Kaiser Lynn

"Miss, those people have already left. You can get off me now, right?" Shirakawa said stiffly. He had never been hugged like this in his previous life, either.

"Mmmh." Hearing Shirakawa's words, the woman lifted her head from his chest and let out a deep breath.

"They're finally gone. Thank you, handsome."

Once the woman raised her head, Shirakawa was momentarily stunned. He hadn't seen what she looked like at all before, but now it seemed he hadn't lost out—he might have even come out ahead.

"Don't mention it."

"Oh, right. My name is Kaiser Lynn. What's your name, handsome?"

"Adolf K. Shirakawa. Just call me Shirakawa."

"Shirakawa... that name really suits you. You can call me Lynn."

"By the way, Lynn, why were they trying to arrest you? Judging by their clothes, they were guards from this country, right? Did you commit some crime, so they came after you?"

"Of course not. They were trying to arrest me because I'm not from this country."

"Oh, I see." From that alone, Shirakawa could tell that Kaiser Lynn was lying, or concealing some important information. They weren't from this country either, yet no one was hunting them down.

"Hey, could you two pay attention while flirting? We're still here, you know."

Rayleigh's voice drifted into their ears. Rayleigh wasn't just a drunkard—he was a lecher too.

"Haha, sorry. I forgot about you guys." Shirakawa laughed awkwardly. Of course, he hadn't really forgotten them; he was just making a joke.

Growl, growl, growl. At that moment, a strange sound reached everyone's ears, and all eyes turned toward Kaiser Lynn.

"Hehe, I haven't eaten in quite a while. I'm a little hungry. Sorry."

"Then let's go eat. We only drank earlier."

"Let's go, then." The group headed out onto the street, but before leaving, they carefully disguised Kaiser Lynn's face to keep her from being recognized and causing more trouble.

"This looks way too ugly, doesn't it?" Although Kaiser Lynn didn't know what she looked like, she was certain she didn't look good right now.

"Just put up with it. It's better than being chased all over the place, isn't it?"

"That's true."

During the meal, no matter how hungry Kaiser Lynn was, she was still an ordinary woman and couldn't eat much. She was full after only a short while.

For the rest of the time, she watched the other four devour food like madmen, while the stack of plates on the table grew higher and higher.

"Are you... really human?" Kaiser Lynn asked in astonishment.

"Watch your mouth. Is that any way to speak to the people who saved your life?" Shirakawa replied indistinctly, his mouth stuffed full of food.

There was a cook on the ship, but the food he made was merely passable. It couldn't compare to what a professional chef could make.

Faced with such delicious food, not stuffing himself would have been letting his mouth down.

"Sorry. It's just my first time seeing people who can eat as much as you. I was a little surprised."

"Because we're strong. Strong people have big appetites."

"Is that so?"

"That's right."

Burp~ After eating and drinking their fill, all four of them burped in unison. Buggy and Shanks wore satisfied smiles.

"Not bad at all. We should come to this restaurant more often if we get the chance," Shanks said contentedly.

"You're not from here either?" Kaiser Lynn asked in surprise upon hearing Shanks's words.

"You only just figured that out? I thought you'd known already." Shirakawa took out a toothpick and picked at his teeth.

"How was I supposed to know when none of you said anything?" Kaiser Lynn roared, startling the nearby diners.

"N-no, sorry. Please continue."

Kaiser Lynn also realized her voice had been too loud and apologized awkwardly to the people around her.

"I'm telling you, you'd better be careful. You're probably a wanted criminal in this country now, right?"

"That's because you made me angry."

"You can eat whatever you want, but don't talk nonsense. What do you mean, we made you angry? It's clearly because you're not smart enough."

Hoo... hoo... hoo... No, I can't get angry. I have to hold it in. Kaiser Lynn took several deep breaths and consoled herself.

"Since you're not from this country, what country are you from?"

"We're not from any country. More precisely, we're not from this island."

"Don't tell me you came from outside the island?" Kaiser Lynn said in shock.

"Really?"

"Of course it's true. What would we gain from lying to you?"

"Wow! You're alive!" Kaiser Lynn walked over to Shirakawa, poked his face, and found it soft.

"Obviously. If I wasn't alive, would I be dead?"

Shirakawa irritably slapped her hand away.

"Is that kid's nose real too? You people from outside the island really are weird." Kaiser Lynn pointed at Buggy's red nose.

"I don't know if it's real either. You can ask him yourself, but we don't see people like that very often."

"By the way, have you really never seen anyone besides the people on this island in all your life?"

"No living people. I've seen quite a few dead ones, though. They were shipwreck victims who drifted here with the Grand Line."

"Then you've never taken a ship out?"

"Father said the seas outside are extremely dangerous, and the climate is terrible—completely unsuitable for sailing. We've sent many people out to explore the outside world, but none of those who left ever returned."

"That makes sense. Anyone without enough strength could end up buried at the bottom of the sea at any time."

"Then how did you get here?"

"By ship, of course. What else, were we supposed to swim here?" Shirakawa looked at her as if she were an idiot.

"Of course I know you came by ship. I meant, why were you all fine?"

"Because we're strong. No matter what kind of difficulty it is, it can't stop us now."

"Then can you tell me what the outside world is really like?"

"Sure." Shirakawa told Kaiser Lynn about everything he had seen and experienced over the past three months, while Shanks and Buggy occasionally added a few remarks.

"Wow, I really want to go outside too."

"Don't you have any way to communicate with the outside world here?"

"No."

"In places with especially harsh weather, News Birds can't get through," Rayleigh explained to Shirakawa.

"Just like this island. The weather in the surrounding seas must be extremely bad."

At Rayleigh's words, Shirakawa remembered that, on their way here, there had been a stretch of exceptionally vicious weather only half a day's sail from this island.

Even trained News Birds could not endure weather like that.

"How about this? If I get the chance, I'll take you outside for a look around."

"Really?"

"Really."