The Path!

"Hah!"

After noticing the brief look of infatuation in his eyes, Merlin sneered. They only knew Yol for her beauty and gentleness on the surface.

They had no idea that one punch from Yol could crack their skulls.

When they went hunting in the mountains, Yol had once killed a three-meter-long wild boar with a single punch. What a glorious feat!

The gentle, mild-mannered nun Yol had changed. Now she was a nun who could fight.

In terms of physical strength alone, Merlin still couldn't measure up to her.

And over the past two days, more than one pest had tried to use Merlin as a roundabout way to get close to Yol.

"Hey, hey, hey! Why are you laughing at me, you jerk? Wasn't what I said true?"

Gerard's face grew more and more displeased. Given Merlin's refusal to entertain anyone these past few days, he was getting even more irritated.

A cool smile surfaced in Merlin's eyes as he looked at him.

"Did you know?

Your goddess wakes me up every day, brings me food, washes my dirty clothes, and lives and eats with me, breathing the same air in the same cabin. Oh, and we sleep in the same bed, too.

Jealous?"

Gerard's face darkened. The corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably as he pointed at Merlin, stammering, "Y-you, you, you—" Merlin casually pushed his finger aside and mocked him.

"Do you really think Yol, who wakes up every day to see a handsome, high-quality man like me, would be blind enough to fall for you?"

Gerard's dark face turned purple and blue. His eyes flashed with fury as he clenched his fists and stormed off without looking back.

If Merlin hadn't been a guest aboard the ship, and if the rules didn't forbid attacking guests without cause, Gerard would definitely have punched him in the face and made him kneel down to apologize properly.

Just then, a group of sailors sitting beneath a nearby mast burst into laughter, slapping the deck as they cheered.

"Wahahaha! I told you Gerard was going to get shut down! That Merlin kid's got a wicked tongue!"

"Gahpupupu! Looks like I won my bet again! Our hotheaded Gerard didn't resort to violence under Merlin's vicious verbal attack!

Pay up, everyone! A hundred Beli each. No backing out!"

"Huh? I think I still haven't washed my socks from last night. I'd better go do that now."

"Ahahaha! The captain's looking for me, I think. I'm off!"

"Huh? I've got something to do, too."

"..."

Merlin didn't care about the betting pool nearby. He was in a good mood.

That was one more pest he'd driven off.

"You seem pretty happy."

Yol came over from the wooden stairs nearby and rested her arms on the railing to Merlin's left. She watched him with a beaming smile.

"How many is that now?"

Merlin looked exasperated. "You're keeping count? If you've got so much free time, maybe I'll stop dealing with them next time."

Yol immediately clasped her hands in front of her mouth and blinked playfully at him.

"Can't you forgive me? You're such a stingy knight in shining armor."

Merlin rolled his eyes at her and sighed.

"I'm completely worn out, body and soul! I wish I could shove a grenade in their mouths and shut them up forever."

Yol looked helpless. "Don't say such terrifying things so casually! They haven't done anything worth dying for!

But you could go beat them up to blow off some steam?"

Merlin looked at her in surprise.

"Seriously?"

Yol rolled her eyes at him. "Compared to strangers who don't matter, your feelings matter more to me.

I just don't want you to lose your mind by giving in to the urge to kill. That doesn't mean I want you to put up with everything. Do I look like that kind of idiot?"

Merlin gave her a complicated look. "Yol, you've changed. You used to be gentle and kind to everyone!"

"..." A trace of melancholy appeared in Yol's eyes, but soon her gaze grew firm again.

"I haven't changed. I just learned a painful lesson I'll never forget, and I've learned from it.

I'm no god. I have my own preferences, too.

Nuns aren't all gentle and mild-mannered. Some are fighters, responsible for driving out evil!

If God doesn't love all people, then from now on, I'll just do what I believe is right."

A smile appeared in Merlin's eyes.

"That's good. Now I won't have to worry about you getting taken advantage of."

Yol gave him an annoyed look. "I'm not Lami. The way you talk, you'd think I was some clueless little girl. And..."

Suspicion crept into Yol's eyes.

"Why do I get the feeling you're about to leave me?"

Merlin raised an eyebrow but didn't answer. He simply turned to look at the distant "fireball" sinking slowly into the sea.

An uneasy feeling rose in Yol's heart. After a few seconds of silence, she asked softly,

"Are you planning to leave us and go somewhere else? And not take us with you?"

She was unexpectedly perceptive. Merlin was silent for a few seconds, then spoke calmly.

"The world we live in is mysterious. There are many powerful beings in it.

I'm afraid I won't grow quickly if I just shut myself away and train alone.

