[So Kusuo was safe inside after all… but what's he doing out here in the middle of the night?]

Illumi quickly hid.

Yeah, what was I doing out here in the middle of the night? Yare yare… just letting you know I'm safe.

Now that he was already outside, Saiki Kusuo had to come up with an excuse. He reached behind his back and pulled out a drink.

Yep. Sneaking a drink. If he drank it inside, someone might steal it. That should be enough to explain things to Illumi.

Yare yare, being the kind of brother who keeps his older brother from worrying sure is a pain.

Later that night, Saiki Kusuo returned to the room. He had no idea where Chrollo normally slept, and just in case something happened during the night, he picked a room on the third floor.

Of course, Chrollo was already there. Saiki draped a jacket over him and collapsed onto the bed.

Man… today was exhausting.

...

Third day in Meteor City. Cloudy, 10 AM.

Saiki Kusuo (or Chrollo) hadn't even warmed the seat on the couch before someone showed up outside.

What's going on? Time to listen in on the others' thoughts.

[So this is what Chrollo had planned for today. Better go check it out.]

[The Phantom Troupe's name is gonna spread even more after today. But what's actually gonna happen?]

[Not sure what the boss is doing, but it's fine. We just follow.]

What the heck did Chrollo plan?!

Saiki Kusuo looked annoyed. Not a single member in this group used their brain? Everyone just blindly followed Chrollo?

He couldn't even use reading as an excuse anymore. With no way out, he forced himself to go outside.

Quite a few people had gathered—including that kid who once tried to stab Saiki Kusuo, and a bunch of other small fries.

From their thoughts, he could tell they were here to join Chrollo too.

[There's nothing wrong with following the strong. They're the pride of Meteor City! I want to learn Nen! I'll become powerful like them!]

[I heard a group is scouting people in Meteor City. Might as well join this and meet them face-to-face.]

[Heh, I'm an undercover agent from the mafia. Bet you didn't expect that. Once I get close to Chrollo, I'll pull the bomb on my chest and take us both out!]

Saiki Kusuo—Chrollo: Heard you loud and clear.

He looked at Feitan, who was standing nearby.

Feitan noticed his gaze, and Saiki Kusuo glanced toward the undercover guy.

Feitan: [You want me to kill him to make a point? Got it.]

What do you mean "got it"?! Just one look and now it's a kill order?!

No, wait—this guy came in already prepared to go down with the ship! Is killing really the issue here?!

Feitan paused for a second, trying to reread what Chrollo actually meant.

...

[Ugh, whatever. You just want me to torture him, right?]

Did you really think that through? You made that life-or-death decision in under two seconds!

...Though honestly, torture might be a bit better than killing. Saiki Kusuo gave up on trying to explain. The more he talked, the worse it got. So he just let Feitan quietly drag the undercover guy out of the crowd.

He was worried the guy might blow up—Feitan had only come over because of him, after all.

But Saiki Kusuo's concern was unnecessary. The moment Feitan touched the guy, he noticed the explosives on him. His face lit up with excitement, and he rubbed his hands together before beginning a... very graphic interrogation.

Not for kids to see.

Meanwhile, Saiki Kusuo turned back to the group of people trying to join them. Listening in carefully with his mind-reading, he realized most of them were being led here by someone else. They weren't here out of real loyalty. Only a few genuinely wanted to join. Like that kid in the back, black hair, black eyes, kinda spaced out—looked just like Chrollo's daugh—wait, no. That's probably Shizuku, right? She totally became a Troupe member later on. If they were gonna recruit someone, why not just pick her?

No—wait. He shouldn't be making these decisions for Chrollo. Chrollo probably did want to recruit someone, but how many? Would they really leak the info like this if it was just for one or two members? Is this how Troupe recruitment works? Open casting?

So what should he do?

Saiki Kusuo quickly reached a conclusion:

Stall.

Just stall for one more day. One day is all he needed.

He looked calm as he said, [Most of the people who came today aren't clean. We're not recruiting today. Come back tomorrow once you've sorted yourselves out.]

[Wait, didn't the boss say a month ago that recruitment was today? I thought we'd see some actual members in there.]

[What's going on in the boss's head? These people passed the "trial," didn't they?]

Trial? Most of them are sketchy as hell!

Even though the other Troupe members didn't get it, Chrollo's word was law. If anyone had a problem, they got beaten down until they stopped complaining. After the crowd cleared, the members finally turned their questioning looks toward Chrollo.

Saiki Kusuo, still playing the part, stayed quiet and mysterious. Then said, [Just wait.]

Phinks: "Wait for what? Everyone's already gone. They're not suddenly gonna be clean tomorrow, are they?"

Feitan: "If the boss says wait, we wait. Didn't he tell them to come back tomorrow?"

[Maybe something's happening tonight...]

Machi: [I don't get it. What's the difference tomorrow's supposed to make?]

"Of course the boss has his reasons. Didn't he say they weren't clean? Look at this guy I caught—straight up mafia lackey." Feitan flung an arm over. That settled everyone's doubts.

"When did that happen? Man, the boss really doesn't miss a thing."

"Ah, makes sense now. I don't really understand all this complicated stuff. Let's just do what the boss says, yeah?"

Thanks for the save, Feitan!

Saiki Kusuo dashed back to the room like the wind. Forgive me, forgive me—was that guy missing just one arm, or was only his arm left? If you're gonna be a spy, you have to be prepared, right? Still… maybe 0.02% of this was my fault.

Five minutes left until Chrollo wakes up. Saiki Kusuo ran upstairs and locked the door.

Chrollo had been frozen in that room for almost 24 hours, still holding that book in front of the stone sculpture like nothing had changed. Saiki Kusuo shoved the book back into his hands—he'd flipped through quite a bit of it already.

How was he supposed to explain this when Chrollo woke up? Honestly, he had no clue…

"There's no real way to explain why I suddenly appeared in your room, on the third floor, just like that."

Saiki Kusuo only leaned against the wall and shut his eyes for a second—he must've been more tired than he realized, because he accidentally fell asleep. By the time Chrollo woke up, he had already been watching Kusuo sleep for a while. He understood the situation, mostly. Just not *how* it happened.

[Man… fell asleep. Sorry about that.]

"Why apologize? Did you do something you feel guilty about? The pages in this book were turned. I'm sure they were untouched earlier. Is it my memory that's off? Or has something happened with time itself? Aren't you going to explain?"

There were a lot of questions. Chrollo clearly knew this had something to do with the strange boy in front of him. The boy looked exhausted, which is why he didn't speak right away—but after observing for a while, he had to say something. He had a strong feeling that "now" was not just a continuation of the "few minutes ago" he remembered.

Saiki Kusuo: What is wrong with this guy?

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