A snowy forest often shows illusions to people.
In the freezing blizzard, beyond the snow that blocks one's vision, one sees something that isn't of this world. It might be a giant hairy man, or perhaps a beautiful woman. He wasn't without experience himself. Of course, he knew it was nothing more than an unreal hallucination, but even for a hunter of his caliber, there were rare moments when his senses were deceived by the snow.
However, in a windless forest like today's, he had never seen a snowy illusion so clearly.
A single girl was walking through the dead-silent forest. Watching her, the hunter Han Mock pondered what to do.
He was a Hunter with a professional license. He wasn't just a woodsman who had obtained a hunting permit. A 'Hunter' is a qualification that grants immense status recognized internationally. The qualification, which is judged through an exam once a year, draws hundreds of challengers, but at most, only a handful of people pass. It is a narrow gate, and it's not unusual for years to go by with not a single person passing.
However, his main job was an ecological researcher of birds, and he had obtained the Hunter qualification because it was useful for various surveys. This island was the habitat of a certain bird he primarily studied, and he lived here alone for that research. It was a bird designated as an endangered species, and while rare, poachers sometimes came. He merely called himself a Poaching Hunter because the Hunter qualification was useful for dealing with them.
He owned this island and prohibited the entry of the general public for nature conservation purposes. Legally in this country, it was merely a restriction on entering private land, but the story changed when it became a proclamation by a Professional Hunter. After all, they are qualified individuals granted such power that even murder is exceptionally exempted from liability. Anyone who entered without permission couldn't complain no matter what happened to them. It would be extremely difficult for even public institutions to enter the island without his approval.
Until now, he had carried out 'poacher hunting.' First of all, geographically and climatically, it wasn't a place where a boat would drift to by mistake. Nine times out of ten, intruders were people planning something no good.
Still, it wasn't impossible for someone to visit the island due to some unavoidable circumstances or without knowing anything. It didn't seem like the girl before him had come for the purpose of poaching either.
However, Mock didn't easily trust the girl. That wasn't a suspicion without any basis.
It went back to about a month ago. One night, while Mock was sleeping, he was woken up by a loud sound that seemed to echo from beneath the ground. The birds were also restless and noisy all night that evening.
The following day, many fish carcasses floated to the surface of the surrounding sea. Many of them were deep-sea fish that shouldn't be seen around here. The same phenomenon had occurred several times since then. It was thought that some kind of abnormality was occurring in the waters near the island.
He had attempted as much investigation as possible, but as a biologist specializing in birds, he couldn't identify the cause. A more in-depth investigation would require a lot of equipment and the cooperation of specialists.
Furthermore, with bad timing, indispensable appointments for his research activities overlapped, and he had to leave the island. To be honest, he didn't want to leave the island while the abnormalities were continuing, but there are times when even a researcher isn't allowed to immerse himself only in research.
While he was at it, he tried his contacts to see if the sea abnormality could be investigated, but he had gained no results. Because of that, he ended up being away from the island for longer than planned. And when he returned in a great hurry, there was an intruder, as if they had aimed for his absence.
He thought it was unrelated, but it felt a bit too convenient to be a coincidence. At any rate, it was reason enough to be on guard. It was better to be cautious.
However, looking at her, she was a perfectly ordinary girl. Though her appearance was a bit eye-catching to say she was perfectly ordinary, other than that, she was just a child. Looking at her movements, she didn't seem like someone who had mastered any kind of martial arts.
Suspecting her to that extent wasn't an exaggerated reaction. In reality, experts of that kind do exist. Among Nen users, there are crafty ones who disguise their appearance to look young and lure the enemy into letting their guard down. The manipulation of aura has the effect of suppressing aging and maintaining youth, and it is possible to tailor one's appearance through Hatsu.
Nen users have characteristics in the aura they wrap around themselves. Those whose micropyles are open must keep their aura inside their bodies with 'Ten,' or they will severely exhaust their life energy. In that regard, ordinary people who are not Nen users have their micropyles 'clogged,' and their aura leaks out through the gaps, so it is easy to tell them apart.
The flow of the girl's aura was that of an ordinary person. He felt that the amount of leaking aura was large, but even so, her micropyles didn't look open.
However, once they reach a certain level of skill, some people disguise this flow of aura and pretend to be ordinary people. As far as Mock knew, there was a technique to intentionally keep the micropyles in a clogged state by maintaining a state between 'Ten' and 'Zetsu.' Depending on the precision of the individual's technique, the quality of the disguise and the eyes to see through it ('Gyo') also changed, so it wasn't guaranteed to succeed, but Mock wasn't confident he could see through a master's disguise. There would be no end to it once he started doubting that.
The clothes the girl was wearing looked somewhat familiar upon close observation. They were things he had left in the mountain hut he wasn't currently using. He hadn't built it to be hidden, but it was in a place that one wouldn't find without exploring the island to a certain extent.
Her whole body was wrapped in fluffy, ill-fitting winter clothes. She even seemed to have borrowed winter boots with rubber that had hardened due to deterioration; as far as Mock could observe, she had already tripped and fallen twice. Her back was unnaturally bulging, suggesting she was hiding something inside her clothes.
Judging comprehensively, she also seemed like a castaway. However, she seemed to have too much energy for that, and she didn't look mentally cornered. The traces left on the island were only for her, and there seemed to be no companions like guardians. He couldn't perceive any particular purpose either, as she was just walking aimlessly through the forest.
