"You can just call me Merlin."
His expression unchanged, Merlin looked at him calmly, unaffected by his tactics. He naturally reached out and shook the man's right hand.
At that moment,
if he wanted to,
Merlin was confident he could kill him instantly.
The abilities granted by Devil Fruits were sometimes just that unreasonable.
Surprise flashed in Fulvio's eyes at Merlin's composure, but it quickly gave way to a strange expression.
"You're not worried at all?"
"Worried about what? That you'd commit fratricide over a mere million Beli? Or that you're so righteous you can't stand the sight of even a speck of evil?
"Or are you Marines?"
"Heh!" A mocking glint appeared in Merlin's eyes. "The Marines don't have time to bother with someone like me. I'm not even a pirate, just a small-time nobody wanted by a few Affiliated Nations."
"Pfft! Hahaha! Fulvio, stop trying to scare Junior Brother Merlin."
Teresa couldn't help laughing when she heard Merlin's words.
Fulvio's eye twitched, but a smile soon appeared at the corner of his mouth. Even Merlin's answer had amused him.
Whether it was the amount of Beli, his saying they were all from the same teacher, or even his self-deprecating remark that he was just a small-time nobody—
all of it showed that Junior Brother Merlin was an interesting person.
But now Fulvio was getting into it. He put on a stern face and said,
"Do you even know what we are? We're bounty hunters, the sort of people who pursue wealth on the high seas and don't care about ties of kinship.
"A million Beli is no small sum!
"It's enough for my sister and me to go out and live it up once or twice."
Merlin continued watching him with the same calm gaze. From what he'd said, Merlin had already gotten a partial sense of what he was like. He was a complete goofball.
Teresa, however, looked thoroughly exasperated as she retorted,
"Oh, get lost! Who said I wanted to go out and live it up with you?
"Do you want me to tell Pops on you? If Pops found out you wanted to take me out partying, do you think he'd break your legs?"
Fulvio's face darkened. He rolled his eyes at her helplessly. "Do you enjoy undermining me? Couldn't you at least save me a little face in front of Junior Brother?"
Teresa scoffed, then delivered a sharp-tongued retort.
"You have the nerve to talk about saving face?
"The famous Wave Sword Fulvio, relying on his decent looks to visit the red-light district and enjoy the company of women without paying? Then calling your own little sister with a Den Den Mushi to come bail you out?"
Fulvio's eye twitched violently. He glared at her, annoyed.
"Hadn't we already put that behind us? I agreed to all those outrageous conditions of yours, and you promised to keep it secret!"
Teresa froze, then awkwardly turned her face away. She mumbled,
"Sorry. I forgot."
Fulvio clutched his chest, his expression utterly desolate. Then he sighed at Merlin and pleaded pitifully,
"You'll keep it secret for me, right? We're all people with secrets. I don't want Pops to break my legs, Junior Brother Merlin..."
Before Merlin could say anything, Yol narrowed her eyes.
"We could keep it secret for you, but you have to agree to one condition."
Fulvio looked at Yol and blinked. She was a stunning beauty who scored ninety-one out of a hundred, not the least bit inferior to his little sister. He immediately puffed out his chest and flashed a sunny smile.
"Junior Sister Yol, right? Go ahead. As long as it isn't anything too outrageous, I'll agree."
Merlin said nothing. Yol gave Fulvio a gentle smile and spoke to him, one word at a time.
"I hope you'll never bother us again, Senior Brother Fulvio. I'm worried you'll lead Merlin and Lami astray."
Fulvio's eyes went blank. A few seconds later, he managed a stiff, awkward laugh.
"Am I really that disgusting? Do you have to look at me like I'm some revolting bug?"
A look of disappointment appeared in Yol's eyes. "So you're saying you won't agree? Then I can't help it. I'll have to go tell our teacher!"
"I agree, I agree! Fine, I'll agree! I'll keep at least three meters away from you from now on. If you don't want to talk to me, I won't say a single word."
Fulvio blurted it out in a panic, his expression nearly crumbling. "That should do, right?"
Yol looked apologetic and offered him an apology.
"Sorry, Senior Brother. Merlin and Lami are going to settle down with decent people one day. I can't stand by and let them learn your bad habits."
Fulvio felt like he was about to cough up blood.
This woman could deliver such cutting words with a polite, gentle smile. She was even more dangerous than his little sister. He immediately decided he'd better keep his distance from her in the future.
He turned to Merlin with a look of sympathy, as if to say, Your mom sure keeps you on a tight leash, bro.
Merlin's gaze turned peculiar. For some reason, he understood Fulvio's look. He tilted his head toward Yol and calmly pointed at Fulvio.
"Yol, he's insulting you in his head."
Pfft!
"Yahaha! You two are so funny! I like you both so much!"
Teresa burst out laughing, tears welling in her eyes. She walked over to Merlin and lightly patted his shoulder again and again with her right hand, beaming.
"Merlin, and Yol, right? I think we'll get along great. We should definitely spend more time together from now on!"
