The sudden appearance of Zizipanian did not surprise me. It was only logical that the Zoldyck family, with their many enemies, would not allow their most vulnerable young cub to escape their control.
The Zoldyck family had always been small. The two eldest children, now 11 and 12 years old, were already capable of taking on low-difficulty requests and were nearing the age where they could learn Nen. It would be a significant loss if they were to die.
Considering this, it was perfectly normal for the Zoldycks to send someone to follow us secretly.
Discretion is the better part of valor.
I had underestimated the Zoldycks' rules of intervention, believing they would only act when the cub was on the verge of death. Wasn't this the "wolf culture" a company should have?
Come to think of it, the protagonist's forced awakening of Nen in the original story seemed effortless, completing the class change in just a few minutes. In reality, apart from the protagonist with extraordinary talent, most people who undergo forced Nen awakening either die on the spot or end up with permanent disabilities, like the three extras in the Heavens Arena. The vast majority did not have a good outcome, which is why forced Nen awakening is called a crooked path.
The consequences of forced Nen awakening were not something ordinary people could bear. I had become arrogant, thinking I could compare myself to the protagonist of the original story.
The teacher who helped the protagonist awaken Nen had a lineage, a systematic and scientific approach to learning, extensive teaching experience, and good intentions.
What about Feitan? He had no lineage, learned Nen through unknown, unorthodox methods, and seemed to be unable to use Nen application techniques, with malicious intent.
Both the teacher's skill and the student's talent were not on the same level as the protagonist's situation in the story.
If the teacher was Feitan, and the student was Illumi, a future frontline combatant in the original story, he would definitely overcome this hurdle. But if the student were me, I would likely die a complete death.
This was probably why Zizipaian chose to intervene.
I believe in the judgment of a seasoned Nen user.
As expected, I have no talent.
I should have abandoned my unrealistic fantasies long ago.
If my meditation had yielded no results today, I should have understood the cruel fact that "I have no talent," but I was simply unwilling to admit it.
I am not a particularly rational person; I am easily swayed by emotion. Even though I knew that changing my body wouldn't truly transform me, I was still captivated by the excellent hardware of this body and couldn't help but hope I could become the protagonist.
Constantly imagining myself as a supporting character to the protagonist, treating others as supporting characters to my supporting characters, and believing I could replicate the protagonist's script – this ridiculous character setting. The clown was me all along.
Because I am foolish, I am arrogant.
Because I am arrogant, I am foolish.
It's getting worse, an evil cycle.
In the eyes of others, I am a fool, a lunatic, yet I thought I had seized an opportunity.
I felt such self-loathing that I became physically unwell, clutching my stomach with a frown.
Zizipaian, who had just responded to Illumi, crouched down and asked with concern if I was feeling unwell.
Zizipaian refused Illumi's order to kill Feitan, citing that "Madam wants both of you to return home soon."
When Zoldyck family orders conflict, the butler follows the higher-priority command. Illumi's command, as a child, naturally had a lower priority than Kikyo's. Zizipaian's refusal was reasonable, and Illumi had no grounds to criticize Zizipaian for refusing his order.
From this, it's clear how important family status is, everywhere!
I shook my head at Zizipaian, indicating I was fine. The butler who accompanied Zizipaian stayed behind to clean up the mess and erase any traces related to us, and then the three of us left directly.
After walking for a while, I felt a strong gaze from behind. I turned my head and saw Feitan standing outside the shop, a slender youth with a face covered in blood. I couldn't see his expression clearly, but his eyes were exceptionally bright, golden, as if burning. Given his proud character, I guessed he was likely angry about his own weakness.
Oh, what a spirited youth. Unlike me, who has accepted my mediocrity and understands that I have no talent.
Even though it might further enrage him, I still smiled at him.
"Sister." Illumi urged.
"..." I stopped walking.
Because of Illumi, I remembered I had forgotten my dessert at the shop.
"Don't worry, Miss Mols' lost item will not be forgotten; it's part of cleaning up the mess," Zizipaian reassured me.
