Chapter 269: It’s the Thought That Counts

"We almost died!!"

Beside the campfire, Tengen gripped Marcus by the collar of his shirt, shaking him frantically.

Marcus’s head was spinning, but knowing he was in the wrong, he raised his hands in surrender.

"All right, all right, that’s enough—you’re a grown man, you shouldn’t be so petty."

"Petty?! Us?!" The veins in Tengen’s neck were about to burst. "We heard from the Kasugai Crow that you were around here and, dragging our half-dead bodies along, we came to back you up! And what happened? WE DIDN’T EVEN SEE THE ENEMY AND YOU ALMOST KILLED US!!"

Marcus pointed innocently at Nakime, who remained kneeling.

"It was her, not me."

Tengen glanced at Nakime out of the corner of his eye before fixing his gaze back on Marcus.

"Didn’t you say she belongs to you now?!"

Marcus fell silent.

It was completely true: even though Nakime had hurled them into the horde of Demons, she now belonged to him.

Besides, come to think of it, it was precisely his earlier comment about killing any man who saw her that had caused these three to suffer such a disaster.

He sighed and went straight for shamelessness.

"And what do you want me to do about it?"

Rengoku stepped in to smooth things over.

"It was just a scare—what matters is that we’re all still alive!"

But Tengen, unable to contain his indignation, pointed aggressively at the campfire.

"Pay me back with the fish!"

"Go ahead, help yourself. I only wanted to try it anyway."

In fact, none of Marcus’s women needed to eat.

If it weren’t for the fact that Makomo wanted to play in the water and he’d gotten a craving with nothing better to do, they wouldn’t have lit the fire at all.

"Hmph!"

Tengen sat down cross-legged and yanked off a piece of the roasted fish.

Without even blowing on it, he shoved it into his mouth and chewed eagerly, panting from the heat but refusing to spit it out.

Rengoku sat down beside Marcus with his hands on his knees.

"Thank you for saving us today! If you hadn’t broken into the Infinity Castle, we would’ve died for sure."

The place fell silent.

Even Obanai, covered in blood, approached hesitantly and gave a slight bow in gratitude.

The snake around his neck flicked out its tongue in tandem.

Tengen spoke with his mouth full:

"One thing doesn’t cancel out the other—what happened just now is settled. But you saving us is a separate matter, and I don’t like owing favors... You like money, don’t you? When I get back, I’ll pool my savings and get you five million as a reward."

Marcus closed his mouth and his eyes lit up.

He suddenly leaned in and gave him a heavy pat on the back, making him cough.

"I knew you were a real man!"

Obanai looked at Tengen, then at Marcus.

"...I’ll put in three million. A cripple like me isn’t worth that much either."

Rengoku froze.

How had they suddenly started buying their lives back?

Where had the camaraderie gone?

He lowered his head, a little embarrassed:

"I spent all my money on food and I don’t manage my family’s assets... at most I can scrape together fifty thousand from my savings."

"No worries, it’s the thought that counts!"

Marcus waved his hand, thoroughly delighted.

"After all, it’s not like I’m greedy, you know?"

Makomo sighed in resignation.

For her part, Nakime, still kneeling, took note: ’Marcus-sama likes money. Key point: other people’s money.’

Seeing his companions’ attitude, Marcus took two more roasted fish from the campfire and handed them to Rengoku and Obanai.

"Eat up and get your strength back. Before dawn we need to find a place to rest, so we’d better travel together."

"Before dawn?" Rengoku took the fish, puzzled for a second before looking at Nakime.

Right—Marcus could walk under the sun, but she was still a Demon.

"And why don’t you just head back through the Infinity Castle?" he asked, puzzled.

Marcus shook his head.

"You imagine the castle as something magical, but it barely covers the size of about three villages. You can travel freely to the areas within its reach, but for places outside its range you have to carry Nakime’s eyes with you." He pointed at the sand beneath his feet. "When we came south, she recovered the eyes she had in Asakusa to deploy them here. Since her eyeballs have a distance limit, this stretch we’ll have to do on foot."

Rengoku nodded at once.

"So that’s what it was. Even so, it’s convenient—no wonder you wanted to absorb her Blood Demon Art."

Tengen swallowed his fish, his mind racing. Suddenly, he dropped the branch and stared at Marcus.

"Nakime’s eyes have a distance limit, but your swapping ability doesn’t. If in the future you split off eyeballs from your own body... will they have any restriction?"

Marcus grinned from ear to ear.

"I’ve thought about that too."

"If her Blood Demon Art merges with my ability and removes the eyes’ range limit, I’ll be able to scatter them all over the country. No matter where a problem crops up, I’ll be able to teleport there in an instant, or use the Infinity Castle to move people."

The three of them went mute.

The idea sounded preposterous: as long as there was an eye somewhere on the map, Marcus could arrive in the blink of an eye without any restriction whatsoever.

Seeing their faces, Marcus sketched a mysterious smile.

That seemed terrifying to them?

That was only the beginning. If someday he managed to devour Muzan’s genes to gain self-modification and merge his other Blood Demon Arts into those eyes...

If those scattered eyeballs had Godspeed or could fire the Koketsu Arrow, the moment he locked onto a target, it wouldn’t be able to escape; he’d hook it with the arrows and hurl it into the castle.

Imagining it, he couldn’t help but laugh.

Rengoku looked at him without understanding.

"What are you laughing about so much?"

Tengen rolled his eyes as he took a bite of another fish.

"I bet it’s nothing good. He’s definitely picturing using those eyes to sneak into the women’s baths."

Marcus’s laughter cut off cold and he shot him a withering glare.

"Just focus on eating!"

Makomo laughed meanwhile; Nakime kept her head down, recording: ’Marcus-sama likes watching women bathe. Key point: in secret.’

If Marcus knew what she was writing, he would have punished her that very instant.

He kicked a bit of sand to cover the sparks at the edge of the fire.

"Hurry up and eat, we’re leaving as soon as you’re done."

Rengoku tossed the bones into the fire.

"No rush. We already sent a message to the master. The Kakushi unit will be here soon, so we’ll all leave together."

Marcus thought about it for a moment.

"Fine. It’s about time I had a little chat with Kagaya anyway."

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Throw your stones, drop them ALL! 💎

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