Sense of Fulfillment

After realizing Belly's potential value, Maud decided to keep it.

At the same time, Maud was very interested in the new star pirate Saul had mentioned.

After the meal settled, he pressed Saul for more details about the pirate.

Saul seemed to get into the spirit of things as he recalled past events, downing glass after glass of wine and pouring out story after story.

Maud and Sunny listened in silence, like any good audience, as Saul recounted his past.

The reminiscing only came to an end when Saul was thoroughly drunk.

After Saul retired to his room to rest, Maud cleaned up the mess with Sunny's help, and then they each went back to their respective rooms.

As for Belly, due to its skyrocketing value, it no longer had to purify the air in the toilets, but all the chains that were supposed to bind it were still in place.

Maud returned to his room, unloaded his burdens, and sat on the bed.

With a thought, the Hunter's Notebook appeared.

His gaze swept over the faint starlight on the cover. Only the star representing the Fish-Man, Sam, had a small, sharp point added to it.

Opening the notebook directly, Maud picked up a pencil and began to draw and write on a blank page.

Every stroke and every line was a memory related to the original work.

This was his daily homework, something he insisted on doing.

The purpose was to further consolidate his memories, making those gradually blurring images slowly become clear.

Although it was tedious, it was extremely important.

After his daily review, Maud put away the Hunter's Notebook and took out the [Notebook Copy] to read.

After reading it twice, Maud put the notebook away and lay down.

[Hunter's Notebook]

After lying down, Maud summoned the Hunter's Notebook again.

He looked at the second blank silver line on the cover and fell into thought.

The battle with Ebe had made him lean more towards choosing swordsmanship.

Compared to fists, in terms of length and hardness alone, a long saber definitely had the advantage.

Moreover, a longer attack range meant lower risk.

This fit well with Maud's chosen path.

He took out the quill from the spine of the book but didn't start writing immediately.

He shouldn't have hesitated anymore, but the new star pirate Saul had mentioned tonight gave Maud a lot of new ideas.

According to Saul, the new star pirate was not only proficient in body techniques but also skilled in sabers, guns, and even more obscure weapons.

On top of that, the pirate had eaten a Zoan-type Devil Fruit that increased overall physical abilities, and then combined it with the Hunter Cat's Weapon-Weapon Fruit, forming a unique and powerful fighting force.

However, as Saul described it, the new star pirate was incredibly brilliant in the early stages but quickly faded into obscurity later on.

"You can't chew more than you can swallow; everyone understands this principle, so even with exceptional talent, he could only stop there in the end."

These were Saul's exact words, full of sarcasm.

In the end, he even gave Maud a warning look.

Maud agreed with this [precedent].

He also understood the principle of not biting off more than one could chew.

Of course, that was under the assumption that he didn't have the [Hunter's Notebook].

With this ability, Maud could save more time and energy than others, and thus wouldn't end up like that new star pirate.

In this way, if Belly were to eat the [Weapon-Weapon Fruit], and he were to write down a requirement like [Weapon Mastery]...

Then, If he needed a gun, it would become a gun.

If he needed a saber, it would become a saber.

If he needed an axe, it would become an axe.

Such a versatile fighting style would surely give enemies a headache.

This was why Maud hesitated and didn't write it down.

He had originally dismissed the choice of [Weapon Mastery], but Belly's appearance, and the past Saul had brought up, had rekindled this choice.

If he could overcome the difficult early and mid-stages with the Hunter's Notebook.

Then, the future scenes that would unfold were enough to make Maud's blood boil.

Thinking of this, Maud couldn't help but feel excited.

But he didn't let himself be blinded by the future he had imagined.

If he couldn't even get through the early stages, how could there be a future?

Furthermore, setting aside whether Belly would be loyal, even obtaining a Weapon-Weapon Fruit would be impossible in a short time.

If he were to force it, he would have to be prepared to oppose Doflamingo.

But the most crucial issue, the one he couldn't avoid, was the difficulty of "Benefit Diversion."

Maud gradually calmed down.

The future he envisioned was beautiful, but fraught with obstacles. If he couldn't overcome them, all his plans would remain mere fantasies.

"I can't let the 'benefits' be diverted anymore. From now on, I'll have to consider 'Haki' or 'Devil Fruits' as well."

Maud pondered for a long time, but the deeds of that new star pirate didn't sway him. He put down his pen and wrote down the requirement for "Sword Mastery."

Despite making his decision, Maud still held considerable expectations for Belly's future.

It would be best if Belly could eat a Weapon-Weapon Fruit.

Even if that wasn't possible, he could opt for a support-type Devil Fruit.

Maud put away the notebook and slowly closed his eyes.

In his mind, he was filled with ingenious ideas on how to discover Belly's "tool attribute."

The following few days.

Although he had filled in the second request, Maud honestly stayed at the shop.

He was convinced that Ebe and Kazt would come looking for trouble.

So, to leverage Saul's support, he had kept Saul, who went to the pleasure district for morning training every day, by pretending to be eager to learn how to use a gun.

However, after several days, there wasn't even a shadow of them.

The peace was so profound that Maud felt deeply surprised.

This wasn't logical.

While Maud was racking his brain, he also collected the experience points from neighbors 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10.

After harvesting the "leeks" growing near his home, Maud even went to ask Sunny if there were any new leeks to harvest.

Unfortunately, perhaps due to the high frequency of harvesting leeks, the nearby residents had become restless.

As a result, not only did no new leeks move in, but some leeks that Maud didn't even care about had moved away.

And Belly, the newest member of the household, overheard Maud's casual conversation with Sunny.

From then on, Belly often didn't dare to look Maud directly in the eye.

Even though he knew that the humans living in this town were not good people, just imagining Maud expressionlessly shooting down those little birds with a gun filled him with fear towards Maud.

On the fifth day, Maud no longer tried to keep Saul.

After Saul left, Maud finally couldn't suppress the urge to touch a saber and took out a relatively good-looking long saber from the shelf.

Sunny, who was reading the newspaper, noticed Maud's action and looked up, asking, "What are you doing?"

"Testing the feel."

Maud held the scabbard and grinned at Sunny.

Sunny frowned, "If Saul finds out, he might skin you alive."

"If you don't say anything, and I don't say anything, how will Saul know?"

Maud gripped the hilt, and as he held it, a faint sense of familiarity washed over him.

Unlike the sense of security he felt when holding a gun, it was a sense of fulfillment that he couldn't quite explain.

Under this inexplicable feeling, just holding the hilt gave Maud an urge to draw the saber.

It was a pity that there were no enemies in front of him, nor were there any practice dummies in the shop.

Thinking of this, Maud subconsciously glanced at Belly.

Upon being glanced at by Maud, Belly, whose upper body was tightly bound by chains, trembled inwardly and immediately wriggled his body, crawling behind the counter and hiding behind Sunny.

Seeing this, Maud walked behind the counter and asked with concern, "Belly, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"N-no."

"Oh, that's good then."

Maud then turned to Sunny and asked, "How much is this saber?"

He suddenly realized that he didn't need to go out to buy sabers; there were many readily available here.

"2.6 million."

"..."

Maud silently put the saber he was holding back. Considering not increasing Sunny's workload, he didn't pick up a second saber, but merely pointed.

"And this one?"

"1.7 million."

"This one?"

"2.2 million."

"What's the cheapest?"

"900,000."

"..."

Maud patted the less than 500,000 Belly in his pocket and sighed deeply.

As expected, he'd have to head to the town's weapon shop to look around.

As for the used goods on the third shelf in the store, he couldn't be bothered with them.