Auren and Goreinu wait in front of the Royal Glam Hotel. It's way past midnight, so the air has finally cooled down, and the burning heat of the red desert is long gone, leaving only a faint dry wind brushing across the city.
Auren stares at Goreinu, his expression carrying more than a little annoyance. "You should really get a damn license!"
"What do you mean?" Goreinu asks, looking confused. "We got our licenses at the same time, didn't we?"
"I'm not talking about your Hunter License, idiot! I mean a driver's license! How come you can't drive at your age, huh?" Auren complains, sounding genuinely irritated. "It's stupid if we have to rely on taxis... thankfully, the mafia agreed to pick us up."
"We could have just walked," Goreinu says silently, as if he's not entirely serious.
"True," Auren admits, "but we might as well use this chance to speak with Zenji in person. I don't want to run into any surprises... and besides, I don't fully trust the mafia. Remember, the combined bounty is a billion Jenny. I don't want to end up killed by some absurd, unpredictable Nen user or stabbed in the back when we're at our weakest. Also, walking is really not appropriate; we are damn billionaires. I don't want to live like a king, but I surely have earned myself a decent car!"
"You got a more than decent airship, isn't that enough?" Goreinu wonders.
"Let's focus on the mission... we need to take this seriously and not give her any chance to counter," Auren explains. "Or end up dead...."
"It could be worse, I don't want to be turned into soup," Goreinu adds, his voice low but his face showing a hint of worry.
"As if!" Auren snaps, shaking his head. "She probably doesn't even do that, and it's just rumors. She most likely extracts Aura or life force in some cruel, barbaric way. In any case, this is just a job. That ridiculous nickname is probably just a rumor, spread by people who like to gossip or outright make up stuff. We're not here to solve mysteries, listen to her tragic backstory, or anything like that. We're here to behead a wanted criminal and collect the bounty. End of story."
"I agree... it's best not to talk too much, or worse, get caught in your opponent's rhythm. Let's just enter our effective range for fifteen meters so my Black Goreinu can activate its ability, and we'll be done with it," Goreinu says, looking satisfied with his plan. "It should work."
"It will work—the only thing we need is experience," Auren replies without hesitation. "I am confident we can kill anyone with our combination attack, and you should be too!"
"I am..." Goreinu admits after a pause. "It's quite devastating."
It indeed is...
Their quiet bickering ends when a black limousine rolls up and stops directly in front of the hotel. Despite the streetlights shining on it, its tinted windows do not allow one to see inside.
Typical mafia car... I'd prefer it a little more casual.
Two men in perfectly tailored black suits step out in unison, bow slightly, and then open the rear door and gesture for them to enter.
Auren and Goreinu exchange a brief glance before entering the car. To their surprise, Zenji is already seated inside, waiting for them with his usual smile plastered on his face.
"It's nice to meet you again, Auren, and you too, Goreinu. You were quite efficient during the last hunts," Zenji says in an overly polite tone, his voice carrying a hint of calculation beneath his polite exterior. "I'm sorry I was only able to give you the whereabouts of a few people."
"It's fine," Auren says sharply. "In fact, you're already helping us way too much. Honestly, I'm starting to get a little suspicious." His eyes lock onto Zenji, waiting carefully for any reaction.
Zenji chuckles lightly, rubbing his hands together. "Well... I am under the Don's orders. It looks like he has taken a liking to you. He speaks of you almost with respect, and he seems to be... worshipping the blind seer as well. She is supposed to be your boss, right? I am not aware of the details, but the Don is in awe of her. I don't fully understand it either, but either way, there is no reason to doubt me. And in any case... we believe we've finally uncovered the location of the witch."
Auren narrows his eyes, looking doubtful. "So you know the location, but you haven't engaged her? Good job on finding her this quickly! Couldn't have been easy."
"Yes and no..." Zenji says, looking torn. He pauses, rubbing his chin nervously before continuing. "To tell you the truth, a few of my men wanted the bounty for themselves. They didn't report their findings to me and organized a small, unofficial raid team. Out of twelve people, ten died... the only survivors were the runts they used as drivers. They initially tried to hide what happened, but confessed after I had killed one of them. That leaves the mission with twelve dead men, not a small loss, even for us."
