At night, Charles and his group sat around the hearth discussing their next move.
"I asked around. A denless bear has appeared here and already eaten several hunters! But I went to the scene and found no scent of a wild animal. It looks like the man-eater wasn't a bear but a demon."
Charles shared the intel he had gathered.
So-called denless bears are what local hunters call bears that fail to find a den for hibernation.
Such bears need more food to survive the cold winter, and hunting is especially difficult in winter. So they go against their nature, actively attacking humans or even entering villages to hunt.
But after checking the attack site, Charles found that the claw marks didn't belong to a bear, and the place reeked of demon.
The girl Yae, who claimed to have witnessed the denless bear attacking a hunter, was evasive with her words; it seemed the one who turned into a demon was her family member.
Still, she didn't seem to be trying to cover for the demon. She carried a hunting rifle on her back and looked ready to end it herself.
Though killing one's kin for the greater good is always worthy of recognition, it's still a tragedy for the person involved. So Charles considerately decided to deal with the demon first.
The next day, Charles and Tanjiro ventured deep into the mountains. Naturally, Charles used the opportunity to train Tanjiro in other skills.
"Listen up, Tanjiro. Your sense of smell is extraordinarily keen. That's a gift from above—and an edge you can rely on."
Tanjiro nodded and began focusing on distinguishing the surrounding scents.
Charles knew Tanjiro would later do outrageous things like sniffing out an enemy's emotions and even the thread of openings.
In the Swordsmith Village arc of the original story, Tanjiro felt his soul leave his body during true hell training, seeing the Sanzu River.
But on the brink of death, he actually smelled his opponent's target and motion. That can't help but call to mind the conditions for attaining the Transparent World.
Perhaps Tanjiro's later entry into the supreme realm took that as its opportunity.
Charles began considering how to imitate that method to help Tanjiro master the ability early. But certainly not yet, at least not until Tanjiro had a proper foundation.
Even so, as Tanjiro concentrated on scents, a chill ran through him and he looked at Charles, who was studying him, with fear in his eyes.
Charles smacked him on the head. "Focus. A demon could show up at any moment."
Scratching his hair, Tanjiro forced down the bad premonition and focused on tracking the demon.
Soon, following the blood scent, Tanjiro found a pool of blood, along with a shattered lower leg and scraps of clothing.
In this weather, for the blood to remain unfaded meant the demon had eaten someone here not long ago.
Judging from the broken hunting rifle nearby, this must have been a hunter who had set out to bag the denless bear, only to meet a much more terrifying foe than a beast.
With a rustle, a mound of snow fell from a branch. Tanjiro reflexively drew his blade at his waist and raised it overhead.
But what dropped from the tree was so strong it pinned Tanjiro straight into the snow.
The demon on top of him reminded Tanjiro of Nezuko in a frenzy, but this one, having already eaten humans, was far more grotesque.
Horns jutted from its forehead, fangs protruded, the facial muscles were warped, and blood still stained its lips. It showed Tanjiro with painful clarity what kind of creature a demon was.
Drool dripping from its mouth, it hissed, and lunged to bite him.
Tanjiro gripped the hilt with one hand and pressed the spine with the other to block the demon's sharp claws. The stench was so foul his mind went blank.
Instinctively, he chose the attack that left the deepest impression on him—he rammed with his head.
Having inherited his mother's iron skull that could even knock out a wild boar, Tanjiro smashed the demon's head back with a single headbutt.
Judging by the whites of its eyes, it was dazed on the spot.
Tanjiro calmed down, lifted his leg, and kicked the demon off him.
He scrambled to his feet and raised his blade in both hands, wary.
The demon shook its head and stood as well, squaring off with Tanjiro.
Charles nodded from the side. Truth be told, Tanjiro's performance wasn't great. He failed to detect the demon early, and after being ambushed, he didn't keep his cool.
But don't forget, this was Tanjiro's first fight; doing this well was already impressive.
They faced off for only a few seconds before Tanjiro and the demon rushed each other almost simultaneously.
"Hinokami Kagura: Whirling Sun Blaze!"
Flames surged along Tanjiro's blade, and the fire-wreathed edge slashed straight at the demon.
This demon was obviously a recent turn—no Blood Demon Art and still retaining a good deal of human instinct.
So instead of pressing in, he stepped back.
He didn't know that Whirling Sun Blaze creates the illusion of a shortened blade through a subtle wobble of the tip.
One step back wasn't nearly enough; Tanjiro's slash still lopped off the demon's wrist as it reached for him.
With that first clean hit, Tanjiro stepped in and drove his blade forward with both hands.
"Hinokami Kagura: Sunflower Thrust!"
A ring of flame rippled outward, and Tanjiro's blade pierced the demon's chest clean through.
Just as he was about to twist his wrist and slice the demon open, the flames on his blade went out.
Tanjiro's mouth opened wide, his face flushing red—the bodily reaction of suffocation.
After only two forms, Sun Breathing had overwhelmed him. That was his limit for now.
The demon, shocked by two consecutive strikes, quickly noticed Tanjiro's expression of agony and his inability to move.
As he reached out to grab Tanjiro, Charles moved, booting him away with a kick.
Sighing, Charles slapped Tanjiro's abdomen. Only then did Tanjiro regain the ability to breathe.
Gasping for air, Tanjiro said in shame, "I'm sorry to trouble you again, Mr. Charles!"
Charles sighed. "Why use Sunflower Thrust? If you'd used Round Dance, you should have finished him already!
You haven't forgotten that only by severing the head can you slay a demon, right?"
There are very few thrust techniques among the Breathing forms precisely because thrusting does minimal damage to demons. The few that exist aren't for killing demons.
For example, Water Breathing's Water Surface Slash: Ripple Thrust relies on sheer speed and is used to seize the advantage.
Sun Breathing's Sunflower Thrust is meant to skewer one of Muzan's hearts; it's not much use on ordinary demons.
As for Shinobu Kocho's Insect Breathing, it was a special form born totally out of necessity and requires wisteria poison to harm demons.
Charles understood why Tanjiro did it. He still hadn't fully steeled himself to behead demons.
Even if the opponent is a demon, deciding to take a life isn't something made lightly.
Charles had no intention of chastising him for it. Treasuring life is never wrong. If he could do it without hesitation, he wouldn't be Tanjiro.
But the truth Charles wanted him to grasp was this: beyond valuing the enemy's life, value the victims' lives—and your own.
In other words, when you fight, focus on one thing alone: the demon… must be slain!
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