Joining the Phantom Troupe

Early the next morning, Carl nearly overslept.

Perhaps because of their conversation the night before, he had learned the truth and, unusually, suffered from insomnia, barely managing to fall asleep late into the night.

Fortunately, Carl's long-established body clock woke her, allowing her to harvest the ripe Bomb Pomegranates on the estate in time.

"Phew~"

After taking care of things on the estate, Carl returned to her room and collapsed onto the bedding.

If he could, he still wanted to go back to sleep.

"Knock, knock, knock!"

The door hinges creaked in protest under the force of the pounding.

"Carl, are you awake?"

Uvogin's rough, booming voice came through the gaps around the door and echoed in Carl's ears.

"We're getting ready to go see Teacher Lianke."

"Sigh..."

Carl rolled over in the bedding before answering:

"I'll go with you."

The Phantom Troupe was in far too much of a hurry. It seemed the ten million Jenny really had put too much pressure on them...

Before long, Carl rubbed her aching temples and opened the door.

Seeing the dark circles under his companion's eyes, Uvogin scratched his head. "Carl, didn't you sleep last night?!"

"Phew~~~"

Carl let out a long yawn and forced herself to sound energetic:

"I went to sleep pretty late. It's nothing."

Heavy curtains blocked the morning light, and a damp, musty smell filled the corridor.

The Phantom Troupe had moved quickly.

By the time Uvogin brought Carl there, the Phantom Troupe had packed the corridor.

Aside from the obvious dark circles under Carl's eyes, almost everyone was at their best.

The sheath of Nobunaga's katana rested against a crack where the wallpaper had peeled away, and Machi's high ponytail trembled slightly with each breath-a little movement peculiar to her when she was nervous.

For a moment, tension filled the corridor.

Knock!

Knock!

The crisp knocking rang throughout the corridor.

"Creeak~"

The yellowish-brown wooden door swung inward.

Lianke reached out to steady herself against the doorframe, her pale purple silk gloves still carrying the scent of irises.

Her gaze swept over the pilling hems of the children's clothes before settling on Carl in the crowd.

"You gathered ten million Jenny in one night?"

Lianke tapped her fingers on the doorframe, her tone flat.

At that, several members of the Phantom Troupe shrank back. They hadn't gathered enough Jenny at all...

They were plainly planning to skip out on the bill...

"Ahem."

Carl stepped half a pace forward, dark circles under her eyes, and said with a straight face:

"Master, there's no way we can come up with ten million Jenny right now."

"Hmm?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lianke's brows gradually knitted, and her expression grew strange.

Well done, Carl. Master didn't teach you for nothing!

"But I have a way for you to earn even more Jenny, Master."

Seeing that Lianke had understood what she meant, Carl hurriedly pointed at the members of the Phantom Troupe:

"Teacher, the tuition for one disciple is fifty million Jenny!"

"Oh? You can't even pay the mending fee. Can you afford tuition?"

"Even if they can't pay now, you can charge interest, Teacher!"

"They've all awakened their Nen. As long as you give them a little instruction now and then, Teacher, you won't have to worry about them earning Jenny once they grow up!"

"No matter how nicely you put it, aren't you still trying to skip out on the bill?"

As master and disciple played off each other, the members of the Phantom Troupe beside them exchanged glances.

"Teacher Lianke!" Sarasa suddenly slipped out through a gap in the crowd, the mud-spattered bow by her ear sitting crooked. She stood on tiptoe and grabbed Lianke's sash, her knuckles turning pale from the force:

"Please don't be mad at Brother Carl, okay?"

"Even though we can't pay you back now, we can go out and pick up trash. We can sell it for several thousand Jenny every day."

"Once we've saved enough, we'll pay you back right away!"

With that, Sarasa bowed deeply to Lianke.

At the sight, Uvogin's Adam's apple bobbed violently, and his bronze fists clenched with a crackle.

Feitan even closed his eyes, unable to bear watching any longer.

Looking at the small, frail girl before her, Lianke suddenly felt a tightness in her chest. Have I gone too far?

Now that she thought about it, ten million Jenny really was a bit much to ask of a group of children in their early teens...

"Master, Sarasa is only seven this year!!!"

"Can you really bear to do this?"

As Carl winked at Lianke, she secretly gave Chrollo a signal.

The time has come!

"Please, Teacher Lianke!"

Chrollo caught on and hurriedly bowed.

Compared to the enormous sum of ten million Jenny, becoming her disciples was the more practical choice.

Seeing this, the rest of the Phantom Troupe hurriedly bowed as well, pleading with Lianke together:

"Please, Teacher Lianke!" ×10

"..."

Her fingertips unconsciously rubbing a crack in the doorframe, Lianke fell silent for a moment.

Although she had made up her mind to take in these geniuses, was she really capable of guiding so many children?

Would disciples she had half-coerced into joining her with Jenny truly bear no resentment toward her as their teacher in the future?

If the day came when they paid back the Jenny, would they stop acknowledging her as their teacher?

"Ahem! Please, Master!"

Carl coughed twice and bowed to Lianke as well.

Master, didn't we agree you'd take the opportunity to back down?!

Why aren't you saying anything now? What are you doing?

Looking at the grain of the corridor floorboards, Carl felt helpless.

Before he had even returned to the church, he and Lianke had already agreed on a plan to take the Phantom Troupe as disciples under the pretext of the mending fee.

But now that the crucial moment was right in front of them, why was her master dropping the ball...?

"The cabin in the Mist Forest can't fit this many people."

Lianke gave a wry smile, her gaze sweeping over everyone before finally settling on Carl:

"I'll give you half a day to say a proper goodbye to your foster mothers and bring what you need." As she turned, her skirt billowed like a wave, the scent of irises accompanying a softly spoken concession: "Remember to clean the first floor when you get there."

The corridor erupted in subdued cheers.

"We did it?"

Wriggling his backside, Uvogin asked Nobunaga beside him in a low voice.

"Obviously!"

Nobunaga's scabbard knocked some plaster off the wall with a crisp hum.

"Yay, we did it!!!"

Sarasa jumped up in excitement.

"Thanks for the effort, Carl."

"It was nothing."

Chrollo and Carl looked at each other, and seeing the matching dark circles on each other's faces, they smiled in unspoken understanding.

After last night's conversation, Carl wasn't the only one who had been unable to sleep.

"Hehe~"

"This is going to be fun~"

Across the corridor, Hisoka leaned against the wall, the corners of his mouth gradually curling upward.

So many punching bags all at once. What a day to celebrate!

"What are you laughing at?"

Seeing Hisoka's strange smile, Machi suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?"

Hisoka instinctively turned and looked at the purple-haired girl beside him.

When? He hadn't sensed a thing?