Renko knew this child well.
A good man with clean intentions—the last person who truly fit that description would be Ron.
Still, she didn't point it out.
Instead, she stared at nothingness and muttered.
"Too bad... that wouldn't work against the curse."
Curse?
Ron caught the word immediately. His palms grew sweaty with excitement.
Should I try sniffing out more of her secrets?
Making up his mind, he tested the waters.
"Was it caused by... Death Sonata?"
Renko frowned.
The name sounded odd coming from him. He shouldn't have that kind of knowledge.
Renko shook her head lightly, immediately denying it.
"No, but I'm curious. Where did you hear that?"
Ron studied her body language carefully. Seeing there was no fake reaction, he confirmed it wasn't the cause.
He smirked slightly.
"Madam, it's not good to pry into someone's secrets."
Renko: "..."
How dare you use my words against me, kid!
Oblivious to her frustrated gaze, his mind wandered.
Even in Hunter x Hunter, there was no true cure for the curse.
Only an exorcist could help—but that was limited to Nen and more about individual resentment than the curse itself.
Perhaps Nanika could heal her body, but that would be far too difficult to attempt.
It seems like I'll have to find another way to solve her problem...
Ron sighed and murmured under his breath,
"Whatever... Juices of rotten grapes still make better wine."
Renko: "???"
***
Renko's reminiscing finally came to an end, leaving her face painted with a rare expression of loneliness.
"He's gone just like that... Kids grow up fast these days..."
Pakunoda, overhearing her mutterings, felt slightly puzzled.
She stared at Renko for a moment. Mustering her courage, she finally spoke up.
"Uhm... Master, can I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Was the reason you keep wearing the mask because... you had to hide your buck teeth and thick lips?"
"Excuse me!?"
***
Somewhere underground—
A scholarly woman with long purple hair was sorting through documents in her office when a thin man with fair skin suddenly burst through the door.
He stopped midway, but upon seeing the familiar weapon, his grin widened.
"Rize, listen, I found something interesting!"
Rize frowned, feeling intrigued. She gently pushed up her glasses.
A small sharp gleam formed, hiding her eyes.
"It's rare for you to be this happy. I'm curious, who is it?"
Ken calmly slid a photo across the desk.
The image showed Ron twisting someone's neck while standing atop a mountain of corpses who met the same fate.
Rize was taken aback by his brutality. Still, she listened carefully to his report.
"You know the branch activities in Meteor City, right?
Recently, their movements were temporarily suspended. You ordered me to investigate, and I found this guy...
I was surprised at how capable he is, considering their tracks were so well hidden—yet he still managed to locate and hunt them down."
Rize nodded, hearing this kid's origin. Her view shifted slightly.
"I get that much, but what are you hinting at?"
His lips curved into a sly grin as he got to the point.
"As you know, someone in the family—we have a conflict with another branch.
And they were searching for the culprit but found no leads..."
Rize pinched her chin and murmured thoughtfully,
"Killing with a borrowed knife? Providing them leads to weaken their military power and influence. That's certainly one way to handle it..."
***
A one-meter black circle with framing white scribbles emerged.
Ron popped his head into the center of the flare hole, scanning the area. Not finding anyone nearby with his En, he decided to go out.
Upon leaving the Misty Forest, he still had one destination in mind—
The cathedral.
He spotted the elder priest distributing fruits while being surrounded by children.
Lisores noticed him approaching from the corner of his eyes and asked a child to handle the rest.
Inside Lisores' office at the Cathedral...
"What brings you here, Ron?"
Ron went straight to the point.
"I'm leaving today, Elder."
Leaving, eh...
Lisores wasn't surprised but nodded in understanding. He had been expecting this.
"I see... I won't stop you from leaving, but your disappearance is equivalent to losing our military force. It's unaffordable... Even if we agreed, I don't think others would follow suit."
He was hinting at the political repercussions.
Heh, unaffordable, that's funny.
