"Before the next mission ends, stay here for now."
"The room on the far left."
Chrollo's gaze swept across the second floor of the building. Kisho followed his line of sight, past the corridor-style staircase, toward a certain room.
Kisho nodded indifferently. "Oh."
...
"All done."
The Nen needles in Machi's hand vanished along with her voice.
Kisho thanked her and silently pulled his shirt back on.
Machi flatly rejected his request to tattoo the spider on the sole of his foot. Then—perhaps as retaliation for his delusion of stepping on the spider—when she did the tattoo afterward, her hand was ruthless and vicious.
A twelve-legged spider bearing the number "8" appeared on his back.
Kisho felt that the spider tattoo on his back was no different from a death-warrant wanted poster.
Machi showed no reaction to his thanks.
"No need to thank me. Just transfer the money to me as soon as possible."
Kisho: "...Oh—so there's no discount?"
"No."
Machi tossed out the word coldly and turned away with flair.
Only after she left did Kisho turn his attention to the room.
This room probably belonged to long-ago Troupe No. 8.
There were only two pieces of furniture in the room: a bed and a cabinet, both covered in a thick layer of dust.
Obviously, the owner of the room hadn't returned in a long time.
On the opposite wall, there was a window without glass, letting daylight illuminate the room.
Kisho surveyed the dilapidated room with satisfaction.
He finally had a place that truly belonged to him.
It was a bit broken, sure, but it had a bathroom—and a faucet that could produce water. He finally didn't have to spend half the day storing Nen water just to bathe.
Even better, as long as he lived in a bandits' den, he didn't have to worry about being killed by bandits suddenly appearing in the middle of the night.
Kisho dumped all the messy things in the room—including the bedding on the bed that hadn't been washed or aired in who-knew-how-long—out the second-floor window in one go. They traced an arc through the air and landed in the trash pile outside.
Then he gathered Nen into water and washed every nook and cranny of the room.
After the big cleanup, he sat directly on the bed board.
Well, he'd lived in trash piles before. Compared to that, having a bed board to lie on was already great.
After resting for a moment, Kisho opened his eyes.
In his hand, "The Fantasizing Musician" slowly took shape.
After getting his Nen ability back, summoning the Nen book was far easier than before—as simple as lifting an arm.
In his heart, he chanted the long-missed "Song of the Four Seasons".
As the last note rippled through his mind, a badge of four colors floated into existence before him. At the moment it fell, he caught it between his fingers.
Kisho affixed this Chapter of the Four Seasons badge to his clothes.
An indescribable power surged into every cell of his body at that instant.
Kisho slowly stepped down from the bed and took one step forward—then he appeared directly at the doorway of the room.
One step covered nearly five meters. Thankfully, the door wasn't closed, otherwise…
Even with some preparation beforehand, Kisho was still shocked by the amplified speed.
"So this is Enhancement-type Nen?"
In speed alone, the difference between wearing the badge and not wearing it was severalfold. And if "strength" and perception were added?
He couldn't help but think that if he'd recovered this Nen ability before fighting Shalnark, perhaps he wouldn't have needed to rack his brains setting traps to expose the enemy's openings.
Kisho removed the badge, and it vanished in his hand.
"Making a badge now consumes one-tenth of my Nen."
Kisho murmured, "Badges can enhance the upper limits of the body, tied to the instruments I store in the book."
"And also… the third movement that just appeared out of nowhere."
Kisho flipped open the Nen book in his hand, page by page, until he stopped at the page titled "Song of the Stars".
This section of the movement wasn't the sheet music he'd imagined. Instead, it looked more like a catalog for collecting instruments.
His [Jade-Dipped] and [Fixed Anchor] were both classified here. Above were diagrams of the instruments, and below was text recording related information.
"Chapter of the Stars."
With a thought, a five-pointed-star badge appeared in his hand.
After understanding the newly acquired badge's ability, joy spread across Kisho's face.
"Badge holders, as long as they're within a one-kilometer radius, can communicate with each other just by injecting Nen… and I can transfer myself to the location of any Chapter of the Stars badge within the range."
"Although each badge can only be transferred to once… for escaping, that's absolutely enough."
He walked back to the bed board, sat down, propped his chin, thought for a moment, then shook his head.
"I really want to try out this ability, but let's forget it for now."
He crushed the badge in his hand. "Save a trump card."
As he thought this, a voice came from the doorway.
"Kisho~"
Kisho turned his head. Shalnark stood by the door, smiling brightly.
"Well, I'm heading to Area One to take care of something. Want to come along?"
His gaze swept over the nearly emptied room.
"If you're going to live here, you'll need to buy some daily necessities too, right?"
Kisho stood up and asked, "...Do the shops in Area One accept card payments?"
"The shops there only take cash." Shalnark smiled.
Hearing that, Kisho sat back down on the bed.
"Then I'm not going. I don't have money."
"It's fine, I can lend you some first." Shalnark showed a sincere smile. "Interest at 10% will do."
Kisho: "..."
In the end, he was still coaxed and pulled by Shalnark out of the room.
Faced with Shalnark's truly "warm hospitality," Kisho couldn't quite understand his way of thinking.
After all, by Kisho's logic, someone who'd been fighting to the death with him half an hour ago was someone he absolutely wouldn't approach again anytime soon.
However, as he went downstairs with Shalnark, they heard earth-shattering fighting noises from outside the building.
"Enhancement-type idiot!" came a sinister voice—Feitan's.
"What did you say?! Say that again!" came the loud voice of the provoked Uvogin.
After a cold laugh, "I said it, Enhancement-type! I! Di! Ot!"
"Are you asking for a fight?!"
Then came the clashing sounds of blades and weapons. Looking through the open door, the two locked in combat struck without restraint, every move aimed straight at the opponent's vital points.
Kisho stared in a daze, then turned his head toward Shalnark.
"Didn't you say members can't kill each other?"
Yet the others inside the house wore calm expressions—so calm it was as if the two weren't "fighting," but merely "roughhousing."
"No need to make a fuss. This counts as daily life." Shalnark laughed, hooking an arm over Kisho's shoulder. "It's fine. They're all really tough guys. They won't be beaten to death so easily."
Kisho: "..."
Shalnark tugged the speechless Kisho along, exchanged a glance with Chrollo sitting on the sofa, smiled, and pulled Kisho toward the door.
"Let's go. Set off quickly—then we can get back earlier~"