It's snowing heavily outside.
Inside the room, the two members of the Hunter Association's Zodiac Twelve sat with furrowed brows.
To Cheadle, the fact that Pyon was lying in Moses's bed was quite a shock.
To Pyon, having Cheadle be the one who pushed the door open made her feel unlucky.
"Pyon."
Cheadle frowned and asked, "What is your relationship with Moses now?"
"Oh?"
Pyon's eyes narrowed slightly. Instead of answering the question right away, she made a small movement under the blanket, then deliberately pulled the quilt down a bit, revealing her smooth, white neck and collarbone.
"Are you asking this even though you already know the answer, Cheadle?"
As she said this, Pyon blinked her eyes and made a playful and cute expression.
"…"
Cheadle remained silent. She just glanced at Pyon's collarbone exposed to the air, and her brows furrowed even deeper.
Pyon stopped talking as well and looked at Cheadle with a toothy smile.
'To see this woman, who always liked to 'preach', feeling unhappy...'
'It felt so good!'
The gloom that had accumulated in Pyon's heart from being abused by Moses for ten days and nights vanished in an instant.
Cheadle seemed to sense the hidden pleasure beneath Pyon's smiling face, and she turned to leave the room without another word.
"Chirp chirp?"
Rat Jewel looked at Cheadle with confusion, not understanding what had happened.
On the bed.
Pyon glanced at Rat Jewel, a hint of curiosity flashed in her coral-colored eyes.
'Is this a Nen beast or a living creature?'
She thought to herself.
When Rat Jewel saw Cheadle leaving, it didn't linger in the room either, and quickly followed her with its short legs.
Cheadle walked out of the room and wandered around the temple, but couldn't find Moses, so she had to take out her phone and dial Moses's number.
However, after a few minutes, Moses still did not answer the phone.
Cheadle had no choice but to send a text message to Moses, and then went to sit quietly in the hall specially prepared for guests.
It was more than an hour later that Cheadle received a message from Moses, and learned that Moses was hunting in the mountains, so he turned his phone to silent mode and missed the several calls she made.
After waiting in the hall for another forty minutes, Cheadle heard footsteps coming from the courtyard.
The footsteps drew closer, and soon Moses, with snow on his head and shoulders, walked into the hall.
In order not to let Cheadle wait too long, he came back alone first, while Kanzai and Menchi were still gathering ingredients in the mountains.
"Cheadle."
Moses brushed the frost and snow off his shoulders, then greeted Cheadle with a smile.
Then, without waiting for Cheadle to react, he suddenly looked towards the corner of the hall where Rat Jewel was.
At this time, Rat Jewel was sitting on the ground playing rock-paper-scissors with its tail's smiley face, and didn't notice Moses who had just entered the hall.
"Hawk is here too?"
Moses turned his gaze and looked at Cheadle, who had a calm expression.
Cheadle did not mention this matter in their previous text message exchanges.
"Hawk is still resting in the You don't need to worry. He's recovering well. Though he often flirts with the nurses during dressing changes, sometimes even getting a bit handsy, so his facial injuries are relatively more severe as a result."
Cheadle calmly described Hawk's current situation.
"…"
Upon hearing this, Moses rubbed his temples in exasperation.
'It really seems like something that guy would do.'
Moses sighed in his heart, chose to ignore the topic related to Hawk, and turned his attention back to Rat Jewel in the corner.
"What's going on with Rat Jewel?"
Hawk was still recuperating in the hospital, and as Hawk's Nen Beast, how can Rat Jewel retain its form and consciousness at such a long distance?
This phenomenon goes against common sense.
Cheadle watched Moses's reaction and said calmly: "This is why I came here today."
Moses's eyes reflected a hint of surprise as he waited for Cheadle to continue.
He became somewhat interested in Rat Jewel's current situation.
Cheadle seemed to be contemplating where to begin. She put her white-gloved right hand lightly on her chin and spoke after a moment, "At that time, before Elena's Nen Space covered the scenic area, Hawk used Rat Jewel's ability to send us out of the Nen Space. At that time, Hawk was already prepared to die."
Hearing Cheadle talk about the situation back then, Moses nodded silently.
Cheadle continued, "But Hawk couldn't stop worrying about you, so as he was on the brink of death, he had a powerful thought."
"Hmm?"
Moses slowly looked at Rat Jewel, who was still playing rock-paper-scissors with its tail, and vaguely guessed what Hawk was thinking at that time.
Cheadle also followed Moses's gaze and looked at Rat Jewel, then said softly, "That thought is that he hopes that Rat Jewel can survive after his death, so that Rat Jewel can more or less continue to accompany you in his stead as you grow up."
"However, Hawk probably never expected that in his otherwise mediocre life, he'd have something notable to his name, and that is, having an outstanding son like you."
Having said that, Cheadle snorted coldly, venting her frustration with Hawk.
"Uh…"
Moses was speechless.
'Trust Cheadle to find a way to criticize Hawk even while discussing serious matters.'
Cheadle continued, "What I mean is, Hawk didn't think he would have a chance to survive."
"So, Rat Jewel's current situation does not conform to the principle mechanism of Post-Mortem Nen."
Moses looked puzzled.
Cheadle nodded and said, "Exactly. Hawk survived, so it is impossible for him to release Post-Mortem Nen. However, the powerful thought he had on the brink of death was real."
"…"
A wave of emotions stirred in Moses's heart.
Cheadle looked at him and said calmly, "Because of the strong thoughts when he was on the verge of death, Hawk, who returned from the brink of death, probably unconsciously created an ability of Vows and Limitations."
"That's why Rat Jewel has become an independent entity. However, it is still a Nen Beast materialized by Nen, so it needs Aura to function, like a power source."
As Moses listened to Cheadle's explanation, he finally understood, and his expression changed.
'Because of Vows and Limitations...'
He thought to himself, but still found it somewhat unbelievable.
'Perhaps…'
'The crucial factor here is Elena's Nen Space where time has stagnated.'
'That's why Hawk was able to create this highly accidental Vows and Limitations on the border between life and death.'
"So, what are the limitations?"
Moses quickly asked, realizing the importance of this detail.
Cheadle adjusted her glasses and calmly said, "As the price, Hawk lost his ability to use Nen and have completely become an ordinary person who could never master Nen again. In other words, he couldn't even help 'charge' Rat Jewel."
"Completely losing the ability to use Nen…"
Moses frowned deeply.
'Such a price is really...'
"What about Hawk?"
Moses raised his eyes and looked at Cheadle, feeling somewhat worried about Hawk's mental state.
"Your worries are totally unnecessary, Moses."
Cheadle suddenly sighed, then took out her phone and clicked on a video to play it.
Moses looked at the screen in surprise.
Then…
He saw in the video that Hawk was leering at the buttocks of a nurse who was bending over to pick up something.
When the nurse picked up the things, Hawk 'accidentally' knocked a book off the table. Then, he pretended to be very apologetic and asked the nurse to help him pick up the book again.
The nurse's expression looked a little unfriendly, but she still helped Hawk pick up the book.
It's just that, because the book fell very close to the bed, the nurse was very cautious when picking it up, as if she was guarding against someone's dirty hands.
Obviously…
This is not the first time Hawk has used this method.
As Moses watched the video, the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
"It's good that he's fine."
He sighed deeply.