Chapter 205: Lèse-majesté
Ronin suddenly recalled a vital piece of information from his past life.
When he had transmigrated, the manga had progressed to Chapter 410. Chapter 401 had dropped a bombshell: Beyond Netero had left several illegitimate children in Kakin. More shockingly, at least one of these children had successfully infiltrated the ranks of the fourteen Royal Princes.
The key to this infiltration was an absolute, ancient Kakin decree: the law of Lèse-majesté.
In Kakin, any act of contempt toward the Royal Family was a capital offense. In the old days, a commoner simply looking a Prince in the eye was a death sentence.
Even in the modern, "democratized" Kakin, the law remained ironclad regarding biological matters. Any act related to contraception, abortion, or paternity testing within the Royal Bloodline was viewed as a treasonous attempt to sabotage the "Prosperity of the Ancestors." Engaging in such acts resulted in immediate execution.
This draconian law provided Beyond Netero with the perfect "Nesting" opportunity. He could seed the royal harem without fear of detection through modern science.
So, which one of them is Beyond's seed? Ronin wondered.
Judging by sheer biological talent and temperament, his first suspect was the Fourth Prince, Tserriednich.
While the First Prince (Benjamin) and the Ninth Prince (Halkenburg) bore a striking resemblance to Queen Unma, Tserriednich's terrifying Nen potential and his specific brand of erratic genius felt far more aligned with the Netero bloodline.
But is it that simple?
Halkenburg possessed a different kind of genius, and his awakening during the Succession Contest was equally unprecedented.
Ronin felt his head throb as he tried to untangle the web. Kakin's political waters were deep, muddy, and full of prehistoric predators.
If Beyond had indeed placed a child on the throne, the current Succession Contest wasn't just a battle for the crown—it was a decades-long, perfect heist to steal an entire nation and deliver it to the Netero family.
If I kill Tserriednich now, do I ruin Beyond's plan? Or do I just clear the path for the real bastard?
Ronin couldn't share these "prophecies" with Kurapika. He had to keep them as internal variables, calculating his moves based on the shifting landscape of the capital.
The Phantom Troupe business remained on hold.
According to Kurapika, even if the Spiders were in the city, tracking them through Kakin's filtered information network would take weeks.
Assassination attempts were suspended for the moment.
Following the twin strikes on the Fourth and Third Princes, the Royal Army had locked down the capital. Public appearances by the Princes were cancelled or heavily fortified. The city breathed a heavy, oppressive air of state-sponsored paranoia.
Ronin, Shizuku, and Neon spent the week playing the part of wealthy tourists. They sampled Kakin's high-end cuisine and toured the scenic artificial lakes.
During their "leisure," Ronin heard a rumor through the local grapevine.
The Kakin government was recruiting "Biological Research Consultants." They were looking for experts to survey and catalog the Empire's internal wildlife.
Ronin thought of Kite.
In the original timeline, Kite had accepted this very contract, which eventually led him to discover the Camping Tigers and the first signs of the Chimera Ant incursion.
Ronin wasn't a biologist, and he had no interest in tracking big cats, so he ignored the recruitment drive. He had his own monsters to hunt.
The tension in the city lasted about ten days.
The Royal Army conducted a massive sweep for the "terrorists," eventually hiring Pro Hunters to assist in the search. But Ronin's team had vanished into the urban fabric. To the authorities, the assailants—the lightning-user and the air-blaster—had simply ceased to exist.
Finally, the lockdown eased. The Princes resumed their schedules.
However, the "peace" was a facade. Ronin observed the new security details from a distance.
The guard units were now packed with Nen users—a mix of Royal Army specialists and high-priced private mercenaries.
Ronin recognized the Royal Army types immediately. They radiated that same "Standardized Hatsu" energy he had encountered before.
He decided on a change of pace. He used his Hunter License to officially apply for a position.
He was hired as a temporary security consultant for the Third Prince, Zhang Lei.
Zhang Lei was "alive," though he seemed to have no memory of the mangled corpse in his car. He only remembered the assassination attempt and the subsequent blackout.
Before Ronin was even allowed to meet the Prince, he was pulled aside by a new guard—a sensory specialist.
"Rule one," the guard whispered, his aura cold. "You are never, under any circumstances, to mention 'Nen' or the nature of our power to the Prince. He is to remain blind to the world of aura until the King decrees otherwise. Break this rule, and you won't live to see your first paycheck."
Ronin nodded sincerely, playing the part of the compliant mercenary.
I'm using my real Hunter ID for this, he thought. I shouldn't do anything too loud.
But he was already plotting. He wanted to see how the "Safety Net" would react if Zhang Lei accidentally discovered Nen on his own. He wanted to see what the King's "Plan B" looked like.
Meanwhile, Ronin's Shadow Clone was conducting its own recon.
It wasn't using the Deidara persona. To blend into the background of the Fourth Prince's hotel, the clone had used Transformation Jutsu to take on a familiar, non-threatening face: Tonpa, the Rookie Crusher.
The "middle-aged man" sat in the hotel lobby, sipping juice and looking like a harmless, failed explorer.
Tserriednich appeared in the lobby around noon. His security detail had tripled.
Ronin's clone watched through the Sharingan. The number of Nen users in the Prince's entourage was staggering.
But one figure stood out.
It was a man covered in extensive, geometric tattoos. He maintained a steady Ten, but the quality of his aura was sharp and jagged—he felt significantly more dangerous than the standardized "Safety Guards."
The tattooed man's gaze swept the lobby. When it hit the "Tonpa" clone, he didn't just look past him. He paused, his eyes narrowing in an analytical, soul-stripping stare.
He didn't look at the clone as a person. He looked at him like a piece of merchandise—judging his value, his utility, and his potential for "processing."
Ronin felt a shiver of visceral disgust through the clone's senses. The man had zero respect for life; he saw only resources and waste.
Clearly, the "Tonpa" disguise was too pathetic to be worth his time. The tattooed man looked away with a faint sneer of dismissal.
Ronin's heart hammered. That guy is different. He's from the Hei-Ly Family.
The game in Kakin had just shifted from a chess match into a knife fight in a dark room.
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you