Broke again

"Chrollo, could you give me the Febola Stone? You must have plenty of gems, right?"

Cordis stared obsessively at the Febola Stone gleaming in Chrollo's hand in the darkness.

From the look in his eyes, he seemed ready to lunge forward and snatch it at any moment.

At his words, Chrollo tilted his head and looked at Cordis with a smile.

"Do you like it that much, Cordis?"

Cordis nodded eagerly and pressed his palms together in a plea.

"Yes. Please."

That put Chrollo in a difficult position. He frowned slightly and reached out to stroke Cordis's face.

Cordis obediently nuzzled his hand, looking utterly docile.

"That's a problem. I really want it too."

As he spoke, he started to withdraw his hand.

Seeing this, Cordis hurriedly caught Chrollo's retreating hand and held it against his face.

Like an obedient puppy, he gently rubbed his cheek against it.

"I'll do anything you ask. Please."

He lifted his azure eyes to Chrollo, his gaze brimming with sincerity.

Chrollo's lips curved into a faint smile at his words.

He held the Febola Stone in front of Cordis and waved it twice.

"If you want it that badly, Cordis, you can have it. But I hope you'll come visit the Spider often."

Cordis nodded eagerly.

Then, as though afraid Chrollo might change his mind, he snatched the Febola Stone from his hand.

The moment he got hold of it, a blush spread across Cordis's face.

He gazed at it as though it were his lover, his eyes almost overflowing with tenderness.

Cordis raised the gem into the moonlight.

The color of the Febola Stone seemed to meld with the blue of his eyes.

Seeing this, Chrollo and the others said nothing more, leaving Cordis alone in the darkness to tell the gem how much he adored it.

Just as Cordis became hopelessly absorbed in the gem's beauty, a voice appeared in his mind.

It spoke directly inside Cordis's head.

[The Febola Stone has found its owner. Would you like to absorb all the power within the Febola Stone?]

[Once its power has been absorbed, the Febola Stone will automatically shatter.]

"No."

[Well...]

The Febola Stone had never expected something like this to happen the very first time it acknowledged an owner.

It had spent hundreds of years being honed underground, all so someone could absorb its power.

Having a Nen user drain it completely was its life's purpose.

Yet it had never imagined meeting someone like Cordis.

An incredible opportunity had been handed to him on a silver platter, but not only was he ungrateful, he had firmly rejected it.

Cordis simply loved the Febola Stone's beauty. He did not care in the slightest what use it might have.

He could build up his strength gradually, but there was only one most beautiful gem in the world.

Surely anyone would know which to choose.

With that single refusal from Cordis, the Febola Stone fell silent.

It returned to its original lifeless stillness and, in accordance with Cordis's wish, became something else.

It became the most beautiful sapphire in the world.

Early the next morning, Cordis cashed the check for seven hundred thousand JN that the old butler had given him.

He redeemed his Hunter License.

When Cordis took his Hunter License away, the hotel manager cried his eyes out.

Anyone who did not know better would have thought someone had stolen his wife.

After leaving the hotel, Cordis went to the most famous jewelry store in Yorknew City.

He spent all his remaining money commissioning a brooch made with the Febola Stone.

The jeweler had never received such an expensive custom order before, and his eyes filled with disbelief when he heard that this was the Febola Stone.

Even so, he carefully stored the gem as Cordis requested.

He promised to finish the custom brooch before September 1.

Cordis checked the date.

It had been nearly two or three weeks since Gon and Killua had headed to Heavens Arena.

He wondered how they were doing.

Mostly, he worried that Hisoka might do something out of line to Killua and the others.

All right, the real reason was this.

Cordis was broke again. To keep himself from starving, he ultimately decided to head to Heavens Arena and scrape by there.

Without much hesitation, Cordis set off for Heavens Arena on foot.

After traveling nonstop for a day and a night, he finally arrived.

A skyscraper towering into the clouds appeared before him.

When he entered the building, the first things he saw were two enormous signs hanging in the middle of the lobby.

Gon and Killua's photographs were prominently displayed on them.

Just then, a ticket seller suddenly called out.

"Gon Freecss's first match against Gido is about to begin! Anyone who wants tickets, please head to the ticket counter!"

Before the announcement was even halfway finished, a huge crowd surged forward to snap up tickets.

Cordis wanted to buy a ticket too.

But he was already penniless. All his money had gone toward the custom brooch.

How could he afford a ticket?

Just then, a familiar figure came into Cordis's view.

"Wing?"

Wing heard Cordis's voice too and turned in confusion toward the tall, cute-looking young man before him.

"Hello? Can I help you?"

At that, Cordis dropped all pretense, stepped forward, and excitedly clasped both of Wing's hands.

"Are you really Wing? This is great! I never thought I'd meet you here!"

Wing stared blankly at Cordis, who was acting as though they were already old friends.

He did not remember ever meeting this boy.

Seeing that the tickets for Gon and Gido's match were almost sold out, Cordis hurriedly urged Wing on.

"Come on, Wing! Hurry in and buy tickets. Don't forget to get one for me!"

Before he had even finished speaking, Cordis pushed Wing into the crowd to fight for the few remaining tickets.

Cordis stayed outside and cheered him on.

When Wing emerged again, his clothes were somewhat creased from being squeezed in the crowd, and his hair was a mess.

He clutched two tickets tightly, as though afraid someone would snatch them away.

Seeing that Wing had successfully secured two tickets, Cordis excitedly ran up to him, ready to take one.

But Wing was no fool. He kept a firm grip on the tickets and asked warily.

"Who exactly are you? How do you know me?"

Only then did realization dawn on Cordis. No wonder Wing seemed so wary of me.

He had forgotten to introduce himself.

"My name is Cordis Paipai. I'm a friend of Gon and Killua. Nice to meet you."

As he spoke, he held out a hand to Wing.

Upon hearing that Cordis was a friend of Gon and Killua, Wing became considerably less guarded.

He took Cordis's outstretched hand, making this their first proper introduction.

For this damn novel.

I haven't earned a single buck.

And I even fucking spent six bucks on a custom cover.

What a raw deal.