Get comfortable, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🔥 ✦ Measured across thousands of years, the vast world had once embraced countless nations.
And every nation represented a civilization completely different from the others.
They were like flowers of every vivid color, blooming and competing along the river of history, only to wither one after another in a long, cruel contest, then be buried underground as unknown ruins and tombs.
Only those who had kissed the earth could understand how precious such remnants of history truly were.
Hawk was someone who loved exploring ruins and tombs.
For that reason, he had even developed Every Mouse Has a Way, an ability that let him move unobstructed through ruins and tombs.
Because he had visited far too many unknown tombs, Cheadle treated him as a grave robber.
As for Cheadle calling him that…
Hawk had never refuted it, nor was he qualified to refute it.
He had indeed gone to many ruins and tombs, and he had indeed taken things from them.
Even if he took only one thing each time and had never damaged any ruin or tomb…
That still did not change the fact that he was a grave robber.
But if Cheadle were willing to put aside her prejudice, then with her intelligence, she would certainly be able to see Hawk’s character through Mouse Gem’s ability traits.
A person willing to exchange harsh restrictions for an ability that allowed free passage through ruins and tombs might also have done so because he did not want to destroy those ruins and tombs.
The concept of “red light means stop, green light means go” built into his Nen beast’s ability also showed, to some extent, that its user was someone willing to obey rules and uphold principles.
That explained why Hawk only took one item every time he entered a ruin or tomb.
That was his bottom line.
He had always held to it and had never changed.
But even taking only one item each time should not have left him this embarrassingly poor.
The problem was this: When other people carried away mountain spring water or wild plants, they might be warmly called porters of nature.
But Hawk, of all people, almost always brought out ancient objects carrying resentment every time he carried something from a ruin or tomb.
Those antiques themselves still possessed value, but because resentment clung to them, selling them to ordinary collectors would be no different from selling misfortune.
If he hired a Nen Exorcist to remove the resentment attached to the antiques…
Leaving aside whether he could even hire one, the antiques and resentment had existed together for too long.
They had already become a single inseparable existence.
In other words, if the resentment were removed, the antique would be destroyed along with it.
Even so, Hawk still enjoyed it.
Each time he painstakingly found a new ruin or tomb, he would always bring out one antique with resentment attached as a keepsake.
From that angle, he was truly a diligent porter for the world of lingering malice.
It was also because of this habit that he later met Elena, who had been a Nen Exorcist.
As for the resentful antiques he had carried out, what happened to them afterward went without saying.
Besides, from the moment Kieran was born until now, Hawk had never entered another ruin or tomb because of his regret.
All that could be said was this: Some people were poor for a reason.
Cheadle and Kieran did not know the details.
That was why Cheadle could not understand Hawk’s absurd act of scooping coins from the wishing pond, while Kieran did not particularly care how much inheritance he could receive from Hawk.
He simply found it strange that a top-tier tomb raider in the world of Hunters could have fallen to this point.
As for the Nen Exorcist Cheadle had invited…
“Cheadle, I refrained from taking a deposit up front out of respect for you.
Now, however, it is difficult for me not to suspect that this employer may not have the ability to pay.” The stick-thin Nen Exorcist, wearing a corpse-like face with no trace of emotion, looked at Hawk with suspicion in his eyes.
A pile of coins from a wishing pond?
Was this supposed to be a joke?
The payment he charged for Nen exorcism work was counted in the hundreds of millions.
And this job involved post-mortem Nen on top of that.
One had to understand that Nen users with exorcism abilities made up only a tiny fraction of the world, and among them, fewer than ten could remove post-mortem Nen.
If Cheadle had not personally come forward to invite him, he swore he would never in his life have had a working relationship with someone like Hawk, who wanted to scrape together payment from coins in a wishing pond.
“Mr.
Arysell.” Cheadle looked away from Hawk in exhaustion and turned to the stick-thin Nen Exorcist beside her.
She said sincerely, “Please do not worry about payment.
We can pay the deposit for the exorcism work immediately, and we can also sign a contract right here.” “I have no objection.” Arysell looked at Cheadle, a Two-Star professional Hunter, and tried to squeeze a trace of a smile onto his gray, gaunt face.
The result was clearly not ideal.
His difficulty managing expressions, along with his skin-and-bones body, might be a side effect of performing Nen exorcism work for so long.
Cheadle signaled for Arysell to wait, then walked over to Hawk.
“Deposit.” “Uh, how much was the deposit again?” “One hundred million.” “Oh, then that is not a problem.
It is the follow-up payment…
Cheadle, can you estimate a rough amount?” Hawk took out his phone and lowered his voice as he asked.
Cheadle frowned faintly and said coldly, “The payment is judged according to the difficulty of the exorcism.
With the strength of that scale, it would not be strange for the price to start at one billion Jenny.” “…” Hawk opened his mouth and found no words.
Seeing Hawk’s current reaction, Cheadle was not surprised.
From the beginning, she had not expected Hawk to be able to pay the exorcism fee.
She had already prepared herself to spend her entire fortune.
Even so…
“A problem that can be solved with money is not a problem at all.
I hold no expectations that Mr.
Arysell can remove the post-mortem Nen from King’s Scale, but as long as he can remove the cost King’s Scale has imposed on you, that will count as eliminating the threat.
The premise is…
that Mr.
Arysell can do it.” “…” Listening to Cheadle, Hawk’s expression gradually grew solemn.
He said in a low voice, “Give me the bank account.
I will transfer the deposit first.” Cheadle nodded and gave him Arysell’s bank account, then temporarily drafted a written contract.
Money arrived, contract signed.
The entire process was efficient.
Kieran watched from the side and never spoke.
As Cheadle had said, a problem that could be solved with money was not really a problem.
If this stick-thin Nen Exorcist could successfully remove the cost from Hawk, then Kieran definitely would not use his single current exorcism count.
That was equivalent to a one-time purification skill.
It was extremely precious.
“Now then, where is the object I need to exorcise?” After confirming the deposit had arrived, Arysell glanced toward the main hall.
He could feel the fluctuations of post-mortem Nen inside, but he was not naive enough to think Cheadle had invited him here to remove those weak traces of post-mortem Nen.
Cheadle looked at Hawk.
Meeting her gaze, Hawk hesitated for a moment, then said, “Mr.
Arysell, could I ask you to prepare for the exorcism first?” “…” Arysell remained expressionless.
Ignorant fool.
The most troublesome part of exorcism work was not preparation.
It was digestion.
Even so, he did not waste words.
The Anorexic’s Appetite.
Surging Nen rose around Arysell.
Everyone present looked at him and saw his mouth begin shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS EmberHollow Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter pulled you deeper into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.