"Yo, long time no see. The little mute's doing well, huh? Heard you only see me after ordering a second pot of wine."
As I carried the wine into the room where guests were entertained, the scumbag A who greeted me made my eyes widen. I thought he'd stood me up and had stopped expecting anything from him, but he actually showed up?!
Hmph, I won't be fooled again. He must think I'm desperate waiting for him to keep his promise. Fine, I'll just ignore him.
With a blank expression and my gaze fixed ahead, I walked up to him, set down the wine pot. He, while embracing a woman, grinned and appraised me. His unrestrained gaze felt substantial, starting from my fingers, the back of my hand, my wrist, tracing up my arm, my neck, my chin, and then my face.
He made obnoxious "tsk tsk" sounds. As I picked up the empty wine pot to leave, he called out, "Wait a moment."
*Stares at me like I'm trash.jpg*
"Don't always give me that look, or you won't be a good woman later." Scumbag A pulled a candy from his pocket. "Here, this is for you, a tip."
"She can't accept any tips yet," the woman in Scumbag A's arms reminded him of the store's rules.
"Not even a candy?" Scumbag A exclaimed in surprise.
"Then even less so," the woman chuckled softly. "That's even more suspicious. Hmm..."
Scumbag A used the candy to shut the woman's mouth. "This should be fine, right?"
Without waiting for the woman's reply, they began a passionate kiss. Scumbag A casually tossed the candy wrapper onto my tray.
"..." I turned and exited the room.
Tch, it dirtied my eyes.
After walking a few steps, I suddenly felt something was off. I unfolded the candy wrapper, and sure enough, there were words on it!
Blood is thicker than water. That was all it said.
Huh????????? What does that mean?????
I recall "Blood is thicker than water" in the "real world" refers to family bonds. In this context, its appearance here should signify a key to a Nen ability, right?
Two heads are better than one. I hadn't forgotten that I had the eldest son of the Zoldyck family as a teammate. Although he's currently a child with many immature thoughts, he's an excellent student of the Zoldyck private school, and his intelligence is guaranteed. He might offer some useful ideas. I immediately found an opportunity to pass the candy wrapper to Illumi, asking him to think it over and we'd discuss our conclusions the next day.
The tracking ability begins with a cup of water. "Blood is thicker than water," literally interpreted, might hint that "blood" can negate the effect of "water."
According to the original setting, all Nen abilities have a price, adhering to the principle of "equivalent exchange." The more stringent the activation conditions, the stronger the ability's effect, and vice versa. The activation condition for the tracking ability seems to be as simple as drinking a specific water, which is very low difficulty. Correspondingly, the method to cancel the ability shouldn't be too difficult either, right?
To counteract the act of drinking water, perhaps it requires drinking blood? I wonder what kind of blood is needed? Human, animal, or beast blood? Are there blood type and quantity requirements?
"Speaking of blood types, everyone in our family is Type A, only sister is Type O," Illumi suddenly said.
"..." What? Are you suspecting I'm not biologically related?
That's too much. Don't underestimate the biological knowledge of a university undergraduate! Parents with Type A blood can have a Type O child, you know. If I wasn't biologically related, Silva would have mercy-killed me when he got the birth report!
"Yes, after asking, I found out it's possible," Illumi said, then steered the conversation back. "'Blood is thicker than water' also implies kinship. The special condition might be blood of a blood relative."
"..." It's confirmed! You little brat, you really did suspect I wasn't biologically related! In any game, there wouldn't be a treacherous younger brother character like you! You scum!
*Holds a grudge.jpg +1*
"Most people working in Area 6 are orphans. If the cancellation condition is the blood of a blood relative, then the tracking ability is nearly inescapable. That's very powerful. So, this is likely the correct answer? However, there's one way to exploit it," Illumi raised a finger. "Have a child, and you'll have a blood relative."
"..." You worry about far too many things! So your first reaction was to worry about me not being related to you?! And not being able to help you cancel the tracking ability?! Humph!
*Holds a grudge.jpg +2*
Considering that the ability user might sense it when someone successfully cancels it, we didn't attempt it immediately. Instead, we made all preparations to escape Area 6, then cut our arms to collect blood.
