[Hunter] Pearl Forest

The golden sun is half submerged below the sea level.

Since sailing into this water area, there has been no strong wind or heavy rain on the sea, and it is peaceful, only the reflections of the afterglow that have been cut into pieces shimmer and shine one by one.

Shore appeared in the distance.

The young man with a desolate expression closed the book, and the chains on his fingers made a cold metal sound, scaring away the seabirds on the railing.

The wind from the wings blows up the hair.

Soon the seabirds turned into small dots.

"Hey! In a suit!" The crewman yelled from the observation deck to the deck, "We're almost there. Do you want someone to help you with your luggage?"

It is said to be luggage, but in fact there is only a small suitcase and something in a cuboid box wrapped airtight.

The crew's provocation did not stir any waves in his stagnant heart.

"unnecessary."

After another friendly sailor reached out to help him, the young man held the suitcase in one hand and the box in the other, and jumped down directly to the ground without shaking.

The sailor just raised his hands and rubbed his hair, and pointed out a gravel-paved road to this repulsive passenger: "Master, if you haven't decided where to go tonight, just keep walking along this road. The only hotel on the island. My name is Rosapi, and I told the proprietress that I introduced you, and I will definitely arrange the best room for you.”

"...Thank you for your trouble."

As if sensing something, Kurapika suddenly looked in a certain direction, but only saw the lush forest.

He looked back at the crew members who kept unloading the cargo from the ship.

Step forward without concern.

He wanted to go back to Youkexin City, and then he had to take the airship to his companion's location. This place was just a transit point where he passed by by boat.

As long as you can reach your destination.

Nothing else matters.

After half a day in the sea, the black contact lenses are a bit dry.

Resisting the astringency in his eyes, the hotel the sailor said was not hard to find, it was two floors high, family-style, and small in scale.But as far as the whole ship is a foreigner, it will make people doubt the degree of business acumen of the operator.

The operators are an elderly couple.

The husband was nestled in the recliner behind the counter. He was fat and looked like a simple carpenter. He was reading the newspaper. He first noticed Kurapika who entered the door and showed a circle of shiny white teeth and thumbs to the guests.

"welcome!"

Kurapika: "..."

There was a small golden clock on the counter, he picked it up to check the time, it was very heavy.

We got the room key very smoothly.

The proprietress, Dai Lin, didn't even bother to check his ID.

"That stuff is rarely true anyway."

"..."

Kurapika jammed subtly.

A seven-star ladybug attracted by the evening light used the palm-sized card as a landing platform.

"How long do you want to stay?"

The summer night wind brings the warm sun smell after drying the sheets.

"Then," he watched the ladybug slowly crawling, "just three days."

It was a girl named Shalin who led him to the room.

She seemed to be the couple's daughter, but she looked nothing like them.

"Wait." Kurapika left the suitcase behind, still holding the box in his left hand, walked outside the store, and carefully placed the ladybug on his fingertips on the leaf.

Shalin, who was standing on the stairs, felt that this guest was much gentler to insects than to humans.

The girl carried the suitcase for him, and she smelled of the same sun, the smell that would make any ferocious cat curl up and nap comfortably in her arms.

"Ah, actually, Obius and Daima are my uncle and aunt." Shalin explained, "Guests who come for the first time often get it wrong."

Open the window.

The room is facing the forest.

For a moment, the corners of Kurapika's mouth softened, and soon returned to indifference.

The girl put down her suitcase: "Dinner will be in about an hour. Aunt Daima's pasta with creamy bacon is for tonight. I'll call you when it's ready." Only talking about food, her eyes suddenly fell into the stars Shiny like it is.

Lively eyes.

"what."

When he was alone in the room, he pushed the door latch to the end, and he let go of the cloth wrapping the box, untied the amulet wrapped around his wrist, and held it in his palm.

The things of the Kuruta tribe are too pure, and they don't match the black suit that is stained with blood.

his.compatriots.Eye.

The prologue of the pocket book I carry with me is already familiar by heart——

"Pray that God will grant me peace of mind, accept the things that cannot be changed, give me the courage to change the things that can be changed, and give me the wisdom to distinguish between the two."

He is a man without a future.

And never feel at peace with the past.

Staring silently at the spherical objects rising and falling in the container, after a while, the young man removed the chain, closed the amulet with both hands, and closed his eyes tightly.

"The sun in the sky, the green trees on the ground, our bodies are born on the earth..."

There is still a week until the appointed time.

There are boats along the way at any time.

As for why I wasted three days in this kind of place...

Probably because what is filled here is not the high-end aromatherapy used in hotels, but the aroma of coffee.

