Chapter 1: Empty Eyes

(The worst!!)

Abengane, sitting on the ground, continued to regret his actions while retreating in an unsightly posture.

I thought this was a good job.

People who suddenly enter mountainous areas to mine rare metals, people who enter the mountains for the purpose of mining, people who have just cut down trees or harvested wild plants, and people who go for picnics. This phenomenon leads to defects.

When I was asked to clarify the cause and solve the problem as much as possible, I had no doubt that this was a worthwhile job.

The scope of the influence is wide, but a more accurate way to put it is that the symptoms disappear after leaving the mountain; the symptoms subside without any aftereffects. "But it's painful," for example in cold weather, so I thought someone was harassing me for mining interests or other reasons.

He even mocked it as a cheap Nen Ability that could only be used for harassment, because its range was wide but its damage effect was minimal.

Of course, I also considered the possibility that the range and effect were inversely proportional, but even when Abengane, a Nen user, entered the mountain, he did not notice it, nor did he increase the effect or narrow the range. Abengane completely underestimated his opponent and misjudged the Nen Ability covering the entire mountain range, because the reported poor health did not occur simply by wearing more Aura "Clay".

This Nen Ability is not for harassment, but because I do not want anyone other than a specific opponent to enter this mountain.

Abengane did not notice that it was a Wall.

The reason he did not get sick was not because he was wearing "Ten", nor because the opponent's Nen was too weak.

It was not until Abengane reached a spring deep in the mountains where the Aura was strongest that he realized Abengane had met the conditions of the "specific partner" invited by "her".

Abengane's first, biggest, and most serious misjudgment was that he never doubted that this Nen Ability belonged to a living person.

"Oh, Marco, Marco, Marco!! I missed you so much! You've come to pick me up!!"

In the center of the spring, I finally noticed, when I saw Kinoi wearing a wedding dress, her whole body wrapped in algae, her hollow eye sockets turning toward me, she bared her teeth and enthusiastically talked to herself using another person's name.

This is an incident unrelated to rare metal mining or their interests.

Either it was an emotional entanglement, or she was cheated by a marriage swindler, or she herself was a crazy stalker.

A woman was killed by a man claiming to be "Marco", and the man came to this mountain to dump the body, throwing it into a spring.

However, was this woman originally a Nen user, or did her pores open before she died, and her excessively strong emotions blossomed into "Nen"?

Even if the woman was killed, she still believed in the man. Or she was escaping reality.

She wanted to be Together with the man she loved, Marco, forever.

They did not allow anyone to enter their love nest.

The latter is the real reason for his poor physical condition. The woman's Aura, an Manipulation System closer to an Emission System, thinly covered the entire mountain, and those hit by that Aura suffered from poor physical condition.

The reason these symptoms appeared was nothing more than the beginning of a cold, probably because she wanted to dedicate her power to this side, rather than the woman's Conscience.

"Marco, I love you. I won't let go again, hold me tight!!"

Kinoi spoke enthusiastically to Abengane and opened her arms.

At the same time, the Aura amplified, and the surrounding trees shook.

It moved like an earthquake, but the ground itself did not change.

The trees, the plants themselves, were all writhing.

As if responding to the bride standing in the center of the fountain.

Abengane also amplified his Aura, while performing "Gyo" and formulating an escape plan.

Although he prided himself on being an excellent memory master, like most memories, Abengane could not abandon the souls of the dead.

The reward was high, but compared to life, it was truly too cheap.

Judging that even if he couldn't solve it, it would be enough to find out the cause, Abengane turned around and used his Aura-imbued Hand Sword to cut the branches and vines that wanted to catch him.

He was still licking his opponent.

I thought it would be extremely simple, like an attack launched by the remains of a crazy woman who had lost her self and turned into a Disaster, obsessed with only one thing.

Since the Aura was transmitted into the plants themselves, ordinary humans could not contend with it, but if you were a Nen user, you couldn't say you were of the Martial Arts school, but you could destroy it.

This thought itself was correct. You couldn't go wrong.

What I misunderstood was that the Life Force of the plants themselves was amplified by her Aura.

The moment he turned to start running, his leg was pulled, and Abengane lost his momentum and fell.

I looked down at my feet, saw what was hindering me, and my blood ran cold all at once.

It was the branches and vines of the tree he had just cut.

The branches, leaves, and ivy torn apart by Abengane took root again the moment they fell to the ground, and the ivy stretched out again.

"Shit!!"

