"Thank you for that young lady. Now, Mike won't be overfed." The guard approached them with a small smile.
"Mike?" The small girl asked. As much as she was close to Illumi, he had never mentioned of a Mike before. Was it a pet?
"Mike is the watchdog and pet of the Zoldyck Family."
'Ara, so he is indeed a pet. I WANT TO SEE HIM!'
"Young lady I can see your thoughts clearly from your face. You want to see Mike don't you?"
"Yes!--"
"However, I'm afraid I would not allow that. Thanks to you knocking out those thugs you didn't have to see Mike eat them."
Gon, Kurapika, and Leorio's eyes widen from the guard's words.
'EAT?!'
"It only obeys the family, and will attack anyone else. The beast still follows the order its master gave it 10 years ago... "
" Order?"
"To kill every single intruder."
The guard's aura seemed to lighten up once more as he continued his words in a more joyful manner.
"Technically, he is not following the order, since he keeps eating them!" He says followed by a laugh very uncharacteristic of him. And so, with a smile ever present on his face, he tells Y/N that he cannot let her inside.
"You're a good girl, young one, I wouldn't want you getting eaten by Mike! And he'd be overfed again, haiya..."
He picks up his cup of tea and looks up with his eyes so think they look like they are closed. "I cannot let Master Killua's friends become skeletons."
But Kurapika speaks up as he finally voices out what he had been curious about for some time now. "But how are you safe? You go inside correct? If you never needed to enter you wouldn't need a key either."
His slit like eyes finally open as the guard gazed at Kurapika with proudness at how the young man could notice such a fine detail so early on their conversation.
'They'd be good friends for Young Killua. Especially that girl.'
"How perceptive of you. But you're only half right. I require no key to get inside." He fumbles through the pocket of his guard jacket as he takes out the key hidden in the pockets.
"This is a key for intruders."
Everything finally clicks in Y/N's mind as she realized what the ploy the guard had been doing to avoid further troublemakers. especially with a family as famous as he Zoldycks, even small flies would get attracted like moths to a flame. But she knew that this was bothersome for the assassin family.
"The gate is open." She finally spoke up. The guard looks at her in complete admiration.
"Yes. It is." He said with a smile on his face.
"What do you mean? Then what is the key for?" Leorio asked.
"Well, you see, 80-90% of intruders always come barging in at this front gate, and if I don't open it for them, they resort to just breaking it down. Haiyaa, those troublemakers. So, we made a door that is only locked on one side."
Kurapika finally gets where this is going. However, Leorio and Gon still couldn't figure out what was happening.
"Well, wouldn't it be easier to harrass a helpless guard who has a key to open the door? And so, I give it to them, and Mike eats them."
"Then you are not a guard!"
"Exactly I only clean up after Mike."
"Then the gates really aren't locked?"
"I already said that Leorio-san." Y/N says while pouting. Feeling disregarded in the conversation.
"Then how?"
~*~
The group of five finally goes outside and faces the massive gates in front of them. Leorio immediately jumps to the opportunity and desperately tries to open the massive doors. But no matter how much of his strength he exerts, it is of no use. The gates were not budging.
"I've done everything! Are you sure this isn't locked?!" Leorio asks while panting from exhaustion.
"You are just not strong enough."
"That's absurd!"
"Just watch."
The man takes off his jacket and white long-sleeved shirt which surprisingly hid the bulging muscles of his forearms. A serious look overcame his face as he faced the gate.
"This gate's official name is the Testing Gate. Anyone who cannot open this gate --" He exhales a breath and extends his arms out with his palms open. "-- is unqualified to enter the Zoldyck estate."
He pushes the two metal doors as it made a screeching sound. After exerting his strength, the door barely opened. Y/N comes to his side to assist him after he let go of the doors.
"Are you alright, ji-san?"
"I'm quite alright. But this does get harder as I age. But they're going to fire me if I can't open these anymore. As you can see, the gates are open. It's just that it weighs 2 tons per door and then it doubles. And coincidentally, when Master Killua came home, he opened up to the third door."
"That's 12 tons!" Gon says shocked. Y/N looks away and chuckles to herself.
"It's 16 tons Gon." Kurapika said with a sweardrop.
"And that's how you enter. You wouldn't have to worry about Mike either. He has orders not to attack anyone who passes through the Testing Gate."
"Nee, ji-san?" Y/N tugs at the older man's clothes.
"So, what you're saying is, as long as we open the doors, we can see Killua?"
"Yes."
The girl just smiled brightly at the man, but the gleam of her eyes sent shivers down his spine.
"You should've just said that sooner."
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Hi darlings, it's been quite a while. I apologize for updating so infrequently. I've been just very busy these past weeks. Though, now, that I have a bit more time. I'll try to update as much as I can. I hope you enjoy!