Little Liars

"Please sit. Why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"For fun. It's also a respectable job, and it can attract plenty of beautiful women."

"What kind of Hunter do you want to be?"

"A private Hunter? Not sure. Wherever there are more chances to meet beautiful women, that's where I'll be!"

"Number One Esdeath, Number 210 Kurando Akabane, Number 514 Bred, Number 515 Ging—what do you think of them?"

"I like her, hate her, would absolutely love him if he dressed as a woman, disgusting... Anyway, I find any man disgusting, including you!"

"Ahem... Your ability to control insect-type super-dangerous beasts is quite similar to that of the Aburame Clan of Hidden Leaf in Wano Country, the Kamizuru Clan of Hidden Rock, and the Oberberg Clan of Cipher Pol under the World Government."

"The old man really is knowledgeable~ But as I recall, the Hunter Association doesn't seem to mind who joins, and there are countless precedents."

"Ah! True enough! All right, call Number 210, Kurando Akabane, in for me."

"..."

After seeing Melard off, Netero bit down on the shaft of his brush as he wrote his evaluation.

Number 99, Melard: Basically confirmed to be from the Oberberg Clan of Cipher Pol under the World Government. It is speculated that her upbringing in an agent family led to her habitual lying, fickle personality, and unstable mental state. Not a very cute girl.

Netero's evaluation of Esdeath, meanwhile, was—lacking the rich emotions a human ought to possess; excessively obsessed with power; a battle maniac who simply craved combat. No matter what, she was the type destined for a bad end.

"Hello."

While Netero was lost in thought, Kurando Akabane bowed politely in greeting.

"Please sit." Netero looked Kurando Akabane over and said, "Your name is rather unusual."

Kurando Akabane merely smiled with narrowed eyes and said nothing.

"Why do you want to become a Hunter?" Having roughly understood that Kurando Akabane was not the type willing to speak much, Netero got straight to the point.

Kurando Akabane thought for a moment. "The world is vast and boundless. I hope to appreciate it to the fullest in my lifetime, but the world is also very dangerous. I need a decent organization as a solid backing."

"What kind of Hunter do you want to be?" Netero asked.

Kurando Akabane raised the medical book in his hand. "A Hunter related to medicine! Of course, at this stage, I clearly recognize how shallow and ignorant I am in medicine. So, is there a way for me to study medicine while also giving back to the Hunter Association? I would be deeply grateful."

"Number One Esdeath, Number 99 Melard, Number 514 Bred, Number 515 Ging—what do you think of them?" Netero neither confirmed nor denied it, changing the subject.

Kurando Akabane pondered for a long while. "No opinion. I'm not familiar with them."

"Impressions? First impressions." Netero had no intention of letting Kurando Akabane off so easily.

Kurando Akabane reluctantly said, "Number One Esdeath looks difficult to provoke. Number 99 Melard seems a little crazy? Number 514 Bred is too... Number 515 Ging... Sorry, I can't find the right adjective."

"All right." Netero lowered his head. "Call Number 514 Bred in for me."

Netero wrote Kurando Akabane's evaluation: Another kid full of lies. His yearning for medicine is genuine, though, and his nature is not bad.

Not long after.

"Please sit. Why do you want to become a Hunter?" Netero asked kindly. "Most children of six or seven are still ruling the roost at home, making endless fuss over a few pieces of candy every day. Yet you passed selection after selection and reached the final trial of the Hunter Exam. Even I find it rather unbelievable."

Bred said faintly, "In distant Wano Country, quite a few children of six or seven are already regarded as qualified ninjas and sent onto the battlefield."

"You know quite a lot!" Netero repeated, "Why do you want to become a Hunter?"

Bred spread his hands. "Because I want to understand what exactly a Hunter is. Is it a profession? A job? Or perhaps a belief?"

"Oh, you will understand." Netero said, "What kind of Hunter do you want to be?"

"A History Hunter? I have a strong curiosity, yet there are too many questions in this world that I don't understand. I want to interpret them, and history happens to be the starting point of every present-day question." Bred spoke at length. "I have a question right now, Chairman Netero. I've read quite a few history books and found that the origin of pirates is very likely the exploration Hunters of the Hunter Association."

Netero merely smiled it off. "Number One Esdeath, Number 99 Melard, Number 210 Kurando Akabane, Number 515 Ging—what do you think of them?"

"A savage woman, a perverted woman, a silent normal person, and a shy normal person?" Bred answered in a questioning tone.

Netero nodded. "All right, call Number 515 Ging in for me."

After Bred had gone far away, Netero muttered gloomily, "Why are there so many liars this year? The Hunter Exam isn't testing fraud skills."

Number 514, Bred—maturity beyond his years, highly intelligent. His question that "the origin of pirates is very likely the exploration Hunters of the Hunter Association" truly gave this old man a fright.

Unsurprisingly, Ging received the same questions.

"Please sit. Why do you want to become a Hunter?"

"A dream."

"What kind of Hunter do you want to be?"

"A Ruins Hunter."

"Number One Esdeath, Number 99 Melard, Number 210 Kurando Akabane, Number 514 Bred, Number 515 Ging—what do you think of them?"

"Strong."

"That's all? Strong?"

"Yeah."

"All right. I'll call for you later."

Thus, Ging's evaluation was: Not good at communicating, but not shy from cowardice. The only honest child.

In the distance.

After Bred helped Netero summon Jin for questioning, before Jin returned.

"We exposed a flaw. He saw through our identities," Bred declared.

Kurando Akabane mumbled, "N-No way, right?"

"Trust my judgment." Even Bred could not explain what his judgment was based on, and could only attribute it to an overwhelmingly strong intuition.

Melard was unusually quiet. "My flaw is the biggest. There are traces to follow in my ability to control insect-type Super Dangerous Beasts, and he must have become suspicious because of that! If you observe everything closely enough, you can find inevitable patterns. By gradually observing where we overlap according to that principle, it wouldn't be hard to glimpse the pattern. Those are all flaws."

Bred suddenly understood. He realized why his intuition had been so strong: the occasional complexity in Netero's eyes was like—an kindhearted old man witnessing an ignorant child being egged on into stealing.

Esdeath folded her arms. "Does that mean our mission failed?"

"That depends on Netero's personal attitude! For a major power like the Hunter Association, one that exists outside the government system, I don't believe the government hasn't carried out infiltration, planted spies, and similar operations over the past eight hundred years in an attempt to achieve certain goals. Yet the Hunter Association still stands. They must have their own strategies for dealing with government actions. Simply shutting them out would be the worst possible option," Bred said offhandedly.

Clearly, the others did not yet think on Bred's level and were left utterly confused.

"Got any advice?" Esdeath asked.

Bred looked up at the blue sky and white clouds. "Wait."

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