"Before I fainted, um, first I saw Mr. Lucilfer standing by the box, then I saw the box was gone, and you were standing beside me."
"I'm not lying. Between the first and second times, there was a break in my memory."
"Mm…" Chrollo Lucilfer said thoughtfully, then he stared into the boy's eyes.
Sure enough, the boy called Kisho—his eyes had turned blue-gray again. A hazy layer of gray covered his pupils, as if concealing—or rather, protecting them.
"Saving you requires payment."
Chrollo Lucilfer said.
Kisho's eyes widened slightly. He looked both surprised and at a loss as he said,
"I… don't have any money, …and I probably don't have anything you'd like, either?"
Chrollo was amused by the boy's idea of "money" and curled the corner of his mouth as he said,
"Your ability."
Kisho thought about it, then said in surprise,
"Abilities can be transferred too?"
Wouldn't that mean one person could have a lot of books? But how would you carry so many books? One hand can only hold one book, so at most two—would you fight by tearing books and seeing who tears more pages?
On the other side, the girl was amused into laughing out loud.
Chrollo Lucilfer was surprised. Pakunoda rarely laughed. He looked at the girl in confusion, and then she said a bunch of things Kisho couldn't understand.
Kisho thought it was probably an explanation of why she was laughing.
Damn it, he really wanted to know too—why someone would suddenly laugh for no reason.
The idea of "tearing books to fight" made even Chrollo pause for a moment, and he smiled as well. Unfortunately, that wasn't the kind of method that would turn a first-rate battle into a third-rate farce.
"Naturally, it can't be transferred at will."
A book appeared in his hand.
Anyway, this little brat would never leave this building for the rest of his life. There was no harm in telling him.
"My Nen ability is called 'Skill Hunter.' As long as the following conditions are met, I can take Nen abilities weaker than mine for my own use."
Kisho's gaze fell on the book.
Thief—not a good person! he thought.
But pretty cool! he thought.
On the other side, Chrollo calmly recited a long explanation:
"First, answer questions about the Nen ability."
"Second, demonstrate the Nen ability."
"Third, the target must place their hand on the mark on this book."
"Finally, all three conditions must be completed within one hour."
"The borrowed ability cannot be used by its original owner."
Kisho thought to himself that he had learned a few new words: "first," "second," "third," and also "finally."
Chrollo said,
"So, what is your ability?"
Kisho thought for a moment. He raised his hand, spent a little time finding the feeling, and then, out of thin air, a book with a white cover appeared in his hand.
On the snow-white cover, patterns formed by lush emerald branches and leaves circled around five connected gilt characters in the center: "Imaginary Musician."
Of course, for now, only Kisho could understand these words.
Kisho stared at the book. Under his will, he slowly turned a page.
...
Looking at the book under the light was a completely different experience from looking at it inside the box. He saw the score that carried memories of his previous life, "Song of the Four Seasons," appear before his eyes. Without him noticing, a tear slid down his cheek.
It was very painful, because he could never go back.
But it wasn't sorrowful, because… he now possessed the "Four Seasons" that his former self could never touch.
Being able to stand barefoot on the earth, feel blazing fire like the sun, feel torrential rain, feel gentle breezes or raging hurricanes—even if after the turbulence there was only death—and that would be a fiercely free death.
His hand could not be lifted, but his thoughts swept through four movements. He softly hummed the melody, his voice clear, yet carrying a depth of vicissitude unlike that of a child his age.
The boy's singing was very sad—like a requiem; very joyful, like a hymn.
As the final note fell, a badge appeared floating above the page, and was taken by Chrollo.
The method of use was simply to pin it onto clothing to take effect. No other steps were needed. When it came to Nen, no amount of caution was excessive—but if it was only this, it could be tested directly.
The cautious spider head pinned the badge—completely out of place against his black leather coat—beneath his collar. Then a faint surge of Nen rippled out.
Speed, strength, stamina, and the body's explicit aura output all saw, hm… a slight increase.
For ordinary people, this level of increase would be significant—like one becoming one and a half, five becoming seven and a half, ten becoming fifteen. But for him, it was roughly one hundred becoming one hundred and five. Even with multiplicative enhancement, the range of improvement had limits for someone already trained to the extreme.
Still, that bit of improvement might decide victory—or defeat, life or death—in certain battles.
He asked,
"How many times can it be used in a day?"
Kisho thought for a moment.
"I haven't tested it. Sometimes four or five times, sometimes once or twice, sometimes the badge doesn't even come out."
Chrollo said,
"What are the restrictions?"
Kisho looked blank.
"…Restrictions… what are those?"
Chrollo said,
"…"
He looked at Pakunoda, who shook her head at him, meaning that no related content had been found in his memories.
Chrollo showed an interested smile again.
He had Nen, could even reach the level of emission, yet didn't know even the basics of Nen.
Chrollo kindly filled in as a teacher and patiently said,
"After using this ability, are there any negative effects? Or, what conditions must be met to use this ability?"
Kisho looked blank.
"…I don't know."
He had worn the badge himself, and nothing happened.
Pakunoda said,
"He's not lying."
Chrollo said,
"…"
Fine. He was tired.
"Put your hand on the book."
...
Though he was doing something akin to taking by force, his tone was as casual as chatting with a friend. Chrollo spoke indifferently, but Kisho in his eyes made no movement at all.
His voice turned colder.
"Are you unwilling?"
"…No…"
The boy's expression showed slight pain.
"Help me out, Mr. Lucilfer. I can't lift my hand."
Chrollo said,
"…"
He closed the book and placed it under the boy's hand that Machi had sewn up. He was really weak—actually, after it was stitched, he could already move it, though it would hurt a bit.
After the ability was stolen, the book in the boy's hand dispersed into smoke. Yet the boy himself showed no reaction at all—was he foolish, or just thick-nerved?
"Mr. Lucilfer…"
Kisho called out.
Chrollo lowered his head.
"What?"
If he wanted to bargain with him about his ability—
"I want to ask, is there any water? And if possible, could you give me something to eat…"
And, in an extremely faint voice,
"I'll pay you back…"
Chrollo said,
"…"
Honestly, no matter how you looked at it, this boy should have been an Enhancer.
...
Pakunoda stood up and went outside the room, bringing back a bottle of expired mineral water and a box of expired canned food. It wasn't that she had any issue with him—rather, in District Six of Meteor City, it was difficult to get unexpired food and water.
She didn't dislike this boy whose head was full of strange ideas. His memories were very clean—not clean like a blank sheet of paper, but clean in the sense that no matter what happened, he could turn it into something bright, a pure kind of cleanliness.
Most importantly, this boy was harmless. The boss had taken his ability, so he couldn't be allowed to die. Since she didn't dislike him and he was harmless, there was no harm in keeping him like a pet.
Feeding the boy mouthful by mouthful, helping him eat and drink, Pakunoda left the room under Chrollo's interested gaze.