Gourmet Hunter (HxH Fanfic)

In the dim, dry cave, Law was holding a set of stained clothes in his hand. It was the outer garment he had taken off from Sanbica.

He gently set them aside and stared silently at Sanbica's unusual face.

In all the time he had known her, Law had never seen Sanbica's true appearance.

After all, Sanbica always kept her face concealed, showing only her eyes. Even her hands were always covered by gloves.

He still remembered how, in the beginning, Sanbica had been extremely wary of physical contact. And over time, Law had noticed that Sanbica's physical condition was quite frail… even by the standards of Nen Users.

Now, seeing her face beneath the mask for the first time, he finally understood part of the reason.

Cute… that was the first word that popped into Law's mind the moment he saw Sanbica's face.

Her eyebrows were slender, arched in soft crescents. Her nose was straight and delicate. Her lips were small and thin… So thin that when she pursed her lips tightly, it even seemed as if her lips were disappearing.

Law thought Sanbica had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. Although they are closed now, they gave her an aura of fragility that tugged at the heart.

His first impression was cute, and the second came quickly after… fragile.

Sanbica's skin… was so pale that it was nearly translucent.

It was not an ordinary sickly white, but more like the lifeless white of a corpse. There wasn't the faintest hint of blood beneath the surface, and delicate blue veins webbed across her skin in striking contrast.

Staring closely at those blue patterns, it almost seemed like he could see the blood pulsing through them.

This pale complexion, which is associated with fragility, is not limited to her delicate face, but also extends to her arms, her legs, and likely the rest of her body beneath her clothes.

Law reached out and gently touched Sanbica's cheek, as if handling a precious piece of porcelain. Her skin was soft and cold to the touch.

"So this is Sanbica's condition..."

Law murmured. He withdrew his hand, and instead pressed it on Sanbica's shoulder and waist, carefully shifting her onto her side. Then, he lifted the thin, white short-sleeved shirt she wore.

There, on her lower back, was a swollen, bruised lump… so prominent it had shown through even her outer clothes. Now, with the fabric lifted, it was glaringly obvious.

Seeing the injury, and imagining the danger Sanbica must have been in, a wave of killing intent surged from Law.

Although he didn't know all the details of her mission, one thing was beyond doubt: the prison should have been on her side, not her enemy.

Law had no interest in uncovering whatever was going on behind the scenes. As long as Sanbica was safe, that was enough for him. But if they dared to keep pushing… he would make them regret it.

Suppressing the killing intent that emerged from the bottom of his heart, Law picked up the bottle of medicine Biscuit had given him. He opened the bottle cap, and poured a small amount into his palm. It was a sticky, mint-green liquid.

After briefly gauging the quantity, he pressed his hand to Sanbica's lower back and began to gently rub the salve into her skin, massaging in slow circles to help her skin absorb the medicine faster.

Law was being as gentle as possible, but the injury was so severe that even the lightest touch caused pain, so much so that when he was rubbing, Sanbica's brows remained tightly furrowed the entire time, her expression clearly pained.

He used three applications in total, massaging the area for ten full minutes before finally stopping. He put the medicine away and carefully smoothed her thin white shirt back down.

"Whew."

After applying the medicine, Law let out a long breath.

He had no idea whether Biscuit's so-called miracle remedy for bruises and trauma would work, but under the circumstances, this was the best he could do for now.

He picked up the coat beside him and began to feel troubled as he looked at Sanbica's body.

'Getting her out of those clothes had already been a struggle. Now I had to try and get them back on? That sounded like pure torture.'

"…Maybe I should just cover her up instead?"

Law opened his eyes wide and thought seriously about the feasibility of this approach. When he thought about the difficulty of helping Sanbica put on the clothes, he wanted to raise the white flag and surrender.

On a layered bed of dry hay, Sanbica lay on her side. She wore a short-sleeved white gauze shirt, her developing curves faintly outlined, and a pair of shorts so minimal they left nearly the entirety of her thighs exposed.

If Law had been a more experienced man, he would definitely not mind the trouble and would have done whatever it took to get Sanbica properly dressed again.

But in the end, Law decided to just cover Sanbica with her clothes as a blanket and call it done. And that's exactly what he did.

After laying the coat over her, Law lay down beside Sanbica. He needed a proper rest so that his Potential Aura, which was almost exhausted, could recover as soon as possible.

"There's Kuro keeping watch outside. I guess that's good enough."

Law mumbled and closed his eyelids. At the same time, he closed his Aura Nodes, allowing his body to enter Zetsu state, and suddenly, he felt sleepy.

He thought that Kuro was still of some use. If not for him swallowing all those rocks and soil, Law'd never have created this hidden cave.

Now, with him standing guard, he could finally rest easy.

Before long, Law fell into a deep sleep.

Meanwhile, in the forest, nearly a hundred artificial creatures were scouring the area in a sweeping search. This place was certainly dangerous, but to them, it was no great concern.

For Dove and his group, however, it was a different story.

Demon Island was undoubtedly a very dangerous area, and this forest is one of the most dangerous places on Demon Island.

The forest spanned a vast area, with dense and lush vegetation. Finding one person in this ocean of trees was no easy task.

But Dove was determined to obtain Sanbica's ability. No matter how long it took or how troublesome it became, he would find her.

From the very beginning, he had never believed Law could stand against a hundred of his artificial creatures. Maybe Law could take out a dozen or two, but that was a small price to pay for what they would gain.

This is because Sanbica's ability was one of a kind, and although the materials needed to make artificial creatures are demanding, they can be produced in endless quantities if one is willing to do so.