Asakusa.
Tamayo took out the blood from the blood collection device and exclaimed, "I didn't expect Mr. Aoki to obtain Upper Moon blood so quickly!"
Yushiro said sourly, "That guy did a pretty good job."
"This way, the poison production can be accelerated again."
A look of anticipation rose on Tamayo's beautiful face.
The concentration of Muzan Kibutsuji's blood in the Upper Moon blood was already quite high.
She took out a microscope and busied herself again.
...
On the other side, Aoki also began his wanderings.
He traveled by day and searched for ghosts by night. He
had no specific target.
Whenever he heard news of a possible ghost sighting, he would rush over to investigate.
Occasionally he would find something, but most of the time he would come up empty-handed.
Partly because the information was wrong, and partly because the ghosts had already been dealt with.
He had a powerful competitor, the Demon Slayer Corps.
Aoki could only grit his teeth and bear it.
He couldn't gather information as easily as the Demon Slayer Corps on his own.
Time flew by, and two months passed in the blink of an eye.
Hakui was an inconspicuous small town.
That day, a travel-worn figure wearing a straw hat arrived in town.
Aoki looked at the peaceful streets and the amiable smiles of the people, and sighed inwardly, "It doesn't seem like there's a ghost."
Two months, a full two months, and he hadn't even leveled up once.
This feeling was both familiar and strange.
The familiarity came from the "Hunter" class.
When he was grinding as a "Hunter," it would often take him two months to level up even once.
However, the "White Walker" class leveled up incredibly quickly, soaring to level 12 in about three months, like a rocket.
Having adapted to this speed, suddenly returning to the past felt both strange and painful.
You'll never believe why I moved to… KarachiMeetSingles
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"I never imagined that not only would there be no meat or fish, but we'd be starving even for coarse food,"
Aoki said sadly.
He wandered around the town, found a place selling alcohol, and handed the ghost-infused gourd to the owner.
"Boss, I heard there's been a case of demons eating people here?"
The owner chuckled, "No ghosts! It's just that two drunkards got into a fight a while ago, and it got a bit rough, so there was some blood."
Aoki was already prepared and wasn't particularly disappointed.
Such rumors were common.
After asking the owner if he'd heard anything similar and receiving a negative answer, Aoki left with his full ghost-infused gourd.
Not only was his leveling up progress worrying, but his plan to find Tanjiro's family was also stalled.
These past few days, he'd spent a lot of time in the mountains, asking about the charcoal-selling boy wherever he went.
Unfortunately, he'd found nothing.
"Perhaps I should change my mindset. Should I go and chat with Miss Tamayo?"
Aoki was thinking when he suddenly stopped.
Not far ahead of him, two women were slowly approaching.
One of them was a young woman of about sixteen, with long, dark blue hair and a natural, unadorned face, yet still breathtakingly beautiful.
The other woman appeared to be the girl's mother, radiating a gentle and virtuous aura.
The mother smiled and spoke incessantly, while the daughter listened attentively, occasionally nodding.
The scene was incredibly heartwarming.
The two walked from one end of the street to the other, disappearing from sight.
Aoki slowly emerged from the shadows, silently watching the direction they had gone.
"Takina, Master's wife!"
He'd been nearly delirious these past two months, unknowingly finding himself in the town where Takina and her master's wife lived.
After a moment of silence, Aoki retreated into the shadows and then disappeared.
On the edge of the town, there was an ordinary courtyard, a gray house surrounded by brick walls, with a small courtyard in the middle.
Aomura Rie and Takina now lived here.
A middle-aged woman sat opposite them in the courtyard, waving her arm when she saw them.
"Rie, Takina."
"Kaori (Aunt Kaori)!" Aomura Rie and Takina responded simultaneously.
The middle-aged woman looked at Takina and smiled, "Oh my, Takina is getting more and more beautiful! What a blessing it would be for any man to marry her!"
Aomura Rie smiled broadly, but modestly replied, "Kaori, you flatter me. Takina is alright looking, but sometimes she's too serious, which gives me a headache!"
The middle-aged woman casually asked, "Does Takina have a man she likes right now? Would you like me to introduce you?"
Takina bowed slightly and said earnestly, "Aunt Kaori, I'm already engaged!"
The middle-aged woman paused, then said with interest, "Really? For Takina to be interested in him, he must be a very outstanding young man. When will you introduce him to me?"
Takina said, "If there's a chance, I'll definitely introduce him to Aunt Kaori."
With that, she nodded and turned to go inside.
The middle-aged woman's smile faded, and she sighed softly.
She had noticed the mother and daughter ever since they moved in.
Takina was not only beautiful, but also well-educated, intelligent, and virtuous—practically the perfect daughter-in-law.
Today, she finally decided to test the waters, but before she could even express her true feelings, she was shut down.
"Forget it, my brat doesn't deserve such a good girl," the middle-aged woman shook her head.
...
Aomura Rie and Takina returned home and immediately busied themselves.
Preparing ingredients, cleaning fish, cooking rice... Smoke rose from the chimney, and soon the aroma of food wafted over the wall and into the street.
Aoki, watching them from a distance, muttered to himself, "What a feast! It's not a holiday, are there guests?"
"If I go over now and casually say 'I'm home,' I wonder what Takina and his wife's reaction will be?"
A smile appeared on Aoki's lips, but quickly vanished. He watched them silently, making no move.
After a moment, he stood up.
"Time to go!"
Aoki glanced at the two of them one last time, preparing to leave, but suddenly stopped.
A petite girl, draped in a butterfly-patterned kimono and with a long sword at her waist, arrived at the courtyard gate and knocked.
Aoki's gaze involuntarily fell on her.
The girl seemed to sense it and abruptly turned her head.
"What's wrong, Shinobu?"
Takina came out, a smile spreading across her face as she saw Shinobu.
The two were close in age and got along well, becoming friends on their move.
"Nothing,"
Shinobu replied, withdrawing her gaze.
She had vaguely sensed something amiss, as if someone was observing her.
"It's probably just someone passing by."
She didn't feel any danger.
"Come in!" Takina didn't think much of it.
Shinobu followed her into the courtyard.
"You're here, Shinobu," Aomura Rie, who was cleaning eels, looked up.
Shinobu took out a bag: "Long time no see, Aunt Rie. This is a souvenir."
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