After leaving Mizaistom's room, Mizaistom continued walking while thinking deeply. He truly did not think that someone at his level should make this kind of mistake. He should not have shown such a foolish and amateurish reaction.
"Could it be…"
"Maybe the situation is not as bad as I think," he thought.
He had his phone in hand. He could immediately call Conrad and clarify the matter. However, even that action itself would not be very logical.
If Conrad truly had not understood anything, then calling him and asking questions could make the situation far worse than it already was.
"Someone else. I should use someone else in Yorknew to investigate this matter," he thought.
—
Inside his hotel room, Conrad was examining the progress of his business and income reports on his computer.
From this point onward, he was making a net profit of almost 100 million to 200 million Jenny every single day.
It could be said that financial matters had stopped being realistic problems for him.
"How strange… I wonder why Hunters like Tsezguerra, a Treasure Hunter-type person, made money into such an important issue."
"There's no way a Nen user who takes the correct actions could ever lack financial power."
Conrad thought with a smile.
At that moment, his phone rang, and he noticed that the caller was Elena.
"Conrad, how are you? Where are you?" she asked.
Conrad stayed silent for a few seconds.
"I'm fine. How are you?" he replied.
Conrad had deliberately acted as if he had not heard the "Where are you?" question.
"I'm fine too. We haven't spoken for a while. I'd like to talk about a few things. Wherever you are, I'll come there," she added.
Conrad calmly took a breath and agreed.
"How interesting…" he thought.
"Yorknew City, Beitacle Hotel. Let me know when you arrive," he said.
"Alright," Elena replied, and the call ended.
"Is this really a coincidence?" Conrad thought as he placed his hand on his chin and sat back in his chair. He poured himself a glass of whiskey, took a sip, and began grinning.
"Mizaistom called me…"
"Right after Mizaistom called me and I realized the situation, Elena — who is connected to Mizaistom — suddenly wants to meet me. Even though I initially did not tell her my location, she made an extra effort to learn where I was."
"How realistic and innocent that effort seems."
"If it were natural, Elena would have made a joke about it."
Conrad took a deep breath and began massaging his temples.
"Mizaistom let something slip — something he did not want to say. Whatever it was, he is not sure whether I understood it or not…"
"At the same time, this reveals that the sentence he told me over the phone was actually something he should never have said."
"If it had been something he truly intended to say and it was not a problem, but he still wanted confirmation, he would have openly addressed it."
"But he assumed that calling me again would look suspicious, so he contacted Elena. Elena is now coming to see whether I understood or not."
"And the hesitant behavior she showed as well…"
Conrad let out a faint laugh and nodded.
He understood exactly where the situation stood.
"Mizaistom asked me about the bounty on my head for a different purpose. After a while, he realized that his question might cause me to notice that the Hunter Exam and Hunter License are actually a Nen ability. He could not confirm this theory himself because, this time, I might have deeply analyzed the matter and understood it even if I did not realize it at first."
"He informed Elena, and now she's coming to test me."
"If she's coming to determine whether I realized that the Hunter Exam and License are Nen abilities…"
Conrad remained silent for a moment.
"This behavior also shows that the information I know is sensitive and dangerous. If it were merely normal classified information, they would openly explain the situation and simply ask me to keep it secret."
"If they realize I know the secret and show even the slightest sign of aggression toward me, they will want to silence and eliminate me," he thought as he brought his hand to his chin and leaned deeper into his chair.
"Let's see what happens. I want to watch Elena struggle and decide accordingly. I'm not strong enough to launch a direct attack yet, but I can still enjoy the situation. I don't have anything particularly important to do right now," he thought.
—
Inside the aircraft, Elena drank from her glass while looking down through the window. When Mizaistom called her, she had not expected him to ask for help regarding such a matter.
"He pays well… But it's also good that he knows I won't fight someone like Conrad," she thought.
She took another sip from her drink and slowly shook her head with a deep breath.
This truly was not the kind of job Elena preferred, but perhaps the only way to learn what Conrad knew was to have someone with at least some prior connection to him speak with him. Otherwise, it simply would not make much sense, and Conrad was far too intelligent and cunning to expose himself carelessly.
"All I need to do is find out what he knows… Then report it to Mizaistom. Good or bad, no matter what the result is…"
Half a day later, Elena entered the Beitace Hotel, and Conrad waved at her from the lobby. Elena walked over to him and let out a faint breath.
"He's become much stronger… Even while simply standing there, I can tell that he could crush me and that he possesses overwhelming power over me," she thought.
Conrad began speaking as he pointed toward the bar on the right side.
"Come on. Let me buy you a drink," he said.
Elena nodded, and they entered the bar and sat down at a table in the corner.
After taking a sip from her drink, Elena's eyes became serious.
"I'll ask you directly, without making this entertaining or going off-topic."
Conrad raised his eyebrows and nodded.
"Why did you suddenly attack a mafia family and make enemies out of them for no reason? I don't think you need money or fame," Elena said. As she spoke, the expression on her face looked so worried and genuine that Conrad swallowed unconsciously…
"This is a Nen ability. Naturally, she shouldn't be able to control her emotions and facial expressions this perfectly," he thought.
"Were you worried about me?" Conrad asked in a teasing tone.