Chapter 24 [Minako's Candy]
On the road in the small town affiliated with the Eternal Paradise Cult, Minako lay on the wolf's back with her brows slightly frowned and her eyes blank, as if she was thinking about something.
The pedestrians and believers around them were busy with their own things, as if they didn't notice the two of them. Wolf just walked on the street with Minako on his back under the effect of the Moon Hidden Spirit.
A moment later, the exit of the town appeared in the wolf's sight, but the pulling feeling from the feather ornament behind him slowed down the wolf's pace. After three years of getting along with each other, the wolf knew what Minako was going to say without her saying anything.
"I won't go back to save her. The key now is to bring you back. And don't worry, she is very strong. Very strong."
After fighting two moves with Kocho Kanae, Wolf could clearly feel the difference between her and Murata whom he had met before. The difference could be described as a stream and an ocean.
Coupled with the divine flying snow given to her by the wolf, even if the evil ghost was stronger, it would be easy to kill it.
Hearing Wolf's somewhat cold words, Minako, who was holding Wolf's feathered hand, paused and buried her face in Wolf's back with some unhappiness, and said in a muffled voice.
"But Sister Kanae saved my life... If it weren't for her, maybe my father and mother would have sent me to the door of that evil ghost, so Minako hopes that Mr. Wolf can help her..."
At this time, the wolf had already led Minako around the watchtower and came to the path in the forest, but when he heard this, he stopped. The sun was gradually setting in the west, and the orange-red sunlight shone through the dense leaves, forming spots of light on the wolf's face with a somewhat complicated expression.
Indeed, if Kocho Kanae had not stopped the carriage of the Fujiwara couple, the one who would have to confront the evil spirit now would have been the wolf who came too late because of killing the "King General".
Seeing that the wolf didn't say anything but didn't move forward, Minako thought there was a chance and jumped off the wolf's back with a light struggle.
He hopped around the wolf in two steps, pretended to be serious and took out a candy from the bag in his arms.
"Hirata Sekiro, I'm going to ask you to go to the Eternal Paradise to support Ms. Kocho Kanae, a member of the Demon Slayer Corps."
By the end, the little face pretending to be serious could no longer be maintained, and he glanced at the wolf's expression guiltily, wanting to see the wolf's reaction.
Looking at the candy in Minako's little hands, and the bag of candy in the girl's arms, which was well preserved and treasured and was almost the same as before they parted, the wolf's expression changed slightly.
This change made Minako sweat profusely.
I have never seen Mr. Wolf with this expression! I am sorry! Mr. Wolf, please don’t be angry with me…
To her surprise, the next moment the wolf half-knelt on the ground, looking directly at the somewhat flustered Minako, and reached out to take the candy from her hand.
"learn."
The girl's originally flustered expression turned red with joy after hearing the wolf's affirmative answer. She hugged the wolf's neck and cheered.
"I know Mr. Wolf is the best!"
With Minako's smiling face hanging around his neck, the Wolf couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth. Different from the smile when he was consumed by the desire to kill before, the Wolf at this moment seemed like an ordinary person with normal emotions.
At the same time, the light curtain suddenly opened automatically, and a ray of white light flew out and merged into Minako's candy in the wolf's hand.
Just like the ninja prosthetic arm at that time, the nature of this candy was also changed by the light curtain. At the same time, the light curtain changed and a detailed introduction of the candy appeared in front of the wolf.
【Minako's Candy】
[Cannot increase attack power, cannot improve torso value.
But the sweet taste can remind the wolf of good memories in the past.
Restore the wolf's sanity from Shura's bloodlust. 】
Recovering from the bloodlust...
When Wolf saw this line of description, he immediately thought of the scene he had dreamed of when he was swallowed by the Shura Fire and fell unconscious.
After transforming into Shura, he became extremely powerful, and he fought against the Demon Slayer Corps who fought hard to stop him, as well as Minako who died at his hands.
When Wolf thinks of those scenes now, his pupils still shrink and he clenches the candy in his hand.
Then he pulled Minako, who was laughing foolishly in front of him, towards him and looked at her with a serious expression.
"I'm promising you this conditionally. I have to guarantee your safety, so I have to get you out first."
Wolf planned to send Minako to the nearest house with the Shitonika family crest, as he would be going to support the Demon Slayer Corps' Pillar Slayer Demon later, so it shouldn't be a problem for him to ask them to take care of a little girl.
Minako was also a smart child. Seeing the wolf’s serious expression, she knew how important she was to the other person. She clenched the bag of candy on her chest, her eyes a little moist.
Even though she acted as if she didn't care in front of Lang and Kanae, how could she remain indifferent when being betrayed by her own beloved parents?
Wolf used his unarmed right hand to wipe away the tears from the corners of Minako's eyes with his fingertips, then squatted in front of her.
Minako nimbly climbed onto the wolf's back and whispered in his ear the direction they came from.
The sun was setting and it was about to set. The wolf had to speed up now. He swung the grappling hook on a tree branch with his prosthetic arm, then pulled his arm and swung with Minako to the other side of the forest like a mountain ape.
At the beginning, Minako was screaming and shouting about the excitement behind the wolf, but later on she gradually couldn't bear it anymore and gradually fell asleep behind the wolf.
call!call!
Just then, the wolf heard two sounds of breaking wind.
Hmm? Two...
There were more than just the two of them moving through the forest. The sound of another person breaking through the wind at high speed was picked up by the wolf's keen hearing.
The next moment, a thin black figure met in the air with the wolf waving its prosthetic arm and leaping.
The two looked at each other in mid-air. Wolf saw the anxiety in the other's purple eyes and the other's black Demon Slayer Corps uniform, while the other also saw Wolf and Minako wandering in the air with a strange prosthetic arm on their backs.
This scene happened in an instant, and the next moment the two of them stopped on the tree branches in front of them, turned around and looked at each other across the trees.
The wolf looked carefully at the little man in front of him. Apart from the color of his eyes and the hair color which seemed a little strange to the wolf, the more he looked, the more familiar he seemed to the wolf.
But the other party didn't seem very friendly. He pulled out a knife from his waist, pointed it at the wolf and shouted angrily with a stern face.
"You damn human trafficker, put down the girl behind you!"
Hearing an unfamiliar sound, Minako, who was sleeping soundly, suddenly woke up. She stared around in panic behind the wolf with her eyes wide open.
"What's wrong? What's wrong? Is there another bad guy? Eh? It's the short-haired version of Sister Chanae!"
Hearing Minako's exclamation from behind, Wolf finally remembered who the little girl in front of him looked like. It was Kanae, the Flower Style Butterfly, whom he had just parted with not long ago.
The other party obviously heard Minako's shouting, and just when she was about to ask them how they knew about her sister, she saw the "human trafficker" in front of her jump off the tree branch and look at her, obviously wanting her to go down for a detailed talk.
After hesitating for a moment, his worry for his sister overcame his worries and he jumped off the tree branch with a knife in hand.
Minako also jumped off from behind the wolf at this time, and hid behind the wolf, curiously looking at the little sister whose facial features were very similar to those of Sister Kanae, but whose expression was completely different upon closer inspection.
Seeing the other party coming over, the wolf took the initiative to speak to him.
"Who is Butterfly Chanae to you?"
Shinobu Kocho on the opposite side saw that the two of them obviously knew each other. Although she had a little bad temper, she was definitely not a person who didn't know right from wrong. Her face blushed, she put the knife back to her waist and explained to Wolf.
"Kanae Kocho is my elder sister, and I am her younger sister, Shinobu Kocho. Like my elder sister, I am also a member of the Demon Slayer Corps."