My Brother! Champion!

An hour later, at home.

"Let me go over what you've been up to this past month since you went out to sea, and you confirm if I'm missing anything. First off, your height shot up by over ten centimeters?"

"Yeah, it's just puberty, totally normal."

"You won the Kendo Tournament on Asagiri Island?"

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"Yeah, I won it without even trying."

"And you also happened to foil a major conspiracy on the island, becoming a well-known figure in the East Blue?"

"Yeah, but not that famous. The hype comes and goes, and people forget quickly."

"And then you became a billionaire!!!"

"Yeah, four hundred million Belly. I took out fifty million, the rest is still in the bank. Here, the card's right here."

Bellemere took deep breaths, trying desperately to calm herself. But looking up at the hulking figure before her, who was now taller than her, her vision swam and she stumbled backward.

Xianuo quickly caught her. "What's wrong, Bellemere?"

"I'm fine. Let go, I just need to process this on my own..."

Bellemere sat cross-legged on the carpet, staring blankly at the coffee table for a long time.

She then took the water Xianuo offered and downed it in one gulp, finally beginning to accept reality.

"I knew it, I told you so," she murmured. "Your bloodline must be extraordinary. It's awakening as soon as you reached a certain age. Your parents must be some incredibly important people, maybe even royalty..."

"No, I don't think it has anything to do with bloodline," Xianuo said, puzzled. "I just won a tournament and made some money. It's all good things, why are you having such a hard time accepting it..."

"I'm talking about your height! Your height! It's good to grow during puberty, but who grows over ten centimeters in a single month!"

Bellemere angrily punched Xianuo's calf with her fist. "What were you thinking! Do you know that in the month you were gone, I knitted you two sweaters, three pairs of long johns, fingerless gloves, and full gloves..."

"Now none of them fit, they're useless. I have to unravel them all, sob..."

So that's what she was upset about!

Xianuo rubbed his forehead. He suddenly noticed the thick stack of newspapers piled on the wooden cabinet nearby and let out a soft "Oh?" "You bought newspapers every day while I was gone?"

"I was afraid you wouldn't get them all when you were out, that you might miss something."

Bellemere pouted. "But I didn't read them. They've just been sitting here. When your exploits on Asagiri Island were all the rage, I only found out from the neighbors talking. I didn't sleep a wink that whole night."

"What about Nami and Nojiko? What did they think?"

"What do you think?"

Bellemere replied grumpily.

At the time, she was both worried and a little relieved, tossing and turning all night.

Nami and Nojiko, however, didn't overthink it. They were incredibly excited, especially Nami, who felt like she could jump to the heavens.

She ran from one end of the village to the other every day, showing off, wishing everyone in the village knew that her brother had become an important figure in the East Blue.

She even dragged the big white dog by the village entrance by its ear several times a day, to the point where it would tuck its tail and run away whenever it saw her.

Not to mention the two budgies next door. The phrases they repeated most often now were "My brother! Champion!" and "My brother! Hero!".

Xianuo was sweating profusely as he listened.

For the next period, he suspected that the chickens, ducks, and geese in the village would look at him a little differently.

He shook his head, picked up the stack of newspapers, and sat down on the sofa.

Just as he was about to read through them to see if there was any news worth paying attention to, the door was suddenly pushed open a crack. A small, dirty orange-haired figure tiptoed in, carrying their shoes, and snuck past the back of the sofa towards the bathroom...

"Come here!"

Bellemere said sternly. "Do you think I'm blind? Can't see a little mud monkey entering the house, and can't see the two rows of dirty shoe prints on the floor?"

Damn it! A careless mistake! Nami turned and looked at the two black smudges on the floor, slapping her forehead in annoyance. She should have just climbed through the kitchen window!

"Honestly, where have you been? When you left this morning, you said you were going to the bookstore to read, right?"

"I didn't lie, Bellemere. I did go to the bookstore at first, but that bookstore is too small. I've pretty much read all the books on navigation and sea charts that I'm interested in... Huh? Brother?!"

Nami, who had been walking with her head down, suddenly noticed someone lying on the sofa nearby. As soon as she recognized the familiar face, her eyes widened in surprise and delight.

"When did you get back?!"

She joyfully pounced into Xianuo's arms, raising her hands to pinch his cheeks. "You didn't even come to call me back, how could you be so mean... Ow! That hurts!"

She had charged too hard and bumped her nose against Xianuo's hard chest, causing a sharp sting and making her eyes water.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you've turned into Buggy."

Xianuo teased her gleefully, looking at her swollen nose.

But then he looked down and saw his shirt covered in mud stains, and turning to look in the mirror, he saw two dirty handprints on his face. His smile vanished, and his expression darkened.

"Heehee, yoink~~"

Nami, her wicked plan successful, stuck out her tongue. "Serves you right! Who told you to sneak off by yourself that morning without saying goodbye to me and Nojiko!"

"That was to stop you two from becoming crybabies."

Xianuo grumbled, vigorously rubbing his face with a towel. "Besides, I'm not worried about Nojiko. You little troublemaker, if you had followed me to the dock that morning, you might have snuck onto the ship when we weren't looking. I don't want to be dragging a tagalong everywhere."

"Who's a tagalong! I've grown a lot now, and I'm really good at fighting! Just now, I beat up two monkeys from the mountains so badly they were running all over the place!"

"Monkeys from the mountains?"

Bellemere's senses sharpened, and she became furious. "Wait! You got yourself this filthy, and it turns out you were fighting monkeys in the mountains?!"

"I couldn't help it."

Nami blinked, looking innocent. "I held up the newspaper photo and told them my brother was a champion, but they just kept eating fruit in the trees, rolled their eyes, and completely ignored me. So, I got angry and threw rocks at them, and then we started fighting."

This troublesome child!

Bellemere gritted her teeth, grabbed Nami by the ear, and dragged her to the bathroom. "Go wash yourself clean! Honestly, if this happens again, I'll deal with you. I'm not asking you to be like Xianuo, but when will you be sensible like Nojiko!"

Creeaak~

The door opened again. Xianuo on the sofa and Bellemere by the bathroom door both instinctively turned their heads.

A filthy blue-haired girl appeared in the doorway, bruised and swollen, with several rips in her pants and only one shoe.

Upon seeing Xianuo, her eyes lit up with surprise, but then they met Bellemere's murderous gaze. She couldn't help but shrink back and give a sheepish grin:

"Um, there's a reason for this. I was talking to the big goose at the village entrance about Brother Xianuo. It lost patience halfway through and tried to run off, so I fought it. It's a shame, I was so close, but I didn't win..."