DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN HXH
BETA: Aesclapia
Chapter 34: An Unlikely Referral
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Roughly a month since his last meet up with Kuroro, Kurapika got wind of some information about another pair of Kuruta Eyes—in a suspiciously coincidental way.
After Linos Escheria's visit, only four more clients requested for some security service from Nostrad's newly-built agency, and none of them were anything major or eventful. It didn't come as a surprise as they were considered green in the industry and they weren't expecting to find and get big-shot customers anytime soon—that was why Kurapika had an instinctive feeling that something was amiss when Linssen announced that he had received a phone call requesting for a security service for an international artist who happened to be a wealthy businesswoman as well.
"They are asking for particular qualifications for the guards that they want to hire, and they are willing to double the rate should those qualifications be met. When I asked how they found our agency, they just said they got our number through a referral but wouldn't divulge any more information. Also, the client herself will conduct the final interview. The secretary warned me about her meticulous taste and said that we shouldn't send anyone who doesn't fit her requirements. She already sounds like a handful, but it also seems like a good deal. I'm sure Nostrad-san would be more than willing to get this chance to serve someone as big-shot as Lady Chu despite her bizarre demands. Unfortunately, though, you're the most suitable for the role," Linssen sincerely looked dreadful on behalf of Kurapika as he handed him the client's file. Kurapika opened it and gave the content a quick scan then frowned slightly at the indicated qualifications for the requested guard.
'Someone who has small physique and androgynous look, regardless of gender, with hair no shorter than nape-length and round, big eyes. Doll-like features are a plus. Must be willing to wear different clothes (ranging from casual clothes to costumes) upon the request of the client. Not older than thirty years old.'
"Ridiculously specific descriptions, right?" Linssen said.
Kurapika nodded. "No wonder they are willing to double the rate. Guards with these qualities are rare. If you have the looks of a cute doll, you'll look for a more suitable job to put it to use like modeling or acting, not something as dangerous as being a bodyguard."
At that, Linssen and the other three guards who were playing cards in the lounge area while secretly listening to their conversation simultaneously gave Kurapika a strange look.
"What is it?" Kurapika asked, bewildered with their reaction.
Linssen chose not to respond and advised instead, "I suggest you run a quick background check on the client. She's known for her paintings with Victorian and dark themes. She's running her own companies that sell other artworks and art materials and manufacture her own brand of paints. She's crazy rich so you should know what to expect once you meet her."
"I will. Thanks," Kurapika said with a curt nod. He left the lounge area and returned to his office to do what Linssen had suggested.
The information that he easily found on the internet was already included in the client's file. Chu Luo, popularly known as Lady Chu, was quite a celebrity in the art industry. She was famous for her hyperrealistic oil and splash paintings and had an obscene obsession with dolls. Apparently, her favorite motif was goth and depiction of the ancient Victorian Era, and most of her subjects were beautiful females.
Aside from being a famous artist, she was also a successful businesswoman. She owned several stores worldwide that sold her artworks, artbooks, art materials and her own brand of art paints. She had her own paint factory and was concocting her own paint colors. According to the latest article Kurapika found online, she was also about to open her own art school this year. And to add cherry on top, she was also an exceptionally pretty and young-looking woman. It now made sense why she wanted to be surrounded only by pretty guards.
The escort duty would only last for one week during her stay at her ancestral mansion at the Birmid Island to celebrate her 30th birthday as well as to formally announce the opening of her art school. If Kurapika were to be honest, he wasn't looking forward to this duty. As Linssen had said, Lady Chu indeed looked like a very sophisticated and self-absorbed mistress. She looked harder to deal with than Neon Nostrad, and he didn't like the idea of being dolled-up just to fulfill someone's whims. He had more important things to do; lately, it was getting harder to find clues about the whereabouts of the Kuruta eyes and he wanted to focus on it but if Nostrad asked him to do it, then there was nothing he could do.
Instinctively, though, he could feel that there was something odd about this escort job. For a famous and wealthy artist who happened to have a penchant for aesthetics to find their newly-opened and small agency in search of pretty guards through a mysterious referral… Something about this was just setting alarm bells ringing on Kurapika. He suddenly had a (bad) gut feeling.
Determined, he spent some more hours in front of his laptop in search of any clue that could be related to the Kuruta Eyes and their eccentric client-to-be.
Around two hours later, his effort bore fruit. Kurapika was idly checking the website of Lady Chu's art store when he stumbled upon the collection of her paint colors. The paints' color palette were created by Lady Chu herself and were exclusively sold at her stores. There were ordinary-looking, unique and remarkably eye-catching colors in the selection. When Kurapika reached the red shade section on the list, he froze at the sight of a particular shade that had a generic but disturbing name. His gut feeling intensified and he clicked the color shade for a closer look.
