You Think I'm an Idiot?

"Growing more than ten centimeters in a week—how exactly did you manage that?"

"What kind of martial art is it? Why does training it make such a huge commotion every day?"

"Do you think I still have a chance to learn it?"

In the restaurant, Xia Nuo was wolfing down food, with two mountains of plates piled beside him. In the gap between them, the deeply wrinkled old man looked like a curious child, pestering him with question after question.

Xia Nuo had brushed off the earlier questions with all sorts of vague, muddled excuses.

Until he heard the last one. He finally lifted his head from the plates and said with a speechless look:

"You're almost seventy, aren't you? Do you really want me to tell you the truth?"

"..." Gart let out a long sigh. "Forget it. I still want to live a few more years. I don't want to shake these old bones apart."

"Now, the important matter." The old man smacked his lips. "The voyage these past few days has gone smoothly. At most, two hours remain. In other words, we'll reach Asagiri Island before sunset today."

"..."

Xia Nuo paused slightly and nodded, not particularly surprised.

If the King of the Near Sea hadn't put them through so much trouble, forcing the Gatt to anchor for an entire day of repairs the next day, they would have arrived at this time yesterday.

"Thank you for looking after me all this time."

Only after swallowing all the food in his mouth did he look at Gart and say sincerely, "If you hadn't provided me with a secure environment in which to train, I wouldn't have made any breakthroughs these past few days."

"What nonsense are you talking about? Compared to the life you saved, what does this amount to?"

Gart laughed heartily. "Still, hearing you say that makes this old man feel pretty good. Hahaha!"

"Oh, right. From now on, the Gatt will always reserve its most luxurious cabin free of charge for you and your family! We'll cover all your food and drink too! It's a decision supported unanimously by the entire crew, so you don't have the right to refuse!"

"Only an idiot would refuse that."

Xia Nuo had never been one to spoil the mood, so he laughed along with him.

"Then it's settled. When you come to Cocoyasi Village next year, I'll bring my whole family to freeload! Fortunately, my two younger sisters don't eat much. If they were all like me, they could probably eat you into bankruptcy!"

"You're being too modest. In reality, you alone have nearly bankrupted me after eating like this for the past few days."

"Hehe..."

As they chatted and laughed, the youth suddenly remembered that it had been exactly one week since he had left home.

With two hours before they reached shore, he could take advantage of the time before disembarking to have a proper talk with his family in his room.

"We're here. This is Asagiri Island!"

"You can disembark here. It's too late today, so you can find an inn in the outer district and stay the night. Enter the city tomorrow and look for the swordsmanship dojo you like. It won't be too late."

"We're going to the warehouses at the northern wharf to unload our cargo. Once we're done, we have to continue our journey immediately. I'm afraid the next time we meet will be next autumn."

At the southern wharf of Asagiri Island, the sailors crowded along the railing, waving reluctantly to Xia Nuo on shore in farewell.

Old Gart accompanied him along the final stretch of the pier.

Xia Nuo listened attentively to his instructions, but out of the corner of his eye, he noticed ragged beggars squatting at several forks leading from the outskirts of the wharf toward the city.

They looked scattered at first glance, but there were quite a lot of them altogether.

He couldn't help asking, "Strange. Asagiri Island is a famous commercial hub in the East Blue and should be fairly wealthy. Why are there even more beggars and vagrants here than in my hometown?"

"Naive." Old Gart snorted. "They're professional beggars who live in the city and squat here all year round. There's a great deal of traffic coming and going through the wharf, and plenty of rich people visiting the city to spend money. There'll always be outsiders who don't know any better and get cheated."

"These people have all grown filthy rich off it. As for the occasional genuinely poor wretch, they've usually lost all their money in a casino and been thrown out. They're not worth sympathizing with."

"All right, this is far enough. I'm off!"

The pier finally came to an end. Old Gart patted him on the shoulder without saying anything more, puffed on his dry pipe, and turned toward the bow.

Xia Nuo stood silently where he was, watching him board the ship.

Only after the Gatt raised its sails and gradually became a tiny black dot in the distance did the youth turn around. He chose the fork on the left and headed toward the outer district.

It was already dusk, and the sun was sinking in the west.

Looking up, he could see the ancient-looking town in the distance, shrouded in twilight.

The main canal ran through the city from north to south. Cherry Blossom Trees lined both banks, while the buildings were arranged symmetrically along the waterways, orderly and densely packed.

