Demon Slayer: Breath of Desire

"What if... it were a little less?"

Looking at the glass of wine worth ten million that Marcus was holding out to him, Urokodaki didn’t even dare to take it.

"Thirty million... I wouldn’t dare open my mouth to ask for that."

"What’s wrong with asking for it? Isn’t it what you deserve?" Marcus put on a serious expression. "Get that idea out of your head that you’re worth nothing!"

"...But I’m not worth that much."

"Of course you are!" Marcus slammed the table. "How could you not be?!"

He looked at Tanjiro. "How much do they pay for killing a demon in the Demon Slayer Corps?"

"Huh?" Tanjiro scratched his head in confusion. "There are rewards for that? I had no idea."

"Thirty thousand." Zenitsu spoke quietly off to the side.

Tanjiro looked at him in surprise. "You’ve already cashed them in?"

"I owed quite a bit of money..." Zenitsu lowered his head, blushing. "I had to pay those people back."

"You hear that, Master?! Thirty thousand per demon!" Marcus turned back to Urokodaki. "You’ve been in the Corps for fifty-five years. Even figuring you only killed one a month, that already adds up to almost twenty million!"

Urokodaki was stunned. "Th-that much?"

"And a Hashira’s salary has no ceiling," Marcus continued, crunching the numbers. "Let’s say it’s a hundred thousand a month. Out of your fifty-five years, you were the Water Hashira for at least thirty. There’s another thirty-six million right there!"

Urokodaki opened his mouth, at a loss for words.

"Add in your twenty-five years as an ordinary swordsman and instructor, and doesn’t that come out to sixty million?"

"...Am I really worth that much?" the old man asked clumsily.

"That’s not all!" Marcus got more and more worked up. "You risked your neck for Kagaya. Travel stipend, meals, compensation for injuries and high risk, a retirement fund for every change in leadership, holiday bonuses, overtime for being on call twenty-four hours a day with no rest, and—"

"STOP!"

Urokodaki cut him off, mouth hanging open. "If you calculate it like that, demanding all of it, wouldn’t we drain the Master’s fortune?"

Marcus laughed mockingly. "You underestimate the Ubuyashiki wealth. Or do you think everyone works for free for the love of it, like you? Ubuyashiki pours hundreds of millions a year into the organization, and you won’t even ask for a hundred thousand?"

Urokodaki fell silent.

Aside from the basic expenses of training his students, he had never asked the Corps for anything.

"But I’ve already retired..."

"Does Ubuyashiki deny its members’ hard work just because they retire?"

Urokodaki straightened up firmly. "Of course not!"

"Then what are you afraid of?" Marcus winked at him. "Give him a huge discount and settle on a flat thirty million. Does that seem like too much?"

"No... it’s not too much..."

"This money will protect your disciple’s life and serve as a shield between Muzan and Ubuyashiki down the road. Do you really not dare to go and ask for it?"

"Yes... I dare..."

"Then it’s settled!"

"So... I’ll give it a shot?" Urokodaki asked in an unsure voice.

Slap

"—!"

Tanjiro slapped himself in the face.

The master had been completely played by Marcus!

"No rush," Marcus said, grinning from ear to ear. "I figure that in two or three days the Corps will send someone to negotiate with me. When that happens, you’ll head back with them—sound good?"

"That’s fine..."

"I expected nothing less from my master! I knew you cared about me! Let’s drink!"

"L-Let’s drink..."

After eating and drinking their fill, Marcus walked a dizzy Urokodaki back to his room, the old man still mumbling under his breath: "Thirty million in retirement... the money to save my disciple’s life... Master, you’ve got to give it to me..."

Turning around, Marcus looked at the three boys.

Inosuke lay slumped drowsily in his chair, his belly swollen like a soccer ball from stuffing himself. Tanjiro wore a look of absolute dismay, staring at Marcus like he was some kind of demon.

He’d watched his master—who a second earlier had wanted to run his senpai through with a sword—end up sweet-talked into going to demand money without any regard for his pride.

In his eyes, on top of being a perverted demon, Marcus was now also a swindling demon.

Zenitsu, on the other hand, was completely won over. Before his very eyes, Marcus had become an omnipotent god.

So when Marcus crooked a finger at him, he rushed to Marcus’s side in an instant.

"Hashira-sama! What are your orders?!"

Zenitsu rubbed his hands together and bared his teeth, standing in front of Marcus and trying to please him like a fawning little rat.

Marcus smiled as he regarded the key player in his next phase. "Zenitsu, I was busy a moment ago and couldn’t give you my full attention—don’t be upset, eh?"

"What kind of talk is that?!" Zenitsu’s face reflected longing and devotion. "You’re fighting for a grand plan—I’m the one who should be learning from you!"

"You get it!" Marcus laughed. "When Yoshiwara gets built, I’ll set you up with a VIP membership at thirty percent off!"

"For real?!" Zenitsu was so excited that hot air blasted out of his nostrils.

"Of course! When have I ever lied to you?" Marcus replied with composure. "Besides, that thing we agreed on—turning you into a hero—we’ll do it this very night."

Hearing this, Zenitsu dropped to one knee, his face red with excitement. "Hashira-sama! YOU ARE MY GOD!!"

Marcus made a satisfied gesture. "Keep it low-key... keep it low-key..."

"Yes, Hashira-sama!"

"Good boy!" Marcus gave him a pat on the shoulder. "I’ve got an important mission to entrust to you. Tanjiro doesn’t know how to adapt, and Inosuke is too impulsive. You—"

"I CAN DO IT!!!"

"I knew I wasn’t wrong about you!"

Marcus cupped his hands near his mouth, and Zenitsu caught on immediately, leaning his ear in close.

"Tonight you’ll do this and that, and then that and the other..."

Hearing the plan, Zenitsu’s face showed confusion at first, but as he took in the details, his excitement grew, and the corners of his mouth turned up higher and higher.

__________

Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

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And if PS aren’t your thing but you still want more Chapters...

P-a-t-r-e-o-n → Athome790