She wasn't wrong. Before our chartered airship took off, the butler who had stayed behind to clean up returned with the dessert.
I handed the dessert to Illumi. As agreed beforehand, he queued, I paid, and we split the dessert half and half, the remaining portion being his.
Illumi, who didn't forget his share of the dessert even during the fierce battle, decided to treat his injuries first when he was in a safe state. It seemed he wasn't that persistent after all. Hmph, he made me worry unnecessarily about forgetting the dessert. I'm just too honest; I'd rather cause myself trouble than owe anyone anything.
While Illumi was treating his injuries, I sensed something amiss and went to the restroom. Based on the knowledge I'd learned in this world and my own personal experiences in the "real world," the physical changes weren't particularly embarrassing. However, the stage of having to explain it to others was a bit awkward, as it's a very private matter that I would only discuss with my mother.
The airship's journey to Kukuroo Mountain was expected to take at least five hours. If I didn't mention it now, it would become more problematic for me later on.
So, I braced myself and walked up to Zizipaian, telling her that my underwear was stained with blood.
"Oh, the young lady has indeed reached that age," Zizipaian's monocle reflected the light, obscuring part of her expression, but I could still see her joy. "You've grown up, and that's a cause for celebration. Madam said she would prepare red bean rice for you."
"..." Red bean rice is fine, but what I desperately needed was sanitary pads. Using toilet paper as a temporary substitute wouldn't be reliable; if the bleeding was heavy, it would be embarrassing to get it on my skirt.
I didn't need to say anything more. Zizipaian, being a woman herself, knew what I needed most at that moment and gave me a sanitary pad.
Having solved my immediate problem, I left the restroom with a relaxed expression. Illumi, having dealt with his injuries and dessert, was dozing on a seat in the cabin. I took a blanket and lay down on the row of seats opposite him, sleeping until we reached our destination.
The importance of this rest exceeded my expectations. Countless times afterward, I thanked my good fortune for resting and recuperating; otherwise, I might have suffered from nervous exhaustion in the events that followed.
Oh, I knew Zizipaian's monocle was a camera and transmitted what she saw back to Kukuroo Mountain. But I never imagined that something I considered insignificant would be replayed and commented on by the entire family, making my skin crawl with embarrassment.
Upon returning to Kukuroo Mountain, after Illumi and I changed our clothes, a butler led us to one of the many surveillance rooms. Seeing Kikyo there wasn't surprising, but seeing Silva was, and it gave me a sense of unusual atmosphere.
Today, there was an emergency situation that required the secretly following butler to reveal himself, so it was necessary to give us some special explanations, right?
A new type of enemy has appeared, and they plan to use this opportunity to unlock the Nen user class change mission?!
Hooray!!!
"Come here, Mill." Kikyo beckoned me to sit in the chair directly facing the screen.
This was the only chair in the surveillance room. Calling me to sit might have been because I was still bleeding.
Illumi stood beside Silva, who said, "Let's begin."
Kikyo, transformed into a monitor (lol), switched the paused image to playback mode without needing a remote, keyboard, or mouse.
Sitting in a window seat at the dessert shop, with a proper posture, wearing an exquisite light blue dress, with silver, slightly curly hair falling to my chest, the good quality hair shimmering like silk, my face expressionless, I sat still, like a doll from Rozen Maiden, an incredibly cute girl, that was me, Mols Zoldyck, the prettiest cat of the Zoldycks, Kikyo's most beloved dress-up doll, looking good in anything!
Tsk, tsk, tsk, I'm so photogenic! I'm in love with myself!
Not far from the screen, Illumi was queuing for limited edition desserts, the most patient among the waiting customers, exuding a calmness a hundred times greater than those around him. Usually, during missions, waiting for more than a day to find a suitable opportunity was common; ordinary queuing was not a challenge to his patience.
Next was the new type of enemy, a boy with dark blue hair, who met "my" gaze through the glass window.
As the camera followed the boy entering the shop, Kikyo sighed, "Oh, my Mill, after four years, others still haven't forgotten her!"
