Chapter 242: The Hardest Decision

When Marcus got back to the Swordsmith Village, he found Mitsuri crouched on a rock by the side of the road, holding a severed pinky finger in her hand and turning it over like it was some new toy.

Watching her play with the finger, even lifting it up to her nose, Marcus let out a helpless sigh.

"It doesn’t smell like anything."

The sudden voice startled Mitsuri, who nearly dropped the finger.

She scrambled to her feet, flustered, clutching the pinky tight.

"Marcus-kun... You’re back..."

Seeing her face red as a tomato and that guilty look on it, Marcus just shook his head and said nothing more.

He walked a few steps toward the village, stopped in the middle of the road, and looked around.

The village was completely deserted.

Swordsmiths and slayers were dragging boxes and hauling things every which way, kicking through rubble and broken roof tiles.

The whole place was steeped in an air of grief.

No one spoke, no one wept; everyone worked with their heads down.

Not far off.

Sanemi sat on the trunk of a fallen tree, shirtless, his body wrapped in bandages.

He was covered in gashes, though none of them deep, and the bleeding had already stopped.

When he saw Marcus, he gave a nod, then looked away.

Obanai lay against the other side of the trunk; the tumor on his face was receding, but very slowly.

His eyes were closed, and Kaburamaru was coiled around his neck.

Tokito lay on a stretcher, his left leg amputated below the knee, unconscious.

Two Kakushi carried him along slowly and carefully, terrified of a single misstep that might jolt him.

Up in the sky, the crows wheeled around wildly in every direction, but aside from a couple letting out a caw, most of them stayed silent.

It was as if they were mourning the ones down below.

Marcus watched for a few seconds, looked away, and reached into his clothes to pull out a few vials of Letter of Resignation.

"For the seriously wounded, toss each of them one more vial."

He handed the medicine to Mitsuri. "Sanemi, Obanai, Tokito. Take these to them."

Mitsuri nodded and ran off.

A while later, once she’d finished giving instructions to the Kakushi, she came running back.

Standing beside Marcus, the innocent, lively look had vanished from her face.

"Marcus-kun... will they be okay?"

Looking at her, Marcus shook his head. "Some kinds of damage are irreversible. Not even the Letter of Resignation can fix them."

Mitsuri lowered her head and fell silent.

But after a few seconds, she looked up again, her eyes red, fighting back the tears.

"T-Then what’s going to happen to them?"

"I’m offering my help. But the decision is theirs..."

"You mean something... like Shinobu-san...?" Mitsuri’s voice dropped.

Marcus nodded. "If they become vampires, none of this will be a problem anymore."

Mitsuri went quiet, and after a few seconds, she murmured:

"I think... I mean, for me..."

She looked him in the eyes. "For me there’s nothing wrong with it..."

"It’s the hardest decision of their lives," Marcus said with a nod. "Better to let them choose for themselves."

"Mhm." Mitsuri nodded emphatically.

There was silence for a moment.

She pulled the piece of finger out of her pocket again, held it in her palm, brought it up to her eyes, and asked with curiosity:

"Marcus-kun, when did you slip the finger into my braid? How did I not even feel it?"

"... Do you really want to know?"

"Of course!"

"Hehe~" Marcus laughed, amused. "It was when I was helping you change your clothes at the hot springs."

At those words, the village fell into utter silence.

Crack

Only the trunk of the tree Obanai was leaning against let out a dull thud.

It was the sound of his fingers digging hard into the bark.

Mitsuri stared at Marcus, dazed, then glanced around, bewildered by the gossipy looks from everyone, who had momentarily suppressed their grief.

Out of nowhere, her face caught fire.

"Kyaaa~!"

Shrieking with embarrassment, steam practically pouring off her head, she grabbed Marcus by the arm and bolted.

...

Three days.

Evacuating the Swordsmith Village took three days.

At the end of the day, this was no ordinary move—it was relocating an entire village.

The furniture and luggage were the least of it.

But moving forges and anvils of that size, along with all the raw materials, wasn’t something you just threw together.

It took three days of grueling work, and Marcus waited there the whole time.

Only once the village stood deserted did he head off for the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.

Where the hell the swordsmiths were relocating to, he couldn’t care less—he didn’t even ask.

∆∆∆

Headquarters, the meeting hall.

At the long table, Kagaya sat in his usual spot, his face wrapped in bandages. The little bit of skin still showing was whiter than paper, completely translucent.

He needed Amane’s help just to sit up.

This time Marcus sat at the far end of the table, watching him from a distance.

Mitsuri sat to his right and Shinobu to his left.

She had a whole spread of diagnostic reports laid out on the table, covered in writing and various diagrams marking the location and depth of the wounds.

She’d made the trip all the way from Asakusa just to be there.

As head of the Corps’ medical service, she only felt at ease handling Obanai and Tokito personally.

At that moment, the two casualties lay on stretchers inside the hall.

As wrecked as they were, they should have been laid up in a hospital.

But the entire discussion at the meeting revolved around them.

Not even Kagaya could make this decision for them.

Kagaya coughed lightly:

"Shinobu."

Shinobu rose to her feet, picked up the report, and opened it.

"Iguro-san’s eyes, the eyeballs themselves, are damaged. A large portion of the optic nerves has also been eroded by the poison."

"Even though the Letter of Resignation was used and the toxins were removed, the nerve damage is irreversible."

"His current condition is that he’s completely lost the sight in his right eye, and the left one... can barely perceive light."

"As for Tokito’s injuries..."

Shinobu paused for a moment.

"The left leg, below the knee, is completely severed and can’t be reattached."

With that, she sat down.

The hall fell into a graveyard silence.

Nobody said a damn word.

Kagaya waited for the mood to settle before speaking.

"If I’ve gathered everyone here today, it’s precisely to talk about this..." His voice was even softer than usual. "Given Obanai and Tokito’s current conditions, should we consider... turning them into vampires?"

__________

Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

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

______

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

P-a-t-r-e-o-n → Athome790