Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

The shop was closed, and the plump woman who had come to buy hotpots left in disappointment.

What Buhara had devoured was enough to feed a family of four for an entire month. Moreover, those hotpots weren't simple to make, and once sold out, it would take at least three days to restock.

And so, Sabro shut the shop door in agony. His business was suspended for the time being.

'Why did I have to open my big mouth and tell a glutton to eat whatever he wanted? Even worse, this guy had wiped out my entire inventory in just half an hour!'

Law ignored what was happening below and continued sorting through the clutter on the bed. There was just so much of it, all tangled together.

After considerable effort, he finally cleared away the mess, revealing three wooden chests underneath. Their surfaces were carved with intricate patterns of animals and plants.

Wooden chests were a rare sight in the desert. Most of the furniture in Sabro's house was made of sand and stone, so wooden household items were hard to come by.

Judging by their size, the chests seemed to be storage containers, and each of them is secured with a small lock.

The unknown object indicated by the White Smoke Font is in one of the three wooden boxes.

To Law, the locks might as well not exist, as he could open them effortlessly. But these were someone else's belongings after all, and without permission, he couldn't just pry them open.

After hesitating for a while, he did not open the box without permission, but went to find Sabro to ask for his consent first.

When Law went to find him, Sabro had just finished cleaning Linne's room. Linne herself sat in a chair with her eyes closed, it was unknown whether she was asleep or not.

"You're talking about those three wooden boxes?" Sabro's brows furrowed slightly.

"Yeah." Law nodded.

"The things in there are all antique trinkets that my sister found on Vulture Street many years ago. If you're interested, I'll find the keys for you later."

There was a peculiar weight to Sabro's tone.

Those trinkets were relics in all but name… mementos of someone gone.

His younger sister, Salin, whom Linne had asked about earlier, risked her life to go to the Forbidden Zone of ​​the Kandhia Desert many years ago and has not been heard from since then.

"Vulture Street?" A curious look appeared on Law's face.

Sabro suppressed his emotions and explained, "It's a place that specializes in antiques. While it's called a 'street', it's actually a square. Since there's no shortage of rich, clueless outsiders, most of the stuff there is fake… just to scam the fat sheep. Of course, among all those vendors, you'll still find some genuine goods."

Hearing what Sabro said, Law couldn't help but be interested.

Vulture Street sounded like the antique markets in Yorknew City. If this were a big metropolis, Law might not be very interested, but this is the Kandhia Desert.

In the long river of history buried by the yellow sand, there have been countless brilliant and prosperous eras.

In a place like this, even if most of the antiques were fakes, the real ones dug up might not just be valuable… they could very well carry traces of Nen.

Sabro noticed the interest on Law's face and said bluntly, "Don't tell me you're thinking of playing the fool and getting fleeced?"

"I did have this idea." Law replied with an unbothered smile. He still owed Ging a 500 million Jenny translation fee. If he had time, he would really go and make some money.

Originally, Law wasn't in a hurry to make money, but Ging said that he would only give him the translated Selbo script's content after the money was transferred to his account, and he didn't even give Law the chance to owe him money.

In other words, Law had to raise 500 million to exchange for the translated Selbo script's content.

"May Elba bless you."

Sabro blew at his mustache, pinched his thumb and forefinger together, touched his forehead, then pointed vaguely at Law.

'Elba' was what the locals called the sun. It's a word with many meanings. It was the name of the oasis, and also the name of the country.

This 'blessing' of Sabro's was actually a mocking gesture often used by the swindling vendors of Vulture Street. Every time a customer bought something, they would smile and 'bless' them… while inwardly laughing at the gullible fool.

Law didn't know this, nor did he catch Sabro's sarcasm, so he said, "I'd like to take a look inside those chests first."

"I don't know where I tossed the keys. I have to look for them." Sabro said.

"Alright."

Law shrugged helplessly, then immediately changed his mind. Turning to Linne, who was still dozing in the chair, he asked, "Linne, I want to check out Vulture Street."

