While Pariston keeps smiling at Auren, his smile takes on the slightest hint of something Auren can only describe as chaotic.
Is that ... jealousy? No... he wants something.
"You, on the other hand..." Pariston says in response to Auren's earlier comment, "have become even more greedy for power; so has your lovely companion. Despite your looks, madame, I'm afraid your little Hatsu has caused the Association a lot of trouble... and made quite a lot of people rather terrified. Obviously, most officials do not believe the silly excuses made up by the media, despite the official statements confirming it."
He continues slowly, "Meaning... they take what you did at Heaven's Arena as fact. Do you realize the consequences if people take your actions as real? A beautiful woman capable of causing mass destruction on a scale comparable to a military-grade bombing airship is something to be feared indeed," Pariston says, smiling, despite his critical words.
It is true... even by Heaven's Arena standards, Vanessa's Hatsu is anything but strategic or mysterious. It's pure destruction.
"You know... the strongest weapon is a weapon you can't see... which is exactly why a powerful Nen user is such a terrifying thought to the old elite sitting on the council of the V5," Pariston rambles, Auren listening carefully, his expression growing more serious.
So the V5... is aware of Vanessa? I guess the finals of the recent Battle Olympia were really too exaggerated. The excuse of special effects is laughably absurd. I guess blatantly showcasing the potential of Nen is quite disastrous if their goal is to keep Nen hidden.
"I'm a little nervous, all alone here with two powerful Hunters such as yourselves. Though we are all friends, aren't we, so maybe I should feel extremely safe instead?" he asks, grinning.
"I don't think so," Vanessa replies, her face full of disgust. "I somehow have the urge to bash your face in."
"..."
Pariston looks shocked. "Miss Chester, how could you? Am I not a perfectly well-mannered and respectable gentleman?"
Not replying, but activating her Ren instead and releasing her most powerful Aura, Vanessa replies without the need for words.
"Very impressive..." he mutters, his face growing dark, his smile visibly different, staring at her. "See, I have a rather personal question for you... could you... speaking hypothetically, of course, take down a building such as this hotel in one shot? If yes... I might have an attractive job for you... a discreet one, I must add."
"..." Vanessa stops, and suddenly her body shudders. "Eek. This guy gives me the creeps."
She then steps back and stands exactly behind Auren, resting her body on Auren's back, avoiding Pariston's gaze.
"Have you played around enough?" Auren asks. "Let's get to work... I actually need the money this time, so your clients had better be some real VIPs who can pay for my treatment. I've prepared and balanced the 'cost' specifically for this day; you better not disappoint me," Auren states, a hint of annoyance in his voice. "It was quite the chore to come this far, and it took me a lot of effort."
"Of course," Pariston replies smugly. "You won't be disappointed. In fact, you left me waiting. I've got quite a number of clients prepared... I've scheduled around 10 meetings a day for you. According to schedule, this will take around a week or so, depending on your speed, of course. Surely, you'll be fine... right?"
... I'd like to refuse. But I need the money.
"A week?" Vanessa asks. "I guess that should be fine."
Barely, but yes. We need a few more days to make it to Swardani City, but even if it takes a week, we should still be there early enough.
"I assume... all precautions, that you know by now, have been taken care of?" Auren asks, staring directly into Pariston's eyes and meeting his gaze head-on.
"Indeed... my friend, no, my vice-leader, you should know that I would never do such a thing and risk losing your trust," Pariston says, looking somewhat offended.
"Before we start... can you tell me a little about your recent travel?" Pariston asks with a smile.
"As the Director of outer affairs, I'm informed about most crucial moves," Pariston says. "So I know that you, along with our most competent staff members, went on a little journey."
"You'll have to ask Rakshala," Auren states. "Just be patient... I fear you'll be informed soon enough... and probably be excited."
"How cold..." he says, appearing to slump over. "How about... just a hint?"
Auren shrugs. "If the results are confirmed... you might want to quit your position and join Hollow Blade in earnest, not just treat it as your personal entertainment and side project."
Pariston's face immediately shifts, now appearing completely serious. "You... are not lying?" he asks. "Interesting... I guess the future is looking bright... in more ways than one."
"Let's get started," Auren says, interrupting the banter. "We don't have any time to waste."
"Of course," Pariston says, handing Auren a small envelope containing a schedule.
Auren and Vanessa, who is looking over his shoulder, stare at the schedule and see over fifty names and their reported issues, their reasons for coming from all over the world, just to see Auren.
"A lost eye, kidney rejection, heart complications, failing liver, lung cancer, cut-off fingers, unknown long-term poisoning leading to organ failure," Vanessa reads, looking genuinely worried. "That sounds quite difficult to treat."
"Of course," Pariston replies. "All these issues can't be treated to the satisfaction of the patients... at least relying on the known medical science. There are various solutions and treatment plans, but none of them are quite what our customers desire. However... all of them are either extremely rich or have rich backers. I also have a few of my Hunters booked in. I'll be paying for them. One billion a pop, all going to you, not quite what I'm charging the others, but I hope you'll indulge me anyway."
"..."
Whatever. In the end, it's just a number. He'll still come out of this with an insane profit. It's not like he's actually paying that amount.
Back in a luxurious room, Auren and Vanessa are waiting for the first patient.
Despite believing Pariston, Auren can't help but use En and Gyo to scan the room, finding nothing wrong with it.
"Is it clean?" Vanessa asks. "I realize now why you are always so frustrated when dealing with that guy... he's creepy... and also a little scary."
"Indeed," Auren replies, sighing again.
"I have a question... why did you allow me to join you here? I would have waited somewhere else," Vanessa asks.
