Chapter Text
I noticed a change when Shaiapouf returned from his mission to eliminate the bats in the area surrounding the palace, a small shift in the king’s presence even though I was back in my own room, getting ready to try to sleep after Komugi had calmed down.
Tension. Suspicion.
The king tracked Shaiapouf now whereas before he had paid no mind to his comings and goings. There was definitely some directed at me and Youpi but he soon returned to dismissing Youpi’s presence again after the giant took a large spoonful of the fermented bean paste I was using to make soup.
It was still hysterical as Youpi choked and downed three cups of tea chased by two servings of steamed rice to rinse out his mouth.
“So this is like that mushroom stuff, you can only use a little,” Youpi determined as he watched me stir the soup to break up the clumps of paste.
“Correct, it’s a seasoning,” I explained as I poured a bit of the soup into a bowl and offered it to him. Youpi accepted it with some hesitation, eyeing the soup as though it were going to try to purposefully make him gag. I poured a small amount into a small bowl myself to taste and after seeing me drink it without issue, Youpi tried his own.
“Okay… so is this the only way to use this stuff?”
“No, you can also use it to season meat, vegetables, rice…” I listed off and Youpi’s eyes shifted to the rice, rising in confusion.
“How’d you season that fluffy stuff with this?”
“If you make the rice sticky then you can make rice balls with them,” I explained. “One popular way of eating those is to grill them and spread a sauce containing this paste over them.”
Youpi responded to that by grabbing the rice paddle and scooping up some of the rice to dump in the bowl with the rest of his soup.
I chose to say nothing and just arranged a tray with bowls of soup and rice as well as plates of grilled chicken and pickled vegetables for Komugi and myself while Shaiapouf made a steak of some sort of meat that he heavily garnished with flowers for the king.
I delivered the tray of food to the king’s chamber then went to Komugi’s room to guide her to the king’s chamber and was not surprised to find the king was already tucking into his meal when we arrived, Shaiapouf stationed at the door.
I passed Shaiapouf without issue, but Shaiapouf made a very visible pout towards Komugi followed by a sniff, acting as though he could smell her and found it offensive. Maybe he could, I didn’t know how sensitive his nose was but the king’s eyes were once again narrowed at Shaiapouf.
“Shaiapouf, I want to eat what they are eating,” the king suddenly ordered as he shoved his steak away.
“But your majesty! Such slop is-”
“I want to eat what they are eating,” the king stated again, his tone menacing even though it was quiet.
“But-!”
Komugi shifted uncomfortably where she sat, her hand retreating from her plate as her upbringing to always obey and honor her Leader took hold. That wasn’t good. Shaiapouf would probably riot if she handed over her meal, declaring her to be far too filthy to do such a thing.
It was tempting to let him step on that landmine.
I moved fluidly, setting my dishes in front of the surprised king before Komugi could even offer. “There is plenty in the kitchen, please mention this next time you wish to try something different. Komugi, eat your meal.”
Even though I blocked Shaiapouf’s view of the king’s face, the king’s En definitely caught Shaiapouf’s glare as his eyes shifted momentarily to Komugi once again. The king’s line of sight on her was also unimpeded and he had seen the hesitation, the offer she was about to make. And Shaiapouf’s objection to her making it when he said nothing against me.
I left the room rapidly, heading back towards the kitchen as Shaiapouf’s gaze returned to the king, his expression bordering on pleading for him to not eat the food I had given to him, to eat what Shaiapouf had prepared instead.
The king’s response was to watch Komugi for direction and grab the bowl of soup when she did.
I was half way down the stairs when a smell drew my attention, one of toasting and burning…
A curse barely escaped my lips as I chose to forego the poise and decorum I’d been taught in favor of jumping over the railing and running to the kitchen.
Youpi had turned on one to the gas burners on the stove and was attempting to toast a tightly packed ball of rice on the open flame, the bean paste container next to him.
I made pseudo-misoyaki onigiri to sate the Chimera Ant’s curiosity and hunger after that as well as try to combat future kitchen fires. The king claimed two for himself then ordered for them to be made regularly. Shaiapouf refused to touch any after Komugi was offered one before him.