Considered as one of the most beautiful colors in the world, it should not come as a surprise that artists would be interested in the Kuruta Eyes. While a little inferior in comparison to the original shade, Kurapika would bet that this particular vibrant scarlet color that Lady Chu created was inspired by the color of his people's eyes. The shade's name even supported his theory somehow as it was known that the scarlet eyes would retain their color should their owner die in that state.
'Eternal Scarlet.'
Kurapika knew that his lead was circumstantial, even baseless, but he still tried to search for more clues to support his suspicion. According to his sources, however, nothing could be linked between the artist and the eyes, either because she was good at hiding it or maybe she was just purely inspired by the eyes' color when she created that shade. More hours had passed but still, Kurapika's search was fruitless. He felt like he had already reached a dead end and was about to just call it a day when an unpleasant idea crossed his mind.
Kurapika's eyebrows knitted into a deep frown. He leaned on his chair and reluctantly entertained the thought. In the end, he decided to get on his feet, turn his laptop off and leave the office. He wasn't surprised to find the lounge area empty for it had long gotten past the office hours so Kurapika went straight to his room.
Once his room's door closed, Kurapika fished out his phone from his pocket. It was fortunate that Senritsu wasn't around that day; it would be inconvenient to find another place just to make this damn call. He searched for the unnamed number on his inbox and pressed the call button, his brows already creasing as his mood began to change.
"Yes?" Kuroro answered after the third ring.
"What are you up to again?" Kurapika accusingly asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Lady Chu Luo," Kurapika tersely said.
"Oh."
Kurapika repressed a sigh. "How many pairs does she have?"
"Just one, as far as I know. She's very good at hiding them."
"Why did you lead me to her like this? How did you even pull that referral? Are you actually having a hard time trying to steal the eyes from her? I refuse to believe you're doing this out of benevolence."
He heard Kuroro stifle a laugh. "I thought you'd like to have a chance to get the eyes yourself since you were in a delightful mood last time so I decided to give you a hand."
"In exchange of what?"
"Nothing."
Kurapika scoffed at that. "Who are you trying to fool?"
"Do you think I'm the type of person who'd put so much effort without being sure if I'll be compensated properly or not?"
"No, but I'm sure that you're not the type who'll do something like this without any ulterior motive."
"Why not?" Kuroro said, his tone carefree but serious. "I genuinely enjoyed your company last time so I thought it won't hurt to help you in hopes to get a repeat performance. Quid pro quo. We'll have an equal chance to get the eyes using our own ways or we could work together to accomplish the common goal. If you retrieve it, it's fine. If I do, lucky me."
'He wants my docility and willingness, in other words,' Kurapika was unwillingly reminded of the last night they spent together. While it was understandable that Kuroro wanted to have that amicable session again (Kurapika liked it, too, but that was a secret he would take to his grave), he was annoyed at the notion of being manipulated by the bastard to play along with whatever game he was trying to play. On the other hand, he also thought that it wasn't a bad deal.
Kurapika's eyes narrowed slightly at Kuroro's words. "So you're going to attempt to take the eyes from her, too?"
"Of course. It'll be a race. Whoever takes the eyes from her, by hook or by crook, wins."
Kurapika's frown faded ever so slightly. Yes, it wasn't a bad deal at all.
"Fine," if Kuroro wanted to play like that, he wouldn't mind humoring him. It was a free tip about the eyes and if he was lucky, he would get it without having to put up with the bastard.
"Well then. Goodluck to the both of us. May the best man win."
Kurapika cut the line at that, silently wondering if he just let himself be steered to play along with Kuroro's scheme. He decided not to think about it too much and just focus on how he should interact with Lady Chu to secure a post on her security detail.
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As Kurapika had expected, he passed the initial assessment (likely thanks to his pictures that were included in his CV). It didn't sit well with him that he passed because of his appearance but it was at these instances that he was glad to have decent looks. Along with two more other applicants, they were sent to Birmid Island via Lady Chu's private airship to meet her for the final interview. It seemed lavish to hire pretty guards overseas but money obviously didn't matter to the likes of Lady Chu, particularly when it came to catering her whims.
The trip took about an hour and they were immediately sent to her ancestral mansion upon arrival. They were greeted by Lady Chu's assistant; a smartly dressed, middle-aged handsome man named Hemny. Hemny led them to the mansion's second floor while briefing them about the procedure of the final interview when they suddenly heard a crashing sound from a room.
Instinctively, Kurapika and the other guards tensed up and rushed towards the room where the sound came from only for Hemny to calmly stop them.
"There is nothing to be worried about," Hemny said as he made his way to the room. "Lady Chu tends to be clumsy when working. Please wait here while I check on her."
Kurapika and the others relaxed and stood in front of the door as Hemny opened it. The man had not completely opened the door but the slight gap was enough for Kurapika to get a glimpse of the heart-sinking sight inside the room.