Whether it was the plants wrapped around himself or his own negligence, he cursed while withdrawing the Aura from his legs and tearing off the vines, but no matter how many times he cut them, they fell to the ground. In an instant, they took root and extended to his own body.

Everything he did backfired, making him panic, and all around, it didn't take long before Abengane's movements were intertwined with the branches and ivy.

(The worst, the worst, the worst!!)

Hearing this word, Abengane's head was already filled with regret.

The plants consolidating his limbs grew toward his body, and he regretted it again, "The worst!!"

You can close your mouth, but even if you close your eyelids, there is a high probability that your eyes will be pried open, and you can't even go without closing your nose with your hands.

(No, no, no, no, no, no!)

Regret turned into denial.

Abengane denied his Fate, his death.

(I just hate dying like that!!)

Kinoi, still eagerly misunderstanding "Marco. Ah, Marco", no longer appeared in Abengane's eyes.

I don't want to look, but I want to look.

The tree rising next to the spring.

Staring at Kinoi, who was embedded in the tree trunk like a tasteless Christmas tree ornament—presumably the man who fertilized this emerging plant while he was still alive—Abengane denied your longing for the future.

Although she had turned into Kinoi and most of her body was embedded in the tree, that Kinoi's hair was black like his, and it was permed very severely.

Perhaps this man's skin is brown.

His age and height might be about the same as mine.

Or perhaps the only thing they have in common is their hair.

There is no way to specify it further, but to her, Abengane certainly already possessed enough conditions to be identified as her "lover."

This is why Abengane's Curse-like Nen Ability has no effect on Abengane.

This is the reason the woman will not let Abengane escape.

"Marco. I won't let go again; we will be Together forever, forever."

The woman, a mummy, placed her withered, tree-like hand on her cheek, from which the flesh had already been scraped away, and announced in a Magic-like voice.

Hearing this, Abengane, whose mouth was already covered, was streaming with tears, instinctively begging someone.

(I don't want to die!!)

"Mister, are you okay?"

Paralyzed, the plant blocking my mouth was torn away.

The first thing that caught my eye was an old person's bright gray hair.

The next thing that caught my eye was those deep indigo eyes, like the sky just before the Sun sets.

It was a young person in their teens to early twenties; anyone with a shred of aesthetic sense, whether they liked it or not, would praise them as beautiful.

Just because they were dressed appropriately, the gender distinction was blurred; the hair was long enough to almost reach the shoulders, and the clothes were loose and baggy.

If not for hearing their voice, one might have thought they were a delicate man, but in reality, Abengane was not yet sure of the gender of the person before him.

The pitch was high for a man, but not high enough for a woman's voice.

Perhaps because the gender was so strange, the woman frowned and asked Abengane again: "Are you okay? Are you still alive?"

Before Abengane could answer this question, Kinoi barked wildly behind him.

"Who!? Don't touch my Marco!!"

"Shut up! Or rather, are you the culprit behind this annoying sensation!?

I don't even want to touch it, let alone this old man! If anything, I'll put a noshi on it and throw it at you!!"

"Don't! Stop!"

Abengane was interrupted by the sudden reply, having been worried until just now about the question "Are you okay?".

Looking at her appearance alone, one could call her a peerless beauty regardless of gender, but the white-haired person deepened the wrinkles between her brows and boldly clicked her tongue.

In that state, the other party spoke a sales pitch and a purchase pitch, but sensing the situation was quite serious, Abengane begged while moving about like a grasshopper entangled in plants.

"Hey, you are Emitter!"

This exchange of less than a minute was enough for him to understand that this was a person uneasy about various things they relied on, but even so, the only straw Abengane could cling to was this white hair.

But the white hair did not answer.

As if they had a headache from being sick, they narrowed their blue eyes, glared at Kinoi, sighed, and snapped a branch that was wrapped around Abengane's body.

"I won't give you. Don't pass, don't pass, don't pass. I won't give Marco to anyone! I will kill anyone who steals Marco from me!!"

"Listen to what people are saying, menhera Kinoi."

Abengane opened his mouth toward the white hair, and the white hair retorted in an irritated voice.

I don't even know what I wanted to say. It might have been "run away." It might have been "stupid."

As Abengane's words turned into sound, the surrounding trees grew toward the white hair.

Abengane did not notice.

The plant used to cover my mouth had a cut surface that I could not have cut so cleanly even with a knife.

The moment they hit the ground, they took Root and sprouted; they were just scattered branches and ivy.

My entire body was still entangled with the plants, but I did not realize the plants had completely stopped growing.

The white hair shook the branch in her hand.

Abengane could only see it like a child waving a branch as a Sword while playing.

