"Sure, but I don't even know my own birthday~~~"
Ronnel shrugged nonchalantly.
It turned out that while he remembered the year of his birth, calculating dates in this new world had become meaningless. He figured it was easier to claim ignorance—after all, few people from the depths of the streets of Meteor City knew their birthdates anyway.
"Really?" Chrollo replied indifferently.
Among the present members of the Phantom Troupe—Feitan, Franklin, Machi, and others—it was common not to know their exact date of birth, which made divination difficult.
Chrollo continued, his pen moving swiftly as he crafted divination poems for those who knew their birthdays. Once finished, he distributed the poems to their respective recipients.
Even Hisoka received his, and after a quick glance, he memorized its contents before covering the original text with a Texture Surprise. The Nen-infused paper ensured the illusion blended seamlessly, even advanced Nen techniques couldn't detect the forgery.
The others began reading their divination poems carefully.
Ronnel leaned over to Pakunoda, casually peeking at hers.
"Huh. Not much different from the last one," he muttered.
"Hey, Hisoka! Show us your divination poem!"
Nobunaga, who had just finished reading his own poem, turned to Hisoka. His divination had an additional line that stood out:
"In the dark night that loses its light, you can't taste the last supper."
The cryptic sentence left Nobunaga puzzled. After mulling it over, he shifted his attention back to Hisoka.
"Come on, Hisoka, stop laughing and show us yours!"
"Ah, but the divination is quite accurate, isn't it?" Hisoka chuckled before handing over his poem.
"Red-eyed customers will visit your store and offer to barter with you…"
Nobunaga's face darkened. "You're the one who betrayed Uvogin!"
He unsheathed his long blade with a sharp kach, the steel reflecting Hisoka's amused expression as Nobunaga's anger boiled over.
Shalnark, meanwhile, read aloud from the modified prophecy, further stoking the tension.
Ronnel sighed as the drama unfolded.
"I'm not afraid of fighting perverts, but educating them? That's a nightmare..."
Hisoka's rewritten prophecy was as bold as it was convincing. Rather than avoiding the topic of Uvogin's betrayal, he reframed himself as a victim of circumstance.
The blend of truth and lies—classic Hisoka—was enough to fool even the sharpest members of the Troupe.
Machi could sense something was amiss, but Franklin and Shalnark stepped in, calming Nobunaga down before things escalated.
Even Chrollo, usually perceptive, had been momentarily swayed. After a few pointed questions, he called off Nobunaga with a teleportation, temporarily defusing the situation.
...
Meanwhile
"Kurapika! Bad news—the Troupe knows someone is targeting them!"
Gon burst into the room, his voice filled with urgency. Killua followed close behind, while Leorio and Kurapika exchanged grim looks.
Kurapika, who had just returned from the auction where he'd secured his clan's scarlet eyes for 2.6 billion Jenny, remained calm.
"I expected as much. Ronnel's current position makes it inevitable," he replied.
Memories of his confrontation with Uvogin surfaced—how he had killed the Phantom Troupe member and buried him, only to be caught by Ronnel afterward.
"At the time, Ronnel just buried Uvogin and left without saying a word. He didn't try to stop me. There are only two possibilities:
"First, Ronnel might not be loyal to the Troupe and has some ulterior motive. But that seems unlikely. If he weren't aligned with them, he wouldn't have leaked my information.
"Second, it might be due to the bond we formed during the Hunter Exam."
Kurapika's gaze drifted to Gon and Killua, chatting with Leorio. The memory of Ronnel saving them during the Troupe's capture played vividly in his mind, deepening his conflicted feelings.
Smart people often overthink, and Kurapika was no exception. His suspicions and assumptions mirrored Chrollo's earlier misjudgment about Hisoka.
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