Becoming a Master Inventor Starting with Hunter x Hunter Section 20

At this moment, in the secret base, even Uvogin rarely refrained from clapping back at Phinks' words, instead seriously pondering the matter.

He had no requirements for where he lived, so his house was neither too small nor too large—overall, it was about average.

But~

"If we're talking about a really big house..."

Uvogin's thoughts drifted to something, and the corners of his mouth curled up. "Then I actually do know one."

In a fairly clean area of Meteor City, far from the garbage piles.

The houses here were noticeably cleaner and larger in scale than those in the rubble near the trash heaps.

As the saying goes, where there are people, there are grudges; where there are grudges, there is a world of strife...

At any rate, in Meteor City, there were corresponding social strata.

Clearly, the Meteor City residents living here either held a certain status, or~

Were simply not to be trifled with.

In the house at the very edge of this area.

A young man of fifteen or sixteen, with disheveled hair, a gaunt face, and drooping eyes, was washing his face with clean water.

"I figure I'll have to move out of here before long."

He wore a thoroughly lazy expression, as if he didn't care much about his situation.

After all, he'd originally lived in the rubble near the garbage piles.

If it hadn't been for the chance encounter while scavenging trash—running into a sick man carrying a blade—

The medicine he'd found was snatched away by the other, and he himself was dragged into this room to clean it and brew medicine for the man.

If it hadn't been for the fact that the other was clearly on the verge of death and no longer cared about much else—

Otherwise, with the caution typical of Meteor City folk, he'd never have had the chance to be brought here or live in this house.

Later, the man who'd brought him here died of his illness, no surprise.

All he left behind was a blade and this house—nothing else.

"Didn't even leave a single hot meal..."

He muttered to himself as he tidied his disheveled hair.

"Better leave here soon, before some other bastards catch wind and come knocking. By then, I might not be able to leave even if I want to..."

Bam bam bam!!!

The moment he finished speaking, a violent pounding came at the door.

"Huh?!"

The gaunt man's body stiffened.

A flash of ferocity shot through his eyes, and he grabbed the katana left behind by the previous owner of the house.

But before he could tuck the blade into his sash and assume a stance~

"Nobunaga? You still alive in there?! We've come to see you!!"

Chapter 028: You're Called Mog, Right? Welcome, Welcome!

The familiar shouting from outside the door made the gaunt man's guard drop a little.

"You bastard aren't dead yet, so how could I possibly die?!"

Nobunaga Hazama replied irritably, slipping back into his lazy demeanor as he stepped forward to open the door.

"Uvogin, you... huh?!"

Before he could trade a few jabs with that idiot big guy Uvogin, he was stunned by the sight before him.

"Yo, you're still kicking."

Uvogin greeted him casually, then barged into the house first:

"See? Didn't I tell you this house was big enough?"

"It is pretty big."

Phinks, who'd barged in right behind him, looked around and nodded in satisfaction:

"As our secret base, it's definitely suitable."

Feitan, following behind, muttered lowly: "Plenty of space."

Machi made no comment, but after entering and scanning the room, her calm little face gave a slight nod.

That was her way of showing approval.

"Hey now, you guys..."

Nobunaga Hazama was a bit bewildered. He'd thought Uvogin had just come to chat.

He hadn't expected so many people to show up this time.

"A small gift, unworthy of your esteem, for this first visit."

Before Nobunaga could say anything further, a black coconut fruit was handed to him.

"Huh?!"

Nobunaga instinctively looked over and saw Mog smiling at him.

Nobunaga: "?"

Who are you?

He knew Uvogin and Machi, and Feitan and Phinks—that infamous duo—were also well-known among the children of Meteor City.

Though surprised by the arrival of these four, he at least recognized them.

But this one person...

Wait?

Suddenly, his eyes still filled with confusion, his nose twitched.

Then, he stared fixedly at the black coconut fruit before him, his gaze gradually brightening.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You're called Mog, right? Welcome, welcome!!"

"Oh, so you want to use this house as a secret base?!"

"I don't have any problem with that, it's not my house anyway."

"Using it as a secret base is fine, but there might be some trouble later..."

Nobunaga wolfed down the fried rice inside the black coconut fruit as he explained the house's background to the group.

At the same time, he got acquainted with Mog.

Yeah, he now had a good impression of Mog, who had brought such a nice, tasty gift on his first visit.

And so, Mog got to know this future No. 1 member of the Phantom Troupe.

Nobunaga Hazama, Phantom Troupe member, member number No. 1.

Enhancement Type user, but his arm strength ranked only ninth in the Troupe.

Grew up in Meteor City, one of the Troupe's founding members and among the seven senior members from its inception.

A master of iaijutsu, and like Uvogin, a brawler in the Troupe.

The two shared similar temperaments and were close friends before the Troupe was formed.

After joining the Troupe, he volunteered with Uvogin to serve as a suicide squad member, the so-called "sacrificial pawns."

A "meat shield" who had to risk his life to protect other members with important abilities when necessary.

In the original timeline, he usually appeared dressed like a down-and-out Japanese samurai, with a high ponytail.

When relaxing, he'd wear casual clothes and let his hair down, a man of cold exterior but warm heart.

Thin-faced, sharp-featured, droopy-eyed, stubbly...

Yeah, no wonder he was friends with Uvogin—birds of a feather.

But now, Nobunaga was just a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old youth, at most looking lazy with his hair loose.

"If anyone comes looking for trouble, we'll drive them all out!!"

Uvogin wasn't backing down, confidently waving his fists:

"With me, Uvogin, here, who dares to act up?!"

"Besides, with so many of us, anyone who wants to cause trouble will have to think twice."

Phinks, for once, didn't argue with Uvogin for their mutual benefit.

Both were very satisfied with such a spacious house.

"With more people, of course no one will come looking for trouble..."

Nobunaga took a big mouthful of food and raised what he saw as a real issue:

"But with so many people, food is one thing, and even though this house is a bit roomy, it's not enough for all of us to live in..."

This problem was very real. People in Meteor City knew that banding together was a good way to ward off outsiders.

But the main issue with this method was that resources couldn't be distributed fairly after grouping up.

In Meteor City, the so-called resources mainly boiled down to food and shelter.

Take the crowd here as an example: Uvogin was big and ate a lot, Machi ate little.

But distribution couldn't be based on appetite—even those who didn't eat much wanted to stockpile food.

Then there was the housing issue. Having so many people occupy a spacious house like this was fine.

But a house like this, with one or two people, or two or three sharing, might be okay.