The Strongest Assassin of the Zoldyck Family!

Only one chair remained unoccupied. Without being asked, the middle-aged man sat down in it.

"Excellent. All three of you arrived within the allotted time."

"That means each of you is qualified to join in the next phase."

"I'll introduce myself first."

"My name is Lajin."

"I come from the Kakin Empire's Heil-Ly Family."

Then Lajin gestured at the elderly man who had arrived first.

"Please share your name, Nen category, and main ability."

The old man cleared his throat. 

"I'm Xinjili, a Manipulation Type. My primary ability is controlling inanimate objects in battle."

Lajin turned to Ron.

"I'm Ron, an Emitter. My main ability involves Nen beasts."

Publicly, Ron always claimed to be from the Emission category. Even Zeno and Silva only knew him as an Emitter. The only one aware of Ron's true Specialization status, aside from Ron himself, was Maha Zoldyck.

Next came the middle-aged man. 

"I'm Monde, a Transmuter. My main ability is ice."

Lajin nodded. 

"Good. Let's head out now. The car is already waiting outside."

"I'll share some intel once we're on the road."

With that, Lajin pressed something on the wall, revealing a hidden passage. He walked in.

"Follow me."

Xinjili went first, then Ron and Monde. A van was parked at the exit. The four of them got in, with a driver at the wheel. All four sat in the back, across two rows of seats.

"What do you know about the Kurta Clan?" Lajin asked.

Xinjili said, "I've heard a bit—not much, though."

Ron and Monde both shook their heads. Ron did know a few things from his previous life's memories, but he wasn't about to expose that. He had no desire to let Lajin see through him.

"In that case, I'll give a quick summary," Lajin said. "The Kurta Clan is a special group whose blood differs from ordinary humans. When they're provoked to extreme anger, their eyes turn scarlet."

"That's the Scarlet Eyes—one of the Seven Most Beautiful Colors in the world."

"Hugely valuable."

"Because of their worth, plenty of people hunt the Kurta Clan, stealing their eyes for substantial profit. That's why the Kurta Clan went into hiding, retreating to remote areas with no human traffic, constantly moving from one place to another."

"It's extremely difficult to locate them."

"Plus, they're strong. You're all Nen users, so you know Nen isn't something that gets spread around casually—it's only taught to people deemed trustworthy. But the Kurta Clan possesses a Nen system of its own."

"In other words, they have many Nen users. Could be dozens, maybe more."

"On top of that, they've set numerous traps around their hidden settlement."

"This time, our mission objective is the Scarlet Eyes."

"We've uncovered the approximate area where the Kurta Clan is hiding."

"We'll head to that region, search for their hidden settlement, and if you find it, you'll receive a major reward."

"After that, you can participate in the hunt for the Kurta Clan itself."

"We, the Heil-Ly Family, will pay five hundred million Jenny to buy back each pair of Scarlet Eyes."

Ron's eyes flickered slightly.

Frankly, five hundred million Jenny per pair wasn't all that high. Hiring an assassin to deal with a trained Nen user often cost far more. If the Kurta Clan had multiple Nen users, acquiring even one pair of eyes could prove as difficult—or more difficult—than killing a seasoned Nen user of equal skill.

Of course, if it involved ordinary Kurta Clan members who didn't know Nen, it might average out as "acceptable." Mainly, the outside world didn't have accurate intel on how many of the Kurta were actually skilled in Nen. A Kurta didn't need to be a Nen user for their eyes to turn scarlet.

"All right," Lajin went on. "That's the gist of it. If you have questions, I'll answer what I can."

Xinjili glanced at Ron and Monde, then spoke. "May I ask if there are others going, besides us?"

"Certainly," Lajin replied. "There are plenty of people interested in the Scarlet Eyes, not just our Heil-Ly Family. And we invited more than just the three of you. This is just one of several testing sites."

Monde raised a hand. "Could you tell us roughly how many are going?"

Lajin shook his head. 

"Hard to say. But there are at least a hundred."

Monde asked another question. "Any idea how strong the Kurta Clan is?"

"No idea."

"How about their numbers?"

"Don't know."

Lajin looked at Monde. "I mentioned we only uncovered the approximate location of their hideout. Nobody's gone in yet."

"No point in asking further. Right—if we ultimately don't find any Kurta, our family will still pay you some compensation. Each of you will get ten million Jenny. It wouldn't be right to waste the time of Nen users who passed our first trial."

The Heil-Ly Family might be powerful, but there's no sense making enemies for a relatively small sum.

"Any other questions?" Lajin asked, glancing at the trio.

Seeing no one respond, he closed his eyes. "I'm going to rest for a bit. You're free to talk among yourselves."

Ron turned to Monde. "Monde, right?"

Monde smiled. "Ron, I've heard plenty about you from Doppo—he calls you the future of TST, says you're extremely gifted. He's mentioned you already reaching a level close to a Floor Master's. Maybe we can team up."

Ron nodded. "Sure. I'd appreciate any guidance."

"No worries. Different abilities can complement each other, right?" Monde replied. He'd heard Doppo praise Ron more than once. Doppo suspected Ron had killed three lower-ranked AKAs (Floor Masters), which spoke volumes. Still, Monde believed that even if Ron was strong, there had to be limits—he was, after all, only a kid. So when Ron asked for guidance, Monde took it at face value.

"By the way, Ron, how many wins do you have on the 200th floor now?" Monde asked.

"Nine."

"So just one more, then?"

"That's right."

"After that, do you know which Floor Master you'll challenge?"

"Haven't decided," Ron said. "I'm not too familiar with the Floor Master's strengths. Once I qualify, I'll do some research. There's plenty of time for that."

Ron had nine wins so far.

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