"You don't need to go out of your way to explain it to me. They're your children, after all, so you should decide for yourself what kind of choice to make. But too much is as bad as too little. Killua's physical abilities are already more than strong enough, and he's also passed the Hunter Exam. That proves he fully meets the conditions to begin learning Nen."
Zeno waved a hand, looking completely unconcerned as he spoke. The Zoldyck family's methods of education were naturally nothing like those of the outside world.
"I understand, Father," Silva said in a deep voice.
There was no doubt about it: Killua was the most talented member in the history of the Zoldyck family.
Even his eldest brother and youngest brother were both exceptionally gifted.
The former hardly needed mentioning. By now, Illumi had already become the captain of the Zoldyck family's assassination unit.
As for the latter, Kalluto—at only ten years old, he was already strong enough to join the Phantom Troupe and replace Hisoka as Number Four, which was proof enough of his ability.
Of course, not every member of the Zoldyck family was that perfect. There were failures too.
For example, a certain chubby second brother who couldn't even beat his own little brother, and spent his days indulging in food, technology, games, girls, and anime.
And then there was the one thing the entire Zoldyck family least wanted to mention... that darkness.
"Well then, let's go have a look at those friends of Killua's—the ones Illumi gave special attention to and personally placed on the difficult list. Hohoho. Though I trust Illumi's judgment, not just anyone can make it onto the Zoldyck family's difficult list."
That was what Zeno said, but he wasn't relaxing in the slightest. After all, among the intelligence Illumi had sent over, there had been one line in particular:
A man who could draw with Netero—or even defeat him!
"By the way, where's Kikyo?"
"She got impatient long ago and already took Kalluto to pick Killua up... What's wrong, Father?"
"You go on ahead. I'll follow shortly. I'll stay behind and cover you."
...
At the outer perimeter of Kukuroo Mountain, Killua led the way as Roy, Gon, and the others arrived at the gate to the estate grounds.
"Halt... Young Master Killua!"
Holding a round cane in her hand, Canary—born in Meteor City and currently serving as an apprentice butler of the Zoldyck family—was stunned for a moment when she saw Killua, then immediately lit up with delight.
"Yo."
Killua casually greeted her. Then, after thinking for a moment, he took out the skateboard that had been tucked under his arm.
"This is my skateboard. I'm giving it to you."
"Young Master Killua!"
"Shut up. If I tell you to take it, then take it. And the people behind me are my friends. I'm taking them inside."
"...Yes!"
Watching the group's backs as they walked away, Canary tightened her grip on the skateboard and softly murmured, "Killua... Young Master..."
"Killua, who was that person?" Leorio asked curiously after they had gone a little farther. He still couldn't help wondering about Killua's strange behavior just now.
"She's an apprentice butler at our house."
"A butler? That young?"
"Don't let her age fool you. She's pretty strong too. When she was ten, she once took down a hundred men by herself."
"She's that amazing?" Leorio clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Well, she is part of the Zoldyck household. And I just used Gyo to look at her—there's faint Aura around her. She should be a Nen user too," Kurapika added.
"Really? So Canary is a Nen user too? Damn it, and she never told me."
"I think she was probably given orders not to privately teach any Zoldyck family members anything about Nen. Considering who her employers are," Roy said.
"I never treated her like some kind of servant." Killua put his hands behind his head.
"That's obvious. You even gave her your own skateboard and wouldn't let her refuse. Which means you probably tried giving her things before and got turned down. And Canary looks very young, probably around your age, so my guess is that when you were little, you treated her as a friend—but because of the master-servant relationship, she was never willing to accept it. She doesn't dare call you by your name, and she doesn't dare accept your gifts either. Am I right?"
"...Tch! Roy, you really are a scary man."
"I'm not that bad~~~"
"Hm? Gon, when you were little, did you not have any friends your own age to play with?" Leorio asked in surprise.
"Yeah. Back on Whale Island, ever since I can remember, the people on the island were either already older and following their families out to sea to fish, or they were way younger—newborns who couldn't even crawl yet," Gon said.
Roy then remembered that in the original story, Gon's best playmate on Whale Island had been the Foxbear in the forest.
Because he had no companions his own age, Gon valued comrades and friends all the more.
That was why, later on, Gon would chase all the way to Kukuroo Mountain to bring Killua back, and why he would also throw himself into danger for Kurapika's sake against the Phantom Troupe.
"Is that so? No playmates your own age..."
Leorio thought of his friend Pietro, who had died of illness because poverty had made treatment impossible. Kurapika thought of the friends and clan members he had once played with.
For a moment, both of their steps grew heavy.
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere—
"Mother, is it really okay for us to go block big brother directly like this? Why not wait for Father? According to big brother Illumi, the friends Killua-niisan made outside include some very powerful people."
"Silence, Kalluto! Killua has no friends, and he absolutely will not have friends! He is meant to become a top-tier assassin! I will raise him into the strongest assassin in the history of the Zoldyck family! Assassins do not have emotions! And they certainly do not have friends!"
Dressed in an extravagant formal gown and wearing a white Western-style hat, Kikyo—Killua's mother, with bandages still wrapped around the wound Killua had stabbed into her face—shrieked sharply. She wore an electronic visor over her eyes, and the waveform on its lenses showed intense emotional fluctuations.
At her side stood Kalluto, the fifth child of the Zoldyck family, dressed in a kimono, holding a folding paper fan, and wearing his straight bobbed hairstyle with short bangs. He remained silent.
"Oh right, did you tell that useless second brother of yours that Killua is back? You know, after being stabbed by Killua before, he ground his teeth and swore he'd get revenge!"
"I told Milluki-niisan, but it didn't seem like he was listening at all."
"Why?"
(End of Chapter)
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