Chapter 32: Clue

Shinobu Kocho was momentarily stunned. Clearly, the way she referred to these two liquids was by some other names.

The names "ammonia" and "methanol" hadn't become widespread yet, and she didn't understand what they referred to. But Jotaro wasn't wrong about one thing, these two liquids are highly toxic and extremely hazardous to human health.

Although no one else usually comes in here except her, she still placed warning labels on the bottles, afraid someone might accidentally misuse them.

"Mr. Jotaro is right, Kamado, quickly put the lid back on, it's very dangerous," Shinobu reminded.

Tanjiro did indeed feel a bit dizzy, and nausea was rising in him. He hurriedly closed the lid and said, "Mr. Jotaro, Miss Shinobu, I definitely didn't smell it wrong."

"The guy who turned Nezuko into a demon, that smell was on his body."

Shinobu didn't know about Tanjiro's incredible sense of smell, but Jotaro understood it clearly.

During his first few days in this world, one time while shopping in town, Jotaro had checked his wallet on the road and accidentally dropped his watch and lighter into the snow.

In the end, it was thanks to Tanjiro's sharp sense of smell that he found Jotaro's watch. At that moment, he realized Tanjiro's sense of smell far surpassed that of ordinary people.

As for why the lighter wasn't found, that's because a wolf had taken it.

Tanjiro smelled the scent of wolves in the area and deduced this. With his sense of smell, he could have helped Jotaro track the wolf down. But Jotaro found it too troublesome, so he let it go.

He felt it was a bit too much to treat this kid like a dog. After all, along the whole way, Tanjiro had been sniffing the ground to track it.

Even though Tanjiro didn't mind at all, even smiling brightly and excitedly, Jotaro still felt that this somewhat insulted his dignity.

If it were him, he definitely couldn't go to that extent. What he couldn't do himself, he wouldn't force others to do. So, he didn't ask Tanjiro to look for the lost lighter.

It wasn't a necessity, from his perspective, not worth the effort.

"Tanjiro, are you sure you didn't smell it wrong?" Jotaro asked with a frown.

'Why would Muzan's body carry the smell of ammonia and methanol?' He couldn't figure it out.

Tanjiro nodded and said, "Mr. Jotaro, I'm sure, that person definitely had these two smells on him. I originally thought it was just the smell of alcohol, but after smelling this, I can confirm the scent was methanol. The smell of alcohol is mild, it doesn't irritate the nose like methanol does."

Jotaro's eyes narrowed, clearly, he already believed Tanjiro's words, and he had thought of something.

"Tanjiro, did that guy have any other smells on him? Why would a person have the scent of ammonia and methanol on their body?"

"If we can learn more information, maybe we could even track down the guy who escaped. Methanol is highly volatile. If the scent lingered on his body long enough for you to smell it… Then it's possible that bastard lives not far from your home."

Tanjiro fell silent for a moment, holding his head with both hands in frustration, "He really did have other scents on him, but they're too hard for me to describe."

Jotaro said, "Why? Is it because they're things rarely encountered in real life?"

Tanjiro nodded and said, "I truly haven't smelled those scents before, so…"

Jotaro understood and couldn't help speculating, "Ammonia is a common component in household cleaning products, it wouldn't be strange to smell it on someone. But that person is a demon. I don't think he's the type to obediently do housework."

"Yare yare." Jotaro closed his eyes and said, "Besides that, he also smells like methanol. These two liquids are common chemical industrial materials…"

But from Muzan's clothing, it was clear this person wouldn't be frequenting chemical factories or similar places.

Jotaro could determine with certainty that Muzan must be hiding among human society, living under a human identity.

To find him among the vast sea of people, they'd need much more intel. Just relying on Tanjiro identifying two smells was far from enough.

Shinobu had a faint smile, her smile always looked so gentle, so lovely, but not truly sincere. Maybe only she herself knew that this kind of smile didn't come from the heart.

"Mr. Jotaro, I didn't expect you to know quite a lot. But your thinking is very dangerous," Shinobu kindly warned.

"I know you're both still deeply bothered by the demon attack. But with just the two of you, you can't take down someone like that. Demons are more dangerous than you imagine."

She gently patted Tanjiro's head and said in a soft voice, "Slaying demons is the Demon Slayer Corps' job. Just leave it to us. Don't go doing dangerous things alone, okay?"

It wasn't that Shinobu looked down on them, she just didn't want them to go off and get themselves killed. Those who survive demon attacks often develop the mistaken belief that demons aren't so scary after all.

Under that illusion, they often underestimate demons' strength, and end up in bloody tragedies. Many junior Demon Slayers died at the hands of demons because of that very reason.

She didn't want to see two innocent people go to waste like that.

However, Jotaro was currently in his rebellious teenage phase, even if he knew the other person had good intentions, he wouldn't listen to this nagging woman. He directly chose to ignore her.

Jotaro's reaction made Shinobu so angry she almost choked. Just one look and it was clear he hadn't listened at all. 'This self-righteous, infuriating little punk!'

Shinobu held back her anger and smiled, "Well then, since you clearly have some stereotypical impressions of demons, let me give you a proper introduction to these creatures. After you hear it, you should understand why your thinking is extremely dangerous."

This actually piqued Jotaro's interest, after all, he knew very little about demons. Knowing more about demon intel would make future fights easier.

In his impression, other demons should be similar to Muzan, even if not as strong as him, their combat ability wouldn't be much weaker.

It's like a student facing an extremely difficult first question on a test, they'll naturally assume the rest of the test is just as hard.

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