"That woman is completely insane!"
Onigashima, Kaido's reception hall. Queen complained loudly, "She rode a horse straight out of the castle! Even after getting shot, she acted like nothing happened."
"She charged all the way to the town at the foot of the mountain and started giving speeches to the villagers!"
"Wororororo! As expected of Oden's wife, she's quite an interesting woman too."
Kaido drank from his huge sake gourd, looking utterly unconcerned.
Kaido did not care, but King said coldly, "It was because this idiot neglected his duties while busy making oshiruko that the woman found an opening and escaped the castle."
"I hadn't had a proper meal for two whole days! What's wrong with eating something?"
Though Queen knew he was in the wrong, he still spoke with confidence. "Besides, where the hell were you at the time?"
"I was guarding the back door!" King replied coldly.
"Enough. It's nothing worth paying attention to."
Kaido waved a hand dismissively. "Putting your hopes in some bullshit prophecy is the height of stupidity!"
What Kaido trusted most was his own strength. Things like prophecies and fate held no power to intimidate him.
"It was probably just to give the people of Wano Country some hope."
King said indifferently, "Orochi will become the darkness shrouding Wano Country. If there is not even a glimmer of light in that darkness, surviving will not be easy."
"Still, Orochi was scared out of his wits," Queen said mockingly. "I heard that even after going back and taking a hot bath, he was shivering from the cold. In the middle of the night, he kept screaming that the ghosts of the Kozuki had returned."
"That trash is not worth worrying about."
Kaido was already somewhat drunk. He let out a belch. "Once Yamato grows up, that will be the moment he loses his usefulness. Wano Country is special. In the future, Yamato will replace Orochi as the shogun ruling this country."
King did not ask what was so special about Wano Country. He merely said calmly, "I will train Yamato into a strong warrior worthy of your expectations, Mr. Kaido."
"Good." Kaido raised his head, his expression turning slightly serious. "By the way, King, did you bring back the stone?"
"Of course. It has already been placed in the storage room."
"Wororororo! That thing must be guarded carefully!"
"Sirius, time to get up."
Sirius opened his eyes to find a somewhat baby-faced face before him.
"What? It's Jack."
Sirius rubbed his eyes and sat up in bed, yawning with drooping eyelids and a weary expression.
"What do you mean, 'It's Jack'? Are you disappointed to see me, Sirius?!" Jack picked up the clothes Sirius had set aside and tossed them in front of him, sounding somewhat dissatisfied.
"Ha ha, of course not."
Sirius laughed awkwardly. "I'm very happy that you came to wake me up."
That was mainly because Yamato had woken him up every day for the past few days, and he was suddenly not used to it.
"You should really start learning to wake up by yourself."
Jack urged him, "And hurry up! Brother King should already be waiting for us."
Only then did Sirius remember. Right, they were back on Onigashima now, and King had returned too. Which meant—
"Morning training is starting again?"
Sirius let out a mournful sigh.
Though he had only experienced it once, the memory of being utterly unable to get back up twice that day remained vivid in his mind.
More importantly, Sirius remembered what King had said before!
Sirius instantly shuddered.
Were those ominous premonitions about to come true today?
"I told you to hurry up! Brother King won't let it slide if we're late!" Seeing Sirius still dawdling, Jack grew anxious.
Right.
He could not be late!
He was probably about to face unprecedentedly brutal training already. If he showed up late on top of that, would King not take the chance to crank it up even further?
Sirius quickly got dressed, then jumped directly onto Jack's shoulder. "Jack, let's go!"
"Get down and walk by yourself!"
His good brother complained loudly.
But a good brother was still a good brother. Though Jack complained, he had no intention of shaking Sirius off. He carried him all the way to the training ground.
When the two of them arrived, Black Maria and Yamato had just gotten there as well.
"Sirius, good morning."
Black Maria smiled and waved at Sirius in greeting.
"Hey, Maria. Good morning."
Sirius jumped down from Jack's shoulder, smiling as he waved back. Then he looked at Yamato. "Good morning to you too, Yamato."
"Hee hee, good morning, Sirius!"
Yamato was bursting with energy, her smile brilliant. The two missing front teeth made her words slightly lisping. "And good morning, Jack."
Jack nodded steadily. "Mm."
"Done exchanging pleasantries, brats?"
A cold voice came from the side.
King, clad entirely in black, strode over like a shadow. He carried a bag in his hand. "It seems you have grown a little slack these past few days, but that's fine."
"After today, all of it will be fresh in your minds again."
Sirius twitched his lips. Starting off with threats already, huh?
As though he had noticed Sirius's expression, King lowered his head to look at him. "Especially you, Sirius. Are you prepared?"
Sirius swallowed. "If I say no, can I take the day off today?"
King withdrew his gaze without hesitation and said in a deep voice, "Enough nonsense. Today, you will also run five laps around Onigashima."
"Yeah!!"
Yamato excitedly raised her fist and shouted, "Sirius, let's do our best together!"
"Unfortunately, this kid probably won't be able to do his best together with you." Sirius could hear a strong malicious undertone in King's voice.
And that was indeed the case. King tossed the bag in his hand before Sirius.
"Try it on, kid. That idiot Queen put it together overnight. It should fit well enough."
"Huh? Uncle King prepared a gift for Sirius?"
Yamato was startled. Before Sirius could even move, she squatted down and opened the bundle.
Inside the bundle were several pieces of clothing.
There were wrist guards, gloves, knee pads, shoes, and a vest. It could be called a sports outfit.
"Look, Sirius! Uncle King prepared a gift for you!"
As though presenting a treasure, Yamato picked up the vest and waved it at Sirius.
Sirius's lips twitched. Was this really a gift? Something was clearly wrong here!
"If you insist on calling it a gift, you can."
There was pleasure in King's voice. He stared at Sirius and held out his right hand. "The full set weighs fifty kilograms. Since it's your first day, I'll let you slack off a little, kid."
Slack off my ass!
Sirius really wanted to curse.
He himself weighed far less than fifty kilograms!
Were they trying to murder a child?
"What are you standing around for, kid?"
King's voice carried a smile. "Hurry up and put it on. Your pleasant morning training is about to begin."
Pleasant my ass! What was pleasant about this?!
You were the only one who would find it pleasant!
This guy's sadistic streak was acting up, wasn't it? It had to be!
Wearing all this and running five laps would absolutely kill someone!
Before you continue