Chapter 78 78: I Really Still Want to Beat You to Death

The courtyard of the Butterfly Mansion did not quiet down until late into the night.

Zenitsu and Inosuke trained until their limbs trembled, while Tanjirou stayed beside them, correcting their breathing when he noticed any imbalance. Compared to the fierce battles against the Upper Moons, this sort of training seemed almost peaceful.

Only after the two finally stopped did Tanjirou speak.

"Zenitsu, Inosuke."

Both of them turned to look at him.

"I'll be leaving headquarters tomorrow for another mission. Are you two willing to come with me?"

He asked with complete sincerity.

If they refused, he would not force them.

Tanjirou knew better than anyone how dangerous it was to stay by his side now. Muzan had already targeted him. Upper Moons had appeared one after another. Anyone who followed him could be dragged into a battle far beyond the level of ordinary Demon Slayers.

For a moment, neither Zenitsu nor Inosuke answered.

Then, unexpectedly, Zenitsu was the first to speak.

He lowered his head, his expression gloomy, as if he had already imagined himself lying face-down in a ditch somewhere.

"Tanjirou," he said weakly, "you're a Hashira now. When things get dangerous, you have to protect me, okay?"

Inosuke immediately clicked his tongue.

"You're definitely stronger when you're asleep."

"Don't say it like I'm useless when I'm awake!"

"You are."

"I am not!"

The familiar argument started before the mission even began.

But Tanjirou smiled.

He understood their answer.

The three of them were together again.

That night passed quietly.

Early the next morning, Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inosuke finished their preparations and left the Butterfly Mansion.

Tanjirou carried Nezuko's wooden box on his back. At his waist hung his Nichirin sword and Asuramaru. Zenitsu looked as if he had not slept enough, and Inosuke marched out with his usual confidence, though his boar mask turned left and right as if looking for something to fight.

At the entrance of the mansion, Sanemi Shinazugawa was already waiting.

The Wind Hashira leaned against the wall with his arms folded, the morning light casting hard shadows across the scars on his face. The moment he saw them, his fierce eyes narrowed.

"You're slow."

"Sorry!"

Tanjirou apologized at once.

Zenitsu, however, muttered irritably, "You're the one who came too early."

The air froze.

Sanemi's fists clenched.

The joints cracked.

His forehead twitched.

This brat.

This yellow-haired brat.

Every time he opened his mouth, Sanemi felt his patience being shaved down with a dull knife.

"You little punk," Sanemi growled. "I really still want to beat you to death."

"Eh?!"

Zenitsu shot behind Tanjirou so quickly he nearly became a blur.

"Tanjirou! Protect me! He's serious! His face says he's serious!"

Sanemi took one step forward.

Tanjirou hurriedly raised both hands. "Mr. Sanemi, please calm down."

Sanemi stared at Zenitsu for several seconds, looking as if he were weighing the merits of murder against the inconvenience of explaining it to the Master.

In the end, he forced the anger down.

Barely.

He turned his attention back to Tanjirou.

"Tanjirou."

"Yes?"

"That flame-like pattern on your forehead during the battle that day. What was it?"

Tanjirou did not intend to hide it.

"That was the Slayer Mark."

Sanemi's expression sharpened at once.

"So it really was the Slayer Mark." He stepped closer, his voice pressing harder. "Do you remember how you awakened it?"

Tanjirou frowned in thought.

"I'm not entirely sure. During the battle against Upper Moon Four, I was struck by an attack and lost consciousness. While I was unconscious, I saw something... or perhaps felt something. When I woke up again, the mark had already appeared."

That was almost the same as saying nothing.

But no one suspected him of lying.

Tanjirou was too honest for that. If he said he did not know, then he truly did not know.

Sanemi's face darkened slightly.

"That's useless."

"I'm sorry..."

Tanjirou lowered his head, then immediately thought of the person who always seemed to know the answers.

"Asuramaru..."

Inside the sword, Asuramaru already knew what he wanted to ask.

Of course.

Whenever Tanjirou encountered something he did not understand, his first instinct was to ask him. At this point, Asuramaru was not sure whether he was a demonic sword or a very overworked encyclopedia.

Still, he answered.

"Once one person manifests the Slayer Mark, others close to him may begin to awaken it as well. Think of it as resonance. The closer they stand to the source, the easier it becomes."

"Thank you, Asuramaru."

Tanjirou immediately relayed the explanation.

"Asuramaru said that once someone awakens the Slayer Mark, those close to them may gradually awaken theirs too. It spreads through influence, or resonance."

Sanemi's eyes narrowed.

"In other words, the closer someone is to you, the more likely they are to manifest the mark?"

"That seems to be the case."

Tanjirou then added honestly, "When the mark appeared, my body became extremely hot, and my heart was beating violently. I think that burden may be part of the reason why those who awaken the Slayer Mark are said not to live past twenty-five."

Sanemi did not even blink.

Dying before twenty-five?

He did not care.

If the mark gave him the strength to kill demons, then that was enough.

Zenitsu, on the other hand, cared very much.

He had already shuffled several steps away, his face turning pale.

"Wait, wait, wait. If I stay too close to Tanjirou, I might awaken the Slayer Mark too? And then I'll die young? I haven't even gotten married yet! I haven't even held hands with a girl who genuinely likes me!"

