Shizuku: Can We Change the Stakes?

Watching Jing Yang, Shizuku, Menchi, and the others leave, Dago and his group had mixed feelings.

We were clearly the ones hired alongside Shizuku first, so why had those two newcomers ended up teaming up with her instead?

Should they shamelessly force their way into the group?

...It wasn't as though they lacked the nerve.

But what excuse could they use?

Strength in numbers? Splitting up would be more efficient.

Protecting two little sisters and a child?

Give them a break. That little boy alone had nearly flicked one of them to death with a finger just now... Who was protecting whom?

"Will you be forming one team, or splitting up?" someone from Blanche Company asked.

Since they had agreed to let Ochima's people conduct an official investigation, the sanctuary's management naturally had to arrange personnel to accompany them. If nothing else, they had to protect the Fanged Moon Tigers and keep an eye on these amateur Hunters so they would not cause too much damage inside the sanctuary.

Dago and the others exchanged glances before asking, "Does your company have any recommendations?"

"Our recommendation is that there is nothing here for you to investigate. You should wrap this up as soon as possible."

"Then we'll split up. All five of us will go separately. Please send five groups of people to accompany us." Dago and the others quickly went their separate ways and entered the forest. Two took responsibility for the outer zone, two explored the buffer zone, while Dago headed straight for the core zone, which he had spent the least time secretly observing in recent days.

In the core zone of the Fanged Moon Tiger Sanctuary, where the forest was even more primitive in appearance, Jing Yang, Shizuku, and Menchi were slowly exploring under the escort of two Blanche Company security personnel.

Strictly speaking, none of the three possessed particularly "Hunter-like" skills or experience. But they were all Nen Users, and with Aura enhancing them, their eyesight, hearing, touch... every aspect of their physical abilities far surpassed those of ordinary people. If they concentrated Aura in their eyes, their powers of observation increased dramatically, making their eyes shine like torches.

Menchi was using Gyo right then, and her eyes literally shone like torches. As she walked, she kept watch over their surroundings, then looked toward the little sister she had just met.

Seeing Menchi constantly looking at her, Shizuku looked back at her in confusion.

Menchi pointed at her own eyes, then Jing Yang's, and finally Shizuku's. "Haven't you practiced using Gyo at all times?"

"Oh." Shizuku suddenly understood. She immediately gathered Aura in her eyes, looked around, and finally let her gaze settle on Jing Yang's ears.

She asked curiously, "Does gathering Aura in your ears work too?"

Now Menchi felt this was beyond the syllabus. Teacher Ging had never covered this.

Jing Yang smiled. "Try it and see."

Menchi and Shizuku tried several times and successfully concentrated Aura around their ears. Sure enough, their hearing improved greatly, and the rustling sounds in the surrounding woods became much clearer.

"Compared to Gyo in the eyes, it feels rather useless!" Menchi commented. "Using Gyo in your eyes lets you see Aura that ordinary eyes cannot see..."

Shizuku covered one ear, curiosity piqued. "Then... is there Aura that can only be heard with Gyo?"

Menchi looked utterly confused, then widened her eyes in surprise before frowning again.

"See? She has far better insight than you!" Jing Yang said earnestly. "You need to consider every possibility, little Menchi. What if there is an enemy who uses sound-based ninjutsu?"

"What sound-based ninjutsu? You mean Nen Abilities," Menchi complained.

Shizuku turned into a curious child again and asked, "Why does he call you little?"

Menchi gave a dry laugh.

Jing Yang said modestly, "Those with greater skill are teachers. I can barely count as half this hot girl's teacher! It is already good enough that I do not call her my niece."

"Hmph, are you looking to die?!" Menchi bared her teeth and spread her hands into claws, looking ready to scratch Jing Yang to death. Then she changed the subject and asked, "Shizuku, civilian Hunters like you did not take the Hunter Exam, right?"

"Mm." Shizuku nodded. Her curiosity came and went quickly. She continued keeping Aura in her eyes as she looked around while walking.

"Then how did you—" Menchi began, then seemed to remember something and paused.

Like her, Jing Yang glanced behind them. The two Blanche Company security guards followed at neither too great nor too close a distance. They probably could not hear their casual conversation.

Jing Yang said, "She is curious. How did you awaken your Nen Abilities? And since you had the means to awaken Nen Abilities, why had you not practiced something as basic as Gyo until it became instinctive? Did you not have a teacher?"

He was curious about that too.

Not every member of the Phantom Troupe came from Meteor City. For example, several Zoldycks had joined the Phantom Troupe later on.

But like Chrollo, Machi, and the other original members, Shizuku came from Meteor City.

Meteor City supposedly originated from a massive garbage dump around fifteen hundred years ago—a place that took in garbage, weapons, corpses, babies... abandoned by the entire world.

It was said that eight million people lived there in the present day, though there was no way to verify it.

But if there was no way to verify it, where had the figure of eight million residents come from?

Jing Yang had always felt that this description of Meteor City in the manga was particularly thought-provoking...

