Cute and Adorable, Nothing but a Head

Although she was only eleven, Shirahoshi had already grown to nine meters tall.

As for her brothers... well, her three brothers were only around six meters tall.

So when Shirahoshi poked out her little head...

Fukaboshi and the other two had to realize that they were the ones with little heads...

Seeing that the visitors were her brothers, Shirahoshi's fear faded considerably. She crawled out from under the covers, wiped away her tears, and asked softly.

"Brother Fukaboshi, and Brothers Ryuboshi and Manboshi, why have you come to the Hard-Shell Tower?"

While Shirahoshi was speaking, her pet shark, Megalo, swam out from behind the bed.

Shirahoshi hugged Megalo and continued eagerly to her brothers.

"Are you going to play with me? That would be wonderful! Shall we play hide-and-seek?

If I hide inside Megalo's mouth, you definitely won't be able to find me! Heehee~"

"Um... Sister Shirahoshi."

Looking at his hopeful little sister, Fukaboshi felt a little sad. Over the years, her life had been far too lonely.

The ever-present possibility of an attack on Shirahoshi made even the guards nervous about opening her bedroom door.

Vander Decken IX, that Mato Mato no Mi user, hid all over the sea, and no one could catch him. As a result, no one dared let Shirahoshi leave the Hard-Shell Tower!

Five years. A full five years. Even Fukaboshi could not imagine the misery his sister had endured over those five years.

But when he thought of how his sister could briefly leave the Hard-Shell Tower and attend the upcoming banquet...

Even Fukaboshi could not help becoming excited.

Fukaboshi suppressed his excitement and spoke steadily to Shirahoshi.

"Father sent me to take you out of the Hard-Shell Tower."

"Oh, so you aren't here to play with me, but to take me out of the Hard... Hard... Sob... Waaaaahhhh~~~!!!"

In that instant, Shirahoshi burst into loud sobs, and her crying made the soldiers standing guard around the Hard-Shell Tower tense up.

Inside the Hard-Shell Tower, Shirahoshi cried loudly in disbelief while desperately swishing her pink tail. Her flapping tail sent the blankets flying, but Shirahoshi did not care in the slightest.

She covered her mouth with both hands and cried out to Fukaboshi for confirmation.

"Sob, Brother, can I... can I really leave the Hard-Shell Tower?!"

"Only temporarily. You may have to come back later, but at least today, you can attend the grand banquet we are about to hold!"

"Sniff... Hee~"

Shirahoshi had been crying one moment, then could not help smiling the next.

"It's really a banquet? I can actually attend a banquet? What kind of banquet is it? How grand is it? Will I get to see lots of people?

Will we go to the surface, to see the sun, the forests Mother told me about, and countless little animals with soft fur?

And who is invited to the banquet? Is it Lord Jinbe, whom you always talk about, or some other people from the surface? Father really does have friends on the surface. I think one's name was Roger? Whenever he was with me before, he always mentioned Roger!"

At this point, Shirahoshi may have felt that she had said too much and imagined too much.

So she wiped her tears and said softly.

"Actually, it would be fine even if we can't go to the surface...

Brother, can I take a look around outside Ryugu Palace? I want to see Madame Shyarly's Mermaid Cafe, and I want Madame Shyarly to tell my fortune. I heard her predictions are especially accurate.

And, and, I want to see Gyoncorde Plaza and Coral Hill, especially Mermaid Cove. I haven't seen the blue sky, white clouds, and sunlight at Mermaid Cove in so long!

And Fish-Folies Villa—are the houses there still as luxurious as before?

Especially the Sea Forest. I really, really want to visit the Sea Forest! That's where all the beautiful coral grows!!!"

Having voiced the dream she had hidden away for so long, Shirahoshi clasped her hands to her chest and looked pitifully at her brothers.

"Brothers, can I... can I visit the places I mentioned?"

"Um..."

Fukaboshi felt rather helpless. Although their father had allowed Shirahoshi to leave, would he really allow her to wander all over Fish-Man Island?

So Fukaboshi thought for a moment before answering.

"I don't know either, but you can at least look around the grand banquet hall. Today's banquet will be held there!"

"Mm, all right."

Shirahoshi was still incredibly excited, and she hurriedly packed her things...

After packing for a while, Shirahoshi realized she had nothing to pack. So she grabbed Megalo's fin and said to her brothers.

"I'm ready. When do we leave?"

