Chapter 244: Two Refusals

"You refuse?"

Mitsuri turned in astonishment, looking at his heavily bandaged face. "Iguro-san, your eyes... why would you refuse?"

Obanai seemed to sense her gaze; he tilted his head slightly, turning it a little in her direction. "I’m not completely blind, and I have Kaburamaru."

His fingers stroked the snake. "I can still kill demons without becoming a Vampire."

Shinobu picked up the medical report. "Iguro-san, what I said earlier is the best-case scenario: you’ll keep just one eye with severely reduced vision, and that small remnant is so fragile that I can’t guarantee it will last very long. Wouldn’t you rather reconsider?"

"There’s nothing to reconsider." Obanai shook his head firmly. "Even if I go completely blind, Kaburamaru will be my eyes, and I can ask Himejima-san for advice."

As he spoke, he fixed his bandaged eyes precisely on Shinobu and gave an almost imperceptible smile.

"Don’t forget, I’m a snake... and snakes don’t rely on sight."

"Oh~" Marcus was surprised. "I already brought up the matter of the marks. Even knowing you won’t live past twenty-five, you still insist? Do you really want so little to be my subordinate?"

Obanai clenched his teeth and his fists as he remembered, but after a deep breath he managed to calm down.

"You’re only part of the reason."

"And the other part?"

"... I loathe aberrant creatures like you from the bottom of my heart."

Marcus raised an eyebrow but didn’t answer.

On the contrary, he nodded, understanding it all.

Obanai had been born into a clan that sacrificed newborns to a serpent demon in exchange for wealth; a pack of lazy degenerates feeding a monster their own children to live off blood-stained money.

As the only male born in over three hundred years, he’d been imprisoned since childhood until, at twelve, the demon slit the corners of his mouth to drink his blood.

He managed to dig his way out and was rescued by the former Flame Hashira, Shinjuro.

From then on, he regarded everything about his past, his own life included, as a sin, making the eradication of demons his sole redemption.

Becoming a creature like the one his clan worshipped would be a fate worse than death.

"All right, if you don’t want to, we’ll leave it at that." Marcus shrugged. "Still, I’ll hold a place for you. The day you find a reason to keep on living, come look for me."

Obanai was stunned.

He’d expected him to fly into a rage...

"Hmph! I wouldn’t come looking for you even if I were dead," he shot back, looking away.

Marcus smiled and said nothing more.

There were still years ahead.

Once Muzan was dead and he tasted the calm of a peaceful life, achieving redemption, he wouldn’t be so stubborn.

Passing right by Obanai, Marcus turned his gaze toward Tokito.

"And you? Obanai has Kaburamaru, but a new leg isn’t going to grow back for you."

"Yeah, I know." Tokito nodded, then added with a carefree air: "I refuse too."

This time, Marcus’s eyes went wide.

"... Why?"

Tokito blinked indifferently. "I don’t want to change, so I refuse."

Marcus was left speechless.

He’d forgotten!

Before regaining his memory thanks to Tanjiro, Tokito hadn’t cared in the slightest even if he died.

After being turned down twice in a row and failing to recruit anyone, he lost interest.

"All right, I respect personal choices."

He rose to his feet and waved his hand dispiritedly.

"I’ll stay here tonight. Until I leave tomorrow, you still have time to think it over. If you change your minds, come find me."

With that, he walked toward the door. Shinobu stood, gave a nod to everyone, and quickened her pace to follow him.

Mitsuri made as if to stand a couple of times, but ended up staying in her seat, biting her lip.

As much as she liked Marcus, right now she was still a Hashira and owed her loyalty to the Master.

Leaving in the middle of the meeting would have been disrespectful.

The door closed and the hall fell silent once more.

Just as Kagaya was about to bring the session to a close... Sanemi stopped the drumming of his fingers.

He clenched his fist tightly, the veins in his hand standing out, and rose to his feet.

In front of the table, he bowed deeply to Kagaya.

After straightening up, he didn’t look at any of his comrades and turned to leave through the door.

He slid the door open and stepped out.

He didn’t slam it shut, but the click echoed as if a thunderclap had crashed down over everyone’s heads.

"Shinazugawa-san?"

"Shinazugawa-kun?!"

"SHINAZUGAWA?!"

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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

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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