A few hours later, Conrad had calmed down.
Truly being caught in a situation like this, especially after the amateur mistake he had made before and after already being dragged into the Nen ability during his first encounter with the Black Market, having unknowingly fulfilled the conditions of yet another Nen ability was not pleasant at all.
At the moment, there was not much he could do about it, and realizing that fact was slowly eating away at him from the inside.
"Maybe…"
"My next ability should be some kind of Nen eraser… a Nen cleansing ability. I should prepare and work toward something like that."
"Not just because of the Hunter Association's actions, but also to counter other abilities such as curses."
Conrad exhaled lightly and began thinking.
After some time, however, he started to feel exhaustion creeping in. Everything he had newly discovered and realized had mentally drained him. He no longer wanted to think or make plans for even one more second.
With that thought, he removed his clothes, lay down on his bed, and surrendered himself to sleep.
—
Inside a small meeting room, a deep discussion was taking place within the Hunter Association.
"Why did you tell him?" said a young, tall woman with black hair. She wore simple yet elegant clothing, and her green eyes carried a deep gaze.
Mizaistom looked at the woman and smiled.
"Honestly, Conrad is someone I've rarely encountered recently…"
"As a Hunter, he clearly doesn't move within the structure of the Hunter Association, but his Nen level, talent, potential… honestly, they're extremely high," he added. There was even a slight expression of surprise on his face, an emotion that an experienced Hunter like Mizaistom rarely displayed.
"What do you think, Alesina? Honestly, the two of you are rather similar," he added.
Alesina took a deep breath and placed a hand on her waist.
"I don't think much of anything. I don't know him. But I know you, and based on what you've described, he sounds like an impressive character," she replied.
Then she grinned and continued.
"What if he interprets your making him aware of this matter… not as a demonstration of the Hunter Association's power, but from a completely different perspective?"
"In that case, have you thought about what he might do?"
Mizaistom paused briefly and turned toward Alesina.
"What exactly… are you trying to say? Be clear."
In truth, he understood perfectly well what she meant, but he did not particularly want to admit that he may have made a mistake.
"I'm talking about the 'Hunter Taboo Contract' that only members of the Secret Hunter Division like myself, the Zodiacs, and those directly informed by the Chairman know about."
"What if he realizes from your words that he can be tracked, or at least observed to a certain extent, and that being a Hunter is connected to some sort of Nen ability?" she added.
Mizaistom could not stop the helpless smile forming on his face. For a while, he thought about the time he had spent with Conrad, about his behavior and the kind of personality those actions reflected.
He slowly shook his head and released a cold sigh.
"It could create a major danger. Almost no Nen user reacts positively once they reach a sufficient level and authority and then learn about the Hunter Taboo Contract and realize that the Hunter Exam and becoming a Hunter mean becoming part of a massive Nen ability."
"In fact… some people even wanted to cause incidents because of it. But they were convinced thanks to Chairman Netero's words."
Alesina shook her head and walked toward the mini refrigerator in the corner of the room. She opened it, took out a soda, and poured it into the crystal glass on the table.
She took a sip and let out a deep breath.
"Mizaistom… you really are an intelligent man. But you keep trying to complicate matters," she said.
"If this Conrad you're talking about realizes such an action was taken against him and concludes that he was manipulated in this way… what exactly would he do?"
"Please don't start talking about person A or person B. Right now, this issue is about Conrad," she added before taking another sip from her soda.
Mizaistom remained silent for a while.
"I didn't think about it… I didn't think my words would give him that kind of idea or awareness. That's probably why Nen didn't punish me even though I broke the taboo."
Then Mizaistom looked at Alesina and answered.
"Based on my experience, he would clearly become hostile toward the Hunter Association and take action in response to what was done to him."
Alesina nodded.
"Bingo."
"If that's how you think, then no matter what, you need to figure out what kind of awareness your words awakened in him. After that, you need to learn his intentions, determine whether he has formed an understanding of the taboo, and change your approach accordingly."
"If he truly has as much potential as you say, and if he already has a team, then allowing someone like that to gather even more members and grow stronger wouldn't be very good, would it?"
Mizaistom took a deep breath. He had never imagined that a single sentence could create so much trouble for him.
Honestly, if Conrad learned the truth and developed hostility toward the Hunters and the Hunter Association, Mizaistom could not truly claim that such a reaction would be unfair or morally wrong.
If one Nen user set a trap for another Nen user and attempted to apply a Nen ability to them, which was essentially a Nen attack, then the other side wanting revenge was only natural.
"Yes… I made a huge mistake. I'll have to bear the consequences of this," Mizaistom said.
Then, under the watch of the grinning Alesina, he left the small meeting room while gripping his phone tightly in his hand.
After Mizaistom left the room, Alesina continued drinking her soda.
"I hope… Conrad hasn't realized the truth."
"Whoever becomes aware of this situation before reaching sufficient authority usually falls into immense rage and seeks revenge. And that revenge, along with the person and their teammates, is generally erased through the Hunter Association's so-called 'Most Important Mission.'"
"As Mizaistom said, I really don't want to prepare a plan to kill someone with that much potential," she thought.
Then she shook her head from side to side and left the meeting room.