
"Do you need me to repeat myself?" Yamada looked at him.
"S-sorry! I'm leaving now!"
He scrambled away, not even daring to pick up the top hat he had dropped on the ground.
The crowd around the line spontaneously cleared a space for Yamada, and everyone looked at this young man with an astonishing aura with awe.
"See, the line has gotten shorter." Yamada turned his head to look at Shinobu, his tone returning to its lazy state.
Shinobu looked at the large empty section of the line ahead and couldn't help but chuckle, her mood, which had been spoiled by being hit on, completely swept away.
"Even when chasing away flies, you are so brutal."
She stepped forward and linked her arm with Yamada's, the dimples at the corners of her lips appearing faintly. "But... that was pretty cool."