This Girl Is Mine!

"Anyway, when you're hungry, you eat."

Menchi decided not to lower herself to the level of this boy who claimed to be twenty. She pulled a dagger-like kitchen knife from behind her waist, spun it deftly around her fingers, and gripped it with a smile. "I'm going to find something edible."

Seeing that she had even brought out a kitchen knife, Wu Er warily circled around and hid behind Jing Yang.

Jing Yang pointed at Menchi's head, then toward East Town behind them. The gesture seemed to say, Are you sick? If you want to eat, why not go to town? Why insist on eating wild food?

Menchi said, "Weren't you the one who insisted on coming out into the wilderness to train? I'm the one who finds it strange. Even if you wanted to train your Nen Abilities, you could have stayed at your place in town. Why come all the way out here so early in the morning?"

Jing Yang said, "The place was too small. I couldn't stretch out. Why did I come out so early to train? At your age, your Nen Abilities are a complete mess. How can you even sleep? If I were you, I'd rather stay up all night than not get my Nen Abilities sorted out first—"

"I'm going to look for ingredients!" Menchi grabbed her kitchen knife and ran deep into the woods.

"It's not even lunchtime yet, and you're already having lunch? Even if I train myself to death, exhaust myself to death, I, Jing Yang, won't eat lunch before it's time!"

Jing Yang shouted at Menchi's retreating back. Then he folded his arms and turned to Ging, who had been rather quiet the whole time. Ging simply looked back at him, and for a while, neither of them said anything.

The atmosphere seemed a little awkward...

What broke the silence when neither could find anything to say was a familiar, bizarre strand of Death Qi that swiftly entered Jing Yang's heart, followed by another, and then another.

Jing Yang's expression tightened. He had estimated that as long as a living thing died within one kilometer of him—excluding microorganisms invisible to the naked eye, of course—Death Qi would enter his heart.

When the Death Qi surged into his heart, it was like a clay ox vanishing into the sea, disappearing without a trace.

Before, even a single strand of Death Qi would make Jing Yang feel phantom pain in his heart. Now, however, the three strands formed by Menchi killing three prey animals did not affect him nearly as strongly.

Perhaps it was because he had become stronger than before.

Or perhaps the Death Qi currently accumulated within his heart was not yet dense enough.

More likely, the process, reaction, and result of his heart absorbing Death Qi simply followed no discernible pattern at all...

"Why is there so little? It's not enough to eat!"

Jing Yang spat out a meat bone. Menchi's cooking truly lived up to Ging's description: she had won the World Cooking Championship at the age of twelve. They were just a few ordinary prey animals, and out here in the wilderness, she clearly did not have many seasonings on hand. Yet after simply roasting them, they turned out so delicious that they made one want to swallow one's tongue.

Menchi said smugly, "Who told you to give half of it to that Fanged Moon Tiger?"

After finishing his portion, Ging wiped his mouth and looked toward the moon-white tiger that was burying its head in half a roe deer roasted by Menchi. "A qualified Hunter is often loved by animals. That's why those Poachers... just seeing them makes one dislike them."

Jing Yang stroked Wu Er's tiger head and asked, "Why is it called a Fanged Moon Tiger? That name doesn't sound very lucky."

Ging said, "Its scientific name was always Biyue Tiger, named for the unique patterns in its fur at night. That color possessed a hallucinatory beauty, so enthusiasts listed it among the Seven Wonders of the World. As a result, Biyue Tigers received even more 'favor' from admirers, collectors, and Poachers... Gradually, no one knew from which year onward, everyone began calling this endangered tiger the Fanged Moon Tiger."

"...So it really is miserable in the literal sense?" Jing Yang stroked Wu Er, then suddenly asked, "You said Ghost Island suddenly appeared out of nowhere twenty-four years ago. Could it have been caused by someone's Nen Abilities? Who could have that kind of power?"

Ging nodded, organized his thoughts, and slowly said, "As for whether it was the work of a Nen User, due to pressure from the Kakin side, no one has conducted a thorough investigation of the island as far as I know, so there is no conclusion for now. This matter caused a huge uproar back then, but the governments of both countries quickly suppressed it. And since this was already an overlooked, remote backwater, there are not many records left online either...

"Twenty-four years ago, this island appeared out of nowhere. Fanged Moon Tigers, which only inhabited the Kakin Kingdom on the Aizen Continent, appeared on the island. So people quickly guessed that this bizarre island had come from the Kakin Kingdom, and the Kakin Kingdom soon formally protested to the Ochima Federation, accusing Ochima of illegally occupying their territory..."

"Twenty-four years ago, on May 5, 1970, part of the Kavia region within the former Kakin Kingdom shifted for unknown reasons and became connected to the land border of the Ochima Federation..."

At the same time, inside a Blanche Company building on the outskirts of the Fanged Moon Tiger reserve, the person in charge of the reserve was receiving Slooe, an official representative of Ochima. He was also reading from a document. "For the thirteen years that followed, the two nations continued disputing ownership of the Kavia region of the former Kakin Kingdom, now Ghost Island. On September 1, 1983, they reached an understanding and brought in the third-party Fokkweman Institute, granting it full responsibility for matters relating to endangered protected species and the natural ecosystem on Ghost Island...

"Then, on December 20, 1990, Blanche Company acquired the Fokkweman Institute. From then on, Blanche Company became responsible for Ghost Island, operating the reserve while continuously developing its tourism economy..."

