Afternoon, in Chrollo's room.
The moment Feitan returned, he saw the little girl, her face bruised and swollen from a beating, curled pitifully in a corner. With her arms wrapped around her knees, she played the picture of wounded innocence to perfection.
"What happened to her?"
The expression beneath Feitan's skull mask was utterly bewildered.
At his question, Machi's expression grew even colder.
Pakunoda folded her arms and offered only one comment:
"Stay out of it, Feitan. The girl brought it on herself."
Chrollo gave a soft, cold snort.
Seeing this, Feitan was even more baffled.
No matter how he tried, he couldn't imagine what outrage Lola could possibly have committed to offend all three of these people at once.
Forget it. He would leave the girl alone for now. Business came first.
Feitan reported the results of his investigation that day.
"I went all over town. It's just an ordinary, out-of-the-way place. The residents could spend their entire lives here without ever seeing anyone important. They've never even heard of Nen users."
Pakunoda frowned.
"Boss, could the information be wrong?"
Chrollo looked up.
"Shalnark provided the information. Given how meticulous he is, it's unlikely he would give us anything false."
Machi nodded.
"I don't think Shalnark made a mistake, either. The person you're looking for is here, boss."
Feitan sneered.
"Machi, are you saying that because of your damned intuition again? I personally turned this whole town upside down today. There are no Nen users here, period. If you say Shalnark's information is right, are you saying I'm wrong?"
Machi ignored the challenge in Feitan's words and merely looked calmly at Chrollo, as though saying that her intuition had always been accurate. Whether he believed her was up to him.
The boss closed his eyes in thought.
A moment later, he opened them and looked at Feitan.
"Feitan, you said you searched the whole town? What about this inn? Did you check whether there are any Nen users here?"
Feitan immediately caught on.
"Right! I searched the entire town, but I haven't investigated the guests at this inn one by one yet. In that case, the person you're looking for must be here, boss."
No sooner had he finished speaking than Feitan vanished in a flash.
In the corner, A Luo listened as their conversation turned to Nen users.
Apparently, Chrollo had traveled all this way to find some Nen user?
What did he want to do?
Recruit another member, or... A possibility occurred to A Luo, and she looked up to ask Chrollo directly:
"Boss, are you looking for someone to recruit as a new member?"
Chrollo looked at Lola, watching her silently without answering her question.
By then, dusk had fallen. Outside the window, the setting sun had become a warm orange egg yolk, hanging quietly above the treetops and giving off its last light and heat.
Chrollo sat sideways on the edge of the bed. The sunset's lingering glow fell across his handsome, refined face, leaving one half bright and lovely, like the picturesque town outside, and the other half shadowed and dark, like the lives of the people in this room, whose bleak course had been written from birth.
Born in Meteor City, no one could preserve the kindness and goodness at the core of their life forever.
Chrollo, for instance.
His original dream had clearly been nothing more than to start a theater troupe.
Yet fate had pushed him, step by step, into this unrecognizable version of himself, making him one of the world's most notorious villains.
At this moment, that quiet, delicate face looked just like a university student who had yet to leave campus. Yet behind his faint smile and silent gaze lay treacherous depths, as though limitless murderous intent lurked within.
Before long, Feitan returned.
The young man stepped through the door and announced excitedly:
"Boss, I found him. The person you're looking for is staying in the room at the end of the third floor."
Chrollo's eyes lit up, and he rose to leave.
Machi and Pakunoda followed close behind.
But as the boss passed A Luo, who was crouching in the corner, he stopped.
"A Luo, haven't you been curious all this time about what we came here to do? Come on. Daddy will take you to see!"
A Luo: "..."
All I did was tease you a little!
Did you really have to hold a grudge? Even eight lifetimes of rotten luck couldn't saddle me with a dad like you, always finding fault with me.
Soon, the group stood outside the room at the end of the inn's third floor.
A Luo was in the boss's arms. He hadn't cared in the slightest whether she wanted to come; he had simply brought her along.
"Boss, sir, is this guy you're looking for really strong? Could he beat you in a fight?"
If this man was particularly powerful, she would really be better off keeping her distance for her own safety.
Hearing the hidden meaning in A Luo's words, Chrollo gave a cold chuckle and locked the little girl even more firmly against his chest, leaving her no room to resist.
They were already in the same boat. Did she really think she could still run?
A Luo tried to struggle, but found that her meager strength against Chrollo was like an ant trying to shake a tree. She immediately accepted her fate and stopped resisting.
While A Luo was trying to struggle, however, Chrollo stood outside the room at the end of the hallway and knocked on the door.
A moment later, the door opened a crack.
A hoarse, high-pitched voice came from inside:
"Who is it?"
Chrollo smiled.
"Sorry to disturb you. I'm a guest downstairs. Mrs. Heidi said the water would be shut off this afternoon and asked me to notify Mr. Robin and bring up the bottled water you requested."
He spoke with an entirely convincing air.
"As you know, Mrs. Heidi is getting on in years. Carrying things like this is a little difficult for her."
Hearing this, the man inside opened the door.
Then he froze at the sight of Chrollo, who was carrying a child but no water.
"Where's the water?"
Chrollo replied with a perfectly straight face:
"I had to check whether you were in your room before bringing it up, didn't I? Otherwise, if we carried the water up and you weren't here, wouldn't all that effort be wasted?"
Robin grew impatient.
"Then I don't need it. I've heard your notice about the water shutoff. You don't need to come back."
With that, he tried to shut the door.
Chrollo reached out to stop him.
"I keep my promises to Granny Heidi. Please cooperate!"
Robin grew angry, and the hand gripping the door began to exert force.
Holding Lola in his arms, Chrollo kept one hand on the door handle.
No matter how hard Robin strained... the door remained wide open, refusing to close.
At last, Robin understood that these visitors meant trouble!
"Since you're so determined to get yourself killed, don't blame me!"
A vicious grin spread across his face, and he drew a dagger from behind his back.
Still nestled in Chrollo's arms, A Luo watched the gleaming dagger thrust toward her, her face draining of all color.
Especially when she remembered the time the man behind her had thrown her like a projectile. Surely he wasn't planning to use her as a shield this time!
Before you continue