Chapter 204: Intuition
Kurapika shook his head slowly.
Since entering Kakin, he had been obsessively scouring every channel for news of the Phantom Troupe, but the trail had gone cold.
From official police reports to deep-web chatter, and even through the bribes he'd funneled to local underworld informants, there was nothing. No signature murders, no high-profile heists. It was as if the Spider had never even set foot in Kakin.
However, in Kurapika's analytical mind, this silence was an anomaly. There was only one logical explanation: Chrollo Lucilfer still hadn't found the perfect Hatsu to neutralize Ronin.
Based on Ronin's psychological profile of the man, Chrollo was a perfectionist. He wouldn't initiate a conflict without a 100% certainty of victory.
But even so, Kurapika thought, would Chrollo really just sit back and let us seize the Fourth Prince's collection?
It seemed impossible.
"Don't worry," Kurapika said, his voice low and firm. "The news of the assassination attempts has already leaked. If the Troupe is in this country, they've seen it. And they will act."
This was part of the hidden intent behind the high-profile strikes on the Princes. By making noise, Kurapika was forcing the Troupe's hand. He knew Chrollo couldn't ignore Ronin hunting for Scarlet Eyes.
"Is it possible the Phantom Troupe and the Fourth Prince are already working together?" Ronin asked. "The Hei-Ly Family, one of Kakin's Big Three, has members who practically worship the Troupe. If Chrollo followed that thread, he could easily reach Tserriednich."
"I doubt it," Kurapika countered. "There is a critical bottleneck: the Royal Family's stance on the Princes learning Nen."
Ronin waited for him to elaborate.
"On the day of the first attack, Tserriednich was rendered unconscious before he was teleported," Kurapika explained. "That's the key. If the King didn't care about the Prince discovering Nen, there would be no need to knock him out. They are maintaining a strict 'Nen Blackout' around him."
"Furthermore, the Hei-Ly Family has active Nen users. If the Mafia weren't being restricted by the Crown, it would have been trivial for Tserriednich to learn Nen years ago. The fact that he remains blind to the power despite his resources proves that the Mafia is currently operating under the King's direct oversight. If the Troupe tried to approach the Prince through the Hei-Ly, they'd likely be intercepted by the King's internal security before they even reached the door."
It was a convoluted web, but Ronin followed the thread.
However, he spotted a contradiction. "Is it really the King who wants to keep Tserriednich in the dark?"
Ronin knew that both the First Prince, Benjamin, and the Second Prince, Camilla, were already Nen masters. King Nasubi clearly didn't forbid his children from learning the power.
If that was the case, why were the middle-tier Princes—specifically the three associated with the Mafia—still Nen-blind? To Ronin, this suggested a "Middle-Man" was sabotaging their education.
"You think there's another player behind the Mafia?" Kurapika asked, his brow furrowing. He paused, testing a theory. "The First Prince?"
Ronin shook his head. "Doesn't fit his style."
"Then who?"
Kurapika's own data was insufficient. Despite the months he'd spent digging into Kakin's hierarchy, he hadn't uncovered as much as Ronin seemed to know instinctively.
He looked at Ronin, a flicker of curiosity crossing his face. Ronin never explained how he knew these things.
Brother Ronin has changed, Kurapika thought.
He didn't know where the transformation would lead, but he accepted it. To him, the change began on the night of the massacre. Whatever Ronin had experienced that night—whatever price he had paid for this power and this foresight—Kurapika was willing to honor it.
He trusted Ronin. That was his only absolute.
Ronin, unaware of Kurapika's internal monologue, continued to scan his mental library of the Royal Family.
Then, a face surfaced. A woman with features that bore a striking resemblance to the First Prince.
"Queen Unma," Ronin said.
Unma was the First Queen of Kakin. While her appearances in the lore were few, her position was one of ultimate privilege. She was the most powerful woman in the Empire.
"But Benjamin and Tserriednich are both her biological children," Kurapika noted. "If your theory is correct, it implies the First Queen has already chosen a side. She's actively handicapping her younger son to ensure her eldest takes the throne."
"It's a gut feeling," Ronin admitted.
In the original story, Benjamin and Tserriednich loathed each other. Despite sharing the same mother, they were polar opposites in temperament, appearance, and philosophy.
There were deeper secrets in that bloodline.
There was also the Ninth Prince, Halkenburg. Officially the child of the Second Queen, but dark rumors persisted in Kakin's high society that he was actually Unma's third son, given to another mother for political positioning.
But none of those rumors proved that the First Queen was blocking the spread of Nen.
If not Unma, then the only other suspect Ronin could think of was Nugui—the King's long-term advisor. But Nugui had no personal stake in the succession; he gained nothing from the Princes being weak.
The game board is larger than I thought, Ronin mused.
"I'll focus my next investigation on Queen Unma," Kurapika decided, choosing to follow Ronin's lead. "If she's the one filtering the information, finding the eyes in her territory will be our next challenge."
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