Chapter 157: The Price of Being Flashy
’The Demon Hashira... has even more wives...’
Remembering that, Zenitsu froze solid.
And then...
He suddenly understood everything!
With a gleam in his eyes, he started muttering.
"Of course...! It’s the Hashira!"
"All the Hashira have a ton of wives!!"
"And if I become a Hashira too..."
But Tengen’s scornful laugh cut him off.
"Brat, you’re still way too naive."
"The number of wives isn’t decided by your rank!" With that, he struck an imposing pose. "It’s decided by a flashy appearance! A flashy interior! And a flashy way of speaking!"
He pointed at Zenitsu with a look of disdain.
"Someone like you should take a look in the mirror before thinking about things like that."
Zenitsu’s face ran through every imaginable shade of frustration.
He stood there with his mouth hanging open, pointing at Tengen with a trembling finger, unable to get out so much as a single word.
Envy and indignation left him completely speechless.
And right at that moment, Tanjiro stopped dead.
"Wait!"
Everyone’s attention turned to him. His eyes cut to the right, fixed on a small hill beside the main road.
"I think... I smell a demon."
Tengen’s mocking expression vanished. "Which direction?"
"It must be on the slope. Let me confirm—"
Swish
Before he could finish, Tengen shot off at full speed.
Tanjiro was taken aback for a brief instant, then took a deep breath to analyze the scents in the air.
One second... Two...
His expression changed abruptly.
He’d smelled that scent before!
He immediately ran after Tengen, shouting.
"Don’t attack!! He’s one of ours!!"
Before he made it to the slope, the sounds of fighting had already reached him.
When he arrived, panting, at the clearing in front of a temple, he saw a figure go flying out from inside
The figure rolled a couple of times across the ground before steadily getting back to its feet.
Tengen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, cursing inwardly.
’I wasn’t expecting to run into a demon this strong!’
But luckily, that strength wasn’t going to do him any good!
He looked up at the sky. The sun still hadn’t gone down.
It was still daytime!
Seeing Tengen’s two blades pointed toward the temple, Tanjiro hurried to put himself in between.
"No!! Don’t destroy the temple!!"
"Uzui-san, he’s one of ours! He’s one of my senpai’s allies, Hakuji-san!"
Tengen was taken aback.
Hakuji?
He narrowed his eyes to get a better look at the burly demon standing in the temple’s shadow, his face unchanged and his breathing steady.
"That’s really Hakuji? The demon who gave us the information?"
Tanjiro smiled helplessly. "That’s right... he really is one of ours. My Senpai already reformed him, so he doesn’t eat humans, not under any circumstances."
With that, he turned toward Hakuji.
"Hakuji-san, didn’t you say before that you’d be traveling for a while? How come...?"
"Koyuki left"
From the shadows, Hakuji spoke. "And she asked me to stay and repay my lord’s kindness, so I decided to come back earlier than planned."
Hearing the conversation, Tengen clutched his chest, indignant.
"If you’re one of ours, you shouldn’t have hit me that hard! That isn’t flashy in the slightest!!"
"Flashy?"
Hakuji raised an eyebrow.
"You burst in here and slashed at my neck without saying a single word — and that’s flashy?
Tengen had no comeback.
And Hakuji, honestly, felt pretty wronged.
This abandoned temple on the outskirts of Asakusa had been empty for a long time, halfway up the hill. He’d chosen it for exactly that reason: to take shelter from the sun and not run into anyone, so as not to cause trouble.
Who would have imagined that, right when the sun was about to set, someone would knock on his door with a pair of swords and go straight for his neck?
Who wouldn’t defend themselves? He’d decided to mend his ways, not to sit around waiting to die!
"So, Hakuji-san, are you going to Asakusa to look for my Senpai?" Tanjiro asked.
"That was the idea. You too?"
"Ah, no, first we have to accompany Uzui-san to Yoshiwa—"
Alarmed, Tengen quickly clapped a hand over Tanjiro’s mouth.
Why does this brat leak everything?!
He didn’t trust Hakuji as much as Tanjiro did. What if he was a double agent?
