Chapter 1 : Prologue l

Kujira-tō (Whale Island).

Kujira-tō is a small, whale-shaped island. It was semi-isolated with very few visitors, and this applied to the residents as well, as there were only a few hundred people on the island. This left a lot of forests and natural areas, enhancing the island's beauty, especially since its inhabitants relied on fishing to live.

All the people on the island were simple and kind-hearted, always considerate and welcoming to everyone with open arms. Among them were Yukihime and Touta, strangers who had arrived on the island two years ago and were now considered part of the island's residents.

"Touta-kun!!, where is Yukihime-sensei?" asked a man to a boy around 13 or 14 years old, who was sitting at the harbor with a fishing rod.

The boy, who was 165 cm tall, had spiky black hair and a pair of blood-red eyes. It was clear that he would grow up to be an extremely handsome man.

"I don't know, but she should be drinking at Mito-san's bar," Touta said nonchalantly as he pulled his empty line from the water and stood up. "Seriously, what is Yukihime thinking, drinking this early in the morning?"

"You should have expected that," the man muttered in mild resignation. Despite Yukihime being a beautiful and attractive woman, she drank a lot and had rejected everyone who had confessed to her in the past two years.

Yukihime was a stunningly beautiful woman with long silver hair that reached below her waist, striking purple eyes, and a well-proportioned figure. Any woman who saw her would feel envious of her beauty, while men couldn't help but be mesmerized by her.

"Speaking of Mito-san, what happened with Gon?" asked another man with a thoughtful expression. "I wonder if he managed to catch the Numa no Nushi."

"Fool, Gon is only twelve years old. It's impossible for him to catch the Numa no Nushi," another man said with a mocking smile. "Mito-san didn't want to send him to the Hunter Exam, so she gave him this impossible task instead."

"But wasn't the Numa no Nushi caught 20 years ago?" said another man with a nostalgic smile. "As I recall, Gon's father was the one who caught it back then."

"Are you suggesting that Gon will catch the Numa no Nushi like his father?" scoffed another man as he placed a basket full of fish on his back. "That's impossible, impossible."

"..." Touta silently glared at the men mocking his friend. He couldn't help but frown, clearly disliking how others were ridiculing his friend for pursuing his dream.

On this island, there were only three children, and Gon was the closest in age to Touta. They often spent time together, which is why they were friends. Touta didn't appreciate how others made fun of Gon.

"Instead of mocking Gon, why don't you go and try to catch the Numa no Nushi yourselves?" Touta said suddenly, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Oh~, now I remember that 20 of you tried to catch it and couldn't, so you gave up."

"Touta, you little brat!!" The faces of the men who had been mocking Gon turned red with embarrassment, as what Touta said was their most shameful history.

"What? Do you want to fight?" Touta said, rolling up his sleeves, ready to take on the five or six men without any fear. He was confident in his ability to defeat them.

Even though Touta was only 14 years old, he was incredibly strong, capable of defeating ten grown men in a fight by himself.

"Muscle-headed fool," one of the men sneered and quickly fled, lacking the courage to fight Touta.

After the first one ran, the others soon followed, one after the other. Even though it wasn't a real fight, they didn't want to risk being beaten up by Touta.

"Are you Konoe Touta-kun?" asked a kind and polite voice from behind Touta.

"That's right, and who are you?" Touta asked, looking at the stranger, who had clearly just arrived on the island, especially given the bag he was carrying.

The man had the appearance of a gentleman, with a pleasant smile on his handsome face, blue hair, black eyes, and a suit matching his hair color with a yellow tie.

"I apologize for my rudeness. My name is Tachibana, and I'm an acquaintance of Yukihime-san," said the man known as Tachibana with an apologetic smile. "When I saw you, I couldn't wait to speak with you, as Yukihime-san often talks about you in her letters."

"An acquaintance of Yukihime..." muttered Touta, eyeing the man, who reeked of hypocrisy, with some suspicion. Even though he didn't know much about Yukihime's acquaintances, he didn't believe she would know someone as two-faced as the man in front of him.

"That's right. I'm also a teacher, and I used to work with Yukihime-san," Tachibana said, approaching Touta with a smile and whispering in his ear when he saw Touta's doubt. "To be honest, I confessed to Yukihime-san once, and she rejected me. But we're still good friends, and that's why I'm here today, to invite her to my wedding."

"PFFFT~" Touta couldn't help but laugh at the embarrassed man before him. It seemed he was so desperate to see Yukihime that he was willing to humiliate himself. "Alright, I'll take you to Yukihime, Tachibana-san."

"Really, thank you, Touta-kun," Tachibana said with a genuine smile, excitement gleaming in his eyes as he eagerly grabbed Touta's shoulder.

"Well, even if he has bad intentions, he won't be able to hurt Yukihime with me around," Touta thought as he headed toward his home, where Yukihime should be preparing for her afternoon lessons.

Touta was incredibly strong on the island, and no one could defeat him, which is why he was confident he could handle Tachibana, who clearly had hidden motives.

...

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