"The Demon Pillar."
"…"
With those words, an absolute silence fell over the courtyard.
The Pillar… of Demons?
The Pillars were left bewildered.
Obanai, on the other hand, was left completely petrified.
What about the Desire Pillar…?
WHERE IS MY DESIRE PILLAR?!
He had it all perfectly planned! He wasn't planning on calling him by his name again for what was left of his life. To every person he came across, he was going to introduce Marcus as the "DESIRE PILLAR"
AND NOW WHAT?!
Tanjiro, for his part, was also stunned.
What kind of title was that?
A Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps… with the title of "Demon"?
With a stiff face he looked at Giyū.
"Senpai… the master…"
"Is dead."
Giyū said it without even turning his head.
"!"
"The Desire Pillar thing was only an issue of appearances. But the Demon Pillar thing… now that's an issue of principles."
"..."
Giyū fixed his eyes on the distant mountains.
"It seems I'm going to have to head back to Mount Sagiri for a while… to keep watch over the master."
Hearing this, Tanjiro, who up until that moment had been on the verge of collapse, perked up in an instant.
"That would be for the best! I'll leave the master to you, Senpai!"
Giyū nodded, keeping his icy expression.
And then he asked:
"By the way… that thing you told me earlier, about Sabito's soul living at the top of Mount Sagiri… you weren't lying to me, were you?"
Tanjiro nodded without thinking.
And then… it hit him.
"SENPAI!"
A vein popped on his forehead.
"Are you going to go see the master, or to see Sabito?!"
"..."
A second vein joined the first.
"You're not thinking about settling yourself right at the top of the mountain when you get there, are you?!"
"..."
A third vein.
"And what if, while you're up at the top chatting with Sabito, the master commits Harakiri down below?!"
Giyū stayed silent for two seconds.
"… The smell of blood… will travel upward…"
"SENPAI!!"
While this little drama was unfolding, Gyōmei raised an objection of his own.
"That title… I'm afraid it goes against the fundamental spirit of the Corps."
"It's still better than the Desire Pillar, which truly would seriously damage the Corps' image." For once, Kagaya was joking.
Or, rather… maybe he wasn't entirely joking.
At the very least, none of those present dared to contradict him.
"Furthermore, Marcus is a Demon Devourer and employs demonic abilities in combat. And, except for him, every member of the research laboratory will be a demon."
"Therefore, I consider that there is absolutely nothing inappropriate about this name."
"From now on, the title of Demon Pillar will be used in public, justified by Marcus's status as a Demon Devourer. The existence of the laboratory, on the other hand, must never leak to the outside."
"UNDERSTOOD!"
Matter settled.
With Kagaya's final verdict, everything regarding Marcus, his demons, and his experiments was officially ratified.
Next on the agenda was the Hashira meeting itself, which was held once every six months.
Marcus asked Kanao to take Tanjiro, Nezuko, Ivy, and Pearl to the Butterfly Estate. Right after, he followed the rest of the group toward the meeting hall.
As the newly named Tenth Pillar, it was only natural that he would attend.
Although, to tell the truth, he didn't have the slightest interest in doing so.
Kagaya gave his typical motivational speech. The Pillars let themselves be collectively motivated. While they were at it, they took the chance to gripe about how pitifully low the level of the current members of the Corps was. And, finally, they went over together all the information available on Muzan.
For most of the time, Marcus was lost in his own thoughts.
His only intervention served to lay the groundwork for his future autonomy: Available for missions, but not under direct command. Put another way: he would kill the demons he had to kill, but he reserved the right not to show up to summonses he considered unjustified.
In essence, he was a collaborator, not a subordinate of Kagaya or the Corps. His Pillar rank was little more than a formal title intended to facilitate the cooperation between both sides.
That said, the meeting wasn't a complete waste of time either. Marcus had sat himself, very deliberately, between Shinobu and Mitsuri. And although the respect both of them held for Kagaya stopped him from messing with them during the session…
He was indeed able to dedicate himself, in silence, to something more subtle.
'Inhale… exhale… inhale…'
He was sitting between two beautiful women.
To his left, the faint aroma of wisteria that Shinobu gave off. To his right, that sweet, somewhat sugary perfume that wrapped around Mitsuri.
[High-Potential Female Target Detected!]
[Name: Shinobu Kochō (Human)]
[Strength Rank: Pillar]
[Potential: Extremely high (Can activate the Fourth Level of Analysis)]
[Current analysis progress: 43.03%]
[High-Potential Female Target Detected!]
[Name: Mitsuri Kanroji (Human)]
[Strength Rank: Pillar]
[Potential: Extremely high (Can activate the Fourth Level of Analysis)]
[Current analysis progress: 16.33%]
"Haa…"
He sighed after taking a glance at the panel.
How embarrassing.
After three full hours of meeting, and despite having been practically glued to them, the total lack of physical contact had taken its toll. Shinobu was still stuck on the first level, and Mitsuri hadn't even unlocked it yet.
