Baby Spider

Chapter 3

"It's a precaution," said Franklin, reaching over to ruffle my hair. "And we've told you before, boss'll have our heads if anything happens to you."

"HAHA! As if we would let any of those weaklings get their grubby hands on her!" Uvogin said. "Come on! Be honest! Do ya honestly think we'd be that stupid to let that happen?"

"I don't know, considering that you're the loudest member, you're more likely to grab attention than not," I muttered.

The hot air balloon landed and the group split up.

I readjusted the straps of the dress and accepted Feitan's arm. Together, we entered the Auction house. Once inside, Feitan and Franklin split up from Shizuku and me. Once we hear ruckus from inside, we'll know that they've done their part.

Humming a tune, I leaned against a pillar. Every so often, I'd feel a slight tingle from my En. It can reach up to 100 meters, but it's physically draining if I hold it up for too long.

That's when I felt it. A familiar tingle.

Kurapika is nearby.

"Ah! They started!"

Snapping me out of my thoughts, I sashayed over to Shizuku. The sound of ringing bullets going off echoed behind the doors in front of us.

"Hmh. Franklin is doing a good job at wiping them out," I agreed. "Wonder how long it's going to take. Surely there are other Nen users in there too, yeah?"

The door burst open and a woman and a man toppled out.

Summoning Blinky, Shizuku took out the man before he could finish his call to his employer no doubt.

The woman gasped and started to flee, chucking her heels off as she went. Tossing a knife in the air, I chucked it at the woman, lodging it in the back of her head.

"Shizu-nee, I finished on my end," I said. "Let's clear the area before meeting with Franklin and Feitan-nii."

Ah. A bit off-topic, but you're probably wondering why I don't call Feitan or Franklin "nii" like I do with Sharlnark or Nii-chan. Feitan, Franklin, and Nobunaga don't really like it when I call them that; especially out in public. Phinks is indifferent as are Kortopi and Bolonoenov. Back to the present. Uvogin....well, I try to avoid him most of the time.

Shizu-nee and I entered the auction room together. My nose scrunched up at the smell of copper and my eyes narrowed at the sight of blood.

"Ew," I mumbled.

"Says the one who took someone out with Shizuku," said Feitan with a sigh. "I didn't get to do anything."

"All yours, Shizuku," Shizu-nee nodded.

"Let's go, Blinky," said Shizu-nee. "Such up the bodies, blood, body parts, and all of their possessions. Grab the chairs too."

And they went to work.

I moved out of the way to stand next to Franklin and Feitan.

"Do you think the others have reached the vault by now?" I asked.

"They should have by now," said Franklin. "There's always a chance of not going according to plan."

I hummed and we continued to watch Shizu-nee and Blinky work.

"Shizuku's Nen ability is always entertaining to watch," said Feitan.

"Oh?"

"Hmm?"

"Oh, hey. He's alive!"

A man struggling to get up glared at us with a scowl.

"W-who are you?" The man demanded. "Doesn't matter. You're all dead! The community will destroy you! Your family! Torture you....cut you up. You'll taste hell!"

In a blink of an eye, he was dead, his head flew off. Feitan smirked and turned around.

"Family?" He repeated. "What's that?" And Blinky sucked up the body.

Glancing at the door, my En picked up multiple footsteps entering the building.

"Multiple people are coming."

______

Sailing through the air, every one of us regrouped.

Uvogin had his phone pressed to his ear, talking to Nii-chan.

"According to the auctioneer, the only one who knew the situation everything in the safe had been moved a few hours earlier. Exactly as though they expected this to happen. Don't you find the timing too perfect? We have....a Judas among us." Silence.

"We have a Judas among us," Uvogin repeated.

"You're saying that one of us is a traitor?" Nobunaga asked, frowning at Uvogin.

"Well, of course! How else would they have known?" Uvogin said. "Seeing that little miss baby spider went missing a few hours prior, don't you think it's a coincidence?"

"Now, hold on-" I started.

"There are no traitors."

Everyone stilled at Nii-chan's voice over the phone.

"Besides, Judas wasn't a traitor. It's said that Judas sold Jesus out for thirty pieces of silver. But how much would a traitor ask from the Mafia? Consider the merits. What would the traitor gain by selling us to the Mafia? Money? Glory? Prestige? Do you truly believe that any of us cares for those things?"

Uvogin sucked in a breath.

"It's unlikely," Uvogin agreed.

"You see?" Nii-chan said. "Besides, something else here doesn't add up."

"Huh?"

"Assuming there were a spy, the response was too tepid. If they had foreknowledge, the Class-A bounties would appear at the auction, they would have increased security. The auction-goers were all uninformed and unarmed."

"That's true."

"I believe that someone provided information that wasn't explicit. However, a Mafia community leader believed that information."

"I don't get it. Who told who what? Whatever. So what do we do?"

"Did you ask the auctioneer where the merchandise was moved?"

"Yeah, but he swore on his life that he didn't know. Feitan tortured him, so he wasn't lying."

"He had the worst luck of them all today," Feitan mumbled.

"Did you get the names of anyone who might know?"

"You bet I did," said Uvogin. "The auction is run by the Mafia community heads who lead gangs in each of the ten districts around the world. They're called the Ten Dons. This is the only time that the ten gather in one place to discuss business and issues orders. Their commands are carried out by a special force, the Shadow Beasts. This squad consists of each don's best combatants."

"I see then," said Nii-chan. "Since the Shadow Beasts weren't guarding the auction house, the Mafia didn't know we were coming."

"That makes sense," said Uvogin.

"Then how did they move the merchandise?"

"That's right. I heard that a single Shadow Beast member turned up at the safe. The twenty-five-square-meter safe was packed with items ready to be auctioned off. The Shadow Beast walked in then walked right back out, empty-handed. But the safe was emptied. It was a man in sunglasses calling himself Owl."

"He must possess a Nen power similar to Shizuku's," said Nii-chan.

"Probably," said Uvogin.

"Surely they noticed after five hundred people disappeared that they're facing Nen users."

"Can we let loose?" Uvogin asked with a grin.

"Naturally." Uvogin's grin widened. "Put on a show for the pursuers. That will draw them out."

Uvogin started to laugh.

"I can't wait..."