Mount Fujikasane.
The foot of the mountain was a sea of wisteria.
Layers upon layers of pale purple clusters covered every visible corner, cascading from the branches like curtains someone had hung from the sky.
It was peak bloom season, and under the morning light everything glowed with an unreal halo, as if the mountain existed halfway between the world of the living and a dream.
"It's incredible..." Tanjiro looked up and all that purple reflected in his eyes. "How beautiful... Are these all wisteria flowers?"
"All of them." Marcus kept walking ahead without slowing his pace. "Demons hate them, and the poison extracted from them can even kill them."
"And if you cover an entire mountain with them, you basically build a cage: the demons they put inside can't get out, and the rookies go in to face them."
He said it lightly, but beside him, Tanjiro wasn't taking it with the same calm. His hand drifted toward the hilt of his sword.
"Real demons... They use real demons as the test..."
"What did you expect?" Marcus glanced at him sideways with a smile. "This is better than sending rookies straight into the field without ever having seen a demon in their lives. Most of the ones in here aren't a big deal, but there are a lot of them. Survive seven days and you pass."
Pressing his lips together, Tanjiro nodded firmly. "Understood."
They continued climbing the trail through the wisteria, and as they gained elevation, the floral silence gave way to something more mundane: human voices.
The clearing that opened before them was already full. Several dozen boys and girls, most of them fifteen or sixteen, were scattered across the open space in various states of readiness.
Some inspected their swords with hands that tried not to tremble. Others meditated with their eyes closed, and a few talked in small groups.
Marcus's gaze swept the crowd without lingering on anyone in particular.
'Let's see... where are the familiar faces?'
It didn't take long to find the first one. It would have been impossible not to.
"NOOOO!! I'M GONNA DIE!! I'M DEFINITELY GONNA DIE!! IS IT TOO LATE TO DROP OUT?!"
At one end of the area, a light-blond boy in a yellow haori was clinging to a tree trunk with all four limbs, like a cat someone was trying to dunk in water. His face was drenched in tears and snot, and he was sobbing.
The participant next to him stared at him with a mix of disgust and concern over sharing space with him.
"How obnoxious..."
Zenitsu Agatsuma.
Marcus narrowed his eyes.
'Identical to the anime. Completely collapsed before the test even starts.'
His gaze kept moving.
On the opposite edge of the clearing, set apart from everyone as if an invisible barrier surrounded him, stood a boy with a hard expression. A sleeveless purple yukata over a long-sleeved black shirt, hair buzzed nearly to nothing with a single rebellious tuft sprouting from the crown of his head. His jaw was clenched and his eyes belonged to someone looking for a fight... or at least wanting everyone to think so.
Nobody went near him. Not even by accident.
The future demon devourer: Genya Shinazugawa.
'Spoiler.'
Then Marcus's gaze stopped.
On the other side of the clearing, beneath a wisteria tree whose branches hung so heavy with blossoms they looked like a purple curtain, there was a girl.
A girl who was alone. Pale skin, almost translucent, as if the sun rarely touched her. A pink kimono that gave her a fragile, almost ethereal air. Black hair, long and straight, pulled into a side ponytail held by a butterfly ornament that gleamed.
Large eyes. Empty. Beautiful in a way that made you uncomfortable, because they looked without seeing.
Kanao Tsuyuri.
Marcus felt his di—no, he felt his Breath of Desire throb.
'Even without getting close, she seems to smell really nice...'
Beside him, Tanjiro frowned, seeming to notice the change. "Marcus...?"
"Tanjiro." Marcus's voice came out a tone deeper than usual. "Wait here for me a moment."
"Huh? Wait, where are you going...? Hey!"
It was no use—Marcus had already started walking.
With a calm stride, and wearing the same smiling expression as always.
But Tanjiro's sharp sense of smell picked up something different: Marcus's scent seemed as if he were...
In heat...
A bad feeling washed over him.
'He's not going to do it again...'
Adjusting his haori, Marcus walked toward the girl beneath the wisteria tree.
And as he drew closer, his Breath of Desire reacted with increasing intensity, like a compass vibrating as it approaches north.
