During the conversation that followed, Marcus stayed off to one side, listening in silence.
Although he was clear on the vast majority of things about Demon Slayer, there were still a great many details he didn't know, or only half knew, or had never known at all.
For example, the specific system through which Muzan exercised control over the demons.
According to Hakuji, apart from the curse inherent to any demon—the one that blew them apart if they revealed sensitive information—Muzan's control depended mostly on two factors.
The first was distance.
The second, the amount of his blood the demon carried inside.
With demons turned by barely a single drop, if they were nearby, Muzan could even read their minds, or something like that. But if they got far enough away, it wasn't a matter of control anymore—it wasn't even easy for him to locate them.
That was precisely the reason for the habit of assigning every newly turned demon a fixed territory: it was a matter of administrative management.
But with demons of a caliber like the Twelve Kizuki, things changed radically. Those he could completely suppress the regeneration of just by wishing it, and even if they were on the other side of Japan, he was able to sense their location and condition effortlessly.
And among the Twelve Kizuki, the Six Upper Moons—the ones who carried the largest amount of his blood—were a step above even that. Muzan could transmit messages to them across space, share his vision with them, speak directly into their ear from anywhere in the world, and if they got close enough, he could literally decide whether they lived or died with a single thought.
Exactly what he had done with Nakime in the Infinity Castle.
The lesson continued.
Like a true martial arts fanatic, Hakuji rarely communicated with the other Moons. He had a natural aversion to them, especially Dōma, Upper Moon Two.
So most of what he knew was basic information and surface-level descriptions of abilities.
But for a Corps that had never once managed to bring down an Upper Moon, this—"basic" or not—was flat-out a treasure.
By the time Hakuji finished pouring out everything he had inside, Rengoku was already fully immersed in the process of digesting each piece of data.
"Upper Moon One, Kokushibō… Upper Moon Two, Dōma… Upper Moon Four, Hantengu… Upper Moon Five, Gyokko..."
Once it was over, Marcus intended to take Hakuji back to his Mansion in Asakusa.
But Hakuji beat him to it with something he wasn't expecting.
HE WAS ASKING FOR VACATION TIME!
"Master! Koyuki hasn't crossed over to reincarnate yet. I'd like to make the most of this last bit of time to go with her and walk through the places where we built our memories together in the past one more time. I beg you… grant me this."
The reason was more than solid.
Marcus had no way to refuse him. And besides, being fully aware of everything… could he even stop him?
On top of that, the coming days were going to be quiet. And vacation is vacation.
"Go."
On his way out, he unhooked the Nichirin sword at his waist and tossed it to him. "Take it. If you run into a demon along the way, kill it. Consider it an official explanation for the Corps."
"Yes, Master!"
As he watched him turn around to leave, Marcus remembered something.
"Wait!"
He spun around and, without any warning, started rummaging through Rengoku's clothes.
"You got any money? Hand it over!"
"??"
Rengoku froze.
"...What are you doing?"
"Looking for money."
Rengoku still couldn't quite get it. "You leave home without any money?"
"I left home in my pajamas! How was I supposed to bring money? Do you leave home with nothing?"
"I brought some... yeah, I brought some..."
"Give it here."
Still bewildered, Rengoku pulled a small wad of bills from his belt and handed it over. Marcus took it, thumbed through it for a rough count, and put on a face of utter disgust.
"This is all of it?"
"I bought bentos!"
"Forget it…" Marcus walked over to Hakuji and stuffed the bills into his hand without any further ceremony.
"What is this...?" Hakuji stared at the money, stunned.
"What? You've never seen a paycheck in your life?"
"No... never."
"What kind of shit boss is Muzan, anyway!" Marcus was deeply outraged. "He doesn't even pay a salary—he deserves to get reamed up the ass!"
"What... what?"
"Nothing!"
Marcus rested his hand on Hakuji's shoulder.
"Keep this money for the road. That way you won't have to go around stealing if you want to take Koyuki to see the fireworks." He gave him a few firm pats. "Before she leaves, live a little piece of the life any normal person should get to live, together. Even if it's a small one."