So, the moment the meeting ended, he made his move.
He quickened his pace to catch up with Mitsuri, who was already on her way out.
"Miss Mitsuri."
She stopped and turned her head. When she saw Marcus, he flashed her a friendly smile.
"Do you have any time tonight? I'd love to take you out to dinner."
Straight to the point.
So straight, in fact, that the Pillars who hadn't yet finished walking out were left frozen in place.
'… a date?'
'M-M-M-Marcus-kun is asking me out on a date?!'
Mitsuri's whole body turned red in an instant as she hid her face in her hands, looking like she was about to evaporate from the heat of the embarrassment.
"I-I'm… I'm sorry. I… I… have an urgent matter!"
Marcus's smile faded in an instant, and a shadow of disappointment crept into his eyes.
"Ah… so, you're turning me down?"
"N-No, NO, NO! It's nothing like that!!"
Mitsuri waved her hands as if her life depended on it.
"It's just that right before the meeting they assigned me a mission, in my area! There's a demon on the loose, and if I don't head out tonight, it could hurt someone!"
She gave a deep bow.
"Really, I'm so terribly sorry!"
"I see…"
Marcus shook his head, faking dejection.
"Then… will you let me save this invitation for next time?"
"Or, better yet… tell me what you like to eat. That way, for next time, I'll cook it for you myself."
"Marcus-kun…" Mitsuri lifted her gaze, her eyes sparkling with excitement, "You… can cook too?"
"Of course."
Marcus looked at her with a soft smile.
"Although it's not something just anyone gets to try. I only cook for the pretty girls I like."
"Uhhh~!"
Mitsuri burst into flames all over again. And she covered her face once more, leaving only a pair of glassy eyes peeking out between her fingers.
'He… he likes me…'
'Pretty! He called me pretty!'
'Uhhh, I can't, I can't…'
'Wait… is this… is this a confession?'
'Is Marcus-kun confessing to me RIGHT NOW?!'
"Since you're not telling me no, I'll take it as a yes."
Marcus reached out his hand and stroked her head gently.
'Her hair is… oh, so soft… but it's burning! IT BURNS!'
'If she keeps this up, the Slayer Mark is going to break out on her!'
"Let's leave it for today. Go on to your mission, I won't keep you any longer." He pulled his hand back with a calm smile. "I'll see you another day."
Mitsuri snapped to attention all at once, with her arms glued to her sides, stiff as a student answering in class.
"Yes, Marcus-kun! Another day!"
"Is that a promise~?"
"It's a promise!"
"See you soon then, Miss Mitsuri~"
"S-see you soon, Marcus-kun…"
Ignoring the murderous glare Obanai was shooting at him, Marcus walked right on past him. Without saying a single word he followed Shinobu.
Obanai stayed still, gripping the hilt of his sword tightly, holding back the urge to draw it.
Mitsuri, still letting off steam from her ears, followed Marcus's back with her eyes until he disappeared. Only then did it hit her, all at once, that she had her mission.
Without paying the slightest attention to Obanai, who was clearly trying to say something to her, she shot off like a bolt.
The headquarters wasn't far from the Butterfly Estate. In fact, both were located on the same mountain.
Marcus and Shinobu walked shoulder to shoulder along the path, while the setting sun stretched their shadows out over the dirt road.
A strange silence kept them company the whole way.
And Marcus could feel that she was holding back the urge to say something.
The usual smile was still drawn on Shinobu's lips… but somehow it was different.
"Shinobu." He spoke first. "Say what you have to say, don't go all quiet on me like that… it gives me the creeps."
At those words, Shinobu's steps faltered for an instant.
"So… is it not anything serious?"
"What isn't?"
"Kanao."
Shinobu stopped completely and planted herself in front of Marcus.
"Do you act this way with every girl?"
Marcus stopped too. He looked her straight in the eye for a couple of seconds and smiled.
"No. With every girl I act in a different way."
Shinobu laughed resignedly.
"You know perfectly well that's not what I meant."
"I'm going to marry her."
"HUH?!"
Marcus's reply, just like that, with no warning, left her completely out of the game.
She had only wanted to know what he felt about Kanao. Something so long-term hadn't even crossed her mind!
"But… then… what about Nezuko?"
"They'll be together."
"B-but… but these days monogamy is the rule…"
Shinobu was genuinely lost. After all, the laws in effect very clearly established marriage between a single man and a single woman.
"Do I really look to you like someone who's going to bother with following the laws?"
Marcus tilted his head with a playful smile.
Shinobu: "…"
"Look, don't dwell on it. If you don't know much about these things, don't get too involved. The time to worry about this stuff will come when it's your turn."
"…"
Shinobu felt that there was something in that sentence that didn't quite add up… but, the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't figure out exactly what.
"How much further to the Estate?"
"… Not far. It's right around the bend."
Marcus rubbed his hands impatiently.
"Then let's hurry up! If we don't put Rui's blood to use soon, it's going to go bad!"
____
Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎
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P-a-t-r-e-o-n → Athome790