[...Alluka, have you forgotten?]
Alluka looked confused.
[The request back then was to stay with Alluka outside, right? If I leave, the wish condition should no longer count?]
"No way." Alluka stared with her clear blue eyes. "It's just a feeling, but it seems like even if brother leaves, I can still feel him by my side. Alluka doesn't think separating [from the request] would end it."
[Is that really how you feel?]
"Yes!" Alluka nodded firmly. "Because when I call out to brother loudly, he always comes to my side!"
Teleportation can't be used right now.
If you really need it. Saiki Kusuo thought to himself that he wouldn't mind revealing his identity to save Alluka.
— (Alluka trusts Saiki Kusuo's constant presence so much that she feels like no matter where brother goes, he's still "with her." And the wish's condition isn't measured by others or common sense, but by Alluka's own feelings.)
Alluka believes Saiki Kusuo's leaving is okay, so naturally it is.
[Thank you, Alluka.] Saiki Kusuo said. Although they had separated on the mountain before, that time Alluka took the initiative. This time, Alluka means Saiki Kusuo can also choose to leave her side on his own.
With this layer of physical freedom, Saiki Kusuo would pay even more attention to Alluka instead.
He wouldn't leave Alluka right away.
[The situation has changed, so wait a bit longer before looking for The Phantom Troupe.]
"Huh? The situation changed again?"
Yeah, this world is full of uncertainty. Unless you think of big brother Illumi, who is very worried about Alluka and likely has surveillance on her.
"Do you need my help, brother?" Kalluto had just rushed up from downstairs. As a player who entered through normal means, he didn't need any hiding in the game, and he didn't have to worry about others. All his trips to the store were quick.
In just a few minutes, he booked all the rooms on this floor, took the keys upstairs, and heard the conversation.
Inside the room, Chrollo also turned his gaze to Saiki Kusuo, guessing there was some progress with the Nen teacher.
The three waited like they were about to use Hatsu. Saiki Kusuo was rarely at the center of human attention.
[Cough, it's nothing. The troupe is up to no good, and on the bomb demon side, we need to wait for the right moment. We've missed the time to find Killua.]
Kalluto: Find Killua brother! Does that mean brother Kusuo found me? The purpose of me coming out...
Alluka: Find, find Killua...! Are we going now? So fast...
Chrollo: ? Wait, if the troupe doing bad things means we don't look, then when can we look?
Saiki Kusuo was a bit surprised. He thought Alluka would be very happy hearing that.
Alluka and Killua are super close, inseparable like twins, their brotherly bond was clear from the Hunter Exam.
Alluka fidgeted with her fingers, looking tangled: [I want to get a bit stronger before seeing Killua... I want to surprise him!]
So that's the reason.
[Right, brother Alluka and Killua brother are very close!] "Brother Alluka, what's wrong?" Kalluto cared a lot about Alluka and hoped to shift her attention this way.
Alluka looked down, covering her mouth with her sleeves, looking shy. She thought her idea was a bit childish, but under her brothers' caring eyes, she had to explain.
"I, I mean..."
A few minutes later, at the room's dining table, Alluka shared her thoughts.
Although the Hunter Exam was almost a year ago, she never forgot her failure on the exam field during that year.
After Alluka finished speaking, the three in the room had different opinions.
Chrollo: "Why regret it? It was the most right decision. Back then, you couldn't have beaten me... or the troupe's Shalnark."
Kalluto: "If that failure bothered brother Alluka so much, you could have told the family. Brother Illumi could help assassinate that person. We are an assassin family."
Saiki Kusuo: [Then just train. To what level does Alluka want to reach?]
Alluka clenched her fists, her eyes determined: "...I don't know." [Make that person back then admit defeat?]
That would be easy. That "Shalnark" from back then is right here now. He couldn't withstand a Nen punch or even outrun an ordinary person.
"Brother Alluka wanting to catch up to The Phantom Troupe members is very hard. Even father warned not to contact them casually. Only big brother and second brother can compare to them." Kalluto said realistically. But before he finished, he glanced at the person standing nearby. "But brother, if it's just admitting defeat..."
