Welcome to My Manor!

"Everyone, welcome to my manor!"

Carl spread her arms, and the pomegranate grove stretching out behind her rustled in the wind.

Beyond the rows of pomegranate trees stood stalk after stalk of golden wheat. As the breeze blew through, the wheat bowed in unison toward the group.

"Inhale~~ exhale~~"

As the breeze brushed their faces, the members of the Phantom Troupe immediately immersed themselves in the manor's fresh air.

It was the first time in their lives they had ever breathed air this clean...

After standing there for a long moment, Chrollo seemed to think of something. He crouched down and scooped up a handful of black soil. The dirt slipping through his fingers had an oily sheen, utterly unlike the compacted, poisonous soil of Meteor City he remembered.

"This is where you farm?!!"

Feeling its softness in his hand, Chrollo was suddenly unable to hide the shock on his face.

He knew Carl's ability was special, but he had never imagined it could be special to this extent...

"Of course!" Carl nodded calmly.

A panel visible only to her floated in midair:

[Manor owner: Carl (level 50)]

[Unlocked area: Farm]

[Plantable fields: 450]

[Currently mature crops: 52,200 Bomb Pomegranates, 10 stalks of Nen Komugi, 1 Qi and Blood Pumpkin.]

Over the past three months, the other plants had remained at their original quantities. Only the Bomb Pomegranates, which matured the fastest, had been put to full use by Carl.

Harvest after harvest, expansion after expansion.

The manor had evolved from barely keeping Carl alive into the beginnings of a war machine!

If Carl wanted, the Bomb Pomegranates she harvested in a single day would be enough to blow all of Meteor City apart!

"Come on, I'll show you around."

Carl sighed. Seeing the Troupe members still standing there, breathing in the air with enraptured expressions, she couldn't help laughing.

"Weren't you here to awaken your Nen Aura today? If you keep standing there, Chrollo and I will go awaken ours first."

She could understand how everyone felt. Compared with the stifling heat and stench of Meteor City, her manor was practically paradise!

With that, she took Chrollo by the hand and headed for the warehouse.

"Wait for us!"

After a long moment, the Troupe members finally came to their senses and hurried after the two of them.

"Are these the trees that grow Bomb Pomegranates?"

Following behind Carl, Uvogin tentatively reached his right hand toward a fruit tree by the path.

"Don't touch the trees."

At Carl's words, Uvogin pulled back the hand he'd stretched toward a pomegranate.

"There are a lot of taboos concerning things in the manor. I'll explain them to everyone bit by bit later."

Carl offered that explanation, then raised a hand and pointed at a pomegranate tree's trunk.

Amber resin suddenly seeped from the bark, drawing out viscous threads at her fingertip. The warning scent of bitter almonds filled the air.

"For now, just don't touch things at random."

"Taboos?"

Chrollo rubbed the space between his brows and repeated the word thoughtfully.

His intuition told him that the word Carl had used must refer to something extremely dangerous.

They walked along the path for a while, and as they drew closer, a huge warehouse gradually came into view.

"We're here."

Carl took a few steps forward and pushed hard, opening the increasingly wide warehouse doors.

The group suppressed their excitement and hurried after her, entering the spacious warehouse.

The warehouse door hinges made a smooth sound, and before them stood Bomb Pomegranates stacked in neat pyramids, each fruit's surface engraved with intricate runes.

To the right, grains of wheat were piled into a small golden mountain. Fresh wheat bran still clung to two bluestone slabs polished smooth and shiny.

"Carl, are all of these bombs?"

Standing in front of the little mountain, Shalnark swallowed and asked, his voice trembling slightly, "Isn't it a little unsafe to stack them all together?"

The horrific sight he had witnessed three months ago had left him instinctively fearful of these things.

For a long moment, no one answered.

"Shalnark, why are you just standing there?"

"If you don't come over soon, I'll eat your share too!"

Seeing Shalnark standing blankly at the warehouse entrance, Uvogin waved him over a couple of times. When he got no response, he spoke up without hesitation.

"Huh?"

Shalnark turned his head as though waking from a dream. Only then did he realize that, at some point, everyone in the Troupe had gathered on the right side of the warehouse.

Aside from Uvogin, who was calling him over, everyone was lying on the floor, diligently counting... counting grains of wheat?

"Hurry up and get over here! Carl said each of us has to eat at least 3,000 grains!"

"If we don't eat enough, we can't awaken our Nen Abilities!"

Uvogin called out again, then squatted down and started sorting through the grains himself.

"Oh, oh, coming!"

After standing there for a few seconds, Shalnark hurried over and copied the others, lying down on the floor and counting grains.

"Use these." Smiling, Carl found a few rough wooden cups and placed one in each person's hands.

"A hundred stalks per person. Each stalk of Nen Komugi has thirty grains, so count carefully!"

After handing out the tools, Carl stood off to the side, smiling as she encouraged them.

She had spent a great deal of effort threshing this wheat over the past three months!

Without the advanced tools from her previous life, she had been forced to grind it with two stones she'd picked up. She had done it until she was nearly numb.

Fortunately, her hardships had finally paid off, and now it was her turn to watch other people work.

"462, 463, 469... damn it! Where was I?" Uvogin suddenly shouted as he counted.

"Idiot, if you can't keep count, don't distract me!" Veins bulged on Nobunaga's forehead. When Uvogin had shouted, the grains Nobunaga had just counted had fallen back onto the floor.

"Ahem, awakening your Nen Abilities is right in front of you. Come on, everyone, keep at it!"

Carl glanced at the two of them and urged them on with a smile.

"I'll deal with you after I'm done counting!!!" they both shouted.

At that, Uvogin and Nobunaga exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and lay back down on the floor.

The time spent counting grains passed quickly, and half an hour went by in the blink of an eye.

"Everyone's finished counting, right?"

Carl looked around and, seeing that everyone had stood up, patiently asked.

The Troupe members exchanged glances and nodded without hesitation.

"Eat them. Once you do, you'll awaken your Nen Aura."

"Remember, the moment you awaken it, keep your Nen Aura contained inside your body. Using up too much Nen Aura will affect your lifespan."

As Carl spoke, she bent down, pulled out a wooden cup she had prepared in advance, and picked up all the grains left on the floor.

No more and no less, they filled exactly half the cup.

"Water jug."

With a thought, a brass water jug appeared in her hand.

"Everyone, come get some water from me. The grains can cut your mouth, so they're easier to swallow with water..."

Carl glanced at the two people with bulging mouths, and her movements abruptly froze.

Wait, were they chewing them dry?

Nobunaga suddenly began coughing violently-he had tried to pour the grains straight down his throat, only to choke until his face turned bright red.

Following his example, Uvogin grabbed handfuls of grains and stuffed them into his mouth. His swollen cheeks changed shape as he chewed, making him look just like a hamster storing food for winter.

When the others saw the jug appear, their eyes lit up, and they hurriedly held out their cups.

"Cough, cough! Give me some too!" Nobunaga patted his chest and hurried over.

"Chew, chew~" Only Uvogin remained where he was, silently chewing the dry grains.