Shizuku

While waiting for Biscuit's reply, Gelman absentmindedly touched his pocket and suddenly realized it was bulging. He reached in and pulled out a pink wallet.

The wallet was decorated with scattered little star stickers.

When he opened it, the ID inside showed a woman's photograph.

After examining it for a while, Gelman confirmed that it was the woman from the bar after she had removed her makeup.

So this wallet belonged to her, but why was it on me...

Ah... I remember now.

Gelman had Kleptomania. It flared up from time to time and had even become as instinctive as walking, blinking, or breathing. Unless he deliberately thought about it, he might not even remember.

When that woman pressed herself against him, Gelman's hands had indeed been less than clean, slipping into her clothes on instinct.

Whether the woman hadn't noticed at the time, or had noticed but thought he was flirting, she paid it no mind, allowing Gelman to succeed.

Gelman went through the cash in the wallet and counted it. There were over twenty thousand Jenny, just enough to cover Biscuit's first payment, so he kept it.

As for the ID and other personal belongings, he could find an opportunity to dispose of them later.

Only after quite a while did Biscuit reply again.

"Not even suggesting that you come find me... Well, whatever. I'm fairly close to Yorknew City anyway. I can get there the day after tomorrow."

The day after tomorrow was January 18th.

That left Gelman only two days to sell the Lord of Crows' Monocle. He definitely wouldn't be able to finish before Biscuit arrived, but Gelman found that acceptable.

"Then it's settled."

"Mhm, see you the day after tomorrow. Love you (heart)."

Gelman ended the Text Message conversation. Just as he was about to put away his phone, he suddenly heard a woman's voice beside him.

"Ah. It's really you."

Gelman thought the woman from the bar had come after him. He turned toward the voice, only to find that it was not her.

Standing before him was a woman with short black hair, thick-rimmed glasses, a gold Inverted Cross necklace, a black sweater, and fitted jeans.

She adjusted her glasses and repeated in the same utterly flat tone, "Ah. It's really you."

Repeating herself—perhaps she was worried Gelman hadn't heard her clearly?

Gelman looked her over and quickly matched her to someone in his memories.

She was Shizuku, who had originally become the Phantom Troupe's Number 8 around this time, only for Gelman to beat her to it.

Gelman was somewhat surprised to encounter her here, and even more surprised that she knew him.

For one thing, Shizuku's memory was notably selective. Anything she did not care about would soon be forgotten completely.

By that measure, Gelman must have left an extremely deep impression on her.

For another, Gelman had repeatedly searched through the remnants of the original owner's memories over the past two months, and there had been no memory of meeting Shizuku.

Then why did Shizuku know me? Could it be because we both came from Meteor City, and she'd seen me before?

"Do I know you?" Gelman put his phone back into his pocket, donned his tricorne hat, and asked tentatively.

Shizuku nodded several times. Her heavy glasses slipped down her nose, forcing her to push them back up repeatedly. Her large eyes seemed to contain nothing but innocence and curiosity.

However, Gelman knew very well that she was no less ruthless than he was when dealing with enemies.

"You owe me five hundred thousand Jenny." Shizuku held out her palm to Gelman. "Please pay me back."

Gelman's expression instantly turned cold. He sat up straighter and shook his head. "I don't remember anything like that."

"Huh?" This time, Shizuku was the one left confused. She tilted her head and thought for a moment, muttering to herself, "Did I remember wrong? Wasn't it him?"

Feeling that this was not a place to linger, Gelman stood up and turned to leave. But after walking only a short distance, he noticed that Shizuku was following him.

"I don't owe you money." Gelman did not look back, but he persisted.

Shizuku held one palm toward Gelman while rubbing her temple with the fingers of her other hand. Her eyes beneath her glasses narrowed. "Don't talk yet. Let me think."

Gelman could only ignore this inexplicable woman and walk into a nearby internet café.

He rented a computer, took out a card reader, swiped his Hunter License, then logged into the Hunter exclusive website and searched for Hunter-only auction houses in Yorknew City.

He would not sell the Lord of Crows' Eyeball directly to the mafia. Instead, he would seek out a Nen user, or at least a buyer who had mastered Nen.

Only they truly understood the value of the Lord of Crows' Eyeball.

After paying for the information, Gelman quickly gathered a large number of candidates and addresses. Following careful screening, he ultimately selected three auction houses worth trying.

At that moment, Shizuku suddenly dragged over the chair beside him and plopped down next to Gelman. Without the slightest courtesy, she snatched the mouse and keyboard. "Let me check."

Gelman had no choice but to drag his own chair aside.

She searched keywords such as "Gelman" and "Meteor City Killer," quickly finding Gelman's information.

"Born in Meteor City," "professional assassin," "B-rank wanted criminal," and "suspected new member of the Phantom Troupe" were highlighted in bold in the information column.

There was also a side-profile photograph of Gelman. It appeared to have been taken a long time ago and had never been updated; he looked somewhat younger in it.

The remaining content required payment to view.

Shizuku pushed up the glasses that had slipped down her nose again and pointed at the side-profile photo. "Is this you?"

"It is."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"I knew I remembered correctly." Shizuku held out her palm to Gelman again. "You need to pay me back—five hundred thousand Jenny."

"So where exactly did we meet?" Gelman frowned. Shizuku's firm tone even made him doubt himself. "What was the five hundred thousand Jenny for?"

"Huh?" Shizuku froze, then tilted her head and thought for a while before saying, "Oh... now that I think about it, it seems we've never met."

"We've never met?"

"Mm. Mr. Bilbo used to pay me directly, but three months ago, he suddenly died. So I could only come to you for the five hundred thousand Jenny he owed me."

"Bilbo..." Realization dawned on Gelman, and he roughly understood what had happened. "My middleman who profited off the price difference... Why did he owe you five hundred thousand Jenny?"

Shizuku pointed at Gelman.

"You owed me five hundred thousand Jenny. We agreed before: you kill people, and I clean up the scenes. Twenty-five thousand Jenny each time."

"I helped you five times in total. You only paid for the first three. There were still two left. Twenty-five thousand plus twenty-five thousand makes five hundred thousand."

"A crime scene cleaner..." Gelman blinked his dark eyes.

"I see. With your ability, you really are well-suited for this. But Bilbo was the one who hired you. He should be the one paying the five hundred thousand Jenny."

"But he's dead." Shizuku said it as though it were only natural. "I can only come to you."

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