"..." Rather than not forgetting, it's simply remembering the grudge.
I am a mediocre person swayed by emotion, meaning I don't have a deep understanding of myself. Therefore, the "me" presented from the surveillance camera's perspective differs slightly from my perceived state.
For example, I thought my expression upon seeing Feitan would be a serene, high-minded protagonist smile, with a blurred background and soft lighting, petals drifting.
In reality, "my" smile was stiff; only the corners of my mouth curved upwards, a standard villainous smile that looked like a forced grin.
"..." My illusion was shattered instantly.
The only consolation was that my peerless beauty remained peerless beauty even from the surveillance camera's angle.
I'm truly beautiful! My looks are enough to mask any flaws in my expression; even a forced grin looks good!
Amidst "my" standard villainous smile, Illumi, in the background, watched Feitan approach "me." Then Feitan sat in the empty seat opposite "me" and spoke to "me."
Due to the distance, the surveillance camera did not record the conversation, but the four present understood lip-reading and could discern what Feitan was saying from the visuals.
Feitan said, "Do you remember me?"
The "me" in the footage seemed to wear a mask, maintaining the standard villainous smile without hesitation, taking out a notebook and pen, writing, and holding up the notebook to Feitan. After a series of uninterrupted responses, the actions became still and unmoving, as artificial as a robotic doll.
The surveillance camera angle couldn't see what I wrote. Kikyo asked me what I wrote, and I said I wrote his name, "Feitan Portor."
"Hmph, you do remember quite clearly," the Feitan in the surveillance footage said.
The "me" in the surveillance footage shed the standard villainous smile and returned to the initial dazed expression, making it impossible to tell what "I" was thinking. Good, I've learned the Zoldyck family's expression management lessons quite well!
"You ran away without saying goodbye back then. It seems you're doing well now," the Feitan in the surveillance footage said. "Hmph, found a good job? Why don't you introduce me?"
"It wasn't a pleasant reunion," Silva asked me. "What happened when you parted ways four years ago?"
From the surveillance camera's perspective, Feitan's attitude towards me was indeed unpleasant, but Silva and the others didn't know that Feitan was always such a bad-tempered person, acting that way towards most people.
Silva, Kikyo, and Illumi stood slightly in front and to the side of me, and with a slight turn of their heads, they could see my lips moving. At this moment, I realized why Kikyo had me sit in the chair, positioned between them. It was to facilitate their collective... targeting of me?
The protagonist in the surveillance footage was me, and the protagonist in the surveillance room was also me. The protagonist elements were overflowing, albeit not in a good way.
I couldn't help but feel a little nervous. The footage was paused by Kikyo, and she gently stroked my head. "Mill?"
"Just as he... as Feitan said," I carefully recalled and replied with lip-reading, "It was at the beast arena in District 4. In the middle of a fight, I followed Illumi and escaped through an underground passage."
Strictly speaking, the last time I met Feitan was at the doorstep of the District 5 administrator's residence, but it wasn't important. In any case, Illumi probably didn't know, and that time was also a sudden departure, no different from the beast arena. Come to think of it, my actions were a bit scummy... No, I didn't have any agreement with Feitan to not part ways; my actions were at most impolite.
"Yes," Illumi confirmed my statement.
The footage continued to play. In the footage, "I" woodenly took out two candies and placed them on the table in front of Feitan. Feitan asked, "What do you mean?" So, "I" wrote on the notebook again.
Silva, Kikyo, and Illumi looked at me. I told them I wrote "a return gift."
The Feitan in the footage said unhappily, "You think you can dismiss me with this?" So, the "me" in the footage took out more snacks and placed them in front of Feitan, acting as honestly as a primary school student being cornered by bullies.
The "me" in the footage stopped taking out snacks, and the Feitan in the footage asked, "Is that all?"
"Did you really give him everything?" Silva asked me in the surveillance room.
Both I and the "me" in the footage nodded.
The footage paused on Feitan's gritting teeth expression.
"What do you owe him?" Silva asked.
I said I received some care from Feitan in the Meteor City.