The king shifted our seating arrangement shortly after, setting himself and me between Shaiapouf and Komugi as he began to play Gungi.
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The population on Greed Island seemed to have stabilized with the number of people trying to leave now that the reward for clearing the game had been claimed. The ones who remained were people who had built a life on the island but there were some newcomers, mostly aspiring Hunters now that word that this place was a good place to train had gotten out.
Trade increased and housing was available at far more reasonable prices due to the previous owners leaving without the intent to return.
One would have thought that the Leave cards would become easier to obtain. They didn’t. Former players that had built their lives in the game hoarded them, selling them to newer players as a way of making a living and then would go collect them all over again.
Unfortunately, Milluki had gained a reputation early on during his stay on Greed Island, one of being greedy, selfish, bratty, etc. So while the permanent residents of the island were actually selling their Leave cards at a reasonable rate now, none were willing to work with him. And after an ill-fated attempt to forcefully take a card, it was now far cheaper for Milluki to buy a house rather than attempt to buy a card or bribe the Harbormaster.
Razor and his crew refused to help him any further until he developed a Hatsu and asked politely.
That had led Milluki to his latest scheme: since other players were refusing to work with him, Killua and his friends weren’t coming back, and Razor was being unreasonable, then the obvious solution was bribing the Harbormaster. The price was exorbitant but his plan would definitely work this time!
Buying a decent house wasn’t difficult, he even got a nice one with a garden by choosing to not be in a major city! He altered the bathroom a bit so that he would be able to catch and filter water from the bath tub, but he was otherwise set!
Then the hard part came: obtaining the Gold Dust girl.
The mansion that she was supposedly in was under heavy guard and Milluki had barely managed to sneak into a second-floor window when he discovered a true treasure: a computer. It was old, there was no internet, but it did connect to most of the surveillance network inside and outside the mansion.
He also discovered the room that the Gold Dust girl was being kept in: a secret room in the fourth basement. Surveillance ended in the second basement where another system was in place.
Milluki had shoved the heavy antique computer into his pack before continuing on his way, carefully creeping through the halls. The guards were useless without the surveillance system it seemed and a few were not paying attention at all. Several were staring at the walls.
He chortled slightly as he realized that by collapsing the surveillance system, he had messed up the programing of the NPC guards. Because of this, he made sure to take a few extra minutes on the second basement to find the extra surveillance system.
To his delight, the secondary surveillance system was far more sophisticated! The computer looked like it was less than a year old, the components in the room were far more modern, and he actually had to work a bit to dismantle the system, a grin crossing his features as he packed the computer, components and tools he found in the room. He’d have a network set up in no time at this rate!
Finally he continued down to the secret room on the fourth floor, grinning as he found the hidden entrance-
The room was empty. No Gold Dust girl waiting for a new master, no tub full of gold dust to be traded. Just a note tacked to the back wall.
‘Due to the sudden volume of people attempting to use the Gold Dust Girl to create a high passive income and threatening to destabilize the economy on the island, the Gold Dust Girl and Silver Dust Dog have been deactivated. Thank you for your interest! -Dwun’
Milluki felt his jaw drop in horror as his plan crumbled to dust. And it wasn’t gold at all.
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Catching up to Fugetsu was tedious.
Nen made fighting on the first few floors relatively easy and Kacho had some basic training in self-defense to employ, but she slowed down around floor 100 and had to practice with Koala.
Koala in turn climbed quickly as well, but his unpracticed movements made it difficult to keep up with his intended strategies. He needed to practice as well, increase his speed and efficiency. The body of a koala wasn’t meant for speed, but they were very strong with sharp claws and teeth which weren’t his preferred weapons.
It took several days to catch up, but then they were all within 20 floors of each other and held a team meeting with Wing and his student, Zushi. They were joined by a friend of Pairo, a swordsman named Agon who seemed to be the honorable sort.