'This kid actually called Sister Linne by her name!'

At the side, Sabro's eyes widened as he glared at Law, thinking that Law was really disrespectful.

Linne cracked open one eye but didn't speak. She just nodded.

"Then I'm off."

Seeing Linne agreed, Law turned around and ran out the door. As soon as he stepped out of the door, he suddenly stopped, turned his head to look at Sabro, and said, "Oh, and Sabro… if you find the keys, hold onto them for me until I get back."

After saying that, he vanished in a flash.

"Sister Linne, these two brats..."

Sabro stared at the empty doorway and hesitated to speak. He wanted to ask if Law and Buhara were her grandsons or something, but the words got stuck in his throat.

"Didn't I say it before? They're my juniors." Linne closed her eyes again and murmured softly.

"Uh..." Sabro was at a loss, 'Juniors could mean two very different things… Which was it?'

However, he didn't dare to ask further.

.....

After leaving Sabro's house, Law found himself alone on the way to Vulture Street.

Buhara ate up all of Sabro's hotpots, so he had been assigned by Sabro to gather fresh ingredients, such as scorpions and insects.

Following directions from a few locals, Law quickly found the Vulture Street.

As Sabro had said, despite its name, Vulture Street wasn't a street at all. Instead, it was an open-air plaza, like a massive pit carved out of the dense cluster of buildings!

When Law arrived at the square, even though the sun was shining brightly, the square was still bustling with noise and activity. At a glance, there were stalls and crowds of people everywhere.

There were many stalls, each just a blanket spread on the ground with goods piled on top. But regardless of the stall's size, every single one had a sun umbrella propped up over it.

Looking at the lively scene in the plaza, Law felt like he was watching a flurry of banknotes flying around.

Ever since the Six Nen Categories broke through 60%, his progress had slowed to a crawl.

Law had calculated it carefully, if he trained diligently every day, it would take at least thirty years to reach 100% mastery in all Six Nen Categories. However, absorbing Nen from ancient relics or consuming ingredients of B-Grade or higher could drastically shorten that time.

Law came to Vulture Street for two reasons: First, to earn some money, and second, to see if there were any Nen-infused antiques around.

Just as he was about to start browsing properly, his attention was drawn to a raised platform at the center of the plaza, where a large crowd had gathered.

He walked quickly to the platform and saw three people standing on it: an old man in a hooded robe, a woman with a wheatish complexion in sexy clothes, who seemed unafraid of the scorching sun, and a middle-aged man in common civilian clothing.

At this time, on the stone platform in front of the old man in the hooded robe, there was a clay pot. It was deep green all over, with a lifelike relief of a grinning human face carved on one side.

"This is the Pot of Greed from the Ruruka era. Pots from that time all share one flaw, which is that the craftsmanship is crude, so there are usually some flaws on the surface of the pot. Yet this pot has no visible flaws in its appearance."

"The mouth of the pot should be layered, but this one is straight. And the handle should be sickle-shaped, but this one is crescent-shaped."

The old man in the hooded robe was wearing gloves and gently ran his hands over the pot as he spoke with an air of authority.

"Master Zeras, from what you're saying, doesn't that mean this pot is..." The wheatish-skinned woman's eyes flickered with hidden amusement, as if she was just short of outright calling it a fake.

The crowd in front of the platform immediately broke into murmurs, while the middle-aged man on the stage looked utterly despaired.

"It's still too early to draw conclusions." The old man in the hooded robe waved his hand, though his earlier remarks had practically already delivered a death sentence.

Law stared at the Pot of Greed on the stone table. Without touching it himself, he couldn't be sure of its authenticity, but he could see Nen swirling around it… meaning there was a high chance it was the real deal.

"What's going on here?"

Law tugged at the sleeve of a man beside him and asked quietly.

The man glanced at Law and replied impatiently, "Isn't it obvious? They're appraising an antique."