If You Can't Sleep, Come Find Me~

Cordis glanced at Hisoka, who had suddenly appeared behind him.

Then he looked at Feitan, who was storming away.

He asked cautiously.

"Hisoka, Feitan seems to really hate you."

Hisoka shrugged helplessly at that.

"Oh my~ Everyone in the Spider seems to hate me~ I really do want to get along with them~"

He sounded sad, but there was an excited smile on his face.

Cordis didn't believe a word of it.

He instinctively glanced out the window.

Only then did he realize it was already completely dark.

"It's getting late. I should go."

Hisoka's smile froze for a moment at those words, but soon returned to normal.

"What? Not interested in the Phantom Troupe?~"

Cordis shook his head.

He warily scanned their surroundings, then lowered his voice once he was sure none of the Spider's members were around.

"I'm flat broke right now. I need to take a few jobs. Who has time to hang around with the Spider?"

Hisoka stroked his chin and thought for a while before speaking.

"Then why not go to Heavens Arena?~ I was just about to head there~ If you can't sleep at night, you can come find me~♡"

As he spoke, his hand strayed toward Cordis's waist, trying to slip around it.

After hearing Hisoka's disgusting tone and sickeningly sweet words,

Cordis felt thoroughly unsettled.

He hurried several steps back, putting a considerable distance between himself and Hisoka.

He watched Hisoka warily.

Looks like Heavens Arena is absolutely out of the question.

"No thanks. Find someone else."

"Say goodbye to Chrollo for me. I'm heading out. Maybe we'll meet again."

With that, he left the arcade.

A gust of wind swept past.

Cordis seemed to vanish from the doorway with it.

Hisoka kept watching the entrance as Cordis left.

Once he was certain Cordis was truly gone,

boredom washed over him.

He looked at the dazzling array of arcade machines before him. They had seemed fairly entertaining earlier, but now they only felt childish.

He left the arcade, with no intention of passing on Cordis's message.

He had thought Cordis could keep him company for a few more days, but apparently that wasn't going to happen.

With no other choice, Hisoka could only return to Heavens Arena ahead of schedule.

After leaving the arcade, Cordis picked a hotel at random to rest in.

Even knowing he didn't have a penny to his name, Cordis resolutely chose a five-star hotel.

Perhaps it was because of how badly he had once lived.

Ever since leaving his family, Cordis had refused to put himself through any more hardship.

Whenever he had money, he spent it immediately.

At first, when he hadn't had much, he might have shown a little restraint. Once he became wealthy, however, he stopped holding back altogether.

Diamonds, jade, fine wine, antiques-he bought them all, spending tens of millions at a time.

He didn't care about money in the slightest.

So even though he knew he had no money now,

Cordis, who had grown accustomed to luxury, still refused to make do with some haystack or otherwise put himself through hardship.

He placed his Hunter License in front of the young woman at reception and said,

"I don't have any money right now. I'll leave my Hunter License with you as collateral and redeem it once I have some."

The receptionist seemed to have never encountered anything like this before.

After exchanging a look with the young woman beside her,

she hurried off to find the hotel manager.

Upon learning that a professional Hunter had arrived, the manager abandoned his meal and rushed over to Cordis.

He picked up the Hunter License that had been left on the reception desk.

He held it under the light to examine it.

Then he looked suspiciously at the feminine-looking young man before him.

His eyes were full of disbelief. He handed the Hunter License to the receptionist, signaling for her to check it.

Once they confirmed that the Hunter License was genuine,

his attitude changed completely.

He bowed and rubbed his hands together, his expression fawning.

"Mr. Cordis, correct? Please follow me. We've already reserved our finest presidential suite for you."

As he spoke, he casually slipped the Hunter License into his trouser pocket.

It was as though the Hunter License belonged to him.

The manager led the way, with Cordis following behind.

They arrived at the presidential suite on the top floor.

When the lights came on, an enormous pane of glass appeared before them.

Through it, they could look down over all of Yorknew City.

Cordis stood before the glass, surveying Yorknew City at night, and nodded in satisfaction.

Seeing that, the manager tactfully took his leave.

After resting at the hotel for four or five days,

the next morning arrived.

Cordis's body clock still woke him at four or five in the morning.

It had been four or five years, and nothing had changed.

And once he woke up, he couldn't get back to sleep.

With no other choice, Cordis resigned himself to getting up and putting on his clothes.

The sky outside was still only faintly bright, but many people at the bottom of society had already started work.

And the penniless Cordis began taking on his first job.

His first job was to serve as a bodyguard, protecting a priceless Febola Stone.

Apparently, a wealthy businessman intended to give it to his young lover as a birthday present.

There were only five Febola Stones in the entire world. Even an entire mine couldn't be traded for a single one.

The one Cordis would be protecting had only recently been unearthed.

Its discovery had immediately caused a public sensation, and naturally, it had also stirred the interest of quite a few people with ill intentions.

To protect the Febola Stone, the businessman had hired three Hunters.

Cordis's task was simple.

He only needed to guard the Febola Stone for one day at the wealthy man's temporary mansion, then watch it leave aboard a helicopter.

Cordis was the first to arrive at the businessman's mansion.

He checked the clock hanging on the wall. It was only six.

When the day was over, Cordis would receive a full seven hundred thousand in payment.

Seven hundred thousand was more than those at the bottom of society could earn in a lifetime, even if they went without food or sleep.

Yet Cordis only had to keep this Febola Stone company to earn the full seven hundred thousand.

As for the businessman, his wealth was beyond imagining.

Cordis sat on the enormous sofa in the center of the room and picked up the teapot before him.

The tea inside was still piping hot.

Without caring who had brewed it, he poured himself a cup.

Just then, an elderly man dressed as a butler walked in.

He was carrying a plate of small pastries.

Seeing Cordis sitting on the sofa, drinking the premium tea he had just brewed,

he was momentarily taken aback.

I did turn on the alarm, didn't I? How did this fellow get in without making a sound?

Hisoka comes across as such a tease in this story.

I can handle a forty-year-old Jotaro, but not a twenty-seven-year-old Hisoka.

Hisoka, you old man.

I'll pad this out with a few more words in a bit.