There was a woman standing in front of a collapsed canvas with paints strewn all over the floor. By her feet was a pair of cylindrical containers, unmistakably containing a pair of Kuruta eyes, lying horizontally on the floor as if they had been knocked over. Her foot was dangerously near the container and it moved as if she was about to kick the eyes away and was only stopped by the male assistant's intrusion. Kurapika felt a burning intent to storm inside the room to pick up the eyes and lash out at that woman but even before he could see her face, the door closed.
The sound was muffled but thanks to Kurapika's sharp and enhanced hearing, he could slightly hear the conversation between Hemny and the woman inside the room.
"Damn… I can't get it right!" said the woman.
"Madam, please calm down…" Hemny replied.
"... Let them wait, I'm not in the mood…"
"The event is coming near, please get yourself together…"
'She already sounds like a handful,' Kurapika remembered what Linssen had said. The conversation inside the room ended but the male assistant hadn't come out yet. Subtly, he observed the other applicants' reaction at the commotion and was not surprised to see the underlying dread and nervousness on their faces.
It took some minutes before the male assistant finally emerged from the room. He was gently wiping away sweat from his forehead, visibly stressed out by his master's tantrum, while keeping a small, apologetic smile on his face.
"I apologize for that. Lady Chu does not like being disturbed when she is working and she is not in a very good mood today. We will have to reschedule the interview in the afternoon. For now, let me—"
"Hemny," the door behind the male assistant reopened and a woman stepped out, her little white dress stained with paint. Immediately, Hemny moved to the side to give way for her.
Finally, Kurapika got a proper look at the woman who almost crushed his brethren's eyes under her high heels. Lady Chu looked as beautiful and cold as what Kurapika had seen in her pictures online. She had long and curly chestnut brown hair, light complexion and brown eyes. She was wearing light make-up and bright red pumps, on her right wrist was a gold bracelet stained with mixed paint which were covering her candlelight-shaped hands. She looked at them with narrowed, inspecting eyes while wearing the most unfeeling expression Kurapika had ever seen.
"Yes, Madam?" Hemny responded.
"I changed my mind. Let's do the interview now," Lady Chu said then turned around to return inside the room.
"Understood," Hemny bowed, then turned back to them. "Well then, we will proceed as planned. The interview will be one-on-one. Let us start with you," he told the sole female applicant standing next to Kurapika.
Hemny let the girl inside the room first before guiding Kurapika and the other applicant, a young man with very youthful appearance and vibe, to another room.
The first interview only took about five or six minutes as Hemny returned to the waiting lounge to pick up the next applicant. Kurapika let the young man first as he could sense his nervousness. When it was his turn, Kurapika followed Hemny back to Lady Chu's room, somewhat a little anxious not because of not passing the interview but because he couldn't trust himself to remain calm should he find the eyes damaged just because that woman threw a tantrum.
Kurapika gave a curt bow as he entered the room and subtly looked around in hopes to find the eyes. The Kuruta eyes were nowhere to be seen anymore; what greeted him was Lady Chu holding a tablet with her now clean hands, sitting on her wooden stool in front of a fresh, white canvas. The destroyed canvas that Kurapika saw earlier was now set aside on a corner with a huge, red cross brushed over an unfinished image painted on it.
Kurapika could feel his nails dig into his palm as his fist tightly curled. He knew it was unintentional but the painting and the morbid cross on top of it sent a disturbing message in his mind.
It was a portrait of a cute, doll-like girl wearing a floral headdress and frilly dress. She was expressionless and her big, round scarlet eyes looked ahead, lifeless.
Kurapika recognized that shade. The color used to paint her eyes and the large cross were the same: the Eternal Scarlet shade from Lady Chu's paint palette collection.
"What are you looking at?" Lady Chu asked, her tone sharp.
"I apologize. I just thought the painting was beautiful," Kurapika said.
"Of course it's beautiful," Lady Chu sarcastically said. "But being beautiful isn't enough, that's why the painting is a failure. Kurapika, isn't it?"
"Yes," Kurapika said as he watched Lady Chu scroll on her tablet.
"It says on your resume that your first ever bodyguard assignment was as your client's representative at the York Shin auction around more than a year ago. What exactly did you do there?"
"The York Shin auction that I had attended was the one that was attacked by a group of S-class bandits. I worked as my client's bodyguard as well as the stand-in leader of our group when our leader was killed during the operation. I was also temporarily hired as an assassin by the auction's management after killing one of the bandits' members."
"I see," Lady Chu nodded, seemingly impressed. She looked at him from head to toe next and her gaze landed on his right hand.
"What are those chains on your hand for?"
"It is my weapon. I am a nen-user and I can move these chains according to my will."
"What a strange choice of weapon. Did you buy it?"