Still can't sleep this morning.

Facing a few decorative paintings that were simply framed in wooden frames and hung on the wall, Kurapika finished his breakfast and iced coffee with milk.

Even in front of that incompetent BOSS, he never deliberately catered to the preferences of adults.

Kurapika went to the forest with the book.

In order to calm yourself down during this period, reading is the best way.

After Shalin finished drying the sheets in the morning, she entered the room. There were only empty plates and cutlery left on the small table in the dining room, which happened to be missed by the guests who were going out.

"Eh? This position..." There is no sunlight at all.

I found this out when I cleaned it up.

"Shalin," Dai Ma raised her eyebrows passing by, "how long are you going to hold the cup used by other boys?"

"!!"

The girl's cheeks flushed red.

"Then don't take out the glasses I made when I was a child and serve them to the guests!"

"Ah, in the eyes of your uncle and me, the things made by Saileen are always the best." Aunt Daima said, "Anyway, we are tired of seeing the works of shitty artists."

Obius, who used to be a sailor, was injured during a voyage. He and Daima had no children. After Shalin's parents disappeared at sea, he took the initiative to protect his sister's daughter under his wings.

Because they held Shalin's little hand, they returned to the island from the perilous sea, and used their savings to open this small hotel near the pier.

Although at first I was not used to the life where the floor would not shake, I couldn’t pierce the barrel and drink heavily, and I didn’t catch the enemy when the crew played the judge game at sea, but occasionally I saw my former partner pass by this port, missing an arm Those who lack legs and eyes feel that it is really great that their little girl does not have to go through these things.

Dai Ma sighed and said, "Honestly speaking, it would be best for you to inherit this hotel in the future. As long as you don't go to the damn sea, no matter what you do, we will support you."

"……Yes."

Hearing what she said, Shalin showed a somewhat complicated smile.

It is a happy thing to be able to hide in the woods on a sunny day with blue sky.

It's cool, the air is clean, and most importantly... it's outside the cell phone signal range.

Although it is not the case that the bell will ring in the next moment, without this possibility, another kind of peace can be reaped.

Kurapika was leaning against a tall tree trunk.

The earring on one side reflects the crystal broken awn similar to the undulating sea.

He read the book to the last page before going to bed last night, and today he started to read it again from the original prologue, and this circular project will continue until he meets his companion.

Do you really think this is some kind of extraordinary book?Not necessarily, it's just that the habits that have been formed are difficult to change. If you don't do it, you will feel uneasy.

... the same as the hatred I feel.

If he stopped to retrieve all the lost eyes of his compatriots, sooner or later his heart would be burnt out, turning into a piece of scorched earth that could not conceive anything.

must--

"?"

At this time, he saw the girl on the edge of the cliff, looking at the sea, unable to see her expression clearly.

He turned his gaze back to the paper.

There are some water stains on the top.

It's raining.

Shalin, who had been prepared for a long time, opened the umbrella, turned around, and was startled by the blond young man who jumped directly from the tree.

"You are!"

"Kurapica."

"Ah, Mr. Kurapika..."

The girl under the umbrella smiled.

"I finally know your name."

"...Forget it sir."

"Want to be together?"

"casual."

A girl holding an umbrella approached.

The converging water fell to the feet of the two.

"It's just a shower, it will clear again soon, please don't worry."

"yes."

Kurapika noticed that the four-leaf clover pattern printed on the transparent plastic umbrella was very cute.

"I'm sorry." The girl apologized abruptly.

"?"

"Actually, before I came to call you last night, I heard you praying... because I thought it was not good to interrupt, so I waited outside the door for a while."

"It doesn't matter." After a while of silence, he said, "It's not really a formal prayer, it's just some soliloquy."

"Oh……"

"Mr. Kurapika."

"..."

"Kurapica?"

"what happened?"

The air in the rain was a little cool, as if the heat I felt just now never existed.

Glancing at the girl's arm protruding from the shirt skirt, Kurapika wordlessly took off his suit jacket, put it on her shoulders, and took the umbrella.

Shalin raised her head in surprise, but what was left was a tight jawline.

"……thanks."

"..."

"Kurapika." He squeezed his coat tightly with his hands, "You...do you like the sea?"

"Neither like nor dislike."

"I like it very much."

she says.

"I always have this feeling that the sea will bring us the people we want to meet."

"yes."

"?"

The young man looked at the boundary line between the sea and the sky: "I think the sea will take us where we want to go."

"Is there somewhere you want to go?"

He suddenly laughed very shallowly.

"Yes. Hell."

Definitely.

The rain never stops.

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