The Shameless Villain

The door flew straight through the window and landed outside.

The commotion was so loud that even unrelated guests woke up, let alone Buggy and Shanks, the two people at the center of it.

"What's going on?" Buggy asked in a panic as he got out of bed. Even Shanks, usually so carefree, instantly came to his senses, thinking they were under attack.

"Well, look at you two. You slept like the dead. What were you up to last night?"

Shirakawa walked in with a smile.

"Oh, it's you, Shirakawa. What are you doing here? You scared me."

As soon as they saw it was Shirakawa, the two lay back down, pulled the covers over themselves, and shut out the world.

"All right, get up. The sun's practically shining on your behinds." Shirakawa walked over to the window and yanked the covers away.

"What are you doing? Let us sleep a little longer." Buggy, lying on his side, even reached back to scratch his butt.

"Yeah, we didn't get to bed until the middle of the night."

"Tell me, what were you two doing last night?" Shirakawa didn't believe they'd stayed up until the middle of the night just by sitting around in their room.

"Obviously, we went to a bar," Shanks mumbled sleepily.

"You went to a bar? Why didn't you invite me?" Shirakawa was a little annoyed. He'd missed out on a perfectly good night out.

He grabbed them both and hauled them to their feet, shaking them hard.

"Awake now?" Shirakawa let go, and the two of them landed on the floor with a thump.

"Come on, let's get something to eat, then we'll set off and see what a battlefield is really like."

"Fine." Still looking half-asleep, the two scratched their heads vigorously, got dressed, and followed Shirakawa out.

But when they reached the entrance, a crowd surrounded them. Guests from other rooms had also opened their doors to see what was happening.

"What do you want?" Shirakawa asked coldly. It was obvious these people hadn't come with good intentions.

"Sir, we'd like to ask you the same thing. Why did you damage our door for no reason and break the window too?"

"Haha, sorry."

Hearing the reason, Shirakawa knew he was the one at fault.

"We were in the wrong. We'll compensate you."

At the mention of compensation, the other party's expression softened, and the tense atmosphere gradually eased.

"Good. The door, the window, and that damaged section of wall come to one hundred thousand Berry altogether. Please pay up." The man leading the group held out his hand.

"No problem. I'll get it for you. Buggy, pay them."

"Why should I pay? You're the one who broke everything!" Buggy protested.

"Quit complaining. I'm broke. If I had money, I'd pay them myself."

"Well, I'm broke too."

"Buggy, don't be so stingy. When I get some money, I'll pay you back double."

"Triple, quadruple, quintuple." When Buggy still didn't answer, Shirakawa kept raising the offer.

"Deal." When Shirakawa got to five times the amount, Buggy finally agreed.

This is great. I pay one hundred thousand Berry and get five hundred thousand Berry back. That's a net profit of four hundred thousand. What a bargain. Buggy was delighted.

Whether Shirakawa would ever pay him back was Shirakawa's problem. Maybe he'd pay when he was in a good mood, or maybe he'd forget about it someday. The author might even forget about it.

After getting their money, the group left happily. Fortunately, they weren't the sort to skip out on their bill; otherwise, a fight would have meant medical expenses too.

"What happened?" Kaiser Lynn came over and asked with concern.

"Nothing. Let's go eat. After breakfast, I'll take you back."

"Okay."

Nothing interesting happened over breakfast. They just ran into a few members of the Roger Pirates and exchanged brief greetings.

But from the way they looked, they'd clearly had a great time last night. They seemed completely drained.

They'd been full of energy when Shirakawa saw them yesterday, but today they looked as if they'd lost all their vigor.

"Ah, people really do lose their strength when they get old." Seeing them, Shirakawa summed it up with that one remark.

"You'll look like that when you get old too," Kaiser Lynn said, taking Shirakawa down a peg after he'd been showing off.

"Don't worry. I won't get old." Shirakawa smiled confidently.

"Sure you won't."

No one took Shirakawa seriously. They all thought he was joking.

But it wasn't until ten or even twenty years later, when Shirakawa still looked exactly the same, that Shanks and Buggy realized he'd meant it.

He really wouldn't age. That was how he became one of the world's most mysterious figures—not because of his appearance or his name, but because of his ability.

They still hadn't left town, so Kaiser Lynn kept herself wrapped up from head to toe. It was uncomfortable, but to avoid being recognized, she had to put up with it a little longer.

"Hey, why aren't you all covering yourselves up? It's so unfair that I'm the only one dressed like this." Seeing the three of them walking around openly, Kaiser Lynn felt indignant.

"Because we're not wanted."

Shirakawa replied smugly. They'd thought they would be wanted after causing such a huge commotion yesterday, but their pictures hadn't appeared on the Wanted Posters, so they'd wasted no time taking off their uncomfortable disguises.

"Tch, that's so unfair," Kaiser Lynn said again.

"I'm so proud of myself." Hearing her complain, Shirakawa flashed Kaiser Lynn a neat row of white teeth.

But his smugness didn't last long. Before long, they were being pursued again.

"That's right, those are the people from yesterday. The princess of the Kingdom of Mol is disguised, but the others look exactly the same—even their clothes haven't changed."

A short distance behind them, several people watched and whispered.

It had all been part of their plan. If those people were with the princess, they would surely stick together and disguise themselves again. But if they saw that there were no Wanted Posters for them, they'd let their guard down.

And just as expected, Shirakawa and the others fell for it.

"Shirakawa, I think we're being watched." Shanks came up beside Shirakawa, warily scanning their surroundings as he spoke in a low voice.

"I know. They're pretty sharp. The princess is disguised so thoroughly, yet they still managed to find us."

"Yeah, yeah." Shanks nodded in agreement.

"Here's the plan. I'll draw their attention with Kaiser Lynn. You take the chance to get out of town."

"Okay." Shanks looked at Shirakawa in surprise. He hadn't expected Shirakawa to be so selfless. Had they been wrong about him all along?

Shirakawa walked behind Kaiser Lynn, then scooped her up in his arms.

"What are you doing?" Kaiser Lynn asked in alarm, her face turning red with embarrassment.

"Don't ask. Just hold on tight. I'm going to show you something fun."

Kaiser Lynn didn't know what Shirakawa was planning, but she did as he said.

Then white light appeared around Shirakawa, enveloping Kaiser Lynn too.

"What's that? Ah!" Kaiser Lynn screamed as soon as she'd asked.

She'd just realized that Shirakawa was carrying her into the air.

"Buggy, Shanks, we're heading off first. Hurry up and catch up!"

"Shirakawa, you shameless bastard!" Buggy and Shanks shouted, cursing Shirakawa together.

But Shirakawa paid their words no mind and simply tuned them out.

(It's Valentine's Day today. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! Though I guess this holiday has nothing to do with me. You know what I mean, right? [doge.jpg] But I want to be part of this holiday too. What should I do? What should I do! What should I do?)