How far could one go across this sea without ambition?
At this moment.
Lafitte had been waiting for a long time.
Although beautiful things were worth waiting for, waiting too long could also cause them to wither, decay, and cease to exist.
Fortunately, that worry would not become reality.
At least, the choice he had made by following his heart back then...
Saul's words to him in that forest suddenly flashed through his mind.
"Heh..."
Lafitte's lips curled into a grin. He removed his top hat, lowered his arm, then held it across his front and gave Maud a gentleman's bow.
Unlike his usual perfunctory gestures, this bow was unusually solemn.
Afterward, he made no further gesture and offered no excessively sentimental oath.
Once he had bowed, Lafitte put his hat back on, then met Maud's gaze.
The two looked at each other silently for a moment.
Some things did not need to be said twice.
Maud also revealed a faint smile.
People were not omnipotent.
Everyone had things they were good at and things they were not.
So, just as Lafitte needed the possibilities of the future that Maud possessed, Maud also needed Lafitte's strength.
Seamanship, foresight, and strategy were what Lafitte could bring him.
Like a capable guide, he would ensure Maud did not take too many detours.
"Guide..."
Maud's thoughts suddenly fused into that one title.
This title, spoken without thinking, directly pierced through Lafitte's final line of defense.
Guide.
That was how Lafitte viewed himself, and it was precisely the significance contained in his identity as a navigator and in his Devil Fruit ability.
Before this, he had never revealed this to Maud.
Yet at that very moment, hearing Maud personally say the words "guide" filled Lafitte with inexplicable emotion.
"Lafitte, the title Devil Sheriff is