"I won't admit defeat under The Phantom Troupe's name. I'd rather die." Chrollo chuckled lightly, ruling out that possibility.
Alluka was still sleeping. The child had never trained so hard before. Just yesterday, Kalluto gave her his daily training schedule. Although no one could give Alluka a clear training plan, after learning about her brother's training intensity, she finally realized how much she'd been going easy on herself all along.
Like she was mad at herself, she practiced Hatsu for a long time.
Saiki Kusuo didn't want to disturb her. In Nen training, he clearly couldn't use recovery to help Alluka get over her fatigue. If he did, hours of hard work would be wasted.
[Is Nen training all like this?] Saiki Kusuo asked.
"Everyone has their own way." Chrollo hopped on one foot to grab breakfast, then hopped back lightly to sit on the bed.
Rather than asking Saiki Kusuo for help, he preferred to do it himself.
Chrollo commented: "This training method won't last." [But the kid has short bursts of enthusiasm, so it's not surprising.]
[You really don't think much of Alluka.]
"Does your family think highly of her? The child isn't very strong."
[Don't be fooled by appearances.]
"Hmm— but the kid is pretty weak in Zetsu. Compared to physical training, learning Nen's rules might suit her better."
[How do you know she has talent in Nen?]
"The various Nen methods she tried, she shouted them out loud. Some ideas were pretty interesting."
Ah... Is that so?
Saiki Kusuo cared more about what he saw than heard. For example, Alluka's limited Nen amount.
"You seem to always doubt my abilities after my Nen was sealed," Chrollo pointed out. "Having control over Nen is just the first step for a Nen user. How high you reach depends on the person. My team members trust that even if I leave, they can keep living strong. They believe it so firmly that they all came to Greed Island decisively to find a way to remove everyone's Nen."
Saiki Kusuo nodded beside him.
At this time, Kalluto went out to earn money. To continue Alluka's short training plan, Kalluto decided to buy a set of suitable training gear for brother Alluka.
The Zoldyck family's traditional weighted clothes, but from Greed Island's store.
The store has things you can't imagine, nothing it can't sell. After all, there's a materialization-type game GM providing direct support behind it.
Although Chrollo wasn't in a rush to remove the Nen, Saiki Kusuo still had to take responsibility for completing the task. Even without leaving the room, he used telepathy to screen players arriving in the reward city, doing simple elimination.
Nen users don't use Nen in real time, especially since this game has been running for years. The players here, though collecting cards, mostly live slowly now, in retirement mode.
So from any angle, this task needs to proceed slowly for a while.
[By the way, I have a question for you.]
"A question about Nen?" Chrollo thought to himself, sensing from the recent talk that Saiki Kusuo didn't know much about using Nen.
Is he hiding his skills on purpose? But how to explain having so much Nen?
So many abilities, each with their own limits, unrelated to others. There must be something key in there. If he could grasp it, maybe his own Nen could improve.
Hearing Chrollo's thoughts, Saiki Kusuo: [You're overthinking. I want to ask about Hisoka.]
"Hisoka? What's with him?" Chrollo was also surprised how the topic jumped to Hisoka.
[He's a traitor, right? When spiders and Hisoka meet, will you wipe them out?]
"No." Chrollo answered firmly. "If the goal is to take him out, it would take at least two members working together for safety. It's possible, but what's the reason to kill him? You say he's a traitor, why? You were there during Yorknew City. How much do you know about what happened between Hisoka and the troupe?"
What you don't know, I know. What you know, I know too.
Chrollo got interested and sat up straight.
"All of Hisoka's schemes were for one thing: to fight me. He stayed true to what he wanted. From a certain angle, he still followed the spider's rules. Even his final fight with me respected the troupe rules I care about. He removed the spider tattoo disguise before battling. Calling it betrayal somewhat slanders him. Betrayal is more rude. If he just wanted a reckless simple fight, during his deal with the chain user, he could have done more."
