Muherr was a professional mercenary.
But behind him stood Pariston, the current Hunter Association Vice Chairman and one of the Twelve Zodiacs.
Ronin's existence had already entered Pariston's sight back when Ronin contacted Adly.
When Pariston learned that the ruins contained clothing similar to Kurta traditional dress, he contacted Muherr.
He then released the job as an outsourced contract to the Rock mercenary group.
A large-scale, high-casualty mission like this was exactly the kind of work mercenaries specialized in. And the reason Muherr decided to contact Ronin also included Ronin's previously displayed strength.
Otherwise, even Pariston couldn't have made Muherr casually invite an outsider into the mercenary group's operation.
Of course, if Ronin showed traits in the ruins exploration that caught Pariston's eye, Pariston might contact Ronin directly and invite him into the team Pariston was assembling.
It was just unknown whether Ronin would be curious about it.
After Muherr told Ronin everything he needed to say, he lifted his coffee and quietly waited for Ronin's decision.
After a long while, Ronin set the documents down.
He was somewhat curious about magical beasts. In Hunter terms, "magical beasts" was a broad label for beasts or monsters with intelligence and the ability to communicate.
The monsters crawling out of the ruins looked nasty, but Ronin hadn't seen any sign that they could use Nen.
If they couldn't use Nen, then they weren't much of a threat.
And if the intel about Kurta-like clothing reached Kurapika, Kurapika would definitely want to investigate.
So Ronin closed the file. "That's a hard task to refuse."
Muherr smiled. "Mainly because you're strong. You should be able to play an important role."
"You're not worried my abilities will destroy the ruins?" Ronin joked.
"If you don't mind breaking things inside, then I don't really care," Muherr said with a faint grin. "Our job is mainly to clear the magical beasts. Whether the ruins survive… Aitri Kingdom doesn't care much either. For a small country like that, discovering ruins isn't always a good thing."
"When do we leave?" Ronin asked.
He still had many things to deal with in the short term and couldn't head to Aitri immediately.
"I'll leave as soon as possible," Muherr said, conceding. "If you have things to handle, you can come later. I'll keep in contact. When I need you, don't refuse—just get here as fast as you can."
"And the pay?" Ronin asked.
He was satisfied with the flexibility.
"The pay isn't high—five hundred million jenny," Muherr said openly. "But the key is you'll be allowed into the ruins. And if you actually find treasure inside, you can claim it—as long as you pay Aitri some money afterward, probably around twenty percent of the item's value. In short, Aitri can't afford high cash rewards, so they use ruins loot as compensation, but they still want revenue."
Ronin raised an eyebrow. "If you put it that way, showing up early versus late makes a big difference."
Muherr nodded. "That's the exchange. The more you contribute, the more you earn. So—are you coming with me?"
"Pass." Ronin gave a rough window. "If it isn't urgent, I probably won't be free until mid-October or even November."
Whatever the ruins held, collecting Scarlet Eyes was still the highest priority.
And if it wasn't urgent, Ronin didn't mind going after his scheduled fight with Hisoka.
As for Chrollo, Ronin pushed him aside for the moment—he couldn't do nothing just to wait for Chrollo to show up.
"Fair," Muherr agreed. "The ruins are huge anyway. This isn't something we can clear in ten days or two weeks—it'll likely be a long campaign."
After that, Muherr left briskly.
September 10.
Yorknew's auction fever began to fade, and the city lost that earlier carnival atmosphere.
Using mafia channels, Kurapika finally identified the owner of one pair of Scarlet Eyes.
Over the next ten days, the three of them traveled across multiple cities, and in that time they added three more pairs of Scarlet Eyes to their collection.
Everything went smoothly.
Having the identity of one of the Ten Dons was even more useful than Ronin expected—the pace of collecting Scarlet Eyes was far faster than he'd predicted.
But just as he thought that, things changed.
The fourth Scarlet Eyes owner they traced was already dead when they arrived.
The collection was wiped clean. And in a conspicuous spot, the culprit's "calling card" was left behind:
The Phantom Troupe.
And starting with that fourth pair, Scarlet Eyes leads became difficult—then nearly impossible. Whether Kurapika used mafia authority or the borrowed Hunter credentials, he could no longer dig up Scarlet Eyes information.
It was as if someone had deliberately erased Scarlet Eyes intel.
"This doesn't really feel like the Troupe's style," Ronin frowned.
"Yeah, probably not," Kurapika said, not seeming surprised. "Once Scarlet Eyes value gets pushed even higher, it won't be only the Phantom Troupe acting anymore."
"What do you mean?" Ronin didn't follow.
"It's the same thing as before," Kurapika explained. "Your 'specialness' and the Scarlet Eyes narrative I deliberately spread—both raised the value. That has pros and cons.
The upside is that whoever gets Scarlet Eyes is much less likely to destroy them.
But the downside is: the 'Seven Beauties' being worth even more will attract more people—people who covet them. And among them, there will definitely be Nen users."
"What exactly did you spread?" Ronin asked.
"Do you know what an artifact is?" Kurapika countered.
Ronin's expression shifted in surprise. In his mind flashed the three "national treasures" of Kakin—one of the first times the manga introduced the idea of "artifacts":
the ritual urn that grants abilities in the Succession War, the Seed Urn
the divine statue that watches over the Succession War, the Lotus Anchorite
the sword for the next king's inheritance, "Sword of Good Omens"
How did Kurapika know about "artifacts"?
"You do know," Kurapika said, reading Ronin's reaction. "There's a legend that artifacts exist in the world. They can grant immense power and fulfill wishes.
The Kurta, called 'Apostles of the Devil,' were said to safeguard an artifact called Destiny for a powerful demon of hell.
The Phantom Troupe massacred the Kurta to use Scarlet Eyes to sacrifice to Destiny and gain a chance to make a wish.
But they didn't find the artifact in the village. It seems the artifact had already been lost by the Kurta long ago."