I believe in you too

Cordis took Gon's hand.

The little hand before him was a mangled, bloody mess.

The sight made Cordis's heart ache.

"How did you do this?"

For some reason, Gon felt a little guilty at the question.

He scratched his head and pulled his hand back.

He hid it behind his back.

"It was just from practicing. It's nothing!"

Cordis gave Gon a plainly disbelieving look.

Gon lowered his head, tears glistening in his eyes.

"Okay, it actually hurts a little."

Cordis gently wiped the tears from the corners of Gon's eyes.

Then he took some medicine and bandages from his pocket.

"If it hurts, you need to say so. Keeping quiet could make the wound worse."

Gon looked at Cordis, half convinced.

"Really?"

Cordis answered as he applied medicine to Gon's hand.

"Of course. It could even get so bad that they'd have to amputate."

Gon shuddered a couple of times.

He hurriedly urged Cordis to get the medicine on.

Once Cordis finished applying it,

Gon picked up his fishing rod and asked,

"Cordis, do you know where Hisoka is?"

Cordis asked,

"Isn't your nose really sharp? Can't you track Hisoka by his scent?"

"I've never smelled Hisoka before. How would I know what he smells like?"

Cordis thought for a moment before saying,

"Hisoka has a faint smell of blood about him."

"That should be pretty easy to find, right?"

After all, this exam's task was to steal number badges.

No one would actually go for the kill.

So very few people had wounds that bled.

Except, of course, for those two monsters, Hisoka and Illumi.

Rather than putting all that effort into stealing badges, those two thought it was easier to kill their targets and take the badges afterward.

Hisoka, in particular, carried a faint smell of blood.

It was probably because he had killed so many people.

Gon wrinkled his nose and sniffed the air.

Sure enough, he caught the scent of blood in several directions.

All they could do now was check them one by one.

Cordis followed Gon to two or three places.

Unsurprisingly, they all turned out to be dead animal carcasses.

By the time Cordis and Gon headed in the fourth direction, they had all but given up hope.

When they were only a dozen or so meters from their destination,

Cordis stopped Gon.

He sensed the oppressive aura coming from Hisoka.

Cordis knew how strong Hisoka was.

Illumi could sense him even when he was over a hundred meters away.

And compared with Illumi,

Hisoka was at least as strong, if not stronger.

Cordis instinctively shot Gon a look.

He moved his lips, mouthing to Gon,

"Found him."

Gon had already lowered his body when Cordis stopped him.

Gripping his fishing rod tightly, Gon whispered to Cordis,

"Cordis! I'll handle the rest myself!"

Cordis had already collected all the points he needed.

Gon's own points had nothing to do with him.

He had given Gon advice when he was lost and even bandaged his wounds.

Gon knew Hisoka was strong, and he knew that the claim about driving Hisoka away last time had only been meant to reassure them.

He really didn't want to drag Cordis into this again.

Seeing the serious look on Gon's face,

Cordis covered his lips and chuckled.

"All right. I believe in you, Gon."

"Just like you believed in me from the start."

"I believe in you too."

For a moment, that smile left Gon dazed.

Just like Aunt Mito, Gon thought instinctively.

Cordis waved and left.

The rest was up to Gon himself.

As Gon watched Cordis leave,

an inexplicable nervousness rose inside him.

He moved toward Hisoka.

His small body hid among the bushes.

Through the bushes, he could clearly see Hisoka sitting alone beneath a large tree, looking utterly bored.

Gon gripped his fishing rod tightly.

Cold sweat dripped down his cheeks onto the dirt.

Gon forced himself to calm down.

Gradually, his eyes lost their focus, as though he were dead.

Hisoka really was something else.

He actually stayed in that same position until evening.

"Now then~ Come on out~"

Hisoka suddenly spoke.

His words startled Gon.

"Did he spot me?" Gon murmured.

Still, he stayed put.

Hisoka stood, placed his hands on his hips, and said in a lilting voice,

"Then I suppose I'll come to you~"

Just as Gon thought he had been discovered and tightened his grip on his fishing rod, ready to risk everything,

the grass beside him stirred.

A man stepped out of the undergrowth.

He raised his spear toward Hisoka and said,

"Let's have a match."

Before he even finished speaking, he charged at Hisoka with his spear.

It was clear that the man was skilled.

Though he still couldn't compare with Hisoka, he ranked among the very best of ordinary people.

His spear whirled in dazzling flourishes.

Every strike was flawless.

Gon didn't dare imagine what would happen if he faced this man.

Yet his opponent, Hisoka,

hadn't even taken out his signature playing cards.

He simply kept dodging.

Every seemingly perfect move was something Hisoka could evade.

Gradually, the man's movements slowed, and openings began to appear everywhere in his spearwork.

At last, his strength gave out, and he sank to one knee.

"Why?"

The man asked.

Hisoka's expression remained unchanged.

"I'm not interested in dead men~"

At some point, a mass of blood butterflies had gathered on the man's back.

Swarms of those butterflies appeared around him.

It seemed the man was badly wounded.

Hisoka said nothing more.

He sat on a tree stump nearby.

"Bye-bye~"

Those words made the man snap.

He let out a furious roar.

He picked up his spear and charged at Hisoka.

With a whoosh,

a needle pierced the man's neck in the blink of an eye.

He fell to the ground.

Gon had watched the entire scene.

Illumi, his head studded with needles, walked over to Hisoka and said,

"Sorry, sorry. This guy was just too pitiful."

Hisoka looked at the dead man and said indifferently,

"Stop pitying enemies who don't matter."

Illumi twisted his neck to look at Hisoka, his expression teasing.

"Then what about Cordis Paipai? It looked to me like you let him go."

At the mention of Cordis, Hisoka couldn't help licking his lips.

It was as though he were savoring the memory of his first taste of Cordis's blood.

"Oh~ Pai Pai? That couldn't be helped. I simply can't bear to kill him."

"I'll wait for him to grow, little by little, then kill him in the cruelest way possible~"

Illumi put his hands on his hips and smiled faintly at Hisoka.

"You really do know how to have fun."

Hisoka looked at Illumi proudly.

Gon, hiding in the bushes, wasn't doing nearly so well.

Especially after hearing Hisoka say he would kill Cordis in the cruelest way possible.

He clenched his fishing rod in a death grip.

His body couldn't stop trembling.

If he had only wanted to steal Hisoka's number badge at first,

now his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

He wanted nothing more than to kill Hisoka right then and there.

Oh yeah~

I love novels! (Just kidding.)