He continued tracking her for a while, but he decided that no more could be gained by continuing to observe. It would be faster to ask her directly. Mock readied the crossbow he was holding and aimed at the girl.
He was a Manipulator. He used his favorite crossbow as a medium for his ability. Of course, he could fire the arrows he carried with him, but the arrow loaded this time was a 'Nen Bullet' formed of intangible aura. By piercing the opponent with this arrow, he manipulates the target.
The name of his ability is 'Clever Hunt.' If its effect were the complete manipulation of the enemy, it would be easy to get the truth from the girl, but it wasn't such a convenient ability. As the name suggests, the only things that could be manipulated were the 'legs.' He could manipulate one of the legs he shot. To control both legs, he would need to pierce each of them.
However, if considering only combat, it could be called a sufficient effect. There was no need to manipulate the whole body. Losing the freedom of one leg becomes a fatal opening in battle. Because the range of effect is limited, its control is powerful; he can not only seal movement but also make it move beyond the range of motion of the joints to destroy it. It's easy to use with relatively simple activation conditions—just firing a Nen bullet—and his aptitude as a Nen user was by no means low.
Furthermore, he could even use the advanced technique 'In,' an application of 'Zetsu,' to make the Nen bullets invisible. Basically, aura that has left one's body becomes significantly difficult to manipulate. To reach long distances while maintaining aura completely separated from the body like a Nen bullet, high Emitter-type techniques are required. Although Manipulation is a category that neighbors Emission and has good compatibility, the difficulty jumps significantly if one were to apply 'In' to that Nen bullet. It's not something even a pure Emitter could do easily.
He himself had mastered excellent techniques as a hunter, and with an unexpected Nen bullet using 'In' from a concealed state that skillfully utilized the terrain, it would be difficult to avoid for anyone unless there was a vast difference in skill. Once a single shot hits, it becomes his show—that is the strength of a Manipulator. Mock, whose ability composition focuses on the material manipulation of his crossbow, is significantly inferior in the proficiency of close-quarters combat, but he wouldn't lose as long as the initial surprise attack succeeded.
Since this arrow-shaped Nen bullet wasn't conjured, ordinary people couldn't see it in the first place. Furthermore, it possessed no lethality at all; even if it hit, there were no effects or damage other than activating the manipulation ability. An ordinary person likely wouldn't even recognize the fact that they had been attacked.
He would take out insurance before talking to her. It wasn't much trouble. However, in the unlikely event that she showed some kind of reaction to that attack, he would need to put his heart and soul into the 'hunt.'
Though he thought it was impossible, he never discarded that possibility. The assumption that 'such a thing couldn't happen' is the most dangerous form of carelessness and the great enemy of those who aspire to academic study.
The bow of the crossbow was already drawn. Unlike a bow where one must aim while pulling the string, a crossbow can maintain a state where the string is pre-tightened and fixed to the base. Because the task of pulling the string and the task of firing the arrow are separated, a powerful pull that is impossible with a bow becomes possible. After that, he just had to steadily aim and pull the trigger.
However, even if one lists a few advantages, it is a relic of the past that has declined as a weapon except in some situations. If one only sought power, firearms were far higher and easier to handle. If you ask why he's obsessed with such a weapon, it's because he hates guns.
Using a gun leaves many traces. Even if the bullets can't be helped, there is the sound of the shot, the flash, and the smell of gunpowder. While they can be reduced with suppressors and the like, he still feels the messiness peculiar to guns. The targets he hunts are poachers, not wild animals. He wants to distance any factors that would cause stress to the creatures that are his research subjects as much as possible.
And Nen users who prefer to handle primitive weapons like him are actually numerous. They excel at the technique called 'Shu,' which improves the performance of a weapon by wrapping it in aura. If it's a blade, the sharpness increases; if it's armor, the durability increases. The performance of that weapon isn't necessarily just what it looks like.
If so, one might think it would be fine to strengthen a gun, but that has its own problems. Even if one were to strengthen the power of the bullets, if an amateur were to mess with it poorly, it could result in canceling out the original power. To not hinder the propulsion of the bullet itself, add strengthening with aura, and further maintain control of the separated aura through the application of Emission requires 'Shu' of incredible precision.
Weapons with simple structures have a larger margin for strengthening. Overpowering a group armed with firearms with a single knife—depending on the user, such an absurdity can pass.
A crossbow has a somewhat complex structure, and long-range weapons in general tend to increase the difficulty of strengthening, but it's not as difficult to handle as firearms. A bow strengthened with aura gains tough flexibility and elasticity. If the user is excellent, the power is further augmented by adding strengthening to the arrow.
And the more a weapon is one that the person is used to, its use becomes integrated with the person's own body, making it possible to apply 'Shu' with higher precision. The crossbow he held was also not something to be underestimated as a mere antique of a bygone era.
He enters a shooting stance. The routine, repeated countless times, optimizes his mind. In the forest where the snow absorbed the sound and all was silent, the hunter's fangs still secretly aimed at the prey. It was just as a silent arrow was about to be unleashed.
A single small bird fluttered down. The place where it landed was on top of the girl's head. It chirped there naturally, as if perching on a twig. Mock's eyes widened. He knew the ecology of that bird well. It was a bird so cautious it rarely showed itself before humans.
While watching the girl walk away innocently chirping with the bird, he lowered the crossbow he had been holding with a deep sigh.