Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

'Does this count as... running away with the bride?'

Seeing Fatima appear here, Law thought to himself.

William was probably angered by Fatima's actions, his gaze sharp as a blade as it swept over her, the aura of someone long accustomed to battle quietly seeping out.

However, Fatima was no ordinary woman. She showed no fear in the face of William's intimidation and threatened: "Take me with you, or you're not going anywhere. I assume there are fifty soldiers stationed at the north gate, and the only ones you've tipped off in advance are the six-man squad guarding the entrance, right?"

Law immediately looked at Fatima in surprise. When he arrived, he noticed William wearing a hat and a face covering, dressed in ordinary clothes, which made him realize that William was clearly planning to sneak away.

Fatima, who must have known William's true identity, had likely shown up here for this very reason.

Noticing Law's gaze, Fatima, as if oblivious to William's volcanic rage, blinked at him and flashed a charming smile.

Law turned his head away, pretending not to see it.

Fatima's threat had clearly hit William's weak spot. The momentum around him gradually receded, though even with the mask covering his face, his anger was unmistakable.

"Once you step out of this gate, you can't come back." William said in a deep voice.

"So what? If you can have no interest in that position, why can't I abandon mine?" Fatima retorted, raising an eyebrow.

"You'll regret this."

With matters at this point, William had no intention of arguing further. He coldly uttered those words before swiftly mounting the armored bull. However, his action acquiesced to Fatima's demand.

Seeing this, Fatima's face lit up with delight, and she also nimbly climbed onto one of the armored bulls. Then, she glanced at Law and Buhara, and said, "You two can just squeeze onto one."

After saying this, she urged her armored bull toward the city gate, her attitude noticeably different from two days ago. Maybe because she had resolved to run from the wedding now, she no longer had any reason to curry favor with Law.

'Pretty willful.'

Law made a comment in his heart, then he and Buhara got on the back of the armored bull.

The Hunter x Hunter World is huge, with many nations, most of which were monarchies.

William and Fatima were the first members of royalty Law had come into contact with, and they didn't quite match his expectations.

In his opinion, princes and princesses should have carried an innate sense of superiority, which was a value system cultivated over time within hierarchical structures.

Law didn't know what other princes and princesses were like, but in any case, he didn't dislike William and Fatima.

The four of them rode three armored bulls, carrying ample supplies as they passed through the city gate and headed into the desert beyond.

Law moved closer to William and asked in a low voice, "Are we really taking her with us?"

"Hey, I can hear you."

Fatima, who was ahead of them, abruptly turned her head, her freckled nose scrunching up in displeasure.

William ignored Fatima and replied coldly: "We'll just ditch her at Goro."

"That's good." Law nodded.

"Don't even think about it!" Fatima shouted.

William chose to ignore her entirely.

Law patted the armored bull, speeding up to catch up with Fatima, and asked curiously: "Is that a human skin mask?"

"Want to know?" There was a mischievous glint in Fatima's beautiful eyes. Her disguise wasn't flawless, and the only inconsistency was that while her overall appearance was plain, while her eyes remained largely unchanged.

Law nodded. He was very interested in this. Long ago, he had even asked Kenda about issues such as human skin masks. In his opinion, disguises were usually tools used by assassins. He never expected a princess from a desert nation to possess such skills.

"Beg me." Fatima teased.

"Please." Law said without hesitation.

Fatima was stunned for a moment, and then decided not to tease him further. She put her hand on her face, peeled off the mask, revealing her original beautiful appearance, and said, "See?"

Law's eyes sparkled with interest, "Did you make this yourself?"

"Of course." Fatima carefully put the human skin mask on her face again. Thanks to the steady pace of the armored bull, she was not affected by the bumps.

"Teach me?" Law said with a smile.

"No can do. Right, big brother?" Fatima glanced at William beside her, even changing how she addressed him.

William ignored her, his gaze fixed ahead.

Fatima looked unbothered. She turned to look at Law and explained, "It's down only within the family, and only to women, not men."

"There's a rule like that?" Law was stunned.

Fatima smiled and said, "That's right."

"Can you make an exception? I really want to learn." Law pressed, unwilling to give up.

"In your dreams." Fatima scoffed, rolling her eyes before urging her armored bull forward, speeding ahead of the group.

Law rubbed his temples, feeling distressed, wondering if there was any way he could learn the disguise technique from Fatima.

"Boss, why do you want to learn this?" Buhara asked.

"For fun." Law replied.

Buhara was stunned when he heard this.

…

The group left Elba behind, traveling nonstop for two hours under the scorching sun, constantly replenishing their water to endure the heat.

The armored bulls possessed an innate, keen sense of danger, allowing them to avoid potential threats in the desert. This was why they were the only viable means of transportation in such a perilous environment… something even camels couldn't replace.

Two hours passed without incident.

As they crossed a sand dune, they suddenly heard the sound of fighting in the distance.

"It's the sand bandits raiding. Let's detour around them. They're ruthless, not even sparing scraps." William said, squinting toward the commotion about a kilometer away, where dust swirled and hundreds clashed.

"That's the flag of Goro Kingdom." Fatima remarked, peering through a small, exquisite monocular telescope.

"Give it to me." William frowned, holding out his hand towards Fatima.

Seeing this, Fatima tossed it over without hesitation.

William raised the telescope to his eye, looked at the battle carefully for a while, then put it down with a hesitant look on his face.

"That must be Goro's Sixth Prince's convoy." Fatima said as she looked at William.

William nodded slightly. Given the timing and location, it was indeed likely the Sixth Prince of Goro, who had come to Elba to propose marriage.

The sand bandits had grown increasingly bold, and with good reason.

'Should we help, or avoid them?'

'If we want to rescue them, we will take great risks and possibly even getting ourselves killed in the process.'

William thought for a while, and decided that it was better to have less trouble than more, so he said lightly: "Let's go. We'll take a detour."

"You'd just leave them to die?" Fatima stared at William.

"Isn't this perfect for you? If the Sixth Prince dies, you won't have to marry him. You can just return to Elba." William replied calmly, meeting Fatima's accusatory gaze.

"If the Sixth Prince dies, there's still the Seventh Prince, the Eighth Prince…" Fatima took out a crossbow from somewhere, skillfully pulled out a crossbow bolt, and then coated it with an unknown poison.

Her stance made it clear… she intended to rescue the so-called Sixth Prince.

"When will you ever stop being this reckless?" William asked angrily.

Fatima said nothing, simply nocking the bolt.

"Enough arguing. I'll go save them." Law took a deep look at Fatima and felt that this woman didn't look like a princess at all.

"Buhara, you stay here. The sand bandits have already discovered us."

"Got it."

Buhala jumped off the armored bull without hesitation.

In the distance, a dozen figures broke away from the battle, charging toward their position.

As Buhara jumped down, Law urged his armored bull to rush down the sand dune to meet the dozen or so sand bandits rushing towards them.

"Hey, don't go there alone!"

Fatima was startled and was about to spur her mount to catch up, but then she saw Buhara standing in front of her, blocking her way.

"What are you doing?" Fatima glared.

"Boss can handle it by himself." Buhara said simply.

At this time, William watched Law approaching the sand bandit, and after a moment, he said to Buhala, "Make sure she stays here."

After saying this, he spurred his mount towards the sane dune.

Suddenly, screams were heard from hundreds of meters away.

William, Fatima and Buhara looked forward, only to see that the dozen or so sand bandits who had been charging toward them now lying headless on the sand.

"So fast!?" Fatima was stunned.