“So the Hunter Exam will include various exams that will test each applicant, both physically and mentally. Teams can work together, even on some exams that are meant to test individuals,” Agon explained. “Pairo and I worked together during a portion that was meant to pit individuals against each other, splitting up teams due to anxiety and distrust. One thing that most forgot was that even if the target you were assigned was your teammate, there was an alternative way to pass. In that particular exam, we each had a target we needed to collect a badge from to get three points, however we could collect the badges from three non-targets for one point each to pass.”
“So even when the pressure is on, we’ll need to keep our heads and trust our team,” Kacho concluded as Fugetsu nodded slightly.
Koala was silent while Zushi stared at them, eyes wide.
“That will not always be the case,” Wing pointed out. “Many exams have at least one round that are tournament style and in order to pass, you have to beat an assigned opponent. They usually will try to prevent you from being assigned to fight an opponent you would have some sort of objection to fighting but sometimes it can’t be avoided.”
“So we might have to fight each other?” Zushi asked and the kid authentically looked horrified.
“It’s highly unlikely they would put Kacho and Fugetsu together, but anyone else is a distinct possibility,” Wing admitted as he pulled out a paper and drew out a rough table of matches for opponents, including the names of the five team members. “The way it would progress would be that during the previous exams, they would evaluate the examinees then assign them a score. The better the score, the sooner they fight.”
“And they’d have to fight everyone in that line to become a Hunter?!” Kacho demanded.
“No. The loser will progress to the next match,” Wing continued as his finger moved along the strange lines. “The winner passes that portion of the exam. The higher your score, the more opportunities you will get to pass.”
Kacho’s eyes gained a conspiratorial look. “And based on the matches, work out something with your teammates to give all of you the best opportunity to pass. That said, we would all want to score as high as possible because the worst set up would be for two of us to end up in the finals or semi-finals. Zushi would likely have no issues with beating just about anyone he was pitted against, so we would want him as our last standing member.”
“Wouldn’t they see through something like that?!” Zushi objected as he realized that Kacho was indicating that he might have to throw a fight or two.
“Definitely,” Pairo confirmed. “Whether you’re called out on it or not will likely depend on how far into the exam you are. In the first exam I took with Killua, Gon, and Lana-”
Zushi gave a blank look.
“You would know her as Fie or Takara, Zushi. During the final exam, Kurapika told me that Killua saw that a friend we’d made during the exam, Leorio was unlikely to pass and with this set up, everyone except one person would become a Hunter. So Killua threw the exam in order for Leorio to pass.”
Zushi stared at Pairo, eyes wide before looking at the graph before him with a new look of comprehension in his eyes. “So this still can encourage teamwork and comradery. And I’m only taking the exam as a favor, so if this situation comes up, I can definitely do that.”
“Don’t be too hasty to do that,” Pairo cautioned while Kacho stared at the pair.
“Are you saying that sugar-inhaling miscreant actually did something honorable?!”
Pairo blinked and shifted uncomfortably. “I wouldn’t have called it that.”
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Meena entered the hall that the party was being held in. Although she was just a servant, an attendant to Lana Pidel, she was expected to attend such events even when her lady couldn’t for the sake of gathering information.
It was not comfortable. In a room full of opulent dresses and jewelry, her simple dress and lack of jewelry rendered her mostly invincible but the few moments when she caught someone’s eye, when she was studied, she felt like her history and birth status as a Have-Not could be read like large words floating in front of her.
Luckily, Juo Duazel was in attendance of this event and she was able to act as his attendant, collecting refreshments and using those moments to sneakily listen in on conversations that he might not have been privy to. The man had only recently recovered from an ‘illness’ and this was his return to public functions, unfortunately his partner and fiancé was not able to attend due to now being ‘ill’.
“Have you seen Duazel’s cufflinks?” Meena heard a murmur as she collected a non-alcoholic beverage for her charge. “It would seem that the entire Duazel family is aligning with Prince Tserriednich rather than one of the princes born to the Second Queen.”
“Both the daughter and the father! But I have witnessed Duazel senior forming a cabinet to advise the Seventh Prince, though I’m willing to bet that that is just a ploy. That old fox is always scheming!”