"Yoshiwara?" Hakuji raised an eyebrow. "You’re going to kill Gyūtarō?"
’Just as expected... he figured it out instantly.’
Tengen let go of Tanjiro, resigned.
Whatever happens, happens.
At that moment Inosuke and Zenitsu arrived as well. And seeing that neither of them showed the slightest aversion to Hakuji, Tengen relaxed a little more.
They all ended up gathering inside the temple.
When Tanjiro told him that his lord had taken on the mission to finish off Gyūtarō and Daki, and that he hadn’t lifted a finger in two weeks, Hakuji’s eyes lit up.
What a coincidence!
He’d barely gotten back and there was already work to do.
"There’s no need for you to go anymore," he said to Tengen. "As soon as night falls, I’ll go see my lord and then head to Yoshiwara to finish off the siblings."
"When you get back, just say it was my lord’s doing."
"What?!"
Tengen’s eyes went wide.
"And you think I’m going to sit here just because you say so? You talk about killing them like you’re running out for groceries!"
Hakuji gave him a scornful look.
"What do you think a fight to the death over rank between demons is? Some kid’s game?"
"I was the Third Upper Moon. They’re the Sixth."
He was perfectly calm.
"And you’re right about what you just said: I’ll kill those two like I’m running out for groceries."
...
Meanwhile, Marcus was calmly driving the carriage back to his mansion.
Yushiro stared at the enormous bucket full of flopping fish riding INSIDE the carriage, his mouth twitching.
What a sharp, disgusting smell!
And then he’d be the one who had to wash the carriage!
"Yushi-Yushi~~! Fish~~ heheh~~!"
A mud-covered Nezuko stood with one hand on her hip and the other patting the bucket. Her expression couldn’t have been prouder.
"Yes, yes, yes. Nezuko caught a whole lot of fish, what a good girl."
Though Yushiro’s tone was somewhat indifferent, his expression showed a trace of affection.
The moment he finished helping Nezuko get the bucket down, the smile vanished from his face. He returned effortlessly to his usual impassive coldness.
"The brothel’s Yarite came looking for you," he said to Marcus with total indifference. "She looked awful just standing there by the entrance, so I sent her to the street corner."
And he said nothing more.
Yushiro only smiled for Tamayo and for Nezuko, his lady’s favorite. But Marcus was more than used to that selective treatment by now.
Hearing that there was some business in Yoshiwara, he simply sat back down in the carriage.
"Let them know I’m on my way. I won’t be back tonight."
’You’re not coming back tonight?!’
Yushiro’s eyes lit up.
’Doesn’t that mean I get to have dinner alone with Tamayo-sama?!’
He suppressed the smile curling wildly upward on his face and answered with a glacial "oh."
Nezuko pouted. "Marcus~~ eat fish~~"
Marcus smiled and stroked her little head.
"It’s not going to work out today. But tomorrow we’ll cook them together, just you and me, how’s that?"
Nezuko cheered up instantly. "Hehe~! Together~~~!"
And Yushiro, who a second ago had been ice incarnate, was already running to lead the horse, unable to wait.
Fawning shamelessly, he helped Marcus turn the carriage around.
Outside the property, the brothel’s Yarite, whom Yushiro had sent off to wait, was still beside the entrance.
’Perfect.’ It spared Marcus the trouble of driving.
With anguish gnawing at her soul, the Yarite climbed up front and snapped the reins immediately.
Behind them, Yushiro watched with enormous delight as the carriage got farther and farther away.
He shut the gate and threw the bolt in a single motion.
Letting out a whoop of joy, he grabbed the bucket of fish and ran toward the interior of the mansion.
"Tamayo-sama~~! I’m coming~!"
From inside came Tamayo’s sweet voice.
"Yushiro, please take care of cleaning the fish."
"Prepare the ones we’re going to eat today and keep the rest alive. Under no circumstances let them die on you."
"Marcus likes his fish fresh."
Yushiro froze.
The bright smile on his face spread to the faces of Ivy and Pearl.
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