"She might not necessarily live here. She could have merely been passing through or resting briefly, which is why we ran into her."
Pakunoda kicked the crumpled paper that had blown over by the dusty wind.
She was doubtful of Morin's words, but she also showed sufficient respect for her Vice-Leader.
"Let's go in."
Morin was the first to raise the Finding Person Umbrella. He could clearly feel that the arrow indicator on it was reacting more intensely.
That also meant they were getting closer and closer to their target.
The rundown little town had the feel of a western town from the Kingdom of Kadra, so naturally it had the town's iconic tavern.
And at that moment, inside the tavern—
The tavern, which had always been lively in the past, even excessively noisy, had unexpectedly fallen into a rare and eerie silence.
It was not as though there were no sounds at all.
"Gulp?"
The drunks in the tavern swallowed from time to time.
Their gazes were either evasive, bold,
or downright blatant,
as they greedily stared at the petite figure seated at the bar.
"I went through so much trouble and wasted so much time, yet there weren't any of the gems I heard about in the ruins."
The petite figure boredly swung her legs and pouted, her elbows resting on the bar while her white-gloved hands supported her chin.
"I heard that the gem passed down through the generations on the crown of the King of the vanished Kingdom of Kadra was in the ruins near this town, but there wasn't anything there at all~??"
She let out a somewhat unhappy sigh.
Two golden braids fell from her head, and her beautiful eyes made her seem like a character who had stepped out of an animation.
She wore an oversized red princess dress, as delicate as an exquisite porcelain doll!
Judging by her age, she looked like an adorable little girl barely over ten years old!!
It seemed the commotion they had caused was a little too big.
For someone this lovely to appear in such a rundown little town was simply impossible.
Yet it had really happened, making the drunks in the tavern feel as though they were dreaming.
What should they do?
A rare one had finally come along. How could they let her get away?
Of course I know that! I'm asking how we're going to divide her up?
The boss gets the first taste, and we'll follow after.
By the usual rules, based on drinking capacity, in order.
Alright!!
A group of people in the tavern who clearly did not look like good men exchanged glances, then quickly settled on a decision.
Meanwhile, the porcelain-doll-like little girl in the princess dress, who kept kicking her tiny feet, seemed not to have noticed any of it.
Or perhaps she had noticed and simply did not care?
Just as the atmosphere in the tavern gradually became rather strange,
and the men who had been exchanging looks began slowly rising from their seats—
Boom!!
A sudden explosion sounded outside the tavern.
It startled everyone in the tavern.
Everyone except the little girl in the princess dress, who remained calmly seated where she was.
Bang!
Crack!!
The explosion was followed by a violent tremor.
The tables shook, and the bottles and glasses on top of them fell to the floor.
The tavern immediately became noisy with discussion.
"What's going on? An earthquake?"
"How could that be?! We've never had an earthquake here!!"
"Then what was that?"
"An explosion and shaking?"
"Could it be... the gasoline the boss bought outside exploded?"
One of the lackeys who had stood up seemed to remember something and suddenly spoke.
"O... oo, that's possible!!"
The group fell silent for a moment, then immediately rushed out of the tavern.
But the instant they stepped outside, their feet staggered.
Their bodies immediately collapsed onto the ground.
At the same time, every muscle in their bodies tensed, and goosebumps instantly rose across their skin.
"What's going on..."
The people rushing out fell one after another, like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, all sprawled across the ground.
They did not want to do this, but...
Feeling as though they had been targeted by some peerless ferocious beast, they lay there with their heads deeply lowered, trembling in fear.
"Looks like we made rather a big commotion..."
Morin looked around at the surroundings as he spoke, but the malicious Nen radiating from him showed no sign of being withdrawn.
"Hey, I'm asking—"
One of Morin's hands was casually holding up a tall, muscular bald man whose head was tattooed with all sorts of frightening black patterns.
"You're the leader of this group? And they're your underlings?"
The leader, who was experiencing the malicious Nen most intensely at close range, was already foaming at the mouth and on the verge of losing consciousness.
Even if he were still conscious,
he should have understood by now
that he had provoked someone he should never have provoked, and immediately fainted from fright.
The scum of this town had been greedy for the porcelain-doll-like little girl in the princess dress in the tavern and regarded her as prey. Not to mention Pakunoda, who was following Morin and dressed in a sizzling office-lady outfit.
The moment the two entered town, they were immediately targeted.
There was no need to elaborate further. In short, the leader of the local bully gang—the bald man Morin was holding—had arrogantly approached with a group of lackeys.
He said many vulgar things that were too unpleasant to hear, with a lewd grin openly plastered across his face.
Then... there was no then.
A group of ordinary little thugs who relied on their height and brawn naturally ended up getting beaten up.
As for the tremor and explosion just now?
"Sure enough, this thing still isn't very handy."
Morin held an iron pickaxe in his other hand, swinging it up and down.
Item: Power Iron Pickaxe
Effect: When using this Power Iron Pickaxe to dig, even with very little force, it will amplify your strength by one hundred times.
Well, judging from its literal description, it was clearly an item suited for digging holes.
Morin had drawn this item, along with the Finding Person Cane and Finding Person Umbrella, in the town where they had gathered earlier.
In Morin's opinion, it did not seem particularly useful.
When it came to digging holes, throughout the entire world of Hunter x Hunter, only Gon and Killua had done something like that while training on Greed Island, digging all the way from the card city of Maserra back to the canyon.
Now that a group of troublesome trash had finally appeared, Morin had specifically used them to test the Power Iron Pickaxe's effects.
And because he was afraid he would not use enough force, Morin had even infused it with Nen and used half his strength.
Then he viciously swung it down at the ground.
The result...
With one strike of the pickaxe, he smashed a huge deep pit into the ground.
That deep pit also seemed to have destroyed the foundations of quite a few nearby houses.
Under the chain reaction, those houses collapsed with a roar.
And one of the houses appeared to have stored gasoline or something similar, which happened to trigger a massive explosion.
Thus, with a single swing of his pickaxe, Morin destroyed half the town.
Speaking of which, that offense was no lighter than the rampage Feitan and Uvogin had caused in the previous city.
"Whatever."
Morin shook his head and casually tossed the bald leader he was holding into the unfathomably deep pit created by the Power Iron Pickaxe in front of him.
Biscuit
As the saying went, harsh mountains and foul waters bred unruly people.
This town was more or less like that.
Clearly, under the bald man's leadership, this was a town filled with considerable evil.
"Are you alright?"
Morin looked at Pakunoda, who had long since hidden to one side and quietly watched the show.
"I'm fine."
She shook her head, merely staring at the pit in the ground.
A trace of astonishment still flashed across her delicate face.
"A mere iron pickaxe unleashed that kind of power..."
Pakunoda suddenly felt that Morin seemed like a Four-Dimensional Pocket, capable of producing all sorts of unbelievable things.
No one ever knew what he would take out next. He seemed to be filled with surprises at every moment, his entire being exuding mystery.
What she had thought would be dull days of two people training their Nen abilities on the road had suddenly become vibrant and colorful.
"This thing still isn't suitable for use as a weapon."
After thinking it over, Morin put away the Power Iron Pickaxe.
Aside from Uvogin and Phinks, nearly everyone in the Phantom Troupe had a weapon.
Nobunaga and Feitan used swords, Pakunoda and Franklin used guns and Nen bullets, Shalnark used a phone, Hisoka used playing cards, Machi used threads, and Phinks directly unleashed planets.
Chrollo traveled the world with a book of stolen abilities, having collected who knew how many abilities and Nen Weapons.
Before you continue