"I apologize but I cannot divulge such information. Nen is a complex practice of using energy as special skills and one's abilities differ from the other. Disclosing one's nen ability to others can be dangerous."
"Okay, fine," Lady Chu shrugged. "This is not the first time I hired a nen-user and they told me their skills but I don't understand nor care about it as long as you get your job done."
"I can tell my skills, but not the properties of it. I can do offensive and defensive attacks, render my opponents immobile, track things and heal physical injuries. I can do more things but they are going to be complicated and time-consuming to explain."
"So basically, you're a tough guy to kill," Lady Chu let out an amused chuckle.
"Yes," Kurapika flatly said.
"That's good. I'll assume that you have already been informed of one of the conditions of being my bodyguard but I'll let you know anyway. I occasionally ask my guards to be a model or subject for my projects. Will you be comfortable wearing costumes and crossdress?"
"I have experienced wearing female garments before for an undercover mission. I am fine wearing anything as long as it is not too improper."
"That's all I want to hear. Well then, let's see what you can do. Do you have any questions?"
"None, Madam," Kurapika said.
"Tell Hemny to bring you to your designated room. You may ask him if you have any questions. Also," Lady Chu stood up and put her tablet on a nearby table then picked up her painting palette and brush from the floor. "I want to see how those chains of yours work sometimes. That's all for today."
"Thank you," Kurapika gave a curt bow then left the room as Lady Chu began to work on her blank canvas. Hemny was already standing by the door, waiting for him. He must have heard their conversation as he beckoned Kurapika towards the stairs.
"Please follow me. Your room will be on the ground floor and your belongings were already brought there. Take a look first then I will show you around and introduce you to the other guards," Hemny said as they descended the stairs.
"How about the other two applicants?" Kurapika asked.
"They are to be brought back to the mainland. They did not pass the final screening."
Kurapika was genuinely surprised at that. Those two were a lot more young and good-looking than him.
"Were you fooled by the impression that Lady Chu only chooses the most good-looking ones?"
"I apologize. I couldn't help but presume that given how specific her criteria and requirements were."
"Artists are strange creatures; they find things others cannot usually perceive and they can draw motivation from unlikely places. The moment she saw the other two applicants, she already rejected them. She only changed her mind and went on with the interview when she noticed you."
"Should I take that as a compliment?"
"Yes and no," Hemny said. "It's true that she picked you because you look good, but she also picked you because she sees something in you that she needs and that can be used as an inspiration for her latest project."
"And what would that be?"
"Melancholy, death and despair. Those are the themes of her current project."
Kurapika frowned a little at that.
"What does that mean?"
"I do not know myself," Hemny said then stopped in front of a room. "Here is your room. If you need anything, you may find me in the kitchen located at the far right side of this corridor. I will return later to brief you about the household rules and your shift."
"Thank you," Kurapika said as Hemny bowed and left him.
'Melancholy, death and despair,' Kurapika thought as he entered his room. It now made sense; the lifeless look on the painting's eyes and its association with the Kuruta eyes.
Kurapika tried to recall the rejected painting of the girl with the scarlet eyes. Was Lady Chu just using the eyes as a reference to convey death or was she trying to depict the Kuruta Clan massacre through her work? If the latter was the case, what if…
Kurapika suddenly had an idea. He decided he would observe how things would go first, then he would come up with a plan. If things go according to it, there was a high chance for him to get the eyes, unscathed.
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PS: My promise of updating by the end of 2021 turned to February 2022, and it's only around 3k words... so much for an update after a damn long hiatus, huh? But a short chapter is better than no chapter, right?
So! Please let me shamelessly plug myself here! I've been busy these past few days because a fellow (dormant) KuroKura shipper friend and I have been working on a project! If you're interested to read a unique isekai web comic with superb drawing style, please check out Umbra Legatus by machomaple on the Web Comics App! The comic's story and art was done by machomaple (papaphinks), and was scripted by truly yours! It's about a kickass policewoman that transmigrated as a male protagonist in a fantasy novel. It's fun to work on because it's unusual for a WOMAN to transmigrate as a MAN in another world.
Secondly, I recently found out that someone translated my first published BL original novel written in Filipino into English! If you're curious about it, you may search for 'Seer' by Angelica Sorreda (yes, that's my damn real name) on Novel Updates (or you may click or search for this link: www . novelupdates series / seer / *just kindly remove the spaces*). I also have another Filipino BL published novel but it wasn't translated into English. But if there's any Filipino readers here who are curious, you may look for 'Ang Asul na Buntot ni Aquano | Overtime' online. It was published by Pride Literature under Precious Hearts (I wrote Overtime). You may also find it on my Wattpad page.
I'll try my best to update as soon as I can! Special thanks to Aesclapia and Special Leche Flan Translation for their hard work!