Most of the guards present were seasoned professionals—veterans who had seen their fair share of blood. But when they saw the blood seeping through Myuhan's hands as he clutched his face, along with the senseless muttering spilling from his mouth, it didn't take long for them to grasp the truth:
His left eye was gone.
The mood in the room instantly shifted. The casual tension that had previously lingered evaporated, replaced by cold, silent dread.
They began to take Kurapika's earlier warning seriously.
Meanwhile, the four servants who seemed to have been brought along just to fill space were huddled together again, trembling in fear.
And yet—no one could understand how Myuhan had suddenly lost his eye.
The guards were utterly baffled.
They had been watching closely. Every pair of eyes in the room had been trained on the confrontation between Myuhan and Kurapika. And all Kurapika had done was draw a gun. He hadn't even raised it yet when Myuhan took a single step forward and then—
...
"As I said before: no ill intentions are allowed in this room," a slow, deliberate voice called out from the room behind Kurapika. "Otherwise, I'll assume you're a threat to the prince or queen and act accordingly."
There was a pause. Then:
"This was just a small punishment. If you try something again... I can't guarantee you'll survive."
The voice wasn't loud, but it rang out clearly enough for everyone to hear. A chill ran through the air. Everyone's expression shifted.
"Morgan? That was definitely him~"
Kurapika and Bill, who had both instantly braced for another attack when Myuhan collapsed, immediately began to relax. The sudden injury could only have been caused by Nen—and Morgan was the only one with both the motive and the ability to act from behind the scenes.
Having heard the voice, Kurapika and Bill were now certain, and their guard lowered slightly.
But while those two regained their composure, someone else completely lost his.
"You did this, didn't you?!"
Myuhan's head jerked up. With his one good eye, he glared toward the room behind Kurapika. His face twisted with rage, so distorted it hardly looked human.
Yet, after that single remark, the room fell silent once more.
Whoever had spoken gave no response—like Myuhan didn't even exist.
That indifference snapped what little sanity Myuhan had left.
"Your whole family—!"
THUD!
Before he could finish, Myuhan was slammed from behind and dropped to the ground like a sack of rocks.
"We fully understand and will abide by the rules you've set~" Danjin said flatly, standing over Myuhan's unconscious body. "We'll be more careful next time. Please, forgive the outburst."
Silence followed. After a beat, Kurapika was the first to move. He lowered the gun he had drawn and gave Danjin a nod before turning to address the rest of the guards.
"So, I'll repeat myself one more time: I hope everyone will avoid actions that might lead to... misunderstandings."
None of the guards said a word. After what just happened, no one was eager to test their luck.
As Danjin lifted Myuhan off the floor and headed toward the infirmary, more than a few eyes lingered on the destroyed socket where Myuhan's left eye had been.
The training hadn't even begun yet—and someone had already been taken out?
And yet, rather than fear, something else began to stir in the hearts of the onlookers.
"You can destroy someone's eye from across the room, just like that... Is this what Nen is?"
Some of the guards began to feel their hearts beat faster—less from terror and more from excitement.
"Can I learn to do something like that in just two weeks...?"
In an instant, Morgan's attack had accomplished two things: it kept them in check—and it sparked genuine interest in Nen.
...
"Was that Morgan speaking just now?" muttered Second Lieutenant Maor, assigned by the Fifth Prince.
He was still turning over the situation in his mind. From his perspective, it was almost certain that the injury to Myuhan had come from the voice in the next room.
That voice... it had to be Morgan.
The same man who had been erratic and disrespectful earlier—yet no one had dared to scold him.
"A powerful user like that must hold special privileges… The queen and the other guards seem willing to tolerate him. He must be backed by strength."
That was Maor's impression—and it was close to the truth.
"I'll need to report this to His Highness as soon as possible."
Maor wasn't the only one having such thoughts. Other guards had picked up on the same clues, though most lacked enough information to identify who had actually spoken.
Even Furykov, one of the guards sent by Prince Benjamin, knew little about Morgan's presence.
...
"Are there other elite guards under the Fourteenth Prince? Someone capable of long-range Nen attacks like this... It could be the work of a Transmuter—or maybe even a Specialist," Furykov mused.
"Or perhaps the ability was already activated in this hall before we arrived... Maybe it's a conditional trigger: 'Cross the white line' or 'Harbor ill intent,' and you'll be attacked."
"After all, I've harbored malicious thoughts myself since arriving, but I wasn't harmed. That would mean the trigger condition is more specific—like, our intent has to be actively revealed and perceived before the ability activates."
"And yet... Myuhan clearly showed his malice again, even after being attacked, but wasn't harmed a second time. That suggests the ability can only injure, but not kill—or that it has a cooldown or limited uses."
"In other words... as long as we don't openly express hostility, this room should be safe."
"Still, I'll need to test that theory myself to be sure..."
Furykov glanced around but scowled slightly.
"Tch. Where's that Babimyna guy? Still nowhere to be seen. Would've been useful to gather more intel."
------------
Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (799 chapters in total)