Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

Buhara's youthful face made him look about thirteen or fourteen, but his height and build were closer to that of an eighteen-year-old, as he was tall and fat.

With his buzz cut, short and thick eyebrows, small eyes, and an upturned nose, combined with a perpetually smiling wide mouth, he exuded a simple and kind-hearted demeanor.

As a relatively conspicuous person in the reef area, Law had taken note of Buhara. His distinctive appearance and body shape were very similar to the examiner of the original work's Hunter Exam at the second phase.

Afterwards, Law deliberately approached Buhara, and confirmed his guess after learning the name.

Buhara was also here to take the Hunter Exam, but he came to Marvando a month earlier.

After arriving at Marvando, most of his travel funds went to paying for his accommodation. Upon learning about the existence of drift clams, Buhara used the last of his money to rent a fishing net. Then, every day, he fished for drift clams in the reef area, which became his daily meals.

This guy wasn't very lucky. While he could catch a lot of drift clams every day, the pearls he got were only average. The money he earned was just enough to cover his rent and the net rental fees.

The reason why he insisted on eating drift clams every day was that, on one hand, drift clams were the only seafood he could get, and on the other hand, after Law prepared a dish of thinly sliced, chilled shell meat for him once, Buhara became addicted. From then on, he wouldn't stop pestering Law to cut the clam's meat for him.

The two walked along the streets of Marvando, and saw many gambling stalls along the way.

Drift clams of various shapes and qualities were displayed on tables for buyers to choose from. The lowest price of a drift clam is 50,000 Jenny, but the general price is more than 100,000 Jenny.

It was the busiest time of day, so there are many people gathering at various gambling stalls.

One after another, people selected their drift clams, paid, and opened them. In just a few minutes, they can find out whether they have made a profit or a loss.

As clam gambling gained popularity, the value of drift clams was gradually replaced by the pearls inside. Nowadays, there are very few people like Buhara, who would fish the drift clam for the meat.

Some time ago, a lucky young man found a few black pearls the size of a thumbnail, which were bought on the spot by a jeweler for seven million Jenny.

The young man was so delighted that he could not and 'invested' the 7 million Jenny in the clam gambling. In the end, he lost everything and became one of the clam fishers on the reef area.

Such phenomenon is not uncommon in Marvando.

Law had originally considered trying his luck with clam gambling to see if he could get a nice purple pearl to bring back as a gift for Machi.

However, he has been busy practicing reef racing during this period. Moreover, Buhara would send twenty or thirty drift clams every day, so there was no need for Law to participate in the clam gambling.

Opening dozens of clams each day yielded quite a few pearls, but none were particularly valuable.

After clam gambling became popular, Marvando could open a lot of clams every day. As the saying goes, scarcity makes things valuable. As more and more pearls of ordinary quality were opened, their prices naturally became lower and lower. Only pearls with rare colors and good appearance were worth anything significant.

After passing through the bustling streets, they arrived in a quieter residential area.

Law led Buhara back to the old lady's house.

In the courtyard, the old lady was sitting by the door, weaving a fishing net, while Sanbica was helping her.

As the two entered, Buhara instinctively headed to the well in the yard. Then, without needing instructions from Law, he tossed the drift clams he had brought onto the ground and started fetching water.

"How's the reef racing practice going?" The old lady stopped what she was doing, and asked as she looked up at Law with a faint smile on her face.

"Almost there." Law replied with a grin.

The old lady nodded slightly and said with emotion: "Not many outsiders who come to Marvando are willing to practice reef racing. Instead, they were attracted by the clam gambling and didn't think about how to get on the ship when it arrives."

"Reef racing is pretty hard to master." Law admitted with a wry smile. He had to capsize many times before barely getting the hang of it.

"Is mastering a skill for survival supposed to be easy?" The old lady shot him a stern look.

Law said weakly: "You're right. If I weren't so interested, I would've given up after just a few days."

"Learning more skills never hurts. People who quit just because it's too hard will stay the same their whole lives." The old lady lectured.

"You are right!"

Law played the role of an obedient student with a proper attitude, but Sanbica gave him a pitiful look.

The old lady believed that it was always better to have many skills, so she made Sanbica learn how to weave fishing nets.

If the old lady hadn't been living alone, Law would have really thought that she was grooming Sanbica to become her granddaughter-in-law.

Noticing Sanbica's gaze, Law pretended not to notice. He suspected that if it weren't for the reef racing practice, the old lady might have asked him to learn how to weave fishing nets.

No matter what, Sanbica was already beyond saving and there was nothing Law could do to help her.

Seeing that Law deliberately ignore her gaze, Sanbica felt helpless.

"Law, it's ready."

At this time, Buhara, who had drawn a large bucket of water, called out impatiently.

"Open them all."

Law walked to the well, then half squatted down and looked at the thirty-one drift clams neatly arranged on the ground.

Each shell was about the size of a washbasin, with a slightly flat shell surface and a deep, dark purple color.

Law had already eaten the meat of drift clams, and the Awakening Rate only increased by 0.1%, which was not even the average value. The effect was disappointingly low.

Buhara rubbed his hands in anticipation and used brute force to pry open the in anticipation. As soon as he cracked one open, he moved straight on to the next.

Meanwhile, Law was tasked with collecting the pearls. He dug into the pale yellow clam meat to pull out pearl after pearl, tossing them casually into a nearby basin.

The value of a pearl depended on its luster, color, size, surface quality, and shape. Naturally perfect pearls, which were untouched by human hands, were rare treasures.

The pearls extracted from drift clams were mostly unremarkable. Occasionally, a pearl with decent color and size would appear, but the color is too common, so they weren't worth much.

After digging up over a dozen pearls, Law suddenly dug out a flawless black pearl from one of the clams. The appearance, size and color were all of the highest quality, and there was no defect on the surface.

When Law saw this beautiful black pearl, Sanbica's eyes immediately came to his mind...

"What a beautiful pearl." Buhara was also attracted by the black pearl and stopped what he was doing.

When the old lady and Sanbica heard Buhara's loud voice, they turned to look at the black pearl in Law's hand.

"You're lucky." The old lady remarked as she stared at the black pearl, "It has been a long time since I've seen a black pearl of such quality."

"Buhara, keep on opening the clams."

Law said after a pause. Then, he walked over to Sanbica, handed the black pearl to her, and said simply, "It's yours."

Sanbica was stunned when she heard this, while a teasing glint flickered in the old lady's eyes. She said in a faint voice: "Sanbica, according to our customs here, if a man gives you a beautiful pearl, you must accept it."

What the old lady left unsaid was the rest of the tradition: the man gives the pearl, the woman strings it into jewelry, and it becomes a token of their love.

"Is that so…"

Sanbica came to her senses. She did not doubt the old lady and slowly took the pearl. She looked at it closely, and was actually a little happy.

After seeing Sanbica take the black pearl, Law quickly returned to the well.

He had a feeling that his luck today might be extraordinary. If he could just dig up a purple pearl, it would be perfect, as it is the gift he could bring back for Machi.

After all, Purple is Machi's favorite color, and it matches her hair color.

Meanwhile, the black pearl is as beautiful as Sanbica's eyes, so it is the perfect gift for her.

When Law turned and walked away, the old lady looked at Sanbica and said seriously: "Sanbica, I see that you have almost mastered how to weave nets. Now, I will start teaching you pearl weaving."

"Huh?"

Hearing this, Sanbica was dumbfounded. She hadn't even finished learning how to weave nets, and now she had to learn pearl weaving?