Without a doubt, the white-haired one was not shrouded in Aura on the branch. She did not use "Ryu," just swung it like a branch.

Swinging it, it passed through the plants that were emitting Aura.

Ignoring the speechless Abengane, or rather, as if she had forgotten his existence, the white-haired one said to Kinoi.

"Do not think that someone who has died once can die again as a human.

I already have a headache, my body is tired, it's annoying, shut up, hurry up and be killed."

As soon as the words fell, the white-haired one's Aura changed accordingly.

Abengane had hoped to grasp the true essence of the Nen Ability that could cut through plants wrapped in Nen with a simple branch, but he felt disappointed when he discovered the Aura was merely gathered at the eye position and "Hard." However, a moment later, I noticed.

I noticed the color of the white-haired one's eyes had changed.

Of course, at first it was a deep blue close to black. The brightness of the indigo eyes increased, turning into the color of a clear blue sky.

Abengane forgot the current situation and fell in love with the beauty of her eyes for a moment.

At the same time, for some reason, it was very terrifying.

Is it because its color reminds me of the high sky that lasts forever?

Her eyes were beautiful, and at the same time, somewhat nihilistic.

Abengane did not know if he could not take his eyes off her because she was beautiful, or because she was too terrifying to look away.

"Shut up! You thieving cat!!"

"You shut up, you dead person!!"

The gray-white hair had already run off before you knew it.

Punching and kicking, he tore apart the oncoming plants with his Aura-infused limbs, then sliced them open with a simple branch; he pushed forward, while the white-haired one focused his Aura on his feet at the edge of the spring and jumped high.

The Seaweed grass of the spring writhed like it was squirming, but unlike trees, the gently swaying Seaweed grass, no matter how fast it grew, could not serve as a means of attack and could be manipulated at will.

Kinoi had no choice but to wait for the white-haired one to fall.

Once the white-haired one fell into the spring, the algae would entangle his whole body, making it impossible to rise from the water.

I don't know if Kinoi had calculated such a thing.

I don't know if the white-haired one was also aware of the risk.

However, his sky-blue eyes were staring straight at Kinoi, and under the force of gravity, he plunged into an inconspicuous branch.

Kinoi's right shoulder was deep, as if pierced by soft mud.

A place that could not be called a fatal wound, whether dead or alive. Losing an arm is painful, but I stabbed it in a place that could not be called a vital point.

I shouldn't have called it a vital point.

But Kinoi collapsed.

Every part of his body was aching, rotting, and collapsing, but he somehow connected them together with the Aura of his Manipulation system; the moving Kinoi collapsed and sank into the spring.

At the same time, the plants binding Abengane's body also lost their power.

Abengane noticed that the ominous, twisted Aura of love and obsession permeating the surroundings had vanished, but he was surprised by this and didn't have time to ask the white-haired one how he had done it.

"Boba!?"

"Hey! Are you okay!?"

Abengane was busy saving the white-haired one who had plunged into the spring with Kinoi.

"Ahahaha~ No, I really thought I was going to die. Thanks, old man."

"……I am not old enough to be called an old man."

"Oh, right. Sorry, old man."

"Why are you increasing the age!?"

Abengane looked frustrated as he went down the mountain with the white-haired one.

Although he was the one who saved him in the end, he was the benefactor who saved him; he was still very grateful for being rescued from the spring, and he didn't ask for a favor for helping Abengane, so that was that. He had wanted to show him some respect, but he had always been this rowdy, far from respectful and grateful; Abengane tried his best to persuade himself not to hit his opponent.

By the way, the white-haired one was a woman after all.

I thought he was a man; when he fell into the spring, he took off his soaked jumpsuit without hesitation, but he did have a chest, even if it was modest.

When I realized this, I instinctively said, "What are you doing!?" "This guy is a woman, but she isn't a woman," he convinced me.

Abengane wanted to ask many questions, but he swore not to have a deep relationship with this woman just from that interaction.

With just a branch without Aura, she cut off the plants controlled by that Nen Ability; in one blow, even a few excellent Exorcists could not compete with the "dead." I am curious about the ability of this woman who literally "erased" her "Nen," but usually people without Nen Ability would not reveal their abilities to others unless they proposed such a restriction.

I don't know if this woman's rowdiness was an act to avoid exposing her ability, or if she wanted to get along with her, or if it was just plain dull, but she knew that what she wanted to know would not be exposed anyway, so Abengane put on her clothes and went down the mountain with the white-haired woman.

"Ahaha, sorry, you see, the age of a Nen user doesn't help either; actually, my master is a loli-baba."

