Timid Youth Relapses

Syrup Village, On a hillside by the sea.

"Wh-what a huge ship..."

"Look, those guys look so fierce..."

"Are they pirates? What should we do, Captain Usopp—"

The one called 'Captain Usopp' by three children was a boy with fluffy black hair wrapped in a bandana and a long nose. He looked down at the massive merchant ship below, his whole body stiffening as he crawled backward.

"I just remembered it's nap time,"

"I have a disease where I'll die if I don't nap..."

"Captain Usopp, pull yourself together!"

"How can you be afraid of mere pirates..."

"Who's there?"

As a cold voice filled with killing intent echoed, the three children hiding at the top of the slope turned and ran, leaving behind:

"Hey, hey, hey, you guys—"

There was no other way, at this point:

"You pirates, this is my territory, Captain Usopp's!"

The boy with the long nose stood up, facing Roman, Luffy, Zoro, and Nami as they slowly approached. He pointed a thumb at himself and shouted to intimidate them.

"Get back into the sea immediately, or my 80 million subordinates won't stand by and do nothing!"

"Tch, with just a small hill behind you, how could you possibly hide 80 million subordinates!—Is it the Castle-Castle Fruit?" Roman rubbed his temples. The thought that such a person would also be a 'comrade' in the future made him feel exhausted.

Come to think of it, the truly reliable crew members should be... Robin?

Usopp's trick is quite similar to 'with one command, 800 swordsmen leap out from behind a screen'~~

"You... you saw through it...?"

It would be a ghost if you didn't see through it!

Swish,

"We are pirates."

A figure flickered, and a cold voice sounded behind Usopp. The arm gently placed on his shoulder made half his body go numb!

"If we disagree, your head will roll—"

Roman's finger lightly traced Usopp's neck, instantly making the boy break out in a cold sweat, his legs shaking rapidly as if he had eaten the 'Rubber-Rubber Fruit'! But:

Snap,

A pair of hands tightly grasped Roman's wrist, still in the trembling voice of the boy named Usopp.

"I... I absolutely won't let... you step into the village..."

"Interesting,"

Roman's finger, which had been against the other's neck, slid sideways along the skin, accompanied by his voice.

"Pfft!"

"Aaaah~~~~"

"Roman, he fainted."

"His eyes rolled back, and he's foaming at the mouth... No way..."

In a restaurant in Syrup Village, "What a surprise, so you're recruiting nakama and looking for a ship."

After changing his pants, Usopp, fully revived, enthusiastically pitched himself to Luffy, Zoro, and Nami.

"If there's anyone in this town who might have a spare 'ship', it would only be Kaya's family. She's the young lady of this town, owning a mansion, many businesses, and over a dozen servants."

"It's a shame her parents passed away from illness a year ago. No matter how wealthy..."

"Enough."

Nami interrupted Usopp's words, but he didn't mind and returned to the original topic.

"How about it, if you're recruiting, I can do it too~~" he said, confidently pointing at himself, "I can be your captain!"

"No!" X3

"Consider it!"

"Hahahaha~~~"

"What are you laughing at?" Usopp, annoyed, looked at Roman, who had scared him unconscious. "Do you think I'm a coward..."

"No," Roman shook his head and said seriously.

"You're brave. I apologize for what just happened."

?

"If it were me, facing an enemy I absolutely couldn't defeat alone, I would have already run away without a trace. How could I possibly stand in front of them?"

Moreover, the boy named Usopp was still tightly gripping his wrist even after passing out. To be honest, Roman didn't think he possessed such 'resolve'.

"Hmph, even if you say that, I won't be happy~~"

(^▽^)

Are you possessed by Chopper?!

"Oh right, it's time."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, the long-nosed boy stood up. "You guys eat first, I have something to do~~"

Not long after the boy named Usopp left, three children came looking for them.

From their mouths, Roman and the others learned that the long-nosed boy had gone to 'tell stories' to the girl Kaya, who had lost her parents... Well, to 'brag' and help her overcome her sadness, so:

"Great, then we'll borrow a ship from the young lady's house!"

Luffy, having eaten his fill, stood up and announced loudly.

"Sorry, my comrades..." Roman, paying at the counter, pointed to his temple with an 'you know' expression, eliciting an awkward yet polite smile from the owner.