“That’s quite likely, but I believe the younger Duazel male and the daughter are being authentic in their support. I’ve even heard that Prince Tserriednich has recently made it clear that once his current contracts with the Fontess family business are complete, he will be considering other possible companies.”
“Yes! The youngest son insulted the Duazel daughter at an event hosted by Prince Tserriednich himself!”
“Truly?”
“Yes, the cad even tried to grab a Token the girl had received from the Prince!”
“What a fool!”
“Quite! Word is that the boy disappeared from all public appearances shortly after that, withdrawn from school and all events.”
“Likely his father has…”
The sentence trailed off, causing a slightly uncomfortable silence before the topic was changed and Meena returned to Juo’s side, passing him his drink. Those infernal cufflinks almost glowed in the light of the crystal chandeliers when he accepted the beverage.
“Don’t look at them, you’re glaring,” Juo murmured around his drink.
“I apologize, milord.”
“You don’t have to be so formal. I would prefer to be called Juo or even ‘sir’ if you insist upon formality.”
It wasn’t the first time Meena had been told that, but she knew that she would continue to refer to the man as a lord when in a venue such as this. Still, she bowed her head slightly and stepped aside, looking to the world as though she were a regular attendant as her eyes glanced around the venue.
This was a party hosted by Prince Tserriednich and though he had invited Juo Duazel to the event, he had made no move to corner or talk to the man outside of cursory greetings. In fact, the Prince seemed a bit… dour tonight. His entire wardrobe was still in a mourning black, he didn’t talk much, and barely drank or ate anything. His entire demeanor gave off the impression that if this party had not been scheduled well in advance, then he would have blown it off entirely.
It was an obscene display, faking distress over the possible fate of Lana Pidel.
“The young lady is already being referred to as the ‘Duazel daughter’,” Meena reported as she waited for Juo to require something or to be distracted by another well-wisher or chatting party-goer. “Most believe that you both authentically support Tserriednich while your father will be choosing to support one of Queen Duazel’s children.”
“That shall suffice.”
Meena glanced at the man, noting his eyes shift slightly towards the throne where Tserriednich presided over the room, his face remained neutral but Juo’s eyes had a vicious glint in them when he turned his head slightly away. It was subtle, easy to miss, but indicated that the man both feared and abhorred the prince.
“Juo Duazel!” yet another voice stated as a fat man approached with a gaudily dressed woman. “So sorry about your daughter-to-be, and it seems our fine prince also mourns her loss.”
“Lana isn’t deceased, I’m certain she will be rescued safely with Prince Tserriednich’s older brother addressing the issue personally.”
“Truly? I wish our good prince shared in your optimism. He seems quite distraught and… well, less than pleased by the pandering of certain individuals.”
“I’ve noticed that Fontess isn’t present,” Juo agreed.
“That upstart has shown up at many events without invitation over the years!” the man gave a laugh. “Though after that barbaric display at that party when his son tried to grab a Token, he has been far more subdued recently. Still trying to curry favor, but being far more careful with his moves. I was not referring to him though, rather to certain other individuals.” Now the man nodded his head toward the dais where the throne was stationed and both Juo and Meena looked to see a man approaching with a young woman a step and a half behind him.
The woman was a beauty with long brown hair and a lovely figure. Her white dress was modest and elegant.
“Third one tonight,” the man spoke quietly. “Men of station and wealth presenting their daughters as future bride candidates.”
There was a snap and the crystal wine flute in Juo’s hand shattered on the ground, his involuntary reaction having snapped the stem of the glass.
The man did not react or seem taken aback, even as Meena immediately moved to check on her charge’s finger to ensure there were no cuts. Servants assigned to this event were already moving to gather the crystal shards and clean up the spilled juice.
Juo had a single cut on his finger, one that Meena quickly cleaned and bandaged using a first aid kit that was provided.
The man seemed undeterred by what had happened. “I agree that it is more than a little disturbing and inappropriate. The good prince is clearly not in the headspace to receive such advances!” He leaned forward, his voice dropping in volume. “Though between you and me, if I had had a daughter of the right age, I would have been reluctant to try to introduce her to our Fourth Prince regardless.”
