Lagron was not conceited.
Although he could not possibly accept Wolf Rat's well-meaning advice, Wolf Rat's wariness made him realize that there was something unusual about this weapons shop.
Therefore, he did not rush into the shop. Instead, he spent a little money to have a deadbeat pirate go inside and investigate for him.
The result was exactly as Wolf Rat had said. There was an old man and a scar-faced girl inside.
Apart from them, there was also a black-haired boy of around fifteen or sixteen.
In other words, the culprit was this boy.
Although Lagron did not know the boy's motive for committing the crime, that was not something he needed to consider.
All he had to do was settle this matter before his pirate crew returned.
If the situation allowed it, he would capture the boy alive.
The captain would surely be happy to spend some time torturing the culprit.
After quietly leaving the weapons shop, Lagron went to the bar district.
He wanted to find out more about the weapons shop.
The main reason he was being so cautious was Wolf Rat's indirect warning.
Otherwise, he would have gone in with his blade long ago and caused trouble.
After all, it was merely a weapons shop tucked away in an alley, unlike those shops on the streets that were protected by the Rules.
Therefore, even if he caused a disturbance inside, he did not need to worry about the consequences.
Lagron believed he had not exposed himself.
However, everything had already been "seen" by Saul as soon as he and Wolf Rat arrived in the residential district.
Naturally, even the shifty-eyed pirate who had gone in to investigate had not escaped Saul's notice.
At six in the evening, the weapons shop closed on time.
"Fifty thousand in net profit."
Sunny carefully recorded the day's turnover in the ledger.
As for why it was called net profit, Maud could figure that out.
After recording the turnover, Sunny went to the kitchen to prepare dinner, while Maud stayed in the shop to clean.
As for Saul, unusually, he did not slip upstairs immediately.
He was still sitting behind the counter, his gaze repeatedly drifting toward Maud.
After cleaning the floor, Maud raised his head and looked at Saul. "Sir, do you... have something to say to me?"
"Oh, you noticed."
Saul knocked the ashes out of his pipe.
Could he not notice?
The old man's eyes were practically hanging off his neck.
Maud grumbled inwardly a couple of times, then put on an attentive expression.
Saul looked at Maud and continued, "Do you want to learn how to use a gun from me?"
"Huh?"
Maud was startled. He had never expected Saul to suddenly bring this up.
For a moment, he did not know how to respond.
He knew Saul was definitely no ordinary person. After all, he was acquainted with Shanks, and even Yasopp addressed him respectfully.
Therefore, his attainments in marksmanship had to be extraordinary as well.
However, after being influenced by the characters from the original story, Maud actually leaned more toward blades or hand-to-hand combat than guns.
With that in mind, he regarded guns as something to use only during the early stages. Once his physical constitution had improved enough, he would consider developing his skills in hand-to-hand combat or swordsmanship.
That was why he had not hurried to write a second request in the Hunter's Notebook. The three request slots he had deliberately left blank were reserved for the future.
Seeing that Maud still had not answered, Saul did not mind and patiently waited for his response.
He truly could not think of any reason for Maud to refuse.
After a moment, Maud cautiously said, "Actually, I'd rather learn swordsmanship. Do you know how to use a sword, sir?"
"..."
Saul's eyelid twitched, as if Maud had struck a sore spot. He suddenly stood on the chair and shouted against his conscience, "You want to learn swordsmanship? How can that piece of trash compare to guns?"
Seeing Saul react so strongly, Maud wisely shut his mouth.
He had heard Sunny say that Saul planned to bid on one of the Fifty Great Swords, a Good Fast Sword, at the auction at the end of the month.
That had led him to assume Saul must also be a highly skilled swordsman.
But now, it seemed there was more to the matter.
"Let me tell you, people who learn swordsmanship die quickly. Guns are different. You can set up at a distance and ambush people, and if things look bad, you can retreat in time. If you use a sword, do you have any of those advantages?"
"In short, boy, you were born to use guns. Stop thinking about learning swordsmanship or whatever. Just follow me and learn how to use a gun. Understand?"
Saul earnestly tried to persuade him.
He had originally thought Maud would gratefully agree. Instead, it seemed he had to beg Maud to accept.
If he had not seen that Maud possessed a natural feel for guns and had the talent to learn Observation Haki, he would never have wasted so many words.
Just like the shop's business principle: learn if you want, and if you don't, get lost.
What Saul did not know was that the natural feel for guns he believed Maud possessed was merely the result of Maud's painstaking practice in Hunter's World. As for his talent for Observation Haki, that was related to an ability called Heartbeat Listening.
That afternoon, the reason Maud had been able to dodge Arthur's reaching hand was also because of Heartbeat Listening.
Although Heartbeat Listening could be developed in stages, its general characteristic could be classified as foresight.
Otherwise, given Maud's condition at the time, he could never have dodged Arthur's hand, even if he had been prepared.
Saul had been there at the time as well, and it was based on this that he determined Maud had the talent to learn Observation Haki. For a sniper, Observation Haki was a mandatory requirement for crossing the threshold of the strong.
Without the talent for Observation Haki, no matter how much time one spent perfecting marksmanship, one could only stop outside the threshold of the strong.
As for a feel for guns, although it was not as important as Observation Haki, it was also essential for becoming a top sniper.
For example, some people with an innate feel for guns could hit their targets through some mysterious instinct, even if they had never touched a firearm or cannon before.
That was a feel for guns.
As long as people with an innate feel for guns took the right path, their future achievements would certainly be extraordinary.
"Got it, got it!"
Although Maud did not know why Saul had suddenly decided to take him as a disciple, how could he dare say no in this situation? All he could do was nod.
More importantly, after thinking it over, he felt that learning to use guns from Saul did not seem to interfere with his future path of hand-to-hand combat and swordsmanship.
In any case, he would not waste one of his request slots on marksmanship.
Most importantly, he could latch onto Saul's powerful support. Why would he refuse?
Seeing that Maud had finally agreed, Saul finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Hmm?
Why did I breathe a sigh of relief?
Saul's lips trembled faintly.
With his status and experience as an old pirate, even if he went to Red-Haired's ship and merely called out that he was willing to impart his experience, a whole crowd of juniors would surely rush over eagerly.
Yet now, he was taking Maud in as a disciple and still had to worry that Maud might refuse.
Forget it. For the sake of your talent, I'll accept it.
Saul silently made up his mind.
He was genuinely a little worried that Maud would take the swordsman's path.
In his eyes, that would be nothing but a waste of talent.
If Saul knew what Maud was really thinking, he probably would have done more than flip the table.
"All right, go do whatever you need to do."
Saul glared at Maud.
Without another word, Maud grabbed the bucket and mop and ran off.
Watching Maud leave, Saul thought of the people who had come for Maud during the day.
"Someone dares to touch my man?"
A glint flashed through Saul's eyes, and his protectiveness began to show.
He walked to the third shelf, where the secondhand goods were kept, and casually pulled out an old flintlock pistol that was still in passable condition.
After witnessing the talent Maud had displayed the previous night, Saul's view of him had undergone a fundamental change.
Now that their relationship had been established, how could he allow some insignificant riffraff to threaten Maud?
Night fell.
A lead bullet crossed several thousand meters and precisely struck Lagron, who was gathering intelligence amid the crowd in a tavern.
One shot, one kill.
The tavern erupted into commotion.
Lagron, the pirate with a bounty of nineteen million Beli, had died just like that.
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