Cooperation

Sitting in a chair and drinking the milk the pretty tavern waitress had brought him, Coleman looked thoroughly disgusted.

Why did something like this even exist in the world?

It tasted strange and made him want to throw up.

Why did that guy Hisoka like drinking such weird stuff?

How was this better than juice?

"So, kid who's still drinking milk, why'd you stop me?"

Sitting across from him was a boy with black hair and purple eyes, dressed in a black trench coat.

He looked about fifteen or sixteen.

He wore a smile, and his words came easily.

He seemed like an ordinary, handsome boy.

Coleman pursed his lips at the boy's question.

"Someone who drinks orange juice has no room to talk."

As he spoke, he glanced at the yellow liquid in the boy's hand and gave him a provocative smile.

The boy's eyes widened for a moment.

You're proud of drinking milk?

"Shorty, show some respect when you talk! At least I'm taller than you!"

"Keep forcing it, and you'll stunt your growth!"

"Don't be ridiculous. This is clearly the legendary bone-shrinking technique!"

The boy sounded proud, as if he'd learned something incredible.

Hearing that, Coleman set down his empty cup and said mildly, "You know, there's no such thing as a free lunch. Everything people get comes at a price, sooner or later."

Like couples who eloped for love, only to be defeated by the daily grind and pay for their impulsiveness.

Or unscrupulous merchants who resorted to fraud for money, only to bring about their own ruin—dying under the law's punishment or for stepping on the toes of a more powerful merchant, paying for their greed.

Nothing was free.

That included everything you currently had and enjoyed.

If you couldn't see what you'd paid for it, then someone was silently paying the price you should have paid on your behalf.

Coleman had always believed in fairness and cause and effect.

So...

He studied the proud boy without a word, then gave him a faint smile.

When you stop growing, I hope you won't cry.

"All right, let's get back to the point."

After basking in his triumph, Manster looked at the boy, who had fallen silent, and smiled. "What did you want with me?"

Coleman looked at him and offered him a rather interesting business card.

The card wasn't from the Zoldyck Family, but it did have Coleman's name on it.

It only said Coleman, though, without listing a surname.

The last line read: "External Associate of the Layton Family."

"Layton?"

Manster raised an eyebrow as he examined the card.

That enormous machine of the underworld?

But an external associate...

"Mm-hmm."

Coleman shrugged.

He revealed just a little. "I get along pretty well with the heir after the next one."

The heir after the next one was the current head's grandson.

The terms of service for mafia bosses and assassin-family heads differed greatly.

In a mafia family, if someone had strong enough leadership skills, they could remain head of the family—in other words, the mafia boss—until they died.

Assassin families, on the other hand, chose young people who were strong and full of energy.

Usually, they were around thirty to forty years old.

At that age, people were at the peak of their physical condition, with plenty of energy to handle affairs and avoid assassination attempts.

Assassin families weren't too picky about leadership skills.

So, technically, Coleman's father should call the current head of the Layton Family "Uncle."

Though they usually called each other "Big Bro."

It left Coleman unsure what he was supposed to call that "benefactor."

Anyway, because of money, Coleman got along well with the youngest grandson of the Layton Family.

And thanks to his adorable looks and outstanding abilities, he was popular in the mafia, too.

So what harm could there be in a cute little kid passing off someone else's business card as his own?

Coleman saw no problem with it.

After all, his own family had a fearsome reputation. If it scared people away, where would he find another promising recruit like this?

"I want to invite you to start an intelligence organization. Are you interested?"

Coleman smiled. "Of course, I can cover the funding."