Chapter 2: The Strange Town
"So this really is Demon Slayer?!"
"So you really are someone from another world?"
Nanaha's mouth did not move, yet two different voices were sounding inside his head.
Well, calling them voices was not quite accurate. They were more like thoughts…
Of course, Nanaha knew about Demon Slayer.
It was a manga adapted into an anime.
Back then, it had exploded in popularity and received extremely high praise.
He had never imagined that he would actually transmigrate into the world of Demon Slayer!
And on top of that, why was Kanae inside his body?!
Naturally, he knew who Kanae was. In Demon Slayer, she was Shinobu Kocho's older sister, her full name being Kanae Kocho.
Although Nanaha had never read the manga and had only watched the first season of the anime, he still had a deep impression of Kanae as a beautiful and captivating woman.
Two souls were inside the same body, but their memories were not completely shared.
Only scattered fragments of Flower Breathing and a few scenes of slaying demons appeared in Nanaha's mind.
As for Kanae, all she knew was that the owner of this body her soul now resided in was not someone from this world.
"You could say that…" Having finally figured out his situation, Nanaha scratched his head.
"My, my, how fascinating. I never thought I would end up inside your body." Kanae sounded genuinely surprised.
For some unknown reason, even though the two souls were sharing one body, they both seemed able to sense each other's appearance.
"I'm sorry for suddenly appearing inside your body like this, but it seems I can't leave right now…" Kanae's tone was full of apology.
"It's fine. To be honest, I'm still pretty confused myself."
The one thing Nanaha regretted most now was not reading all of the Demon Slayer manga!
If he had known the later plot, maybe he could have helped the protagonists avoid many dangers.
And even the first season was blurry in his memory now. He could only remember the general outline…
What a miserable, frustrating transmigrator…
He did not even have an information advantage…
Although Kanae could not know exactly what Nanaha was thinking, she could sense that he seemed somewhat depressed.
So she took the initiative to start another topic.
"By the way, since fate brought us together like this, why don't we get to know each other better?"
Get to know each other better?
That soft and beautiful voice, along with the faintly discernible image in his mind of her graceful and curvy figure…
No, no!
How could he be so improper!
Nanaha felt a wave of shame, coughed lightly, and the two of them began talking to each other.
As they chatted, Nanaha found his heart racing from Kanae's gentle voice and the way she would occasionally say, "Ara ara."
"Wow, so your world really doesn't have demons?" Kanae sounded amazed, and there was even a trace of envy in her tone. "That's wonderful… a world without demons…"
Nanaha knew that in this world, members of the Demon Slayer Corps dealt with demons all year round, so it was only natural that they hoped those wicked beings would disappear as soon as possible.
Before they realized it, the horizon had gradually been dyed red by the sunset glow.
It was already this late!
Nanaha had not expected the two of them to talk for so long!
But it made sense. After all, both of them were interested in each other's worlds.
"This is bad. I don't have a single coin on me right now. Where am I supposed to go? I don't even know if there are any villages nearby." Nanaha could not help feeling troubled.
"That really is a problem…" Kanae sounded thoughtful. "This forest feels a little familiar. Oh, right. If you head north, you can get out of the forest. There's a town nearby. You could try asking to stay there for the night."
Nanaha followed Kanae's suggestion. After leaving the forest, he soon arrived at a small town.
It was already quite dark by evening, yet there were barely any people to be seen in this town.
"Excuse me…"
"Don't talk to me!"
Nanaha had originally wanted to ask a passerby about lodging for the night. He would have been fine even if they asked him to work in exchange.
But that passerby rudely cut him off, then quickly hurried home.
Nanaha rubbed his nose.
"The people here don't seem very easy to get along with."
Kanae also sounded puzzled.
"I did a mission here before, and at that time everyone was quite warm and friendly. Besides, the atmosphere feels very strange."
Nanaha instantly felt a trace of unease. There was a sticky heaviness in the air that made him feel nauseous, while at the same time causing his heart to pound for no reason.
"Wait, since this is the world of Demon Slayer…"
Nanaha subconsciously voiced his guess.
"There isn't a demon here, is there?"
As the Flower Hashira, Kanae had been extremely sensitive to the presence of demons. But now that she was inside Nanaha's body, she naturally could not tell.
Still, this atmosphere was indeed far from normal.
"Mr. Nanaha, something is wrong here. We need to leave immediately." Kanae's tone gradually turned serious.
"Leave… but where am I supposed to go?"
Kanae had no good solution either. Night was about to fall, and there were no wisteria flowers nearby, the kind demons hated and feared.
There were wild beasts in the forest too, so that was not safe either.
"Hey, what are you doing!"
Just as Nanaha was standing there in a daze, a voice suddenly rang out from behind him.
He immediately turned around and saw an old man with white hair looking at him with a stern yet anxious expression.
"The Mountain God is about to arrive. Why haven't you gone home yet?"
The Mountain God?
Nanaha had no time to think about it. He hurriedly explained his situation.
"Sorry, I'm… a traveler…"
Unable to think of better wording, Nanaha could only say that.
"A traveler?" The old man's expression clearly showed some displeasure, but he still said, "Come with me, quickly!"
Nanaha hurriedly followed him.
The old man's house was a very ordinary Japanese-style home.
Though it was not large, it had everything it needed.
After entering, the old man examined Nanaha. Seeing that he was dressed differently, he really did look like a traveler.
"Why did you come here?"
"Uh, I got lost."
The old man glanced at him.
"You can stay only for tonight. Leave as soon as it's daylight!"
Nanaha quickly agreed.
After saying that, the old man led him to an extremely small room, then took out bedding from the cabinet.
"Hurry up and sleep!"
"Uh…"
Nanaha was a little confused. Why was the old man urging him to sleep?
And he was also quite concerned about what the old man had said about the Mountain God…
"Grandpa, who's here?"
At that moment, a young girl's voice came from outside the room.
A beautiful girl of fifteen or sixteen, dressed in a kimono, walked in.
"Shizuko! Why are you still not asleep?" The moment the old man saw the girl, a trace of panic appeared on his face.
"I heard a stranger's voice…"
"Don't worry about it. Hurry up and go to sleep!" the old man urged anxiously. "The Mountain God is about to arrive! Go to sleep now!"
"Oh…"
Shizuko looked at Nanaha curiously. Just as she turned to return to her room—
A rough, heavy voice sounded from outside the house.
"Hm? Still not asleep? Are you waiting for the Mountain God's favor?"
The moment that voice sounded, the expressions of both the young girl and the old man stiffened instantly.