In the darkness of the evening, Conrad stood while holding a boxed coffee in his hand, staring toward a large mansion in the distance.
He had already placed his obelisks around the area.
Even though it appeared as if he were simply looking at the mansion, as long as he focused, it was possible for him to see everything happening inside.
"Hmm..."
"More than a hundred armed mafia members, three Nen users, Aresto Quarmir..."
Conrad had easily figured out who the people he observed were, or at the very least, what kind of strength they possessed.
Obelisk was extremely useful for missions like this.
It only required preparation and careful placement in locations that would not attract attention, because any Nen user could destroy the Obelisks in a single move and disrupt the ability entirely.
"Very strange."
"Truly unexpected... Why are they hiding inside a shelter together with three Nen users?"
"Even though mafia family leaders can have strange personalities, this situation is outside the norm."
"Quarmir doesn't have any major known enemies. This area is considered fairly secure. Most enemies would wait to attack him while he is travelling, not when he is protected by hundreds of men..."
Conrad frowned and placed his hand on his chin. Letting out a small breath, he took a sip of his coffee.
"Could it be...?"
"Could someone have warned them...?" he muttered to himself.
"Hmm."
"No one besides our team knows about this matter, and none of them have any reason to leak information. Such a ridiculous betrayal is beneath them," he thought.
After taking another sip of his coffee, an understanding smile appeared on his face.
"Nen... However they learned about this situation, it must have been through Nen. That's the most logical conclusion."
Conrad had already realized that the reason the enemy anticipated danger and tightened security around Aresto Quarmir was connected to Nen.
But this was only the beginning.
"If they discovered through Nen that their boss would be in danger, then the situation changes."
"Could this have something to do with Neon Nostrade?" he wondered.
There were only two known examples of abilities connected to seeing the future through Nen.
The first was Neon Nostrade's Nen ability, Lovely Ghostwriter. The second was the ability possessed by the Fourth Prince.
Conrad immediately ruled out the Fourth Prince. The thought itself was ridiculous, and even if considered, that ability did not function in this way.
Neon Nostrade, on the other hand, was a far more logical possibility.
The Nostrade family was not as large or powerful as the Quarmir family, but they were far more special.
Thanks to his daughter's Nen ability, Light Nostrade had formed extremely powerful connections and possessed tremendous value among the Ten Dons.
Aresto Quarmir also possessed more than enough wealth and influence to arrange a meeting with Light and pay for a fortune reading.
"Hmm..."
"If it isn't Neon Nostrade, then either one of Quarmir's nearby Nen users or a distant and unrelated Nen user is responsible."
"Why do I always end up involved in complicated situations like this?" he muttered.
All he wanted to do was destroy a mafia family, yet now he was facing a Nen user capable of obtaining information from the future.
He did not know the full extent of the ability, but abilities involving time were always dangerous and capable of producing unexpected outcomes.
"No matter what, the person using this ability must either be a genius with Nen potential that only a handful of people in the world possess... or the ability was created through extremely heavy conditions and limitations."
"If I assume the Nen user is one of the bodyguards..."
At that moment, Conrad remembered something from his earlier investigation.
One of the Nen bodyguards had apparently been raised by the Quarmir family since childhood at the Yorknew City Orphanage.
When he first noticed that detail, he had not paid much attention to it.
For Mafia families, orphanage children and the people of Meteor City were ideal sources of manpower.
"Only one of them... I think his name was 'Miladi'... Miladi Niferi."
"Using his influence and wealth, Aresto may have somehow come into contact with Nen and realized how dangerous it truly was."
"If he somehow discovered Miladi's potential, and Miladi came to see him as a father figure..."
"Then an ability like this could be created through a powerful sense of emotional debt combined with long and heavy conditions."
"At the same time, that would also indicate the ability probably isn't very broad in scope."
"My guess is that it can only predict events a few days—or perhaps even only a few hours—ahead."
"At the same time, the 'prediction' itself is probably not very detailed. If it's simply a 'danger' signal or an 'increased chance of death,' then it becomes far simpler than an ability that directly reveals the future itself. That would make the ability much easier to create..."
Conrad took another sip of his coffee and nodded.
"My predictions usually aren't wrong... Especially when the subject is Nen."
"No matter what, I still need to remain careful. In Nen battles, it's impossible to know what might happen or when..." he thought.
This time, he finished the rest of his coffee in a single gulp and vanished from where he stood.
Miladi bit into a protein bar and slowly chewed it.
At the same time, he continued constantly checking on Aresto Quarmir's condition.
The existence of "danger" and the result produced by his Nen ability did not necessarily mean the threat would come from outside.
Perhaps Aresto would suddenly become thirsty, choke on water while drinking, and die. That kind of possibility also existed.
To be honest, even Miladi did not fully understand the true nature of his Nen ability.
He had chosen the name.
"Harbinger of Danger, Guardian of Fatherless Angels."
And afterwards, he continued developing it further.
"It could only be used on 'Aresto Quarmir' and, if they existed, directly on his children."
"Each time it was used, there was a one-week cooldown period."
"It could only perform predictions and investigations up to three days into the future."
"The results could only appear in three colors: 'green,' 'yellow,' and 'black. 'Green meant safe, yellow meant there was some danger, and black meant there was mortal danger."
"If Aresto Quarmir were to die, Miladi's lifespan would be shortened by the amount of life Aresto had lived. If Aresto had lived for fifty years while Miladi only had forty years of lifespan remaining, then Miladi would die immediately after Aresto's death."