"Continue," Silva's gaze returned to the screen.
The footage then continued, with the Feitan in the footage saying my name, without the surname, because he didn't know my surname. The Feitan in the footage, with a hint of anger, crushed the snacks on the table, and the "me" in the footage showed a surprised expression mixed with some heartache.
I'm truly a good child who cherishes food. When I eat, I don't leave a single grain of rice in my bowl; it's all the farmers' hard work!
Feitan, who wasted food in the footage, was an orphan who couldn't receive moral education. He became excited about wasting food and delivered a long, chuunibyou speech about "I will take you to a completely different world," "pain and pleasure," "death and rebirth," "hell and heaven," "I will teach you all of it." The "me" in the footage continuously looked at the crushed snacks in his hand, still feeling heartbroken about those snacks.
Damn it! These aren't ordinary snacks from a roadside convenience store; they are high-end, expensive, top-quality snacks that don't easily cause weight gain, and they are delicious! Feitan, you trash who doesn't cherish food!
I didn't feel anything at the time, but now I suddenly feel very angry. My fists are clenched.
The "me" in the footage also seemed a little unhappy and wrote on the notebook.
Omitting the words "try harder," I consciously told Silva and the others in the surveillance room that I wrote, "Are you hungry, little brother?" and added that Feitan exuded a very strong sense of oppression towards me at that time.
"Mill, we've taught you what to do in such situations," Silva said.
"..." Yes, the correct response is to ignore everything, escape, surrender, or appease; never provoke.
"Can I assume you did this based on your understanding of the target?" Silva asked me.
"..." I nodded.
"Good. Continue," Silva instructed.
In the footage, "my" hand stopped holding the pen, and the Feitan in the footage stood up, took "my" hand, and slowly approached "me." "I" waited for his touch like a puppet, without resistance, waiting for the tips of his dark blue hair to brush against "my" cheek, his thin lips almost touching "my" face.
The footage paused here.
Silva looked at Kikyo. This pause was Kikyo's own decision.
"Mill, do you like this child?" Kikyo asked me.
"..." Is this why you paused the footage?!
I shook my head.
"Then why didn't you dodge?" Kikyo seemed a bit surprised.
I thought about it and brought up the Zoldyck family motto: "Don't resist those stronger than you."
"Mols, you are lying," Silva's large hand rested on my head, and the force of him stroking my hair made me involuntarily tilt my head to look at him. "And you are contradicting yourself."
This was the first time I had lied in front of Silva. I suspected he might wring my head off at any moment.
Looking directly into his vertical beast-like eyes and sensing the danger, a sense of exhilaration inexplicably grew within me.
"..." I'm getting a little excited.
"What transaction did he propose to you?" From the surveillance footage, Silva could only see Feitan say the short phrase 'Do you want it?', but he couldn't know the specifics. "What do you want to get from him?"
Unlike Feitan's sharp intrusion, Silva's eyes were clear, seemingly reflecting everything; not a trace of impurity escaped his gaze.
"...Power," I said with lip-reading. "I want him to give me that special power."
"That's called 'Nen'," Silva added.
"..." I blinked.
"Mill, you should know that there's no such thing as a free lunch," Silva asked me. "Do you believe him? Do you have any proof?"
I said I received some care from him during my time in Meteor City, and he didn't harbor any killing intent towards me today, so I felt I could trust him.
"Four years ago, Sister also trusted him more," Illumi interjected. "She didn't trust me."
How dare you bring that up! I was furious, clenched my fists, and said Illumi had scratched my face at the time, nearly disfiguring me.
"That was also a solution," Kikyo was the one who made excuses for Illumi.
"..." Kikyo! Your dress-up doll is about to get angry!
"You want to learn 'Nen', we can teach you. Why go through so much trouble?" Silva changed the subject. "Learning 'Nen' too early has many risks, which is why we haven't taught you. Especially when you are in a restless state, rushing into more things will not benefit you; too much is as bad as too little. Don't just look at the present; consider the long term."
