The moment the scout vanished, Nique felt it.
He didn't answer Law immediately. Instead, he stared at the spot where the scout had disappeared, a strange expression on his face.
After a moment, he explained, "For an instant, I felt like I was being watched."
By now, everyone's attention was focused on Nique.
"Watched?"
Law frowned and looked at the spot Nique was staring at… a patch of shrubs.
Instinctively, he was about to use En to cover the shrubbery, but the next second, he sighed softly.
He'd forgotten again that given his current degree of open Aura Nodes, it was difficult to use advanced Nen Techniques like En.
Helplessly, he turned his head to look at Tonpa. The latter understood and shook his head. "No movement. That shrubbery has been completely still since before we arrived and after."
Tonpa's ability was always active. To increase its duration, he would contract its range. Within his ability's perception, the shrubbery about sixty meters away indeed showed no movement at all.
Hearing this, Law nodded, then looked at Nique. "Just a feeling?"
Nique hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Yes. But I'm quite sensitive about this sort of thing."
"I know. That's why I haven't drawn a conclusion yet," Law said.
For some reason, hearing Law say this gave Nique a comfortable feeling of being 'trusted'.
Factually speaking, when choosing between Tonpa's ability/statement and Nique's, one would almost always pick Tonpa.
However, Law understood the nature of Nique's [The Unseen Things] ability, so he gave Nique's feeling a bit of leeway.
"Let's take a look."
Law walked towards the shrubbery, and everyone followed.
After a detailed inspection, they didn't even find an insect… just ordinary, commonplace shrubs.
All possibilities leaned towards Tonpa's conclusion of [no movement].
Nique stood before the shrubbery, his gaze locked on one specific spot.
That was where the scout had been, but now there was nothing.
'Was it an illusion?'
Nique frowned.
It should have been a fact with a definitive conclusion, yet he felt that was wrong.
But facts were facts… he couldn't convince himself solely based on feeling.
"I'm sorry. It was probably my imagination," Nique said apologetically.
Biscuit and the others didn't say anything, also attributing the incident to Nique's imagination.
After all, during the week-long forest exploration, Tonpa's detection ability had earned Shiro and the others' trust. As for Nique... well, his ability to find fresh grass was top-notch.
But Law looked at Nique and said, "Probably?"
Nique was taken aback for a moment. Realizing, he chuckled awkwardly. "Slip of the tongue. It was definitely my imagination."
Law was silent for a while, then said seriously, "Even though a conclusion has been reached, do you still hold onto your judgment in your heart?"
"..."
The corner of Nique's mouth twitched slightly. He wasn't the type to be stubborn… wrong was wrong, right was right.
But the feeling of being watched was real.
It was just that the facts before him made him start to doubt his momentary feeling.
"Facts speak louder than words."
His tone sounded a bit weak.
Law patted Nique's shoulder, answering non-sequiturly, "I've always thought your Nen was interesting. There are many types of surveillance Nen. Like your Unseen Things, which can set the Nen Beast used for 'surveillance' to have an invisible property."
"Then, it's also possible there exists a type that can set the property to be undetectable."
Nique's eyes widened slightly, 'If that possibility existed...'
"I'm saying this not to contradict Tonpa's detection results on your behalf, but because I think your 'feeling' is worth verifying."
Here, Law paused before continuing, "So, do you choose 'facts' or 'feeling'?"
Hearing Law's words, Nique's inner doubts about himself instantly vanished.
He looked at Law, the corner of his mouth curling up, not sure why he was smiling.
Then, he firmly replied, "Feeling."
Regardless of whether the outcome was right or wrong, having confidence wasn't a bad thing.
Law nodded, then looked at everyone and calmly said, "From now on, we need to have a psychological readiness… the assumption that something is watching us. Please note, it's an assumption."
"Seems a bit unnecessary," Shiro said, shaking his pipe.
"I don't deny it, but it's the same principle as staying vigilant at all times," Law replied.
"Alright."
Shiro shrugged and said no more.
Afterwards, the team didn't linger. They left the forest edge and headed towards the mountains.
Regardless of whether there were areas worth exploring later, Law would only train and train more, compressing the unsealing time further and further.
After they left, that patch of shrubbery remained quiet and unchanged for some time.
Night fell.
The group raided a white eagle's nest on one of the mountain peaks. The eagle eggs and meat from the nest became tonight's dinner.
Whenever they could source food locally, the team wouldn't waste the supplies stored in the Hide-and-Seek.
If conditions allowed, they would even turn hunted prey into salted meat with a longer shelf life.
After dinner, Law went to a large boulder on the mountaintop to continue his training.
Cookie had to be present to assist Law's training, so Biscuit was there too.
"That incident this evening, why did you specifically 'comfort' Nique? We're not kids on a spring outing," Biscuit said, lying on the cool stone, looking at the brilliant stars in the night sky.
Law sat cross-legged. Hearing this, he glanced at Biscuit. "I wasn't comforting him."
"Really?"
"You know about Nique's ability."
"Hmm, but facts are more trustworthy than feelings."
"You're right about that," Law smiled, not wanting to dwell on the topic further.
Biscuit shook her head slightly. She had just brought it up casually.
"Law, if someone really is watching our movements, what kind of being could it be?"
"I don't know."
...
Imaginary Continent, Southern Region.
The wall-like Great Wall lay across the land.
Inside the wall, on the vast, empty land, stood a towering tree that reached straight into the sky.
Its crown was lush. On a thick branch, a large wooden house was built, resembling a watchtower.
Inside the house, a four-meter-tall humanoid creature sat at a wooden table.
On the table was a frameless mirror about fifty centimeters in diameter. At the moment, the mirror reflected a completely crimson figure, while the humanoid creature sitting before the mirror was blue.
"The clan is in an uproar over the changes to the [Rule]," A deep voice came from the mirror, speaking a language unknown on the Six Continents.
"Is it because of that incident?" The blue figure asked solemnly.
"Mmm. That human might come again."