When Shizuku heard their questions, she looked at them but did not answer.

"You are still so rash. Did you think you could get carried away just because your teacher was gone?" Jing Yang turned to Menchi. "Are secrets about someone's abilities something you can just ask about? Do you think everyone is as foolish as you?"

"Oh, oh, sorry!" Menchi said, then shot Jing Yang an angry glare.

Shizuku asked curiously, "If you take the exam and become a Hunter, will someone teach you Nen Abilities?"

"Yes, but not everyone can learn them..."

The trio wandered harmoniously through the forest in the sanctuary's core zone. They spotted quite a few Fanged Moon Tigers along the way, but in the daytime, the Fanged Moon Tigers did not appear particularly extraordinary.

Shizuku belatedly realized, "Ah, so those are Fanged Moon Tigers?"

"That reaction was way too slow..." Menchi muttered.

They kept at it until dusk fell, yet the three of them found nothing.

There were still four days until the contract deadline. If they still had no results after four days, they would receive only the base pay of two million Jenie, around one hundred thousand yuan. Even if they slacked off for five days, that hundred thousand would be safely in the bag, which seemed quite nice. But thinking that if they actually found something, their pay could double, or even soar to five hundred thousand yuan—ten million Jenie—it was hard not to feel somewhat unwilling.

At the exit by the edge of the core zone, Jing Yang, Menchi, and Shizuku happened to run into a dirty-faced Dago. It seemed he had found nothing either.

"See you tomorrow, Shizuku." Menchi waved and left with Jing Yang.

Ochima's people did not interfere with the Hunters' actions. Dago stood where he was, watching the two "Professional Hunters," then turned to Shizuku and asked, "Let's keep investigating tonight. Taking only two million is really a bit—"

But when he turned around, Shizuku had already gone far away, seemingly heading in roughly the same direction as Menchi and Jing Yang.

Two crows flew past overhead, cawing...

Dago stood there in a daze for a long while. Finally, he wiped his face and plunged back into the protected forest.

The Blanche Company security guards were speechless. If you are not eating dinner, we still want to!

With no other choice, they could only turn back and follow him, treating it as overtime.

"Caw, caw..."

After leaving the woods, Shizuku looked up to see two crows flapping toward her. Belatedly, she said, "I knew it felt like something was missing today..."

As night fell, neon lights came on throughout Elf Amusement Park, and some of the attractions began operating at night, offering a different sort of fun.

After many days, Jing Yang had become something of a figure in the rumors passed around the amusement park. Today, he once again took out the gemstone that glimmered with a beautiful blue light in the night and set up a stall in a busy spot at the fountain plaza. After doing this several times, even the park security guards recognized him. Since it was just a kid messing around, they could not be bothered to deal with it.

Visitors came and went. Not everyone knew Jing Yang's strength, so there were always people who refused to accept it and wanted to challenge him to an arm-wrestling match.

"Haha, I bet this big guy will only last three seconds!"

"Three seconds is a little low, isn't it? I bet at least five."

Some of the spectators were simply enjoying the show. The shady merchant who had kindly sold Jing Yang the Blue Moon Pearl at a discount chuckled. "I bet he only lasts one second!"

Bang!

Without the slightest effort, Jing Yang pressed down the arm of the hulking muscular man across from him, muscles bulging as though they had expanded by another size.

The muscular man looked in disbelief at his trembling hand, then at the unfazed boy. Suddenly, a pleasant girl's voice came from behind him. "Can I try?"

Jing Yang looked up. It was Shizuku, dressed in a black sweater and jeans, wearing glasses, with slightly messy black hair.

"Caw, caw~"

Two crows that had guided her here spread their wings and flew away, concealing their achievements and fame. Shizuku paid them no attention. Her light purple eyes stared fixedly at the Blue Moon Pearl placed on the table as the stake.

"Little girl, do not act rashly. There is something strange about this boy," the defeated muscular man warned. "His arm strength—"

"Uncle, she wants to play, so let her play. Could you make room for her?" Jing Yang said. The muscular man glared at him and stalked off angrily.

Shizuku quickly sat down across from Jing Yang.

"Stop staring." Jing Yang waved a hand. Shizuku had not taken her eyes off the Blue Moon Pearl once, and it was obvious she wanted it badly. "Beat me at arm wrestling, and it is yours."

He set his arm in place, flexed his fingers, and smiled. "You can use your ability too."

A mass of Aura invisible to the ordinary people around them coiled around Jing Yang's palm like flowing water that would not disperse.

Only then did Shizuku raise her eyes. Her pale purple gaze rested on Jing Yang as she asked, "Can we change the stakes?"

"Change them to what?" Jing Yang asked.

Shizuku stretched out her hand, wrapped it in a layer of Aura, and clasped Jing Yang's tightly.

"Your Hunter License," she said.

"Sure." Jing Yang agreed readily. "But a Hunter License is not something you can bet against with a mere eighteen hundred Jenie admission fee! What if you lose?"