A Change In Purpose (Hunter x Hunter X Male Chimera Ant OC)

Chapter 15

A new day can provide chance of opportunity, and that is exactly what the Royal Guard decided to pursue. Unfortunately for the newest member of said Guard, that chance relied mostly on him. His mission?... Scouting.

"So this must be Peijin," Maw said. "The capital of this land." He was currently outside the capital, having stopped along the many mountains that surrounded it, and looked over the city from a distance. As he stood there, he recalled his instructions that were given to him earlier in the day.

Flashback

"Our next order of business is to acquire a general idea of this country's population," Pouf said. "Not just the citizens that inhabit it, but also the military that runs it." He then handed Maw a list with names, ones that belonged to the cities of East Gorteau. "Visit these points of interest and take note of how high their concentration is in each, and also their layouts." Pouf then turned and walked away with a dismissive wave. "Now get on with it."

Flashback End

Looking back, Maw noted how disgruntled Pouf seemed during the short mission briefing. He appeared to be upset or angry at something, but the canine decided to let it go for now as he had more important things to worry about. He then clenched the gray hoodie that was in his right hand and prepared to go. "Let's get to it."
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It didn't take long for Maw to sneak himself into the city, the outer section had military outposts with a good number of guards, but it was no trouble to get around them. Once he managed to get inside, he found the nearest alley in order to do a simple wardrobe change. He took off his jacket and opted for the hoodie he had found in Taba City, the city he last visited before heading to the capital. Maw was advised to get as immersive as possible during the scouting mission, so he thought it was best to see a city from two ways: rooftops and the streets. But simply taking a stroll through the streets would only cause unnecessary panic from the humans, and while Maw could probably explain his forehead's chimera markings and sharp teeth, his canine ears would be a dead giveaway to anyone that he wasn't human. The hoodie he found managed to solve this problem and allowed him to move freely around the city masses. He also managed to tuck in his tail inside his pants, and was pretty surprised that it didn't feel too uncomfortable.

Once done changing, he hid his jacket safely behind a rather clean looking dumpster, which was clearly the more appealing choice to the disgusting one across from it. Just like last time. I'll come back for it later. With that done, he peeked out the alley to make sure no one would see him leave it, and took to the streets once the coast was clear.

While the capital may not have been his first destination, it was still daytime. Maw knew that most humans were more active during the day than they were at night, which meant that there would be more on the streets around that time. He also assumed that with Peijin being the nation's capital that it would have a high, if not the highest concentration of humans in East Gorteau. His assumption seemed to be right, seeing as there were humans pretty much everywhere you looked. Taba held a good bit of them from what he had seen, but Maw could already tell that Peijin contained much more than the former. There they were, just walking down their man-made paths in order to do their errands for the day. Some of them were so bunched up together that it looked like they joined to the hip. There had to be thousands of them, possibly more.

In a way, this is a little unsettling, Maw thought as he walked along with an uncomfortable look on his face. There are so many of them in this city alone. And they aren't far from the palace either. That was true seeing as the Royal Palace was placed not too far away from Peijing. By that logic, Maw could've started with the capital, but he wanted to start with a city that he figured would have less than this. And besides, it's not like he was told he had to scout them in any specific order. He may have been given a mission, but it was up to him on how to achieve it. Frankly, he was surprised that Pouf was lenient in that regard given his attitude toward him lately.