The person in charge set down the document and said expressionlessly, "According to the contract inherited by our company, the Ochima Federation has no authority to apply for any investigation or research on Ghost Island without the official consent of the Kakin Kingdom. Therefore, Mr. Slooe..." He glanced at Kang Jae behind Slooe, whose head was practically smoking from listening. "I'm afraid I truly cannot agree to your request."

Slooe said with a genial smile, "I already told you, Kakin agreed to this investigation."

The person in charge said, "Yet the reply I received was that Kakin officials had never heard of such a matter."

"The First Prince of Kakin, Benjamin Hui Guo Rou, personally promised it."

"The First Prince is not the king. A verbal promise from him carries no legal effect."

"Personally, I have great confidence that the First Prince will inherit the throne in the future. I hear that the current king, Nasubi Hui Guo Rou, also thinks highly of his eldest son."

"That is a private matter of their Royal Family. I will not comment."

"I hear this island contains the tomb of that legendary Ancient Kakin King?"

"...I have never heard of such a thing." The person in charge answered without changing expression.

Seeing that the other party had not taken the bait, Slooe rubbed his balding head.

He leaned back in his chair, picked up his teacup, and blew on it. "Your company has operated this island for nearly five years, yet you have never conducted any in-depth investigation? Hehehe, I find that difficult to believe. If it were me, I would have turned this place upside down on the very first day. After all, it is supposedly the tomb of that Ancient Kakin King. Haven't there been rumors about it for the past few years? I thought your company had gone to such lengths to acquire the Fokkweman Institute, which was originally responsible for this place, precisely to investigate the Ancient Kakin King's tomb."

The person in charge's tone grew slightly firmer. "I will repeat myself. The Fokkweman Institute was poorly managed and on the verge of bankruptcy. Blanche Company acquired it out of public spirit and took over the protection of the Fanged Moon Tigers here. Furthermore, we do not know of, nor do we believe there to be, any tomb of an Ancient Kakin King here. If Mr. Slooe does not possess official authorization from Kakin, then please leave."

Slooe did not seem to be in any hurry. He simply stayed there and continued arguing with the Blanche Company staff.

On one hand, Ochima officials would exert pressure and force the First Prince to fulfill his promise. On the other, perhaps those amateur Hunters who had already infiltrated the reserve to investigate would turn up something.

Kang Jae, on the other hand, was completely overwhelmed by what he was hearing. He quietly asked an accompanying Ochima official, "What Ancient Kakin King? Was he famous?"

"You really don't know?" The other man was astonished. "He was a legendary monarch who nearly unified the entire Aizen Continent, a great figure known to everyone and printed in textbooks..."

"Forget it, forget it. It sounds too complicated." Kang Jae cut him off.

The man swallowed his irritation. If you did not have the patience to listen, then why did you ask? Illiterate!

Standing behind Slooe, Kang Jae's mind had already drifted far away.

It would be better to secretly investigate inside the reserve like those amateur Hunters. He had yet to see a so-called Fanged Moon Tiger with his own eyes...

"Where are all the Fanged Moon Tigers? I haven't seen a single one..."

On the outskirts of the reserve, Shizuku walked alone through the woods. She looked up at the sun, which had already passed noon, then found a patch of shade beneath a tree and sat down.

Flap, flap... Two birds the size of crows landed on the branch above her head and furtively looked down.

Shizuku lifted a hand, and something resembling a vacuum cleaner appeared out of thin air in her grasp.

It's her Nen Ability! A Conjurer's 'Blobfish'...

Jing Crow naturally recognized that bizarre "vacuum cleaner."

The head of the strange thing was a large mouth with living characteristics. It could suck into the "vacuum cleaner" anything Shizuku considered nonliving. There seemed to be no limit on quantity, volume, or size, and even Shizuku herself did not know where Blobfish sent the things it sucked up...

Naturally, Shizuku had no idea that strange crows above her were analyzing her ability. She said to the "vacuum cleaner" in her hand, "Blobfish, bread."

Pfft! The big-mouthed "vacuum cleaner" sprayed out a pile of freshly packaged bread, which landed on the ground before Shizuku.

Shizuku picked some up and ate a few pieces. Feeling a little thirsty, she said, "Blobfish, water."

Pfft! The "vacuum cleaner" opened its huge mouth and spat out a bottle of mineral water, looking as though it had only just been taken off a supermarket shelf.

Shizuku unscrewed the cap and gulped down a couple of mouthfuls. Since she had tilted her head back, she happened to see the two crow-like birds staring at her from the branch. They were clearly just birds, yet they seemed strangely intelligent as they stared at her so intensely...

In fact, the same thought was ringing through the minds of those two "birds": An essential ability for home and travel. This girl is mine!

"What do you mean, mine?!"

Menchi's flustered voice snapped Jing Yang back to his senses.

Menchi drew the kitchen knife from behind her waist and warned Jing Yang, "Even though you claim to be twenty, first, I don't fully believe you, and second, you look like this. I really can't accept it. You... Jing Yang, right? Don't get any strange ideas about me! It's impossible!"

Jing Yang was rendered speechless. At last, he said expressionlessly, "Your hair may not be long, but your knowledge is even shorter! So what if I look like this? I've even seen an old woman over fifty pretending to be young while looking like a little doll! Tch..."

I got the timing of Ghost Island's transfer wrong. I forgot that Jing Yang was not currently in the era of the manga's storyline... The earlier text has been revised.