Chapter 247: The New Home

"So this was your old house?"

At the Asakusa mansion, Sanemi gazed at the building before him, which looked even more dilapidated under the moonlight, and was momentarily dumbstruck.

The walls were covered in enormous sword gashes, holes, and rooms left exposed to the elements...

Everything spoke of the intensity of the great battle that had taken place.

"How did it all end up so wrecked...? Haa..."

Urokodaki couldn’t help but feel a certain sorrow at seeing the mansion in such a sorry state.

Although he hadn’t lived there long, to be honest, in all his years he had never experienced such a comfortable life.

He had developed a certain fondness for this place.

Lifting his head, he confirmed with Marcus once more.

"Is your family really all right?"

Marcus smiled bitterly. "Old man, you’ve asked four times along the way. They’re fine, really fine."

"Not only are they fine, but they even drove off Upper Rank One and Upper Rank Two."

"That’s good... Good..."

He nodded, visibly relieved.

Once he’d calmed him down, Marcus glanced at Sanemi, who was reaching his hand into the crack of a sword gash, feeling it carefully.

"Don’t strain yourself so much; for now I’m not going to demolish this place. The Moon Breathing techniques basically left their marks on this wall—if you want to see them, you can come back and look later."

Rising to his feet, Sanemi crushed a clump of dirt in his hand and nodded with a serious face.

If it truly came down to projecting a sword technique, in the entire Corps his Wind Breathing was probably the one that most resembled Moon Breathing.

And as he looked at the gashes one after another on the surrounding walls and ground, he naturally couldn’t help but compare himself.

And the result of that comparison...

A single glance at his grave expression was enough to know that the gap was truly immense.

Off to the side, Mitsuri was also looking around, her heart pounding.

"Marcus-kun, so tonight... where are we going to stay?"

Marcus looked at Shinobu, who nodded. "By the time I left, I’d already moved just about everything."

Marcus smiled. "Great—then let’s head straight to our new home!"

"Oh~ home!"

In Mitsuri’s arms, Nezuko raised her little hands in celebration.

Asakusa.

As the most prosperous street in all of Kyoto, it could even be considered a city in its own right.

The commercial district in this area grew even brighter and livelier as night fell.

With neon lights, wine, and overflowing crowds, the surrounding stalls were as bright and colorful as a garden in full bloom.

The moment Mitsuri arrived, her eyes couldn’t help but light up.

After all, she was just a nineteen-year-old girl.

Although her family was also of high standing, it was only from a small town.

Add to that her peculiarity since childhood, and the family rarely went out to stroll through such a prosperous city.

Even when she went out on missions, it was all within the territory near her own family, which was her main responsibility.

At that moment, in the Asakusa commercial district, she felt truly excited and curious.

She looked at this, touched that.

"Do you like it?"

With a paper lantern in her left hand and a sugar figurine in her right, Mitsuri’s eyes curved as she nodded vigorously.

"If you like it, come often—from now on, all of this is ours!"

Marcus’s "generous" gesture earned him a look of disapproval from Sanemi, who trailed behind.

It was unavoidable; right then, he was the one with the most to carry.

Three on the left, three on the right—six enormous suitcases in total, all slung over his body.

On top of that, he knew this money was the capital Marcus was using to buy up Asakusa.

"Sanemi! Keep up, don’t fall behind!"

"Tsk."

Hearing Marcus’s shouts, Sanemi clicked his tongue.

He hadn’t even been turned yet, and the man had already started ordering him around.

At the trident-shaped intersection between Asakusa and Yoshiwara, the flow of people was hardly sparse either.

Though it didn’t compare to the bustle of the commercial district.

But this construction site still working at full tilt in the dead of night, combined with the old brothel patrons with full pockets and faces flushed with excitement, somehow made this road even noisier.

At first, Mitsuri didn’t know what those people hurrying along in the middle of the night were going to do.

Then, once she learned from Shinobu what they were up to...

And even after finding out that Marcus was the biggest owner in all of Yoshiwara...

Her face instantly went red, and she ignored Marcus.

After snatching Nezuko from the arms of that peerless pervert, Marcus, she simply held the girl close and hurried onward with her head down.

And it wasn’t just Mitsuri...

Sanemi also came along behind them with a look of utter contempt, without saying a single word.

The idea that his future boss was a pimp made his face burn with embarrassment.

But the most extreme one was Urokodaki.

Setting aside that he walked dead last of them all, he also kept a distance of two hundred yards from the group.

Even though he wore a mask, he still walked in a furtive, guarded manner.

He looked exactly like he was saying: I’m embarrassed! I feel humiliated! I don’t know any of these people!

Except he didn’t realize that, by acting this way, he looked more like a... regular brothel patron afraid of getting caught red-handed.

Marcus sighed as he observed everyone’s reactions around him.

’It’s truly lonely to be misunderstood...’

Luckily... Shinobu was still by his side to keep him company, and she was more than used to it by now.

"You’re still the best one for me, Shinobu~"

He moved closer to Shinobu, trying to hug her.

But she shifted aside in a single step, keeping her distance.

Shinobu lifted her head and, with her characteristic smile, calmly looked at Marcus.

"This is the last time I’ll walk this road with Marcus-kun."

"I’ve already reached an agreement with Tamayo to open a small, separate path behind the residence that leads straight to Asakusa."

Marcus’s eyes went wide in confusion. "Why?"

"Why?"

A flash of coldness appeared in Shinobu’s smiling eyes, startling Marcus.

"I’ve walked this road alone three times, and I’ve been asked a total of ten times, ’How much do you charge?’ and ’Which establishment are you at?’"

"So tell me, Marcus-kun~ why could that be...?"

"Uh... ha... haha..."

Marcus laughed dryly and stepped aside guiltily.

"It’s fine... haha... building a little path is a great idea..."

In this way, Marcus, as if he were some lonely soul, led the group across that long road.

Until, upon turning onto the path that belonged exclusively to the Marcus residence, the people around him gathered back together.

Then, under Marcus’s guidance, everyone stood staring fixedly at the majestic, splendid main entrance.

"This... is your house?"

Sanemi was dumbfounded.

The main entrance alone nearly reached the size of a courtyard at the Demon Slayer Corps headquarters.

"What you’ve built here... is even more over-the-top than the shoguns’ residences."

Marcus clapped him on the shoulder.

"From now on, I’m entrusting the security of this residence to you!"

Sanemi pointed at himself, looking at him in disbelief.

"Me?! Just me?!"

"Uh-huh." Marcus nodded as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "You run fast."

"..."

Just as Sanemi was questioning his life while staring at the seemingly endless perimeter wall, the heavy gates slowly swung open.

"Oh~ The great Marcus-sama has returned~"

A sarcastic, eccentric, bitter, and deliberately shrill voice came from within.

"Oh~? And who’s this new... little sister... you’ve kidnapped?"

Without much thought, Marcus already knew whose mouth that was coming from.

Chuckling under his breath, he waved his hand.

Swish

With a flurry of Koketsu Arrows releasing, a white figure flew up into the sky.

"Marcus, you jerk!! You toss everything in the trash the moment you find something new!!"

"AAAAAH!!!"

Looking at the stunned people outside the gate, Marcus clapped his hands.

"Don’t just stand there—come in and see your new home."

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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

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