"We can leave now."

As he answered, Fukaboshi led Shirahoshi toward the entrance of the Hard-Shell Tower. Shirahoshi carefully followed behind him, and when she truly reached the doorway, her large eyes filled with tears once more.

"Can I really... leave?"

Beside her, Fukaboshi nodded while carefully scanning the surroundings. He was watching the sky around them.

Who knew whether some bizarre weapon might suddenly come flying over?

Though Fukaboshi's nod was rather perfunctory, Shirahoshi was reassured. She patted Megalo's shark head, and Megalo hurriedly opened his enormous mouth.

Grasping Megalo's teeth with both hands, Shirahoshi made a simple evasive movement before swimming directly into Megalo's mouth. She hid herself inside the huge shark and followed her brothers out of the Hard-Shell Tower.

Seeing his sister like this, Manboshi wanted to say something. But recalling his eldest brother's tail, Manboshi remained quiet and began watching the surrounding sky as well.

Meanwhile, inside the royal palace's main hall.

After the three princes left, Neptune also sent the two ministers away to prepare the banquet and security arrangements.

At this point, only the few people from before remained in the hall. Neptune returned to his seat and sighed to Gawain.

"Saint Gawain, I have made a fool of myself before you. I cannot even properly protect my own family.

If Jinbe and Gion were not here, I truly would not dare let Shirahoshi come out so easily. I... really am an unfit father!"

"Fit or not, you are still their father, Neptune."

Gawain offered a word of comfort, then continued in a soft voice.

"Still, could you explain why you are worried about Shirahoshi leaving?"

"It's all because of a pervert. I wonder whether you have heard of the Flying Pirates," Neptune asked.

Of course Gawain knew about the Flying Pirates, but he did not know whether he was supposed to know.

After all, Gawain could not remember how many Beli Vander Decken was wanted for. It seemed he did not even have a wanted poster, which probably meant people on the surface should not know Vander Decken at all, right?

Thinking of this, he turned to look at Gion, who frowned thoughtfully.

"Which generation is the current Vander Decken, Your Majesty Neptune?" Gion asked.

"Ah, so you have indeed heard of him. The current Vander Decken is already the ninth!" Neptune replied softly.

Receiving the answer, Gion narrowed her eyes slightly.

"I have not heard about the Flying Pirates in a long time. After all, our Marines only ever issued a bounty for Vander Decken VII, and the current Vander Decken IX does not seem to have a wanted poster yet.

"You said just now that he ate a Devil Fruit. He really has fallen, then. Back in the day, Vander Decken VII caused the Marines plenty of trouble with his masterful Two-Color Haki and Fish-Man Jujutsu, as well as that ship and those sea beasts that could freely enter and leave the deep sea.

"But I did not experience it personally. I only heard Teacher Zephyr tell those stories when I was young."

"Indeed, you are right. Compared to his grandfather and father, Vander Decken IX, who ate a Devil Fruit, is truly quite pathetic in terms of strength.

"As a Fish-Man, he actually lost the ability to roam the seas freely. It is indeed laughable.

"But..."

Neptune shook his head helplessly.

"Perhaps one wrong move led to another. Vander Decken IX's Devil Fruit ability has truly brought us a great deal of trouble. He ate the Mato Mato no Mi.

"Five years ago, that man accidentally touched my daughter Shirahoshi, thus locking onto her location.

"At first, he constantly sent love letters to my daughter. So long as he threw them, the letters would always drift into my daughter's hands.

"That damned bastard! My daughter was only six years old then, only six!!!

"Later, he became even worse and began replacing the love letters with sharp weapons.

"No one knew when a weapon would come flying over!

"I sent people to capture him, but in this vast deep sea, our guards and Shirahoshi's brothers simply could not find him.

"So I had no choice but to build the sturdy Hard-Shell Tower and have Shirahoshi live there to ensure her safety!"

Knock, knock!

Just as he said this, knocking sounded from the doorway, and Neptune immediately stopped speaking.

"Father, we have brought Shirahoshi."

Fukaboshi's voice came from outside. Neptune vigorously swished his fish tail, and as it stirred the water, the palace doors opened without needing any guards to operate them.

And so, Gawain saw the real Shirahoshi for the first time.

As for Gawain's first impression of Shirahoshi...

Heh heh.

The little head sticking out of the shark's mouth was cute and adorable, but it somehow looked rather terrifying...