However, after eating, the four of them eventually arrived in front of a mansion. After trespassing into the courtyard, what appeared before them was:

The boy named Usopp being reprimanded by a butler wearing glasses!

Wow, this—

What Roman and the others saw was almost a melodramatic scene of 'The Asura Godly Son-in-Law's Humiliation':

How noble is my young lady, how could you be worthy?

Take the money and get out quickly!

Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west, don't bully the young and poor~~

Syrup Village is not worth staying in!

Rebellion, rebellion, just a pirate's son—

If you walk out of this mansion today, you'll have no place in Syrup Village...

It was roughly like that. At this moment, it would be even more perfect if a group of pirates with bounties over a hundred million appeared shouting, 'Welcome, son of a Yonko executive, to the world!'...

"Roman, what are you laughing at?"

"Cough, cough," Roman shook his head. "I was thinking of something happy."

Alright, although the content was similar, it wasn't this 'crude and brainless'. The bespectacled butler, with just a few words, provoked Usopp into hitting him in anger. — With this, his image in the heart of the mansion's owner, Miss Kaya, immediately plummeted.

Then, with a few more words, he forced Usopp to leave in anger after uttering the harsh words, 'I'll never come here again.'

As for Luffy's request to 'borrow a ship', it naturally came to nothing.

"Hey, Usopp."

After the group walked out... well, after being 'kicked out' of the mansion behind them. Luffy asked the long-nosed boy beside him.

"Are you really not going to see that girl named... named... Kaya again?"

"Hmph, if that butler apologized to me, I wouldn't mind forgiving him." All things considered, he still couldn't let go of that frail and sickly young lady.

"Heh heh, then you might be disappointed."

Roman, who was behind them, suddenly spoke, his words drawing everyone's attention.

"Because that Miss Kaya's time is short."

"What did you say!?"

Turning around abruptly, Usopp, trembling all over, stared intently at Roman! Even though he knew he had no power to resist this person:

"Kaya is sick, but she will definitely get better! Take back your curse! Or else—"

Even Nami frowned at the side, but Luffy:

"Roman, did you discover something we don't know?"

He chose to believe Roman immediately.

"Don't misunderstand, I'm not talking about Miss Kaya's illness. I'm talking about that butler just now—"

"It's called 'Grahano' or something, right?"

Roman spread his hands, and a yellowed bounty poster 'emerged' from his palm. It startled Usopp, and the person depicted on it made him's eyes snap wide open!

"This... this is..."

"Hey, isn't that the butler from just now?"

"Right?"

Facing a surprised Nami, a thoughtful Zoro, and a bewildered Luffy, Roman waved the bounty poster in his hand.

"'Hundred Plans' Kuro, captain of the Black Cat Pirates."

"Cunning and devious, he'll do anything to achieve his goals. He once massacred a small town with a thousand people..."

"Rumor has it he was arrested and executed by the Marines three years ago. But, I happen to know: that guy just faked his death to escape."

Roman tilted his head towards the mansion he had just exited, a strange smile playing on his lips.

"I didn't expect him to be hiding in a place like this. In just two years, he gained the trust of those around him, and then he 'killed' the master of the house. All he needs to do now is make Miss Kaya 'fall ill and die,' and he'll get a large sum of wealth while comfortably living out the rest of his life. Brilliant~~~"

Although Roman couldn't quite remember the plot details, pirates were meant to take the blame, weren't they?

Either way, the other party was indeed trying to seize Miss Kaya's family fortune.

"Wh-what..."

"Could Kaya's parents be—"

"What evidence do you have?"

Facing Usopp, who was suddenly covered in cold sweat, Roman pouted.

"Evidence?"

"Kid, have you misunderstood something?"

"I'm a pirate, not a Marine! What would I need evidence for—"

Roman took a step forward and shoved the bounty poster into the panicked Usopp's hand.

"Ultimately, that young lady named Kaya is no relation to me. Let alone having a vicious pirate lurking around her. Even if she died right in front of me, what does it have to do with me?"

"The reason I'm telling you this is simply because I think—"

Roman lowered his head and whispered a few words into Usopp's ear.

"It's fun."