"Not my witch, but my teacher is really young and amazing. A completely beautiful girl on the outside. If you open your mouth, you're an old witch. Also, the original form is a gorilla. A handsome gorilla. When I saw that transformation, I laughed until my guts twisted."

Abengane sighed at the woman's words; she didn't even ask about her words, and her tone wasn't sad at all.

In the voice of the woman speaking beside me, I heard the most terrifying song at her waist, "uchinohaghawakusohagha~". It's the old witch's." He said as he took out his Mobile Phone from his pocket.

It seemed to be a self-made ringtone. Admittedly, if it were a ringtone set for a master who had been calling me "poop" for a while, he couldn't have heard it, but even so, I didn't want to respect him. Abengane thought he should repay the favor to the person who was saved because he had also helped him, so he walked silently and parted ways.

However, he stopped after a few steps.

Because I could clearly hear the voice of the woman on the other end of the phone talking to her teacher.

How did you know this woman was here?

"Ah, sorry sorry, master. I'll be a little late. About a day."

"Very sorry! Eh? Where are you now? In the mountains. Let's go down."

"Impossible! For some reason, the child of the family we stayed with yesterday said he couldn't go into the mountains to play, so he was very depressed! It was the child of the family who let me stay in a village without an Inn or a hostel! Then you have to repay the favor!"

"Oh, do you understand? As expected, not the old ghost of a master! Oh, sorry! Well, I'll be there tomorrow, so wait for me, I love you, you jerk!!"

After ending a mysterious conversation full of respect and affection, the woman noticed Abengane staring at her with wide eyes, and she tilted her head.

In the end, he was still stupid to the extreme, but because he had such great power and unique abilities, he was a martial arts abolitionist who received a request from a company related to rare metals on this mountain like him. I think.

To be honest, it wasn't just her stupid words and deeds that made me have no gratitude and respect for this woman, but I was also jealous that she was so much higher than me even though she was younger than me.

However, when I got to this point, the jealousy became stupid.

I couldn't help but feel that my small money was pitiful, but at the same time, I was firmly convinced that this woman was superior.

This woman had a dirty mouth, didn't understand the concept of shame, and had an extremely rude and mischievous personality, but this woman would never forget the favors she received, nor would she condescendingly insist on what she had given. Abengane gracefully acknowledged that she was superior as a person.

"It's nothing."

Abengane lowered his eyes, said it once, and then spoke again.

"Come to think of it, I haven't told you yet, thank you for helping me."

After Abengane thanked her, the woman smiled happily and replied, "I'm here."

I didn't ask anything except for a word of thanks.

Although Abengane knew that he would never be able to defeat this woman, his mood going down the mountain was somewhat refreshed.

"My name is Abengane. I am an abolitionist."

"Well, you probably don't need it, but if something happens, it will help."

After going down the mountain, the woman said, "Well, thank you, little brother with black skin!"

"Hehe, I'm an abolitionist, so this business card is super rare, can I really receive it? It's a pity I don't have a business card."

"Ah, if you don't need it, I don't mind if you give it to someone else; if it's a gift from you, I'll gladly accept it."

After answering the woman who received the business card, I asked, "If it's impossible, I don't mind, but could you tell me your name and contact number?"

Of course, the reason I wanted his contact information was because I could get rid of the "Dead Spirit" I couldn't shake off, so I had many ulterior motives, but this conversation was so silly it gave me a headache, yet I couldn't help it. It is also true that he fell in love with a woman.

"What's wrong, Nanpa?"

"Impossible."

While making such a joke, the woman borrowed another business card from Abengane and simply wrote her contact information on the back of the card.

"If you want to kill the dead, fine, I will help you as much as I can."

Saying this, the woman returned the business card and writing utensil, then turned and walked away.

"Oh, I forgot."

The woman turned around, extended her index finger, straightened her hand, and then answered.

"Sky."

The azure sky, the hollow eyes, returned to the original indigo of a long time ago.

With those eyes, the eyes of the sky before dawn, smiling, the woman called out her own name.

"My name is Sora."

"Goodbye. If there is a chance, let's meet again, Abengane."

"It's Abengane."

She was a playful woman who could not be put down anywhere.

I am considering continuing the original story, which has some connection to the original characters, for a while, and then entering the original Hunter exam arc.

By the way, I like potage, and Sora also likes her teacher. But for some reason, when I left her, she kept calling Biscuit "Baba." Why is that...

This is an irregular series with no decision on when it will end, but if you can Stick with me for a long time, I would be honored.