The next day, having expended a great deal of stamina yesterday, Ian unusually wanted to sleep in.
But—
"Ian, Ian, Ian! Get up!"
Yamato kicked open his door and forcibly dragged Ian out of bed.
Still bleary-eyed and not quite understanding what was happening, Ian heard Yamato shout into his ear, "Ian! You're in the newspaper!"
Huh?
The newspaper?
A little later, in the dining hall.
Ian sat in a chair with a newspaper spread open in his hands.
Yamato lay against his back, her arms around his neck and her head resting on his shoulder. She pointed at the newspaper. "The battle yesterday made it into the news so quickly!"
Ian looked at the paper. Its front page described the battle that had taken place on Hachinosu Island yesterday.
It was a fairly accurate account of what had happened.
Ian glanced at the newspaper's name.
World Economic News Report.
So Morgans was capable of not making things up after all?
Or was the news itself already explosive enough that it needed no embellishment?
Standing behind Yamato, Black Maria covered her mouth and chuckled down at him. "Ian, now everyone will know that you fought Phoenix Marco to a standstill and wiped out three pirate crews under Whitebeard right in front of him. You're really about to become famous throughout the world."
"Ian of the Scorched Sky. That's what the paper calls you."
Scorched Sky? What am I, a Star Bug?
"Because the newspaper says—"
Black Maria smiled. "When you turned into a firebird and swooped down from the sky, it seemed as though the heavens themselves had caught fire."
Ian nodded. "Not bad."
As everyone knew, nicknames in the Pirate World tended to be plain and straightforward—Straw Hat, Red-Haired, Hawk Eyes, Whitebeard, and the like.
Ian of the Scorched