At dusk, Kisho moved the three poachers together, then called the island's forest rangers and roughly described the location of the three poachers.
He hadn't really wanted to deal with those three guys, but just as he was about to leave, Gon said,
"If we leave them alone, they might get bitten to death by fierce beasts in the forest tonight."
Actually, Kisho felt that since these three dared to come poaching, they should have been prepared for the resolve of being bitten to death by what they hunted.
But then again, poaching in a prohibited area and getting caught—according to this country's laws, these guys' fate for the rest of their lives would be just as miserable.
—Seriously, he was probably the first spider to study the law.
"Go obediently squat in the big prison." Kisho withdrew his gaze from the three of them.
For Gon's sake, being able to keep your lives already counts as pretty good luck.
Cleaning up the aftermath took a bit of effort, and the sun completely sank below the horizon.
The golden afterglow faded, and silver light rose.
"Ah, this is bad."
Looking at the darkening sky, Gon, who had been cheerful just moments ago, suddenly showed an anxious expression:
"I promised Aunt Mito I'd be back before the sun set…"
He said dejectedly, hanging his head: "It's over, it's over, Aunt Mito's going to scold me again!"
Kisho: "…"
He recalled where Gon's family tavern was located, then frowned.
That place was quite far from here. Judging by the time it took Gon to run over from the lake, it would probably take an hour to run back.
A six-year-old kid walking alone through the mountains for an hour at night… no matter how you thought about it, it sounded unreliable.
Even if Gon wasn't an ordinary child, Kisho couldn't just leave him alone like this. And Gon had run over here because he was worried about him in the first place.
He raised a hand and rubbed Gon's spiky hedgehog-like hair.
"I'll take you back. If needed, I can help explain things to your Aunt Mito."
"Eh?!"
Hearing Kisho's proposal, Gon's eyes widened. If someone could help explain, Aunt Mito might not get that angry.
Although he really wanted to agree right away, Gon still looked straight at Kisho:
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you? You have to go back to where you're staying too, right?"
Kisho smiled. "It's fine. I can rest anywhere anyway—let's go."
...
Under the night sky, one big and one small figure rapidly darted through the forest.
Because he had to match Gon's speed, Kisho didn't use his badge.
But what surprised him was that Gon clearly couldn't use nen, yet he was able to see everything clearly in the pitch-black forest—whether it was branches crisscrossing overhead or wild vines growing underfoot, none of it slowed Gon down in the slightest.
On Whale Island, the night was almost so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face, yet Gon's eyes could see everything in such a place.
"That's really terrifying. Is this the innate god-tier bloodline of a 'Child of the Forest'?"
Looking at Gon, Kisho sighed inwardly.
"As expected of that terrifying guy Ging's son."
Perhaps Gon's endurance wasn't that strong yet, but his physical agility and flexibility had already far surpassed what people his age could reach.
Kisho withdrew his gaze from Gon, who was running close beside him.
"What Ging said—that 'compared to him, the forest is more like Gon's father'—really does make sense."
Thinking that, Kisho smiled at Gon. "Can you go even faster? Gon~"
"Mm!"
...
More than half an hour later.
Knock, knock.
Kisho stood at the door of the small tavern and gently raised his hand to knock on the red wooden door.
Gon hid behind him, sticking out his fluffy head.
With a creak—
"Is Gon back?" As the voice sounded, the door was pushed open, and Mito appeared behind it.
When she saw Kisho standing there, dressed in rags like a wild man, Mito froze for a moment.
Then she noticed Gon hiding behind him, and her expression immediately turned serious:
"Gon, didn't I tell you that you must come back before the sun sets? Not keeping promises isn't what a good child does!"
Hearing Mito's scolding, probably because Kisho was there as an outsider, Gon showed an embarrassed expression, raised his hand to awkwardly rub his head, and secretly tugged at the corner of Kisho's clothes.
"It's like this." Kisho cleared his throat lightly. "Please let me explain…"
...
The living room on the second floor of the treehouse.
"So that's how it was?"
Mito sat by the table, while Gon and Kisho sat "nicely and obediently" across from her.
After listening to Kisho's account—with Ging's part removed—Mito nodded.
"Then I won't blame Gon for coming back late today."
Hearing that, Gon instantly perked up from his previous dejection. "Yay!"
"But…"
Mito shifted her gaze to Kisho. "Those guys who come to Whale Island to poach all have guns. How could you rush over alone like that?!"
Caught off guard by the sudden crossfire, Kisho froze on the spot.
"Eh…?"
Gon looked at Kisho, then turned to Mito to explain for him: "But Kisho is really strong! He knocked down all three bad guys by himself!"
At that moment, an elderly woman set the cups from her tray down in front of Kisho and Mito.
The stunned Kisho quickly came back to his senses and thanked her.
The old woman smiled slightly.
"No matter what, things like 'dealing with bad people' aren't something children should do. If you run into it next time, calling the forest rangers to handle it would be better."
Kisho fell silent for a short moment, then raised a hand to scratch his head.
"Oh… okay."
After hearing Gon's words, Mito looked Kisho over again with a scrutinizing gaze. She sent Gon away on the pretext of having him go take a bath, then said to Kisho:
"Thank you for looking after Gon today."
Kisho scratched his head. "I didn't really do much."
Mito lifted her cup. "May I ask—what did you come to Whale Island for?"
Kisho met her gaze, but didn't answer right away. Instead, he also lifted his cup and took a sip of tea.
After all, a normal twelve-year-old from an ordinary family couldn't possibly take down three adults at once—especially armed poachers.
And since he had come back together with Gon, it was only natural for Mito to be suspicious of his background and intentions.
—But he really had just come to take the Hunter Exam and relax on vacation. Why did everyone have to doubt him?!
So unfair.
Kisho sighed quietly and replied, "I came to Whale Island to look for the guide for the Hunter Exam."
He didn't miss the change in Mito's expression. Sure enough, after hearing the words "Hunter Exam," her expression became a little unnatural.
Combined with the guy they had run into today, it wasn't hard at all to guess why Mito would react like that.
Kisho sighed inwardly. "That guy who never does anything decent…"
After hearing Kisho's answer, Mito's expression softened, and she nodded lightly.
If this boy was here for the "Hunter Exam," then it wasn't strange.
She also trusted Gon's judgment—only someone Gon could trust would be brought back by him.
Mito lightly tapped the table and said, "I just heard Gon say that you don't have a place to stay, right?"
Kisho was puzzled. "Eh?"
"If you don't mind, before you take the exam, you can stay at my place for the time being." Mito said softly. "Gon bringing you back also meant that."
Kisho spoke blankly, "…Wouldn't that cause you trouble?"
"It's fine." Mito smiled, then turned serious again.
"But there's something I want to ask of you."
Kisho raised a hand slightly. "Please, go ahead."
Mito said, "Don't tell Gon anything about the Hunter Exam."
Kisho: "…"
He suddenly felt sorry for Gon. His dad was hiding things from him, and his aunt was hiding things from him too…
But well…
Having a place to stay was great, and once you were hiding things anyway, one secret or two didn't really make a difference.
Thinking that, Kisho agreed readily without any mental burden:
"Alright, then I'll be in your care~"