I want to find a place that can make me stronger, fast.

The Marines probably won't work. They're under the World Government, and I'm from Flevance... I don't like them.

As for the Revolutionary Army, which has been growing more prominent over the past few years? First, they're hard to find. Second, I don't like living like a rat in a gutter alongside them.

And as I said before, if I go to sea on my own as a pirate, I'll have the Marines on my tail. Unless I reach a certain level—like those famous pirate forces in the second half of the Grand Line—I'll have to scurry around like a rat. It'll take a lot of effort and waste a great deal of time."

"What about Rockheart Kendo Dojo?" Yol asked softly. "Have you already set your sights on somewhere else?"

"Rockheart Kendo Dojo is famous, but it's just an ordinary dojo that can't make it beyond the North Blue. It should only be good for learning the basics.

These past two days, I've been chatting with the sailors aboard the ship. From what they've said, the master of Rockheart Kendo Dojo isn't a swordsman of any great distinction.

I heard that when he was young, he was just a merchant's son. Later, he happened to study swordsmanship under a Marine.

He doesn't have some long-standing swordsmanship tradition behind him.

So I doubt they can teach much beyond the basic fundamentals."

Merlin said no more.

Seeing that he didn't intend to continue the conversation, Yol's eyes flashed with helplessness.

Just then, Merlin's pupils slowly widened as he spotted a two-masted sailing ship on the distant horizon.

A black skull flag fluttered at the top of its mast.

At the same time, a shrill alarm rang out aboard the passenger ship. The sailors all went on alert.

Merlin turned to Yol. "Go back to the cabin and look after Lami. Don't come out."

Yol nodded gravely and said to Merlin,

"You be careful, too."

With that, she turned and ran toward the nearby stairs.

She went up to the third floor and returned to their room through the corridor.

But she soon came back out, carrying a katana. "Take this to defend yourself. And this, too."

As she spoke, she handed Merlin the four grenades they had left.

Merlin only took one and slipped it into his pocket. "Keep the rest to defend yourselves."

His tone was firm, leaving her no room to argue.

For now, the passenger ship stayed on alert and kept away from the pirate ship that was already gaining on them.

As time passed, the pirate ship proved much faster than the passenger ship, drawing closer and closer. When it was four hundred meters away—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Distant cannon fire rumbled.

Cannonballs came flying over.

They exploded in the sea around the passenger ship.

Waves pounded wildly against the hull. They couldn't shake the massive ship, but they did slow it down.

The passenger ship fired cannonballs back. As luck would have it—or perhaps their gunners were skilled—one shot hit the side of the pirate ship. Flames immediately erupted from its hull.

Merlin could see the pirates scrambling aboard their ship, and its speed dropped noticeably.

Cheers erupted from the passenger ship, but at that moment, an explosion boomed aboard.

Merlin abruptly raised his left arm to shield his head and crouched down. The enemy's cannonball had struck the passenger ship's middle mast, snapping it in two and sending it crashing heavily into the front of the ship's upper deck.

Flames sprang up from the sails.

The passenger ship, already far slower than the pirate ship, slowed even further.

Excited roars came from the pirates aboard the ship nearby.

The passenger ship rang with panicked shouts and calls to put out the fire.

Just then, a sailor around fifty hurried over to Merlin, gripping a sailor's knife. He shouted angrily,

"Get back to the cabin, brat! Can't you see the pirates are here? Don't stand stupidly on deck and get in our way!"

There was no anger in Merlin's eyes at being scolded. Instead, he looked at the approaching pirate ship, his expression calm.

"It's the Blood Wolf Pirates. The captain has a bounty of 10.5 million Beli. They've got a first mate, a second mate, and a few squad leaders with bounties.

There are fewer than fifty of them.

There are about a hundred people aboard the passenger ship who can fight. We have the advantage."

Old Via's eyelid twitched. He cursed irritably, "What the hell do you know?

Most people aboard this passenger ship are green as grass. They've never seen blood. What makes you think they've got the guts to fight pirates who live by the sword?

Get back to your cabin and hide."

Old Via's expression was hostile. If he hadn't chatted with the kid a couple of times over the past two days, he wouldn't have bothered coming over.

By now, the pirate ship had closed to within fifty meters. Excited cries came from its deck as it swung around to the other side of the passenger ship. A series of grappling hooks attached to ropes flew across from its deck.

A rapid clatter of hooks catching hold rang out. The grappling hooks, tied to ropes as thick as a fist, clamped firmly onto the railing on the other side of the ship.

Old Via sighed and shot Merlin a cold look. Gripping his knife handle, he said,

"Stupid brat who won't listen. Then fend for yourself!"