"The next one's yours. Ask him whatever you want—he'll answer. You'll definitely get the information you need from him~"
As he spoke, Ronnel tilted his chin toward the horse-faced Vincent, who was slowly getting to his feet. Then, without another word, he sank back into the sofa and closed his eyes in meditation.
Kurapika, in turn, calmed the servants and guided Queen Oito and the Fourteenth Prince inside. Her gaze landed on Vincent, whose eyes were clearly dazed, and she exhaled softly.
It looks like this will go a lot smoother than expected~
Kurapika began to interrogate Vincent.
...
Meanwhile, in another area of the palace—
"Communication's down? Is Vincent dead?"
Prince Benjamin frowned, staring at the monitoring device in front of him, voice low and tense.
"Unlikely," Balsamilco replied, his expression dark. "Given the enemy's intent, they're probably trying to extract information from him. My men suspect he was knocked out, not killed."
They hadn't expected the Fourteenth Prince—the one they'd all but dismissed—to be the first to succeed.
"Once Vincent wakes up and realizes he's been captured, he'll definitely try to bite down on the poison capsule hidden in his teeth. Even if the enemy finds it, he'll still try to kill himself by any means necessary."
"His loyalty to Your Highness is beyond question. The issue is the opponent's ability. He was subdued just seconds after a gunshot. If the enemy can read intent..."
Balsamilco trailed off mid-sentence.
"Can you identify who took him down?" Benjamin rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Even with Nen active, 2-on-1 would make it hard to believe Vincent went down that fast."
"Not yet, but we're close," Balsamilco replied. "From the audio, it wasn't Kurapika. We've logged all the royal guards under the Fourteenth Prince. Aside from the four Hunters Kurapika recruited, one was seriously injured and ten are currently detained."
"So the one who brought Vincent down is most likely one of the two remaining Hunters—Bill or Morgan. Of course, there's always the possibility Kurapika disguised her voice... or that the injured or imprisoned Hunters weren't where we thought they were."
(T/N: Morgan is how Ronnell introduced himself to the Eighth Queen of the Kakin Empire)
Benjamin's brow furrowed even deeper.
"So it's possible someone on their side prevented Vincent from using Nen at all, forcing him to resort to a gun?"
"Or the opposite," Balsamilco said. "Maybe Vincent didn't want to reveal his Nen ability, and that hesitation cost him."
He paused, then added, "I'll give orders for our men to engage with Nen from the start in any future encounters. But what really bothers me is the enemy's ability. Something's off."
Suspicion flickered in his eyes.
"If the opponent truly is a Manipulator, their abilities usually require verbal commands or conditions. Yet they didn't pressure Queen Oito directly. I can't tell if they're overconfident or bluffing."
"Or maybe," Benjamin muttered darkly, "they wanted us to think that. If we assume there's an Manipulator among them, we'll hesitate, and that slows down our intel operations."
He fell into a thoughtful silence.
"So can we still use the audio data to accuse the Fourteenth Prince?"
"Unlikely. The whole thing sounds like it was pre-recorded. The enemy was being careful—too careful. They probably hit record before Vincent even entered the house."
"I see..." Benjamin took a deep breath. His gaze turned cold and sharp.
"Very well. There are only a few guards left on their side. Their loyalty seems almost fanatical, and their abilities... problematic. Heh, how interesting. I want a full report on the Fourth Prince's bodyguards. Everyone. Hunters, royal guards, servants—everything, and fast."
"And Babimaina, you're taking over Vincent's mission. The objectives have changed. What I'm giving you now is the most important task of all. Don't screw it up."
"Understood~!"
...
"Was that Sayird's ability you just used?"
In the Fourteenth Prince's quarters, Kurapika and Ronnel stood together, their expressions calm and serious now that they had everything they needed from Vincent.
Earlier, after Sayird's defection, Kurapika had been briefed by Bill about his abilities. Watching Ronnel manipulate Vincent just now, it didn't take long to connect the dots.
"Yeah. [Rear Window]," Ronnel said with a slight nod. "But how I got it... that's not something I'm obligated to share~"
"I understand," Kurapika replied with a respectful nod.
...
At that moment, Bill, having just returned from visiting Sayird in the detention cell, joined the conversation.
"I checked with Sayird. He's still able to use his Nen. It wasn't taken from him."
Which meant one thing—Ronnel's ability wasn't focused on stealing Nen.
"Really?" Kurapika glanced back at Ronnel, intrigued. "Then how many times can you use [Little Eye]?"
He assumed that using someone else's Nen without disabling their own must come at a steep cost.
"Limitless~" Ronnel smiled faintly. "I can use it as many times as I want, without restrictions."
Kurapika's heart skipped a beat. Bill's face, on the other hand, was openly shocked.
"You can use someone else's Nen... over and over?" Kurapika murmured. "No limits at all? Then the conditions to acquire that ability must be ridiculously demanding."
He hadn't been present when Ronnel subdued Sayird. Kurapika had assumed there were intricate, high-stakes conditions involved.
Bill's gaze lingered on Ronnel—equal parts awe and a flicker of fear.
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Fanfic is completed on patreon.com/FanficsHub (799 chapters in total)