The woman on the man’s arm had been keeping her expression neutral until this point, but now she gave a slight nod of agreement, a sad look in her eyes that was quickly covered.
Juo nodded in agreement before gesturing to Meena to get him another beverage. Another non-alcoholic one.
Moving back to the refreshment area, Meena scanned over the beverages before selecting a ginger-based sparkling beverage. It would help settle the stomach while looking similar enough to champagne that a most wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
A tap on her arm brought Meena’s attention to a non-descript servant who nodded slightly towards a door where a small symbol she recognized was etched. Moving quickly but quietly, Meena walked past the door, close enough to just brush it with her free hand and a note was pressed into her palm through a crack in the door.
She delivered the beverage to Juo who took a sip and nodded slightly in approval as she stepped back, unfolding the note in her palm to read surreptitiously.
It was brief and direct: If Lana Pidel died, she was to ensure that Prince Tserriednich didn’t survive to even see the start of the War for Succession.
Meena glanced towards the dais again in time to see Tserriednich abruptly rise from his seat and walk away, leaving the party. The man who had been presenting his daughter looked shocked while the girl looked embarrassed and confused.
As they walked away from the dais, they passed close to where Meena stood.
“But daddy, you said that I would be a princess without a doubt! Why was he so mean?”
Meena fisted her hand, crumpling the note and fighting her irritation at what she now realized was a very spoiled brat disguised as a lovely young lady. One who had gotten very lucky based on the game Tserriednich was currently playing.
“No worries sweetie, any man would rejoice to have you at their side, especially the princes. It seems that the Fourth Prince is just having a bad day, what with his favorite pawn being deceased. We will see if any of the other princes will recognize your charms.”
“But daddy! Tserriednich is the handsome one! Benjamin looks so beastly and Luzurus is weird and Zhang Lei is bald!”
“Then how would you feel about Halkenburg?”
The brat seemed to consider it for a moment. “Fine. At least he has nice hair.”
Meena turned her attention back to Juo and saw that both he and the couple he’d been speaking to looked ready to part.
Their eyes followed the father-daughter pair, but there was not even a hint of mockery. So, this was an ally that Juo wanted her to know of for Lana’s information.
Meena glanced around the room again, at the complex dance of information, misinformation, ally, enemy, and other as the people of the room kept masks to cover their thoughts and intents. She’d been warned that things as an attendant were far more convoluted than they were for a bodyguard and now she saw it spread out before her.
Meena was gripped by an urge to excuse herself, to try to approach Prince Tserriednich by asking if he had any updates on her mistress and to cast her curse, but she held herself back. The possibility of living with her son if the plan to back a prince other than Cammy, especially with the future they could have now, kept her still. The fact that they could end up with someone highly unappealing to them kept her still.
She could only hope that Benjamin’s schemes to gain favor and kill Lana Pidel failed.
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Knov arrived that night, right where he had designated outside the kitchen door. I was able to pass through his portal quickly and easily due to the King playing Gungi with Komugi and I grabbed the trash can to dump.
The other side was the hotel room back in the city the Hunter Association had designated as a base. Netero was there.
“Lana Pidel, pleasure to see you! Up for a game of tag?”
“I thought you preferred dodgeball?” I shot back. “Though the King has developed a preference for strategy games.”
“Oh? Could be daunting.”
“He seems to be… growing,” I admitted. “He listens to advice, is actually attempting to do better. Earlier today he wanted to try the food I made rather than restricting his diet to other Chimera Ants.” I drew the portal symbol as I spoke to Netero.
Netero was silent for a moment then chuckled. “Branching out then? The young Queen does much the same. I feel she will be an excellent bridge between the intelligent Chimera Ants and humans.”
“The King is also becoming less dismissive of humanity, his trust in his most fanatical Royal Guard had been shaken.”
“A good thing?”
“Quite.”
Netero nodded as he stroked his beard. “Perhaps we can take that into consideration.”