"Kikyo, he tricked us, lied about joining the troupe, and got the troupe's action paths over the years. But I believe unless a special coincidence, this won't help him or be used as trade chips. Tricking once can be big or small. Leaving for personal gain is forgivable."
"So, no need to wipe him out. I'm confident under the spider's rules, no one can find a way to crush the troupe. What needs solving won't be left, and what's left has no reason to betray. Hisoka's appearance was an unexpected exception for me, but for the huge troupe, he just wandered on the edges, bringing some fun."
Chrollo seemed proud. The spider legs can't be tempted by material or status to betray. The people gathered into the spider belong to it from the reason they gathered. It's an attraction between their kinds that outsiders can't tempt or conquer.
Saiki Kusuo looked at Chrollo.
His gaze scanned the chains inside his body.
Then down to his disabled leg.
Yeah, the unconquerable spider, you're right.
[So, Hisoka's presence won't make you allergic, right?]
"...Allergic? What's that mean?"
Then there's no issue.
"Knock knock."
Knocking came from the door. Saiki Kusuo turned his head. Before the person entered, x-ray vision already saw the adult at the door.
Knowing it couldn't be hidden, he didn't expect Illumi to put a needle on Kalluto too.
The brother who went out to work, Kalluto, brought Illumi and Milluki back.
Including the second row's Hisoka.
He'd heard it from thoughts long ago.
"Ya~ Chrollo, long time no see." Hisoka dyed his hair blue, one hand behind his back, the other waving at Chrollo. Saiki Kusuo's good eyesight clearly saw the waving motion already shot out his stretchy love card.
"Little Kusuo, is the task going smoothly?" Illumi entered first, naturally asking about the task.
[Smooth, have leads.] Saiki Kusuo answered briefly.
Hisoka's hand wasn't idle. After entering, he casually pulled the nearby luggage. After a faint sound, the luggage flew sideways toward Chrollo, defying gravity!
Chrollo noticed, but his legs weren't convenient for moving.
He didn't move either. After all, as long as Hisoka wanted a duel, he wouldn't kill him. With Hisoka's ability, the box might get pulled back by elastic rubber-like power before touching him; or it might hit but not hurt much; or maybe it wouldn't hit because.
Saiki Kusuo was right there.
To protect the client, Saiki Kusuo just needed to use "invisible hand" to stop the luggage, without even moving.
Don't give other people's abilities chuunibyou names casually.
But Saiki Kusuo chose to move, stepping out and slapping the luggage. It flew back the same way, hitting Hisoka and pushing him back. Even strong as Hisoka, he almost lost balance.
This power... ♡
Hisoka held the luggage, looking surprised. His golden pupils shifted down to the handprint on the luggage, then he showed excitement.
He was excited about Saiki Kusuo's power growth. Saiki Kusuo regretted he couldn't control the hitting force well. He just wanted to stop the luggage, but it flew back instead.
Nen users' strength is always hard for him to gauge and respond to.
Hisoka winked at Saiki Kusuo. [We must duel sometime~ ♤]
Can't hear, can't hear, can't hear, can't hear.
Only Illumi treated this little scuffle very seriously.
"This is the limited edition York mountain luggage Alluka brought on the trip, right, little Kusuo."
[Yeah, it is.]
"Its market price is high, limited every year. Hisoka, card or cash?"
"This is in the game, little Illu."
"But they brought it in from reality."
"...Really?"
[It's real. Why touch Alluka's luggage? The clothes inside are also expensive.]
Hisoka: ...
Although it can be restored, Saiki Kusuo and Illumi both tacitly ignored the restoration ability right now.
Alluka was woken by Kalluto, came to the room in pajamas, and saw all her brothers except Killua were there. She rubbed her eyes in confusion.
"Huh? ...Must still be dreaming..."
"Brother Alluka..." Kalluto tugged Alluka's clothes to tell her it wasn't a dream.
"Alluka. You want to get stronger, right?" Illumi's cold voice came out, instantly waking Alluka.
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