This time, we wouldn't experiment alone. Because once the ability was successfully canceled, it would mean we had discovered a secret of Area 6, and the remaining person would be in great danger. It would be better for us to escape together. After all, the consequence of failing to cancel the ability was just a beating. The people of Area 6 wouldn't want damaged goods, so they probably wouldn't beat us to a pulp.
I stole back my whistle, and Illumi stole some bandages.
Rolling up my sleeves, I formed my hand into a claw. My sharp fingernails were as sharp as surgical scalpels, easily cutting my arm skin. I made an inch-long cut; the pain would be less, and it would stop bleeding faster.
"Will the blood volume be enough with this?" Illumi was the first to voice his doubt.
"..." Why are you so nosy!
I glared at him and raised my left arm. Blood was already dripping from the wound onto the floor. Don't waste it, you idiot!
"I'll add more if it's not enough! As soon as there's the slightest sign of trouble, I'll add more!" I promised with lip-reading.
"..." Before my blood hit the ground, Illumi leaned in and, without wasting a drop, caught the blood droplet about to detach from my arm with his tongue. He licked along the blood trail to the wound.
I forgot that the physical quality of humans in this world was a notch higher than in the "real world." I also forgot that my healing ability was excellent. I saw Illumi frown slightly.
"..." Ah, the wound was a bit small, and the blood seemed to have mostly stopped flowing.
He grabbed my wrist and pressed his teeth onto my wound, tearing it open. Although the initial wound I created wasn't large, I had cut it deeper to bleed more. After tearing it open, he probed the wound with his tongue to prevent it from healing, and then he began to suck.
In pain, I grabbed his arm, signaling him to be gentler.
He, however, increased his strength, likely mistaking my signal as an urge to hurry.
Damn it, I was in so much pain, and he called me stingy for not cutting the wound larger or deeper, making it difficult for him.
When it was his turn, he cut his radial artery, commonly known as "slitting his wrist."
"That's why I got the bandages," he explained. "But for your situation, sister... it's not needed."
Sorry, my wound didn't need special hemostasis; it had stopped bleeding on its own.
I bit his wrist and drank his blood to my heart's content, drinking until Illumi himself recoiled!
My mouth tasted of blood, both腥 and salty, but my heart was filled with joy and sweetness.
It tasted damn good, so good I could make him anemic, make him die!
"...I think that's enough." Seeing that I was ignoring him, he reached out and pinched my nose, trying to make me let go. "Um... I think that's enough blood, sister. I'm a bit dizzy."
Hmph, I saw your blood bar had only lost about one-seventh of its volume.
I released him, deliberately licking the bloodstain from my lips and giving him a blood-splattered, sinister grin.
Scared, little brother?!
Illumi averted his gaze while wrapping the bandage.
He's scared! He's scared! He bullies the weak and fears the strong!
After paying the price in blood, we escaped Area 6. During our escape, every rustle of wind made Illumi want me to fulfill my promise and replenish his missing blood.
For the sake of the bigger picture, I had to slit my wrist once more.
We hid and traveled for a full month, finally arriving at District 13. Standing together on the trash heaps at the very edge of Meteor City, I wiped my whistle with my sleeve.
Since my first hawk died, I rarely used my whistle as there was no one special I wanted to call.
The sunset dyed the sky red, reluctantly fading the day's heat. A cool breeze blew. Although there was still lingering sand, the temperature at this moment was the most comfortable.
I took a deep breath and blew my whistle.
The whistle's sound was clear, mingling with the wind, carrying far, far away.
"Let's go," Illumi jumped off the trash heap.
Putting the whistle back into the innermost layer of my clothes, I followed and jumped down.
Just like when we first arrived in Meteor City.
The period of peak scrutiny should have passed. This time, we wanted to go to "District 1," which is "Central District." We wanted to see if there was running water there, as the children from the District 13 church had said. Then we could finally take a proper bath.
Before leaving District 13 for good, I snuck a glance at the place where the dungeon began, the familiar "District 13 Church" starting village. The child whose mouth Illumi had torn open was still alive, but there were noticeable suturing marks on both sides of his mouth. He seemed much more withdrawn.
That was the first time I heard a child call out his name.
"Franklin."
...Huh?
Could this be Franklin, a future member of the Phantom Troupe? The suturing marks on his mouth do have the characteristics of a future character! How close!
Fortunately, we aren't hanging around the starting village anymore, and Illumi forgot about him long ago. Butterfly effect avoided, let's get out of here!