Those words touched Hakuji's soul, making his eyes go red.
"Yes! Master!"
And Hakuji left.
Marcus wasn't entirely sure exactly when he'd show up in Asakusa, but judging by his words and by the look on his face when he said goodbye… it shouldn't take more than a month.
Rengoku looked off in the direction Hakuji had just disappeared. Worry weighed heavy on his face.
"You just let him go like that?"
"What else do you want me to do?"
"What if... he doesn't come back?"
Marcus smiled. "He'll come back."
"How do you know?"
"Because I trust him."
"..."
Rengoku didn't stick around much longer either. Once the Kakushi arrived to deal with the mess, he was anxious to get back to Headquarters and report the freshly obtained information. But before leaving for good, he took one last look at Marcus's swollen, bruised face.
"Your injuries... is it really going to be okay?"
Marcus had pulled a little mirror out of some pocket—God only knows where from—and was examining his bruises.
"There's a pretty huge problem."
"So..."
"When my women see me, it's going to break their hearts."
"..."
Rengoku stormed off, fuming.
Marcus and the trio took off too. But not just any old way. They took off riding on Enmu.
And, speaking of which, Enmu's fusion ability turned out to be terribly handy. Even in broad daylight, with the locomotive shell over the top, Enmu could move around without the slightest problem. He didn't even need coal. If it weren't for the fact that he had to eat people now and then to recharge his energy, he would have been practically a perpetual motion machine.
The only catch was that, logically, it had to run on rails. But luckily, with Ubuyashiki's network of contacts and organizational capacity, clearing a track with advance notice was still just a matter of moving a single piece on the board.
Of course, Enmu didn't lend himself to the whole thing with much enthusiasm.
According to him—and he made it clear several times during the trip—he was a demon with dignity. He was Lower Moon One! He wasn't there to be used as a means of transportation by just any human.
But he didn't hold out long once five swords drove into his forehead and all started spinning at the same time.
"You gonna move or not?"
"NO WAY!!"
Spin.
"OWWW!! I'M MOVING! I'M MOVING! I'M GOING! I'M GOING! I'M ALREADY GOING, GODDAMMIT!"
"Then you should've said so from the start. Damn piece-of-shit masochist."
And so, the derailment of the Infinity Train was officially reduced to a mere railway accident. Left behind were the wreckage of the disaster and the passengers, still unconscious.
Marcus, the three boys, and an entire train locomotive set off in the direction of Asakusa.
Inside the locomotive.
Tanjiro watched the railroad ties fly past the window at full speed, a pensive expression on his face.
"Marcus… are we really heading back just like this, no more to it?"
"What do you mean, 'just like this'?"
"On this mission... did we not kill a single demon?"
Marcus looked at him with a grimace. This kid is already worrying about productivity targets? Seriously?
He gave him a light bonk on the head.
"The ones who didn't kill any demons are the three of you! I ate one, recruited another, and I'm hauling a third one along! My numbers are outstanding, thank you very much!"
"..."
The scenery flew by on the other side of the window. But compared to a Marcus running at full tilt, the train's speed was still pretty mediocre. And on top of that, it depended on Ubuyashiki coordinating the track schedules and the other convoys so as not to cause an incident.
It took the four of them a good day and a half of travel to get back to the vicinity of Asakusa.
Two stops from their destination, Marcus used the Nichirin sword still buried in Enmu's forehead as a brake. Amid the demon's absolutely bloodcurdling shrieks, he managed to bring the locomotive to a halt. By then the sky had already gone completely dark.
He found an abandoned warehouse near the track and, using the Arrows, shoved Enmu inside. He stayed inside too, keeping watch.
Tanjiro, meanwhile, got stuck with the job of running back to the Asakusa Mansion, finding Tamayo, and urgently bringing back another injection of the "resignation letter."
Marcus's plan was to first sever the bond between Enmu and Muzan right there, neutralize the bug, and then haul the locomotive back to investigate it at his leisure.
But things never turn out exactly the way you expect.
A few hours later, Tanjiro, who had set out alone, came back accompanied by two more people.
And Tamayo's face, frankly, was not a good one.
__________
Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎
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