Ron understood this situation perfectly and had made advance preparations.
Normal people could leave at will, but someone influential required more careful planning.
"Don't worry, Elder. I'm planning to join the Hunter Association, and I'll occasionally send resources here until 'that' is established."
Politics... complicated, yet simple.
Just give them benefits.
And by joining the Hunter Association, Ron's name will be established.
Despite their stubbornness, it would be harder to pull him back.
In fact, it would be more beneficial for them to let him go.
Lisores caught his countermeasure and nodded approvingly.
He rubbed his chin and replied with a light smile.
"That's good... You can rest assured. I'll handle the rest."
***
The clear sky darkened, and rain began pouring heavily.
Ron nonchalantly looked up, letting droplets run down from his black hair and crawl along his fair skin.
"How unlucky... Just when I'm done sorting my plan, this happens."
"Ron—"
Someone's calling me? I don't feel good about this...
Ron started to move away, but the person caught up to him.
"Hey, wait!"
Turning, he saw a little blonde girl wearing a rat-ear headband.
Recognition flickered across his face, and he smiled wryly.
"Sheila, what do you want?"
Sheila glared at him sharply.
Then she clutched his forearm, making sure he couldn't leave while gasping for air trying to catch her breath.
"Why move so fast? Are you leaving?"
No choice then...
Ron realized there was no way around it.
Reluctantly, he answered.
"Yes. I already settled things with the elder. I'm planning to register and take the Hunter Exam."
Sheila's eyes gleamed sharply.
"Take me with you! I want to become a Hunter too."
Ron remained silent for a moment, considering the possibilities.
If she weren't suspected to be Pariston, he might entertain the idea—but there were far too many conspiracy theories surrounding Sheila.
Who knows what's going on in her mind?
Personally, Ron found Pariston's character interesting. The way he read people and manipulated them at will.
It's just a pity he will lose to Ging...
Anyway, how did they start to know each other?
Sheila took a liking to his donated (plundered) supplies.
A book named D: Hunter not only gave Sheila reasons. Additionally, the book became her motivation in life to chase after her dream and prevented her from going dark.
Seeing Ron remain unresponsive, Sheila clutched the book tightly, making her body tremble. She was anxious about the possibility of rejection.
"...My dream is to become a Hunter and go on adventures like the character in this book."
Ron stared at her deadpan, not believing her words.
Who are you trying to fool, Pariston?
Was that really your dream?
I think your dream is to manipulate the whole world and make it into a toy box.
Ron sighed to himself.
If Sheila truly tagged along, he wouldn't be able to shake this lunatic off until the exam was over.
Whatever, I'll just show you how it's done.
"I don't mind bringing you along, but why don't you ask the Elder's permission first?"
Sheila eyed Ron suspiciously. After thinking for a moment, she thought it was reasonable.
Even though the kidnapping incident was over and unlikely to happen again,
they still needed the elders' permission to leave the place. Even if the Meteor City environment was harsh, bonds here were thicker than blood yet also thinner than water.
"Wait for me here. I'll ask them."
Ron calmly replied.
"Very well. I'll wait for your good news."
Seeing her head back, Ron waited until she was out of sight before running away from the Cathedral.
He ran like a father trying to avoid child support.
After leaving the borders of Meteor City,
Ron could finally sigh in relief.
"Now that Pariston is gone, I should book a room first and get a change of clothes."
He headed into a nearby hotel to take a fresh bath.
While wearing the robe, he checked the internet to look for information about the Hunter Exam.
The exact place and method for registration were always hidden, but by sorting out different information from rumors and what circulated around the community, Ron narrowed it down to Kiishi Mountain.
Using the world map, he looked for the place and found it was in the United States of Saherta.
Ron was satisfied knowing the general location and how to travel. He could take care of the rest later.
Ron was relaxing on the bed until he heard someone knock from the outside.
Realizing it was room service, he jumped off the bed—but upon opening the door, he found a familiar person.