Demon Slayer: Breath of Desire

"Are we seriously just going to let him walk off like that?"

Tamayo looked in the direction Sanemi had gone, with a hint of concern.

"It’s not that big a deal," Marcus said with a faint chuckle.

"But he just went through a brutal transformation and got hit with terrible news he never saw coming."

"Let’s give him some time."

Tamayo nodded and said nothing more.

Marcus, for his part, turned his gaze toward Gyutaro.

"Don’t actually let him kill himself."

Gyutaro, who was digging in his ear, tilted his head and shot him a look, somewhat surprised. Then, without a word, he sauntered off, dragging his feet.

Seeing the crowd gathered around him, Marcus took the chance to give out a few instructions.

"Tanjiro, how long do you all plan to stay? Aren’t you going to hunt demons anymore?"

Tanjiro gave a start. "Senpai, the Kasugai crows haven’t assigned me any missions lately, and besides, I want to master Sun Breathing before I head out again."

Marcus nodded.

At this stage, Tanjiro had seen too many powerful figures up close, so the urgency he felt inside had to be immense.

The key was that this kid had a gentle personality, but was actually pretty competitive.

He didn’t want to fall behind like before anymore.

"Think hard about what I told you. If you really want to get strong fast, there’s an easier road."

Tanjiro’s face tightened into a bitter grimace.

He hesitated, but didn’t answer. After all, the idea of becoming a vampire still repulsed him a little.

"Relax, take your time."

Marcus was in no hurry; sooner or later he’d understand.

At the end of the day, this siscon would never be able to stand watching with his own eyes as Nezuko saw him grow old and die.

Marcus was confident he could bring out the Demon King Tanjiro.

Then he shifted his gaze toward Zenitsu and Inosuke.

But neither of them opened his mouth. It was Urokodaki who stepped forward.

"Let them stay a while longer. Zenitsu’s problem in combat—I think I can fix it with a bit of psychological suggestion. And the boar’s methods are too crude; I need to correct him."

"Hey, old man! Who are you calling crude?"

Inosuke was jumping with rage while Zenitsu tried to calm him down.

Seeing the scene, Marcus let it slide.

He turned around and looked at Ivy.

"Did you read the book on puppetry technique I gave you?"

"Yes, Master!"

Eagerly, Ivy pulled a small wooden doll, about the size of her hand, out of her sleeve.

It held two swords, and aside from the nose and eyes, which had slightly odd proportions, you could barely tell it had been carved in Marcus’s likeness.

"It’s just that I’m a little clumsy..."

Ivy’s face flushed, and she instinctively tried to cover the doll’s face with her fingers.

"I still haven’t gotten the hang of it."

Marcus examined the doll for a few seconds.

The appearance left something to be desired, but the joints at each connection point were extremely well made: when he moved it, it responded smoothly.

"Not bad at all, Ivy. You’re making fast progress—you don’t need to be so hard on yourself about the finish."

Ivy held the doll solemnly. "But even so, I shouldn’t have made you look like this!"

Marcus felt a little embarrassed. ’Why do you have to use me as your canvas?’

’Couldn’t you have made it without a face? It’d save a ton of work...’

But seeing the sparkle in Ivy’s eyes, he didn’t have the heart to crush her enthusiasm.

"Alright, do it however you like best."

"That said..."

He shot Ume a sidelong glance. "Don’t let her play with the dolls you make."

"Why?!"

Ume came running over to demand an explanation, but Marcus sent her back with a flick.

She clutched her forehead with both hands, hissing in pain.

"Why, you ask?"

Marcus glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and said in a cold voice.

"Because you spend the whole day sticking needles into my finger, dripping wax on it, and tying it up."

"You can squeeze a thousand uses out of a four-inch finger; if I gave you an actual doll, you’d make my life a living hell."

Curled up where she sat, Ume shuddered violently when she heard it.

She went from covering her forehead to hugging her head, balled up in guilt, not daring to look up.