"You think you understand the cost? No, you don't. You haven't even understood what he said." Silva glanced at the screen. "He is a dangerous person. The harm he can inflict on you will exceed all the content you've learned in your interrogation class so far. We love you, so we don't want you to suffer such harm."
"He doesn't love you; he just wants to possess you, to crush you, just like the snacks you gave him. In his eyes, you are just his snack, perhaps not even as cherished as your snacks are to you."
"He will destroy you completely, from the inside out."
"Although he is someone unrelated to the mission, if I were present..." Silva said slowly, stroking my head, "I might have killed him."
"But that child's potential is very promising!" In the murderous atmosphere, Kikyo's excited voice rang out. "As long as Mols is not weaker than him, there will be no problem."
The footage continued to play. Illumi, having finished queuing and bought the limited edition dessert, arrived in time and splashed a cup of water, interrupting the two people whose distance was about to become zero. Then Illumi spoke to Feitan. Illumi was intimidated by Feitan's unexpected aura and immediately retreated. In the footage, "I" grabbed a notebook, stood between Illumi and Feitan, wrote a sentence, and then held up the notebook.
The surveillance camera's angle wasn't sufficient to see the content of the notebook clearly. I said I wrote, "Don't you dare touch my brother."
"The word count is wrong," Silva immediately debunked my clumsy fabricated lie.
"..."
"This is the second time you've lied today, Mill," Silva's hand remained on my head, feeling a bit heavy. "This isn't like you."
"..." I had to take out the notebook and hand it to Silva so they could see it themselves.
That line, "If you want to touch my brother, you'll have to step over my dead body," was too embarrassing to say aloud.
As they flipped through the pages, the breathing of the three of them hitched.
"!" x3
"Oh, Mill, you've become a super reliable sister," Kikyo said, her voice filled with a mix of surprise and choked emotion. "This page must be preserved!"
"Let's continue watching the recording," Silva, who knew his wife very well, quickly interrupted Kikyo's impending long speech.
That was close. Fortunately, the grand-sounding phrase "If you want to touch my brother, you'll have to step over my dead body" saved me. Otherwise, if they had seen Illumi being beaten by Feitan while I was eating dessert in a corner of the dessert shop, I don't know how they would have dealt with me, a wolf in sheep's clothing who lacked family cohesion and didn't care about her own brother's life.
The recording ended with Zizipaian hitting Feitan into the wall with one blow.
"His skills are quite good, aren't they? He awakened 'Nen' at such a young age. That child has a bright future!" Kikyo was as excited as if she were Feitan's biological mother, enthusiastically recommending him to Silva. "Mill doesn't dislike him either. Perhaps they'll be very suitable in the future!"
"..." Silva pondered for a moment. "It's too early. Mols is only twelve years old. This is not the time to consider such matters."
"It's not too early!" Kikyo disagreed. "On the contrary, it's just the right time! My Mill has grown up! She can start considering related issues!"
"What do you mean by grown up?" Silva hesitated for a moment, looking at me carefully. "Oh, indeed, she's about that age."
"...Huh?" Illumi (11 years old) still hadn't understood Kikyo's meaning.
This wasn't important. What was important was that Kikyo began to tell her melodramatic love story of falling in love with Silva at 15 and becoming pregnant before marriage at 16.
Is fate truly a cycle of continuous reincarnation? My mother in the "real world" also gave birth to me out of wedlock.
"Cough." Silva interrupted the part about premarital pregnancy with the most feeble interruption yet. "That was an accident."
Although it was a mistake made in youth, Silva himself was 4 years older than Kikyo. At that time, Silva was already 20 years old, so he wasn't very young either.
"Yes, a 2% accident," Kikyo said with a meaningful smile. "Darling, I understand! Actions speak louder than words! I was ecstatic when I found out I was pregnant! I'm so happy!"
"..." x3
Kikyo's lavish display of affection, or rather, cat food, fed the three cats present to the point of being stuffed.
My head was buzzing from listening. Kikyo hugged me and excitedly said she would take me to eat red bean rice to celebrate.
Silva didn't want to linger and took Illumi aside for a private chat.