Demon Slayer: Breath of Desire

The next day, the moment the sky began to lighten, Zenitsu snuck over the wall after being out all night.

Yushiri cracked open one eye from the guard post and shut it two seconds later with open irritation.

’Damn brat... he’s literally a miniature Marcus.’

Zenitsu tiptoed toward the mansion with the stealth of a thief.

He figured no one would be awake at this hour, but as he crossed the main hall he ran smack into Marcus, who was going over the accounts with Tamao.

"Ha—Hashira-sama?!"

Marcus scanned him head to toe: messy hair, heavy eye bags, a pale face smeared with lipstick, and an unmistakable reek of booze, tobacco, and perfume.

"W-Why... are you up so early today?" Zenitsu stammered.

Marcus narrowed his eyes. "Do I have to report my schedule to you?"

"N-No! Not at all!" Zenitsu jumped. "It just caught me off guard..."

Seeing the beads of sweat on the boy’s forehead, Marcus’s tone turned grim. "How many nights have you been disappearing now?"

"This is the first one! I swear!" Zenitsu threw up a finger. "I didn’t do anything wrong before. Every day I came straight back the second I handed the girls off to the Yarite."

Marcus looked at Pearl, who nodded, confirming the story.

"So what did you do last night, then?"

Zenitsu’s sweating doubled. "I just... had a couple drinks..."

"That’s it?"

"I took a couple drags... just two!"

"And then?"

"The girls grabbed me and wouldn’t let me go. I just kept them company for a bit..."

"Company doing what?"

Zenitsu dropped his gaze, his voice draining. "We ate something and played a few games..."

Marcus laughed dryly. "Well, well, Zenitsu. In a single night you sampled the drinking, the tobacco, the gambling, and the women. You got the full package."

Zenitsu’s legs buckled and he dropped straight to the floor. "I know I fucked up! B-But I won’t do it again! It was the girls, they were all over me! Last night I rescued Ume’s final two and they wouldn’t let me leave—but I swear nothing else happened!"

"Enough." Marcus waved it off. "Save the speeches. You look like a regular at the brothel—you’re a whoremonger. The moment Shinobu heads out to headquarters, you’re going with her. If you stay here you’ll rot completely."

"Leave today?!" Zenitsu’s head snapped up like he’d been struck by lightning. "The girls don’t even know I’m leaving! At least let me say goodbye!"

Marcus shot him a withering glare and the boy shrank against the floor again, muttering under his breath: "Then... that supreme discount VIP card you promised... when do I get it?"

Marcus sighed, exasperated. "You’re still thinking about that?"

Zenitsu flinched, bracing for a scolding, but temptation outweighed his fear.

"I keep my promises," Marcus said, reclining in his chair with total ease. "The girls you rescued are the best in the district, and Ume had good taste when it came to picking her people. Even if you didn’t accomplish much, having more than ten women wait on you all at once means you got lucky. Your hero phase ends today."

"As for the VIP card... I’ll give it to you."

A flash of hope lit up Zenitsu’s eyes—until Marcus went on: "But not now. If I hand a pass like that to someone like you, the day we open Yoshiwara you’ll ruin yourself. Train hard. When we kill Muzan and this is all over, I’ll give it to you."

"Me?" Zenitsu was dumbstruck, pointing at his own nose in disbelief. "You want me to go kill Muzan?"

Marcus shook his head. "You think too highly of yourself. We don’t need you to finish off Muzan."

Zenitsu sighed in relief.

"My demand is something else: take out an Upper Rank on your own."

!

Zenitsu went pale. I’d rather he told me to go kill Muzan! At least that sounded like a joke!

Marcus crooked a finger at him and Zenitsu approached, trembling. Marcus gave him a few pats on the shoulder and whispered in his ear: "If you pull it off, your VIP discount will be for life... seventy percent off."

"Seventy percent?!" Zenitsu’s voice shifted into a low, gravelly tone. "Are you serious?"

His head whipped around, an electric glint in his eyes and smoke curling out of his breath.

Marcus smirked. "I keep my promises."

"Done! I’m holding you to it!"

Zenitsu spun on his heel, driven by a sudden resolve. Little static sparks crackled around him as he strode toward the courtyard with firm steps.

A second later, his bewildered shriek echoed from outside: "Huh? What the hell?! I’m clearly dead tired... so why do I want to train so badly?!"

Back in the study, Pearl watched Marcus’s amused expression and asked in a low voice: "Master, are you really planning to send him out to fight an Upper Rank alone?"

Marcus shook his head and settled back against the chair again. "I was just messing with him. That kid had gotten lost in his distractions. If I didn’t hit him with a hard course correction, he’d fall behind Tanjiro and Inosuke. Those three are a team—I’m not going to let Zenitsu get left behind."

Pearl nodded, understanding the play.

Marcus waved it off. "Anyway, don’t worry about him. Let’s get back to our business. What were you telling me about the shops refusing to sell their properties?"

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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

And don’t forget to comment, I wanna know if you liked the Chapter 👀

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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