Marcus sighed.

There was no dealing with this woman.

She never learned her lesson: she seemed equally addicted to pestering others and to being pestered herself.

A single day without causing trouble and she’d drown in frustration; if she didn’t get punished once every three days, she was capable of tearing the roof down.

"Run your shop properly! And about those hundred girls I asked you to set aside for the estate, go coordinate with Ivy right now."

"Hai~," Ume agreed, docile.

Ivy tucked the doll away and bowed.

"Don’t worry, Master! I’ll train them to be competent servants as soon as possible."

Marcus nodded.

Those hundred girls, carefully chosen, were the purest and most beautiful raw material out of several consecutive batches.

Marcus had no intention of handing them over for clients’ benefit, not then and not in the future. The best, of course, stayed at the mansion for his own use.

Only the ones left over after the selection would go to Yoshiwara or Asakusa, according to age and appearance.

Even so, there was no reason to fear a drop in quality: the selection pool was enormous.

Ever since word got out, a few months back, that high prices were being paid for people, folks had been arriving in a steady stream from all over.

Even with a standard as demanding as Ume’s, there were already nearly a thousand candidates reserved.

Some—the ones who were old enough or already came from that trade—were working; the rest received instruction according to the standards of the courtesan houses.

As long as there was money, beautiful women would never be in short supply.

In the current landscape, aside from the prominent families, very few ate their fill.

When they had a beautiful daughter, many poor families sold her: it eased the household’s burden and brought in a good sum, and for the girl herself it was a way out too.

Through the eyes of future generations this was heartbreaking, but in this era it was, quite simply, a concrete way to survive.

Because in these times, the more beautiful a woman was, the less she tended to benefit her family; on the contrary, she attracted no end of misfortune.

Many girls aware of their beauty, to escape a life of others’ greed and daily insecurity, sold themselves even of their own free will.

They preferred a short, brilliant life over going from a family where they didn’t eat well into a marriage in another household just as wretched, and then risking their necks giving birth for someone else.

"As for Pearl..."

Marcus looked at Hakuji.

"Keep helping her with the acquisition of the Asakusa commercial street."

"Yes, Sir."

Pearl nodded afterward. "Yes, Master."

The reason Hakuji had to show up with her wasn’t for security: at this point there wasn’t a single stranger in all of Asakusa capable of threatening Pearl.

He accompanied her, above all, to command respect from the outside.

At the end of the day, strangers didn’t know whether Pearl was strong; they only saw a frail little girl, and that didn’t help at all when negotiating.

With Hakuji it was different.

Ever since Yoshiwara opened, he had broken the legs and arms of countless troublemakers, and his fearsome reputation had long been spreading throughout Kyoto.

Just by standing there, the purchase price would drop a full twenty percent!

"What about me? What about me? Marcus~!"

Nezuko was bouncing on her toes, excited, pointing at herself.

Marcus looked at her, narrowing his eyes. "You..."

"You practice your writing properly first, and then we’ll talk."

"Hmph!"

Nezuko put her hands on her hips and turned her face to the side in a tantrum.

"Marcus is mean!"

Finally, Marcus looked at Shinobu.

Shinobu looked at him with a slightly surprised smile. "Do you need something from me, Marcus-kun?"

Marcus stepped closer and gave her a meaningful smile.

"Nothing pending. When it’s time for the servants’ medical checkup, give Kanao a hand with that. What I want is for you to come to my room tonight with Kanae."

"Eh?"

"What’s wrong? Didn’t you say she wanted to talk to me? Then let it be tonight, in my room."

Noticing the knowing smiles of the girls around her, Shinobu’s face turned red.

"What if... what if I go right now...?"

But before she could finish, Marcus had already walked past her, taking Mitsuri by one hand and Kanao by the other.

"It can’t be during the day. I already promised Mitsuri and Kanao I’d take them out for a stroll."

"’Eh?’"

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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

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