It was also the season when the blossoms fell. Millions of pale pink petals floated on the river and drifted downstream. As the evening breeze passed, even the wharf was filled with the elegant fragrance of flowers as light as gauze.

"Prosperous commerce, beautiful scenery, and springlike weather all year round. No wonder it's a tourist destination famous throughout the East Blue."

Walking through such surroundings, Xia Nuo's mood grew much calmer.

Just before leaving the wharf, he noticed the port's ship management office beside the road. It had already closed for the day.

It really was too late today. He would find an inn first, then come here tomorrow morning. He should be able to ask about the passenger ships he needed.

Gart still thought he had come to the island to study swordsmanship, but in truth, his goal had never changed. He intended to use this highly developed shipping port to find a vessel bound for the Goa Kingdom.

In theory...

After sacrificing Shanks's severed arm, he already had more than enough points. Naturally, the urgency of obtaining Luffy's Straw Hat had fallen considerably.

But after tasting one crab, who could resist the temptation of another huge batch of points?

In any case, he had a month.

Only one week had passed so far, leaving plenty of time—enough to travel from here to the Goa Kingdom and back.

"Al... all I ask is a little kindness. I haven't eaten anything for two days and two nights. Just give me whatever you can..."

A weak groan suddenly came from beside him. A filthy palm holding out a metal box reached toward him. Remembering what Gart had said earlier, Xia Nuo couldn't be bothered to pay attention and simply walked past.

But before he had gone more than a few steps, he heard coins clinking as they dropped into the metal box behind him.

Xia Nuo instinctively turned around and saw a thin youth wearing a tattered kendo uniform stop in front of a beggar who looked to be in his fifties or sixties. Carefully, he shook every coin out of the cloth wallet he was carrying.

His eyesight was far beyond that of ordinary people. In the twilight, he could see clearly that they were all small-denomination coins worth twenty or fifty Beli. Altogether, they amounted to only two or three hundred Beli.

The beggar was clearly dissatisfied. He frowned at the thin youth and continued holding out the metal box.

"I... I only have this much..."

The thin youth looked embarrassed. Suddenly remembering something, he hesitated briefly before taking a large, blackish loaf of bread from the bundle on his back. He tore off more than half of it and gently placed it on the metal box.

"I haven't eaten dinner yet, so I have to save some for myself. Sorry."

The thin youth didn't dare look at the beggar and stammered, "Don't be fooled by how it looks. It doesn't smell very fragrant either, but trust me, it'll fill you up. A whole one is enough to last you a day."

Without waiting for the beggar to say anything, he packed up his bundle and hurried up the steps toward the city gate.

Xia Nuo looked toward the beggar.

Sure enough, the old bastard merely picked up the black bread and glanced at it. He wasn't even interested in taking a bite, and tossed it aside in disgust.

Then he poured out the coins from the metal box and counted them. With a spit toward the side, he cursed, "What rotten luck. Damn pauper!"

Xia Nuo frowned and turned around, intending to call out to the boy.

Unexpectedly, although the other boy looked thin and frail, his legs were remarkably quick. In the blink of an eye, his back had vanished, and no one knew how far he had run.

Xia Nuo stood there for a while longer, silently watching the beggar. The beggar also stared back at him with a baffled expression.

"Can't you be a little more arrogant? For example, call me a brat and ask what I'm looking at, then threaten to gouge out my eyes or something?"

Xia Nuo suddenly said in a ghostly tone.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?" The beggar rolled his eyes. "Your muscles are scary as hell. Anyone can tell you're not someone to mess with. Why would I threaten you for no reason?"

Xia Nuo lowered his head, only then remembering that when he had left the wharf, he had found the island too warm and sweated heavily. He had taken off his coat and put it away long ago.

Now he was wearing only a single shirt, leaving his exaggerated physique completely exposed.

"Sigh."

What a mood killer. Xia Nuo sighed and, under the beggar's incredulous gaze, forcibly pried the two hundred Beli from his hand before setting off toward the city again.

He could only blame his bad luck. He hadn't happened upon a larger scam, and he was still somewhat unaccustomed to this body after his breakthrough. Once he struck, it was difficult to control his strength.

Two hundred Beli was only enough to buy Nami two cheap hairpins. Beating someone half to death over such a small matter would ultimately be a little inappropriate.