Thinking about it, it seems every world has some kind of popular, crowd-pleasing entertainment district. One can't help but marvel at the power of lewdness.
The Demon Slayer world is no exception. The earliest origin of such pleasure venues traces back to a certain famed minister of the ancient civilization next door. He found a business opportunity in a certain indescribable human instinct and revitalized his nation's commerce through this special industry.
But as moral concepts matured, although the industry persisted over the millennia, no later dynasty was willing to lose face by investing too much effort into it.
Still, that couldn't stop the "little brother next door" who copies everything, and insists on learning it in its purest form.
Beginning in the shogunate era, the island nation officially regulated the sex industry. Aside from privately operated prostitutes, all pleasure venues had to be concentrated in designated areas.
That zone was the yūkaku, commonly known as the flower district.
In the yūkaku, dissipation and indulgence were the only themes, yet beneath this paradise of pleasure hid endless filth and tears.
Now Charles and Tanjiro stood at the entrance to Yoshiwara's flower district.
After learning what kind of place this was, Tanjiro's face turned crimson. As a courtesan tried to pull him into a house, he didn't even know where to put his hands and feet.
The kid was too pure; how could he handle a scene like this?
Charles chuckled, but when he saw the touting courtesan heading his way, he grabbed Tanjiro and beat a retreat.
Come on—how could he betray Stella's trust? He wasn't here to degenerate.
Before they set out, Stella had already given him a reward for keeping himself clean! And to think a girl's lips could make Charles—who could swallow flames—feel scalded!
So even in the pleasure quarter, Charles harbored not a single impure thought!
To train Tanjiro, Charles decided to use an Upper Rank demon as a whetstone. Of the Upper Moons (and those with a confirmed location), the obvious targets in the pleasure quarter were the former Lower Rank Six siblings—Daki and Gyutaro.
A place like the yūkaku wasn't suitable for girls, so the group split up. Charles and Tanjiro came to the pleasure quarter.
Stella, meanwhile, took Nezuko to Kyoto to find another demon who had broken free of Muzan's control—Tamayo.
If they wanted to lure out that wretch Muzan, who hid who-knows-where, Charles felt they would have to rely on Nezuko.
As in the original story, Nezuko rarely had lucid moments and was mostly in a state of slumber.
Although Charles could sense constant changes within her, he had done too little research on demon blood to help.
So he decided to leave the specialized work to a professional, hence the plan for Stella to take Nezuko to find Tamayo.
This time Stella was also carrying a number of potions, hoping to see if any might benefit Nezuko.
Having Nezuko drink them directly couldn't guarantee no adverse effects; better to let Tamayo verify them experimentally!
Guided by their kasugai crow, Charles and Tanjiro arrived at Yoshiwara's pleasure quarter.
It had to be said, a courtesan's profession—seldom going out and mostly active at night—was very convenient for demons to hide behind.
And since courtesans often ran away or committed suicide, it provided further cover for a demon's activities.
Charles stamped his foot, but didn't sense any space beneath the ground.
There was one more thing to handle before formally fighting the former Lower Rank Six.
Daki had imprisoned many people in some underground space within the pleasure quarter, using it as her larder.
If she ran into danger during a fight, Daki would surely devour those poor courtesans immediately to replenish herself. So before the battle, they had to rescue those people!
Thus, even though Charles knew where Daki was, he still strolled idly along the quarter's streets.
When he reached the rear of a two-story wooden building, he stopped. He had sensed faint signs of life belowground.
"This is the place," Charles said with a sigh of relief.
Tanjiro looked around. "But there's no scent of an entrance. How do we get down there to save them?"
Charles thought it over. He couldn't pull off Inosuke's method from the original story of slipping through a passage; in the end, he would have to use a more forceful approach like Tengen Uzui.
Even so, he said, "Getting down won't be hard, but now isn't the time. Let's stick to the plan."
…
In Yoshiwara, there were three top establishments in both scale and popularity. Almost every year's oiran came from one of these three.
Gokurakuya was one of them, and yet its proprietress had been deeply troubled of late.
Straightening her kimono, she knocked on the door before her. "Warabihime, are you in?"
Warabihime was an oiran of Gokurakuya, but though she worked under the proprietress, the latter's tone was even more deferential.
"What is it?"
The languid voice's owner showed no respect for the proprietress and didn't bother to rise to open the door.
The proprietress swallowed. "A guest wants you to go to Aotaya for drinks tonight. They say he's a big merchant dealing in precious medicinal ingredients, and very generous. I'm here to ask if you're interested."
There was a pause inside, then footsteps approached and the door slid open.
Warabihime wasn't particularly tall, yet when she looked at the proprietress it was like looking down from on high.
"Oh? A merchant in precious medicinal ingredients?"
She glanced at the large bag of money the proprietress had set before her, and a spark of interest flashed in her eyes.
The island nation still used commodity money on the gold standard. A single gold coin could buy a sack of rice or equivalent essentials, and the bag held five to six thousand coins—enough to keep an ordinary household in comfort for a long time.
But Warabihime wasn't interested in the money. She was interested in the identity of the person requesting her company.
'A medicinal herb merchant! He might have information about the Blue Spider Lily the Lord cares most about. If so, the Lord will surely reward me!'
Indeed, the oiran Warabihime was the alias of the former Lower Rank Six demon, Daki. She changed her appearance and identity every ten years and remained hidden in the pleasure quarter.
The quarter drew people from all over, most of them wealthy and influential. Daki's job was to use her status as an oiran to gather the information Muzan Kibutsuji cared about most.
Normally, given Daki's temperament, she was unwilling to do the sake-serving bit. But the guest's identity made her willing to waste a little time.
If he disappointed her, though, being eaten would be understandable, no?
Seeing the increasingly eerie smile on Warabihime's face, the proprietress lowered her head, her body trembling slightly.
She had met more people than most, and today's two didn't look like merchants at all. Nor did the man's special request for Warabihime feel like infatuation with her beauty.
But the proprietress said nothing, because she wanted to see Warabihime disappear more than anyone!
Night fell, and Warabihime was carried by palanquin into a tavern.
Busy plotting how to pry for news of the Blue Spider Lily, Daki didn't notice how quiet it had become around her. Only when the palanquin was set down did she realize the bustling tavern was empty.
Boom!
A distant crash resounded, and then Daki noticed someone breaking into her larder and freeing the people trapped there.
"Damn it—is it the Demon Slayer Corps?"
Her ornate, patterned sashes shredded the palanquin, revealing the boy before her drawing a black Nichirin blade.
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