Chapter 26

"Help! Xander! Tanjiro!" Agatsuma Zenitsu, grasping at straws, clung to the edge of Tanjiro's clothing and Xander's haori.

Tanjiro was a bit puzzled.

"Why are you asking us to save you? Why did Zenitsu become a swordsman? Why are you so shameless?"

"It's too much!" Agatsuma Zenitsu explained, "A woman deceived me, and I ended up in debt! The old man who paid off my debt was a trainer! Every day was hellish training! I wished I'd just died!"

"I thought I'd die during the final selection! But I survived purely by chance, so now every day feels like living in hell! Oh! It's terrible! A demon will definitely eat me soon! My brains will get sucked out through my ears before I die! No!" I don't want to! Save me!

Seeing the increasingly agitated Agatsuma Zenitsu, Xander wanted to approach and hit him, but he held back for Tanjiro's sake.

Within a minute, Agatsuma Zenitsu had completely calmed down.

"Now that you're calm, let's go. We still have a mission to complete," said Xander.

When Agatsuma Zenitsu heard that Xander and Tanjiro were going on a mission, he was so frightened that he turned pale.

"What?!"

At that moment, the cawing of ravens was heard again from the sky.

"Run! Run! Everyone run! Let's all head to the next place together!"

Hearing the raven's words, Agatsuma Zenitsu was so scared that he fell to the ground.

"The raven spoke!"

Xander ignored Agatsuma Zenitsu and said to Tanjiro, "Let's hurry; it seems the situation is quite urgent, otherwise they wouldn't have asked us to rush like this."

Tanjiro nodded and followed Xander to the location of the assignment. Agatsuma Zenitsu, lying on the ground, saw that Xander and Tanjiro ran off, leaving him alone, and he got up and hurried after them.

"Xander! Tanjiro!" Wait for me!

Walking through the forest, Agatsuma Zenitsu was feeling a bit down.

"Hey, well, I really can't handle this! Even if I'm here, I won't be of any help."

Xander and Tanjiro ignored Agatsuma Zenitsu, walked straight ahead, and arrived at a house in the forest.

Tanjiro sniffed the air and said to Xander, "I smell blood."

"There it is, let's go inside." Xander was about to step into the room.

"Wait! Did you hear that awful sound? It sounded a bit like a drum," Zenitsu Agatsuma stopped Xander.

Tanjiro turned his head to look at Zenitsu Agatsuma but saw two children hiding under the shadow of a tree.

"A child?"

"What about them?"

"Tanjiro, please go and take a look."

"Yes."

Then Tanjiro walked towards the two children.

"What are you doing in a place like this?"

As soon as Tanjiro approached the children, he noticed deep fear and wariness in their eyes, but despite that, the boy was still protecting his sister.

Seeing this, Tanjiro crouched down and said, "Alright!" Then I'll show you something nice," Tanjiro said, spreading his arms, and a small bird belonging to Zenitsu Agatsuma appeared in front of the children.

"Tap-tap! Mahjong on the palm!"

The bird also hopped twice on Tanjiro's hand, as if in unison with his words.

"Chirp! Chirp!"

"What do you think? Isn't it cute?"

Seeing this, the children softened and sat on the ground.

Noticing the children had relaxed, Tanjiro asked, "Please, tell me what happened here? Is this your home?"

"No! No! Here... it's... a strange... monster... house!"

The boy said in a trembling voice, "They took my brother away. When we were walking along the road at night, a monster appeared that we had never seen before. He didn't even look at us and only took my brother.

"Did they enter the house?"

"Yes."

"You two followed him? That's incredible! You were very brave!"

The boy continued, "We followed my brother's blood trail because he was hurt."

"It doesn't matter! We will defeat the villains and save your brother!"

"Really? Truly?" The girl seemed to see hope.

"Yes! Absolutely!" Tanjiro assured the girl.

Xander approached and said, "Since this is a demon's house, let's destroy it completely! Tanjiro!"

"Um, Senior Xander!"

At that moment, Zenitsu Agatsuma came over and said in a trembling voice, "Um..." I can...

Before he could finish speaking, there was a rapid drumbeat. Xander, Tanjiro, and Zenitsu Agatsuma stared at the house.

The drumming suddenly stopped, and a man covered in blood was thrown out of the house.

"Ah!"

Tanjiro instantly covered the children's eyes.

"Don't look!"

Xander rushed to the bloodied man. Seeing the man's condition, Xander's face darkened.

At this moment, Tanjiro also ran over to help the severely injured man stand and asked Xander:

"Senior Xander! How is he?"

Xander sighed, shook his head, and said, "He has multiple fatal wounds and severe bleeding; he can't be saved."

The severely injured man said haltingly, "Maybe... you... ah... clearly... you... he... will die?" — As soon as the voice faded, the man passed away.

Looking at the dead man, Tanjiro's face was full of pain.

Zenitsu Agatsuma, frightened by the scene, asked in a trembling voice, "Xander, could this man be the brother of these children..."

At that moment, a rapid drumbeat sounded again from the house, and everyone could hear the fury contained in it.

Tanjiro looked at the deceased and began to blame himself.

— We couldn't save him. If we had arrived earlier, maybe we could have saved him.

Xander patted Tanjiro on the shoulder and said, "Tanjiro, you don't need to blame yourself. Although we couldn't save him, we can destroy all the demons so no one else is sacrificed."

Tanjiro slowly laid the man on the ground and said, "I understand, Senior Xander."

Then Tanjiro asked the children, "Is this man your brother?"

The boy closed his eyes and replied, "No, he's not my brother. My brother was wearing Orange."

Hearing the boy's words, Tanjiro realized that more than one person had been captured.

Tanjiro looked at Xander and shouted, "Senior Xander!"

— I understand. Since several people have been captured, Tanjiro, can you confirm how many demons and people are there? — Xander asked.

Tanjiro's nose twitched slightly, and then he said to Xander, "Senior Xander, there are likely three demons and two humans."

— Good! Then let's go in without delay! Zenitsu, you need to follow! If you dare to refuse...

Xander didn't finish the sentence and just looked at Zenitsu Agatsuma with a devilish expression.

Agatsuma Zenitsu was about to refuse, but upon seeing Xander's devilish expression, he clung to his legs and started to cry.

— What are you doing? Why are you like this? I... I'll just leave!