Chapter 22: The Mansion of Traps
Solitude
He always acted on his own, as if no one else existed. For many reasons, no one dared or cared to approach him casually.
Germain explored the many rooms on the mansion's second floor. Dissatisfied, he climbed to the third. After dodging a sudden strike from a massive chained hammer, he finally found the largest room in the mansion.
"Let's rest here tonight," he murmured.
Click. The door closed behind him.
He tossed his backpack onto the sofa and took a long, hot shower in the bathroom.
After some time, he emerged from the steam wearing light pajamas, drying his hair with a towel.
That was when the door handle turned with a click. The door burst open the lock breaking clean off.
A bulky, round-faced man stepped in.
He was another candidate in this year's exam: Tuomen, a veteran who had survived several rounds before.
Tuomen wasn't surprised to find someone in the mansion's most luxurious room but seeing Germain made him frown.
Germain continued drying his hair, his dark eyes fixed calmly on Tuomen, silently questioning his presence.
"What are you doing here?" he asked evenly.
"I…" Tuomen hesitated, but something perhaps pride gave him courage. "I don't want to share a room with anyone else. This one's mine. You get out."
He jerked his thumb toward the hallway behind him, the corners of his mouth turned downward in forced menace.
Germain tilted his head slightly, as if he didn't quite understand.
"Tsk." Tuomen stretched his neck and shoulders until they cracked loudly. "Others might be scared of you or that pretty boy, but I'm not. If you won't leave, then we'll settle it the fair way "
Bang!
A dark blur flashed, and Tuomen was sent flying out of the room like a spinning top.
A heavy crash echoed through the luxurious hallway outside. Startled candidates turned to see Tuomen sprawled against the wall now cracked like a spiderweb.
A loose brick fell and struck his head, but he didn't move.
Then came the sound of the door slamming shut followed by a chair scraping across the floor as it was wedged against it.
Silence hung in the corridor.
Someone finally approached. "Are you alright?" one examinee asked, crouching beside Tuomen with a mocking smile, extending a hand to help him up.
"Don't touch me," Tuomen hissed, his voice trembling. "Don't… it's broken."
Everyone's faces changed.
They realized that by "broken," he meant one of his bones probably his spine.
And the one who had done it was Germain.
The others silently congratulated themselves for not provoking him. If they had, one of them might have been lying out here crippled for life.
When pressed for details, Tuomen stayed silent, eyes filled with shame and pain.
Seeing that the scene had ended, the candidates unwilling to help their "competitor" or linger near Germain's door slowly dispersed.
Soon, the red-carpeted hallway was empty, leaving Tuomen slumped against the wall in silence.
He might have endured a long night of pain, cold, and despair if not for what happened next.
The Examiner Appears
From the shadows, a man emerged quietly and stood before the injured candidate.
"Who… who are you?" Tuomen stammered. His pale, round face twisted between fear and agony.
"I am the examiner for the second test Ian."
The man wore a black butler's uniform. His thin gray hair framed a serious, sharp expression. "This Mansion of Traps is my masterpiece."
Tuomen's lips trembled. He pointed weakly toward the door that sealed off the forbidden room.
"He didn't violate any of the exam's rules," Ian said coldly, shattering Tuomen's last hope. "Meanwhile, you require medical attention. Therefore, you are forced to withdraw from the exam."
"I…"
"Tuomen, I believe I made myself clear, didn't I?" Ian's tone hardened.
Tuomen's robust body deflated like an empty sack. "Understood," he muttered.
Ian glanced once at the closed door, then knelt. His arms thin and spotted with age suddenly filled with power. He lifted Tuomen with ease.
As Tuomen stared in disbelief, Ian leapt through the open window. They landed softly outside and vanished into the night, Tuomen's muffled cries fading away.
Hisoka's Observation
From the balcony of his second-floor room, Hisoka had seen everything.
He squinted upward, smiling faintly.
"What should I do? I feel like I can't hold back anymore… or maybe I should wait until tomorrow?"
The Awakening
Inside the luxury room, Germain ignored the chaos outside. Wrapped in soft blankets, he drifted into deep, unshakable sleep.
Not even a nightmare could reach him until a metallic clang-clang-clang woke him hours later.
He opened his drowsy eyes to the distant sound of hammering metal. Confused, he sat up and rubbed his face.
When he checked the clock on the bedside table, the hands pointed to four a.m.
He frowned slightly.
The clanging continued outside, deliberately loud enough to wake everyone in the mansion. The purpose was obvious.
Was the third exam really beginning before dawn?
Yawning, Germain got up, went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, washed his face, put on his usual hunter outfit, and headed out.
Outside, darkness still cloaked the mountains, the faint moonlight washing the landscape in silver.
As he stepped into the open courtyard and joined the back of the crowd, he noticed that the number of candidates had dropped again.
But the air was calmer now something Germain appreciated.
At the front stood a tall, muscular man with long, unkempt blue hair. He wore animal hides, eyes closed, hammering a metal tripod with an iron rod.
The sound of clang-clang-clang echoed through the misty morning air.
(End of Chapter 22)