"I need someone I trust to guard me. During the treatment, I'll be using a lot of Aura... which leaves me highly vulnerable," Auren explains. "If someone interrupts or attacks us... go all out, okay? You can train or meditate while I work, just be ready for anything, okay? I trust you... don't make me regret it!"
"Okay," Vanessa says, smiling, seemingly perfectly happy with the explanation.
Over the next days, Auren treats a seemingly unending number of patients.
Every hour or so, a new patient is brought into the room, always unconscious, always blindfolded, always through a few helpers personally hired and supervised by Pariston, who promptly leave after pushing a bed with the patient, leaving it in front of the room, allowing for complete anonymity.
At the start of every new day, Pariston goes over the patients for that day, his mood incredibly positive, annoying Auren slightly.
He's not only earning a fortune, like me, but he's also earning endless favors. I hope I am not creating a monster I can't contain...
However... even with all his connections, even with all his schemes and hidden agendas, the world is ruled by violence and strength. If I want to kill him, nothing can stop me. Force rules everything. As long as I am stronger, more skilled, and careful enough, I can kill anyone. Even the V5, even Kings.
All the money in the world can't buy you complete security.
Time quickly passes, and Auren slightly regrets his choice regarding his limitations. Always waiting an hour, sometimes two or three, for the next patient frustrates him.
With nothing better to do, he uses the time to work on his Nen, using Zetsu to swiftly recover his Aura, and when that isn't an issue, En, steadily working towards improving his radius. By now, it takes almost no effort for him to fix smaller issues like a missing hand or a lost eye, only draining around ten to fifteen percent of his Aura, respectively, as the patients are all non-Nen users.
Finally, after a full week, Pariston once again welcomes him into his own room.
Going over each patient, he explains the earnings in great detail, ending his list: "257 billion Jenny, taxes already accounted for."
"Taxes..." Auren mutters. "What taxes?"
"Excuse me, Auren, but surely you realize that even banks... ask questions when deals on this scale go through them, right?" Pariston asks, appearing a little shocked.
"I guess so," Auren replies, seeming not too interested in the actual details.
"Well, to make things a bit more... private, these dealings took place in West Gorteau of the Mitene Union. I even registered a temporary embassy in this hotel, just to make it official. We paid a few percent in taxes, but with that, we don't have to fear any official interference... just trust me on this, at some point, it becomes impossible to hide money, even with the best people trying to legitimize it," Pariston explains. "The V5 always wants its cut... so we needed some other backers. West Gorteau is a growing economy, and with its national bank covering it, we'll save ourselves a lot of hassle. By the way, you also treated the President's nephew a few days ago."
I see....
"In any case, I thank you," Auren replies.
With that, my money problems are solved... these sums are insane, but still less than I thought. After all, Battera gave me his entire fortune. I earned half that amount from over fifty patients.
"I have a question... I have some problems... that need to be solved. I can't have them linked to me, so I can't exactly hire Hunters to solve the problem officially. Would you be able to help me out?" Pariston asks, looking shy and innocent.
"... If you pay the price and it doesn't involve the murder of innocents or something like that... I'll think about it," Auren replies.
"I'll pay you 50 billion," Pariston says. "It involves a few weeks of hard work, but I am sure you can handle it."
"No," Auren denies him flatly. "I want something else... you asked me about these a few times, right?" He then lifts his arm, clenching his hand into a fist, his Regalia shining under the room's lights. "Bring me one of those, and you have bought yourself a more loyal assassin than money can ever buy."
"Interesting," Pariston replies, deep in thought. "I'll take a look. I'll be contacting you soon enough... have fun at the exam. One last thing before you go."
"Yes?" Auren wonders.
"Last year's exam was absolutely terrible..." Pariston says, appearing worried. "A psychopathic mass murderer, named Hisoka, killed twenty examinees and heavily wounded an examiner and fellow Hunter. I've pulled some records, and he has applied to take the exam again."
Hisoka... the name rings a few bells... though I don't remember too many details. He's definitely one of the key players....
Of course, Pariston wants many average Hunters to pass so he can bolster his own faction... someone like Hisoka is pure poison to his ambition.
"What do you want me to do about it?" Auren asks, seriously not understanding. "He didn't break the rules of the exam, did he? I don't like it, you obviously don't like it, but killing is expressly allowed during the exam. I forbade it when I was involved two years ago, but I can't intervene in other examiners' tasks."
"Can't you simply... get rid of this nuisance?" Pariston asks with a completely innocent smile.
"Say... you 'entice him' into attacking you, giving you legal grounds to dispose of him," Pariston continues, his face completely innocent, despite the obvious attempt to have him killed.
"Is that an official mission... to Hunt Hisoka?" Auren asks, wanting more clarification.
"No," Pariston replies. "Though I'll take care of any aftermath. At worst, you won't be invited to be an examiner again. He's a mass murderer, so legally you'll be fully covered. Your license gives you every right to dispose of such a... 'person'. You're only going against the Hunter exam, not the Hunter association," He explains carefully.
I would probably like doing that... but sadly, that's the exact opposite of my goals. I need to stop anything out of the ordinary from happening... right?
"No promises," Auren simply replies, shrugging. "Vanessa, we're leaving."
Leaving the top floor of the luxurious hotel, Pariston stares at the pair as they leave, his lips still curled into a satisfied smile.
-----------------------------------------
A/N: Always thankful for Power Stones, Comments, and Reviews. Thank you for reading!
If you are interested, then please support me at patreon.com/FRWriter
45+ Early chapters available
New Chapters every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday!
Bored? Complains? Demands? Check out the Discord: https://discord.gg/puVqWsf3y9
Thank you for supporting the story with Power Stones!