Yol smiled and nodded. She had a good impression of Teresa, too—a girl who was a little sharp-tongued but sincere in every way.
Fulvio narrowed his eyes at his sister and pointed at her.
"Hey, sis! I know you and I are both hopelessly obsessed with good looks. This kid's pretty handsome, sure, but even if you're desperate, you can't go after someone who's obviously still a boy, can you?"
Fulvio was thinking to himself that if his sister was going to play dirty, then he'd show no mercy either.
They could hurt each other, then.
Who was afraid of whom?
Was there anything wrong with liking a warm, beautiful older woman? No, absolutely not.
Just like there was nothing wrong with liking handsome men.
The smile froze on Teresa's lips. Yol's eye twitched, too, while Merlin quietly shifted his shoulder out from under Teresa's hand.
After all, they weren't close.
Teresa's lovely face began turning bright red, inch by inch.
A few seconds later, Teresa let out a shriek and shouted in a fit of fury and embarrassment,
"You damn Fulvio! Let's see if I don't beat the hell out of you today, you big idiot!"
With a CLANG!, the greatsword at her waist leaped from its sheath. She gripped it and, amid the whooshing wind, swung a flash of cold steel straight at Fulvio's head.
Fulvio was horrified. He stomped hard enough to crack the floor and leaped backward, drawing an elegant rapier from his waist at the same time.
He hurriedly parried as his sister charged again, swinging her greatsword like a raging tyrannosaur.
CLANG! CLANG-CLANG! CLANG!
The muffled yet crisp clashing of blades rang out in the spacious indoor training hall.
The siblings moved with agility, their blades clashing fiercely back and forth.
One stood steady, his rapier flowing without end like the waves of the sea.
The other moved nimbly, darting about like a sea swallow. Her greatsword swung in broad, powerful arcs, yet carried a certain weight.
Their swordsmanship came from the same school, but each had developed a style of their own.
Watching them fight, Merlin's eyes gleamed. With his superhuman dynamic vision and his Lightning Reflexes trait, he precisely caught the essence of their swordsmanship.
He watched their duel, utterly absorbed.
Yol watched Teresa with delighted surprise. As another wielder of a greatsword, she could see a peculiar beauty in Teresa's blade: both weighty and sharp.
A new direction for swordsmanship appeared before her eyes. Yol couldn't help murmuring,
"What a beautiful sword. It's worth learning from."
In Merlin's eyes, as the siblings' fighting grew more intense, one style was like rolling sea waves, unending, while the other was heavy yet nimble, like a Rock Sea Swallow.
Fiore had said his eldest son imagined waves and incorporated them into the principles of his swordsmanship.
Then Teresa's style must be like a swallow? A swallow? Suddenly, Merlin had a thought. Sea Swallow Island's Sea Swallow Mountain?
The mountain behind the estate, which looked as though it lay quietly at rest, yet also seemed ready to spread its wings and soar at any moment?
Fiore's Rockheart theory.
Fulvio's Waveheart theory.
And Teresa's Rock Sea Swallow theory?
His thoughts wandered as he continued to watch the siblings' fight intently.
Half an hour later, Teresa, who had been fighting at full strength the entire time, finally ran out of stamina and lost.
Fulvio's rapier now rested against her slender, swanlike neck. He wore a pained expression.
"I said I was wrong, okay? I'm sorry! Please, sis, spare me!"
Teresa scowled and sheathed her sword.
"I'll let you off this time. If you do it again, I'll never let you hear the end of it.
"I'll make sure you never get to pick up women again."
As she spoke, she even made a pair of scissors with her fingers.
Fulvio's back suddenly went cold. He gave her an ingratiating smile and laughed nervously.
"I really was wrong this time! Have a heart, sis!"
Teresa snorted and glanced sideways at him, then said irritably,
"I hope you'll do what you say."
Fulvio sighed and nodded, looking close to tears.
But before long,
he was once again swaggering over toward Merlin with a smug look. But when he saw Yol's gentle smile, his mouth twitched, and he stopped three meters away from the group.
"Ahem! You've just seen my sister and me demonstrate our school's real skills. What did you think?"
As he spoke, he seemed to remember something. He turned to Merlin with a radiant smile.
"So, what about now? Do you still think I can't answer your questions?"
Just then, Teresa walked over to the three of them. She first shot her brother an annoyed glance, then smiled brightly at Merlin.
"My brother can be unreliable, but when it comes to swordsmanship, it wouldn't be wrong to say he's surpassed his master.
"If there's anything you don't understand in your training, you can ask us. Even if we don't know the answer, we can discuss it together."
She didn't make any absolute promises, leaving herself some room to maneuver.
A smile tugged at Merlin's lips. Those siblings seemed to love bickering and undermining each other, but it was clear they were genuinely close.
So,
Merlin thought for a moment, then said,
"Teacher Fiore taught us how to meditate on the Rockheart.
"But
"after successfully visualizing it, I found that the image seemed to have some adverse effects on my mental state."
Before you continue