"Mihawk!?" Shirakawa's voice rose as he said the name.
"What? You know my senior?" Jola asked in confusion. Otherwise, why would Shirakawa have said it in such a questioning tone?
"I don't know him. The name just sounds a little familiar."
How could it not? Mihawk was one of the characters in One Piece who had left the deepest impression on Shirakawa. The World's Greatest Swordsman, he was every swordsman's goal.
He just didn't know whether the Mihawk Jola was talking about was the same person as the Mihawk Shirakawa knew.
"What about your senior? Is he still here?"
Jola shook his head. "He left a month ago. He said he wanted to pursue a stronger swordsmanship and challenge every capable swordsman in the world."
"Is that so?" Hearing Jola say that made Shirakawa even more certain that his senior, Mihawk, was the future Dracule Mihawk, Hawkeye.
As the thought crossed his mind, Shirakawa couldn't help looking at Jola strangely. His senior Mihawk would become the World's Greatest Swordsman, while his junior seemed destined to remain unknown on the Grand Line.
Either Jola hadn't made his debut yet, or he'd met an early end. Either way, he seemed to have fallen far short of his senior.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Jola asked, feeling rather unnerved by Shirakawa's stare.
"Nothing."
"Strange," Jola muttered. Then he ignored Shirakawa and continued toward home.
Jola's house was in an extremely remote part of the village, halfway up a mountain. He said his master had chosen the location.
"Is your master strong?"
"Of course. My master taught me all my swordsmanship. I've never met anyone stronger than him."
"Really?" Shirakawa felt eager to test himself. Fighting powerful swordsmen was what he enjoyed most these days.
"Master, I'm back." With that, Jola