Pokkle's investigation

"Hasn't anyone contacted you with more information?" Pokkle looked at Joey as they ran, hoping to learn more about the base.

"No. I haven't received any information since leaving the village," Joey answered honestly.

The answer did not satisfy Pokkle, but their brief interaction had given him some understanding of Joey's attitude.

He could already tell that Joey simply wanted to leave NGL safely. Both his willingness to share everything he knew and his openly taking out his phone and map were meant to persuade them to hurry up and take him out of NGL.

Still, this also lent weight to Joey's claims about the insects' strength and numbers. He probably had not lied.

"Were several monsters chasing you earlier?"

Understanding what Pokkle meant, Joey held up four fingers. "I spotted four in total. I shot two dead-one that looked like an ape and another that looked like a wolfdog. I injured the internal organs of one that looked like a woodlouse with a grenade, but I don't know whether it'll die. That thing was pretty tough."

Joey saw no reason to hide his ability to take down his pursuers. The credit went to the gun and grenades anyway. As for the rest of his abilities, Pokkle had seen them and should have formed his own judgment.

Pokkle nodded. He had not sensed any insects nearby since arriving, either, so Joey's assessment was probably correct.

His gaze then swept over Joey. Judging from experience, he believed Joey could not use Nen.

Joey's habits and the little details of his actions gave Pokkle more than eighty percent confidence in that assessment, but two points still raised doubts.

First, Joey had a "Nen Beast" despite being unable to use Nen!

Pokkle did not know much about this. After all, he had not been a Hunter for very long.

Although Pokkle had mastered Nen, his depth of knowledge still fell far short of a veteran Hunter's.

But judging by the Nen Beast's earlier disappearance and Joey's behavior, Joey seemed able to control it. That was probably how he had managed to get this far.

Taking that together with the earlier explosion, this Nen Beast was probably a fairly powerful combat-type Nen Beast. The question was what other abilities it was hiding.

Pokkle did not believe that the little chariot's explosion represented the full extent of Joey's Nen Beast's abilities.

At the very least, the humanoid Nen Beast, with its muscular body, ought to be good at close combat.

Second, Pokkle knew that Joey was probably able to see Nen.

If Joey could not use Nen, that was very strange, yet Pokkle had reached that conclusion through observation.

His deliberate archery gesture earlier had been a test!

If Joey could not see Nen, he would not have noticed the red arrow Pokkle had used to hit the insect. In that case, he would not have reacted to Pokkle's archery gesture with resistance or a sense of being threatened. His first reaction should have been confusion instead.

After all, to someone unable to see Nen, the sight of a man drawing and firing an invisible bow was rather baffling.

But Joey's gaze had immediately landed on his hand, and his response had shown displeasure at the threat.

That was evidence supporting Pokkle's suspicion that Joey could see Nen.

But that raised a problem. Why could someone who had not awakened Nen see it? Or was Joey secretly an expert, with everything he had revealed so far merely an act?

Pokkle recalled the scene when he had seen Joey in the village. Back then, Joey had likewise shown no signs of knowing Nen, yet a Nen Beast had stood beside him.

Only, Joey had not seemed to look directly at the Nen Beast even once.

Could Joey actually be unable to see the Nen Beast? Then why had he felt threatened by my "baffling" gesture?

Pokkle's thoughts returned to his surprise when he had spotted "Yoshikage Kira" and the Nen Beast beside him from a distance in the village.

That surprise had prompted him to quietly ask around about Yoshikage Kira.

The results of his investigation had been unsatisfactory.

Although some people in the village disliked Yoshikage Kira, even they described him as nothing more than an ordinary farmer.

There were a few odd things about him. For instance, Yoshikage Kira was already fifteen, yet he politely turned down anyone who came to his door to arrange a marriage.

His life was also a little too regimented compared with those of other villagers around his age.

And he was overly meticulous about tending his fields. He always kept them neat and symmetrical. Even the scarecrows had to wear matching clothes and stand in identical, orderly poses.

Aside from those things, Yoshikage Kira seemed ordinary and unremarkable in the village.

But judging by Kira's calm response when Pokkle had deliberately called out his name earlier, he must have investigated Pokkle in secret, too.

Otherwise, someone whose name was suddenly called out by a stranger would never have reacted as calmly as Kira had.

There was also the fact that Yoshikage Kira knew how to use weapons. That had effectively confirmed his status as a member of the organization.

After all, in this country, only organization members and foreign volunteers had the opportunity to handle firearms, and volunteers did not live in the villages.

That meant Pokkle had to take precautions against whatever Yoshikage Kira hoped to achieve by secretly investigating his group.

Finally, that threatening, baffling gesture he had used as a test had also been intended to probe just how much Yoshikage Kira knew about them.

Judging by the results, Yoshikage Kira probably knew even more than Pokkle had suspected.

The basis for that assessment was Yoshikage Kira's glance at the nearby bees.

Ponzu had deliberately recalled most of her bees by then. With only one or two flying through the dense forest, there should have been nothing unusual about them, yet Yoshikage Kira had specifically noticed their presence.

Where had Yoshikage Kira learned that Ponzu could communicate with bees?

At that thought, Pokkle could not help looking toward the enigmatic Joey running beside him.

Joey happened to look over at that very moment. Their eyes met, and they both nodded politely before looking away.

Joey had no idea what Pokkle was thinking. He had been pondering why he could see Nen.

He knew perfectly well that he had not awakened a Nen Ability, yet he could genuinely see Nen-or, more precisely, Nen condensed to a certain degree.

When he first saw the red arrow, he had not realized it. Only when Pokkle appeared with his eyes wide and coated in Nen had it dawned on him that he could see Nen despite being unable to use it.

Was it because of my strong mental power? Or did it have something to do with my Stand?

At that thought, Joey suddenly remembered the wallet.

The soft white glow he had seen enveloping the wallet was probably Nen, too.

But Joey could not ask Pokkle to help him test exactly what allowed him to see Nen.

That was what had made him glance at Pokkle, only to find Pokkle looking at him as well.

Feeling guilty, he naturally nodded without a word and looked away. For some reason, though, he felt that Pokkle also seemed a little awkward.