Straightening up, Akaza looked at Marcus with a certain perplexity.
'What should I call him…?'
The only thing he was certain about was that, from now on, he definitely shouldn't call him just by his name.
This man who had defeated him, who had helped him recover his memories, who had allowed him to be reunited with Koyuki, and on top of all that had severed the blood bond that tied him to Muzan…
He cast a glance toward the outside of the forest… sunlight had already covered the area of the tracks.
He had it perfectly clear. Marcus had also saved his life… No, it had been two lives.
If it hadn't been for him, Koyuki would never have accepted to reincarnate. If it hadn't been for him, Hakuji would have had to watch, for an entire eternity, how the woman he loved more than anything wasted away at his side enduring a punishment that wasn't even hers.
Now, instead, he was here. Alive. With his word given to Koyuki, the promise of finding her when she reincarnated, of searching for her wherever it took, of telling her who he had been in her past life and accompanying her through every life that came after. And, if he was capable, of also doing all the good he could during that time.
Atoning for what could be atoned for. And, with a bit of luck, being by her side for many lives in a row.
All of that, ALL of it, he owed to the smiling man standing in front of him.
So… what the hell was he supposed to call him?
You could still see on Marcus's face the swelling and the bruises from the beating that he himself, just a little while ago, had been dealing him. It wasn't pleasant, but the smile with which he now looked at him was strangely calm.
Was this…? Was this what they called returning good for evil?
For a moment he thought he saw, superimposed over Marcus, the silhouette of his master.
His master had saved him when he was a child. Marcus had saved him now.
Were they… were the two of them the same kind of man?
In his field of vision, the figure of his master and the first impression he'd had of Marcus began to merge. To become a single one… Until they finished turning, just like that, into the man standing in front of him.
And then Hakuji bent his knee. He went down to the ground and bowed his head respectfully.
"Master."
Marcus smiled.
"Excellent!"
Pleased, he bent down to help him up off the ground.
As a result, when he put pressure on his side, the wound on his ribs tugged on him, and the radiant smile turned into an instant grimace.
"Sss… ow, ow, ow…"
"…"
The atmosphere suddenly became a little awkward.
Marcus waved his hand at Akaza, indicating that he should get up.
"Okay, that's enough, get up, don't stay kneeling there, the ground's cold."
Hakuji rose to his feet, still with a bit of guilt on his face.
"Master… your wound… I'm very sorry."
"Heh, no need to apologize." Marcus smiled at him confidently. "The truth is… I'm stronger than I look! This time I was just testing you! I wanted to measure your mettle!"
"…"
The atmosphere became even more awkward.
Marcus laughed, trying to ease the tension.
"By the way, going back to your human appearance suits you pretty well, much better than that grayish skin."
"…"
Hakuji didn't know what to say.
Although he had been the "best employee" for centuries, the truth is he had absolutely no experience in keeping up a normal conversation.
After debating with himself in silence for a good while, the only thing he managed was: "Thank you, master!"
At that moment, Marcus noticed a gaze fixed on him from one side. He turned to look.
Rengoku was watching him with a rather complicated expression.
"What?" Marcus arched his eyebrows. "Am I not allowed to have a subordinate?"
"He's a demon." Rengoku declared. "I have nothing to object to about your experiments, but…"
"Starting today he's a demon that doesn't eat humans." Marcus cut him off. "And, on top of that, he's going to help us kill more demons. Even Muzan himself!"
Rengoku stayed silent.
"But you're also a part of the Corps—"
"Stop right there!" Marcus raised his hand. "To be exact, I'm a collaborator with the Corps, I'm not a vassal of Kagaya's. So the fact that I have my own private advisor doesn't affect my relationship with Kagaya, and besides, he definitely isn't going to say anything either."
"…."
Even so, Rengoku was still conflicted.
Seeing he was still conflicted, Marcus walked over to him and threw his arm over his shoulders. "Besides… even if I gave you the chance right now, would you really be able to kill him?"
"…"
Rengoku stayed quiet for two long seconds. Then he shook his head. "I probably couldn't beat him in combat."
"See? Well then there's noth—"
"But I can kill him."
"…Huh?"
Rengoku lifted his eyes to the sky, which by now was completely clear, and then slowly ran his gaze over the trees surrounding them.
"At most, I'll just have to burn down this forest!"
"…I know…" Marcus sighed. "I know that for all of you, letting a demon go is something very hard to accept. So I'm going to offer you something of equivalent worth in exchange for his life."
He turned his head toward the figure still standing there, rigid as a soldier.
"Akaza… no. From now on I'll call you Hakuji."
"Understood!"
"Since you no longer have that curse on you, you're going to tell my friend Rengoku, with complete freedom, everything you know about Muzan. Absolutely everything. Including, of course, the information you have on the Twelve Kizuki."
"Understood!"
There was no hesitation.
Toward Muzan, the one who had erased his memories, the one who for a century had forced his Koyuki to watch him from the other side, her heart in pieces, watching him dragged into committing atrocity after atrocity while she waited unable to do anything… toward Muzan, Hakuji's betrayal required no kind of psychological preparation whatsoever.
What's more, if Muzan were to appear in front of them now, the first one to lunge at him would absolutely be Hakuji.
And Rengoku, upon hearing this, instantly forgot about all the "secondary" details—what a demon was, the questions of internal jurisdiction within the Corps, the thorny matter of a private vassal recruited behind Oyakata-sama's back.
All of that, suddenly, was nonsense.
Information about Muzan.
That was the only thing that mattered.
__________
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