Ten meters, five meters, three meters...
Kanao seemed to notice his presence when he was already close, and her light violet eyes settled on him.
They were beautiful eyes, serene, but covered by a haze that hid whatever lay beneath.
They showed no alarm, no curiosity, not even interest.
It was as if to her, Marcus were a wisteria that had learned to walk.
Stopping two steps from her, Marcus caught her fragrance—something floral—making his smile deepen just a little more.
"Good morning."
He used a softer voice than usual. "Are you here for the selection too?"
"..."
But Kanao looked at him without answering. Without blinking. Without anything changing on her face.
Several seconds of silence passed that would have made anyone else uncomfortable, until she turned her palm over and a coin appeared between her fingers.
And she flipped it into the air.
The coin spun, glinted for an instant under the wisteria light, and fell back into her hand.
Tails.
So she withdrew her gaze and continued standing in silence.
"..."
'She ignored me...'
Marcus processed what had just happened with more amusement than offense.
After all, this girl wasn't capable of choosing for herself, so she delegated even the most trivial decisions to that piece of metal.
While he mulled it over, the system appeared:
[A possible female target has been detected!]
[Name: Kanao Tsuyuri (Human)]
[Strength Classification: Class A]
[Potential Classification: Extremely High (can activate Fourth Level analysis)]
[Current analysis percentage: 0.03%]
His eyes lit up.
Fourth Level... 'I knew it!'
It wasn't like he hadn't tried over the past two years.
Every time he went down to the village to shop, he managed to "casually run into" some local girl, and he'd even pulled off a couple of pretty creative "accidental stumbles" that ended with him landing in the arms of some blushing girl.
The system did register them, but the maximum analysis level it offered was pathetic: First Level as the ceiling, with an attribute boost that ranged between a measly one and five percent.
Basically useless.
The only time he crossed paths with an official huntress from the Demon Slayer Corps, he thought things would improve.
And the system did give him something: Class D, low potential, analyzable up to Second Level at most. Which meant that even if he and that huntress had been in perfect sync, connected in body and soul, the most he would have gotten was Constant Concentration.
He couldn't even unlock the Third Level techniques with someone like that.
It was then that he understood his Breathing—or rather, the system—had sky-high standards.
Ordinary people didn't interest it. Regular hunters didn't either.
What his Breath of Desire sought, what truly made the system react, were those women destined to shine.
The protagonists.
And right now, right there, two steps away from him, stood one.
His smile widened on its own.
Far from backing off after being ignored, he took another half step forward, crouched down quite a bit (Kanao was considerably shorter than him), and placed his eyes at exactly the same height as hers.
Close enough that she couldn't pretend she didn't see him.
"Playing with a coin? Heads you answer, tails you ignore me... is that how it works?"
Kanao's eyelashes trembled slightly, and there still wasn't much emotion in her eyes, but at least... her focus was on him.
Then she flipped the coin once more.
Heads.
She nodded faintly.
Marcus smiled. "So... can I stand next to you? Waiting alone is pretty boring."
At his question, Kanao lowered her gaze to the coin between her fingers, hesitating on whether to flip it again.
But in the end she didn't. She simply shifted a few inches to the side, opening a small space beneath the tree.
"Thanks." Marcus positioned himself beside her, keeping a slight distance.
Not close enough to make her uncomfortable, but close enough that her scent reached him fresh and clear with every breath.
Immediately, between his mouth and nose, a current of pale pink air began to swirl constantly.
[Analysis: 0.03%... 0.06%...]
It was advancing as slowly as a snail... but it was moving, and that was the only thing that mattered.
Marcus closed his eyes for a moment, savoring it.
However...
"Hey... Marcus... what are you doing again...?"
A sudden voice rang out right next to his ear.
Tanjiro was beside him.
________
Time: If you're craving more (and I know you are!), I have just what you need. On my Patreon, you'll find exclusive chapters. Join our community and be the first to discover what happens next!
👉 [patreon.com/Athome790]
Your support fuels me. Thank you for the support! 💖