Inosuke snorted. "Like that's ever going to happen."

"Why are you attacking me right now?!"

Tanjirou turned around with an earnest expression.

"Don't worry, Zenitsu. Asuramaru can heal the damage caused by the Slayer Mark. If it places a burden on the body, he can help treat it."

Zenitsu instantly appeared at his side again.

"I feel weak. Very weak. My body is probably on the verge of awakening the Slayer Mark right now. Quick, ask Asuramaru to heal me."

"Zenitsu..."

For once, even Tanjirou looked at him with faint disdain.

Inside the sword, Asuramaru did not bother responding.

If he healed cowardice, Zenitsu would need treatment every three breaths.

With that familiar chaos trailing behind them, the group finally set off.

Two days passed in the blink of an eye.

By the time Tanjirou and the others reached the mission location, night had already fallen.

Tokyo.

Yoshiwara, the Entertainment District.

Unlike the quiet mountain paths and rural towns they had traveled through before, this place seemed to awaken only after sunset.

Lanterns burned in rows, casting warm light over red walls, wooden balconies, and narrow streets. Laughter spilled from open windows. Shamisen music drifted through the night air, mixing with perfume, tobacco smoke, wine, cosmetics, sweat, and the restless noise of countless people.

The buildings rose close together, elegant and gaudy at the same time, their polished fronts hiding deeper shadows within.

It was a city built for the night.

Women in bright kimono stood beneath the lights, their hair ornaments glittering as they called gently to passersby. Guests came and went. Servants hurried through alleys. Somewhere in the distance, someone laughed too loudly, while somewhere else, a door slid shut with a quiet finality.

Tanjirou, Zenitsu, and Inosuke were all seeing such a place for the first time.

Inosuke froze in the middle of the street.

"What is this? Why are there people everywhere?"

For once, the wild beast of the mountains looked almost overwhelmed.

Zenitsu, however, had a completely different reaction.

His eyes shone.

"So many beautiful young ladies..."

A courtesan by the roadside waved with a practiced smile, and Zenitsu's soul nearly left his body.

He drifted toward her without realizing it.

"So pretty... She waved at me. Did you see that? She definitely waved at me. Maybe this is fate. Maybe my future wife is waiting here in this district..."

A hand landed on the back of his collar.

Sanemi yanked him back without mercy.

"Brat, that place is too early for you."

Then he punched Zenitsu on the head.

"Gah!"

Zenitsu clutched his skull and howled. "Why do you keep hitting me?! I was just appreciating beauty!"

"You were walking into trouble."

"It was beautiful trouble!"

"Then I'll beat the trouble out of you."

"You're the trouble!"

Sanemi's fist clenched again.

Tanjirou quickly moved between them before Yoshiwara gained a new missing person case.

Unlike the others, Tanjirou had not been distracted by the lights.

His nose twitched constantly.

Too many scents.

Perfume. Powder. Food. Alcohol. Damp wood. Human sweat. Burned oil. The faint metallic tang of blood from somewhere far away, perhaps from a kitchen, perhaps not.

Everything overlapped and tangled together until the air itself became difficult to read.

Finding a demon's scent here would be far more difficult than in the wilderness.

Still, Tanjirou did not panic.

If there was a demon nearby, Asuramaru would sense it.

The group continued down the street.

Before long, the flow of people thickened. Pedestrians gathered on both sides of the road, whispering excitedly.

Tanjirou and the others moved closer and saw a procession passing through the district.

Several attendants walked in formation, and at their center was a woman dressed in magnificent layers of kimono. Her hair ornaments glittered beneath the lanterns, and her every step was slow, graceful, and deliberate.

Her beauty drew every gaze around her.

Zenitsu stared so hard his eyes almost became stars.

"That big sister is too beautiful. If my future wife looked like that, I could die with no regrets."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted very subtly toward Asuramaru at Tanjirou's waist, then toward the wooden box on Tanjirou's back.

Tanjirou did not notice.

Asuramaru did.

Inside the sword, he silently added another mark to Zenitsu's imaginary beating record.

Inosuke, meanwhile, gave the procession one look and snorted.

"She walks too slow. If she were in the mountains, she'd already be dead."

Zenitsu turned on him at once.

"Can you not judge beauty by survival speed?!"

"Survival speed is important!"

"Not during a procession!"

The group did not linger.

They continued deeper into the district.

The further they walked, the more gorgeous the buildings became. Yet beneath that splendor, Tanjirou could sense something strange.

People smiled here, but many of those smiles smelled tired.

The scent of fear was faint, buried beneath perfume and noise, but it existed.

Then, as they passed a famous house with an elegant signboard, Asuramaru's voice sounded in Tanjirou's mind.

"There's a demon in this place."

Tanjirou stopped at once.

The others noticed immediately.

Sanemi's gaze sharpened. "What is it?"

Tanjirou looked up at the building before them.

Ogimoto House.

Lanterns glowed warmly at the entrance. Voices drifted from inside. From the outside, it looked no different from the other establishments in the district.

Tanjirou took a careful breath.

Nothing.

No obvious demon scent.

No heavy stench of blood.

No clear trace of death.

His brow tightened.

"Asuramaru," he asked silently, "where is the demon?"

.....

[If you don't want to wait for the next update, read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.]

[[email protected]/FanficLord03]

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.