"When we went to retrieve the soldiers' corpses, the man used some strange wrapping cloth to pack them all up."
"The guard, as we suspected, is a Nen user. But the explosives and that wrapping technique don't align at all. There's no way he could be using both as branch abilities. Our initial conclusion is that he's not the one responsible."
"What about the other two foreign guards?" Benjamin had regained his composure. "They didn't follow Queen Sevanti to the Thirteenth Prince's side. That level of loyalty could be motive enough for murder."
"Yes, we're investigating both of them. We also can't rule out the possibility that some guards who were originally loyal to the Twelfth Prince were reassigned by Queen Sevanti to the Thirteenth Prince's camp—perhaps out of revenge after seeing their prince targeted."
"Fine. I'll leave it to you. I want the assassin identified—within a day."
"Yes, sir!!"
...
While the eldest prince Benjamin was fuming, the atmosphere in Room 1012 was far quieter—almost too quiet, thanks to the sudden drop in people.
"The ruckus you stirred up must've been pretty serious. Some of the servants were so rattled, they injured themselves chopping vegetables."
Momoze sat upright on the bed, smiling gently at Clone No. 4, who stood nearby. Then, with a trace of concern, she asked:
"You've killed so many people... won't the First Prince or the others start suspecting you?"
"Don't worry," Clone No. 4 replied with a confident grin. "Now that we're in this game, we have to eliminate the insiders first."
He had used the Conjurer ability [Little Flower]—originally from Bomber Genthru—to wipe out those with ill intentions.
Then, with the Conjurer ability [Fun Fun Cloth], which came from Owl of the Shadow Beasts, he gathered all the bodies.
The explosives and the Cloth—a bizarre combination. No one would logically connect the two. It gave Clone No. 4 the perfect alibi.
Even Benjamin had mostly ruled him out as a suspect.
"That's good~"
With that assurance, Momoze—who trusted him completely—sighed in relief.
"After everything that's happened, I doubt they'll assign more surveillance guards to me. I might finally get some peace."
"You're mistaken, Your Highness~" Clone No. 4 shook his head slowly. "On the contrary, if I'm right, some of the princes and queens will definitely send more people here—trying to root out the real killer."
"You mean... use the new arrivals as bait?"
Momoze wasn't naive. She caught on quickly, but it only made her more anxious.
"Don't worry, Your Highness~"
Seeing her flustered, Clone No. 4 chuckled lightly.
"Just leave it all to me. If more surveillance guards show up, I promise they'll come and go without a trace."
...
As Clone No. 4 comforted the nervous Momoze, news of the massacre quickly spread among the other princes.
Many were shaken—but more importantly, it deepened their understanding of both Benjamin's ruthless foresight and how unpredictable the succession battle had become.
By now, every prince realized one thing: Nen is the key to surviving and winning this war.
Whether it was the guards eliminated during the Nen teaching session, or the mysterious explosion that wiped out the surveillance troops near Momoze, it all made one truth clear.
If they wanted to survive—if they wanted to claim the throne—they had to learn Nen.
Which is why, despite the horror of the previous day, the very next morning at 9:30...
The teaching room was full again.
Even a prideful narcissist like the Fourth Prince, Tserriednich, didn't flinch. After Danjin reported Myuhan's injury, he didn't bat an eye—he simply told Danjin to keep learning Nen.
(Though one person was missing—Kacho's square-faced servant was under a 72-hour watch due to suspicion, so he couldn't attend.)
...
In response to yesterday's events, Kurapika took the lead. He explained the ability [Silent Majority] to all the gathered guards.
Naturally, it sparked immediate discussion.
"You figured out the assassin's ability in less than a day?"
Furykov, a soldier under Benjamin known for his analytical mind, was clearly impressed.
"The conditions, restrictions, and effects Kurapika described all match yesterday's incident. It's at least 80% accurate... They must have a Nen analyst over here."
Furykov kept that thought to himself, then turned to glance calmly at the room behind Kurapika.
...
Another person with a similar reaction was Second Lieutenant Maor, a soldier under the Fifth Prince, Tubeppa.
After reporting everything to his prince, Maor had been told:
"If there's an opening... see if we can bring them to our side."
Maor silently committed the order to memory.
...
Kurapika, watching everyone's reaction as they slowly accepted his explanation, gave a slight cough and raised his voice.
"One more thing: during this teaching period, we will not be returning any weapons under any circumstances."
The room erupted again in protest, until someone raised a concerned voice:
"What if something like yesterday happens again?! What are we supposed to do then?"
"We've already taken precautions~" Bill, red-faced and earnest, stepped in to play the good cop.
Kurapika kept his tone firm and cold:
"I made the rules clear from the start. Whether you continue the training is your choice—it's not up for debate."
"So if you want to leave, make your decision by 10:00 AM. If you keep wasting time, I won't be able to honor my promise to help you awaken Nen within two weeks."
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (799 chapters in total)