Is my math off? No... they killed the other one even after he confessed. Harsh, even for the Mafia.
"Any ideas about her abilities? Also, how did you find her in the first place?" Auren asks.
"The only thing we know is that she hunts children... which is also the reason for her unique name. We didn't manage to recover any bodies ourselves since she hasn't been here that long, and we don't know about her Hatsu," Zenji admits, his voice growing a bit tense as he looks at Auren. "The only thing I can tell you is that she needs children for her purposes. That is the reason we found her in the first place. Our patrols have been increased, and we stumbled across a case with multiple children being kidnapped... that's how she was discovered, and the unofficial raid came together. I still can't tell you anything about her Hatsu. Will that be a problem? Can you still finish the job?"
"This is a hunt... an ice-cold execution. What a silly question. I'll take her out, that's all," Auren replies, his voice sharp and cold enough to immediately shut Zenji up.
Zenji gulps and decides to keep his mouth shut, not talking for the remainder of the drive.
"Where is the target located?" Goreinu asks after a while.
"A—abandoned mine," Zenji stammers. "I don't know what they mined, but it's essentially a cave. It's just outside the lawless zone, to the west." His tone grows shaky.
Sounds like a trap... we'll be stuck down there. Still....
"This sounds like a trap," Goreinu mutters.
Ignoring Goreinu's comment, Auren presses on. "How large is that mine? How deep does it run?"
"I really don't know... give me a minute," Zenji says, fumbling out his phone and making a call.
Auren and Goreinu sit in silence, listening to him call several people before finally smiling faintly and activating the phone's speaker, so that Auren and Goreinu can listen as well.
"This is a mine from the time of the founding of Glam Gas Land. Just an abandoned copper mine. It was never too profitable, but because it was so close to the center of Glam Gas Land, it was still worked for a while until it was fully mined out. It's not very deep and doesn't run too far. It's not even inside a mountain, more like inside a medium-sized hill."
Auren nods as Zenji ends the call.
"Why is that relevant?" Zenji asks, genuinely puzzled.
"You don't need to know," Auren replies coldly. Goreinu just smirks, immediately understanding Auren's angle.
Minutes later, the black car finally stops in front of the mine.
As Zenji described, it looks ancient and abandoned. The ground is littered with rusted containers, broken tools, shattered glass, and piles of trash. The entrance is wide open, the moonlight revealing the dark, ghostly-looking entrance.
"Stay close by," Auren orders, with a commanding tone. "This won't take long."
Auren, followed by Goreinu, leaves the car, but instead of walking to the mine entrance, Auren heads for the right side of the hill and climbs it up in a few Nen-powered jumps, while Goreinu follows him.
On top, he walks a little forward until he's at the center of the hill, then activates his own special version of En—not the regular circle-shaped kind, but the one Rakshala taught him.
I created this version with Rakshala's help and guidance, building the image on a cloud that can change shape easily.
Auren activates En, creating a large, vibrating cloud-like Aura, and warps it so it points only below him and is wide enough to cover the entire mine, ignoring every other direction.
Thanks to his intense training, the range of his En has increased to almost two hundred meters—but only if he focuses it in one direction.
If I use the normal version of En, I wouldn't even be able to extend it past fifty meters at this point. This is a shortcut, but not one that will harm me in the long run... instead, it will improve my En even more. Once I can push the basic En to one hundred meters, I can use my personal form to go four times as far—at least in one direction. I'm still far off, but sooner or later my En will evolve further. I just need to keep training and put effort into it. It's definitely my trump card!
He carefully senses numerous Auras in the mine, remembering the locations, making sure there won't be any surprise ambushes waiting for them.
"Auren... your En! It's strange. It's almost as if it's alive. I haven't seen something like that before! That's crazy! En alone is difficult to master, but this form..." Goreinu says, mouth wide open.
Auren ignores him and focuses on his Aura.
He senses numerous small Auras—probably children standing close together. Next to them are two more Auras: one lying down on, and one belonging to someone slightly larger, who is apparently sitting on a chair.
Target... found!
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