"..."
Little Luffy froze for a moment. "Is... is it because of Grandpa?"
He was innocent and simple-minded, but not stupid.
"What else could it be? Your cute little face alone?"
Noah smiled and pinched Luffy's cheek. It had to be said, it was soft and squishy, with an absolutely wonderful feel. "Everyone in the village loves and respects Mr. Garp. So as Mr. Garp's biological grandson, even if you were ugly and a troublesome little brat, you wouldn't be treated much differently."
"Hey, mister!"
Luffy slapped Noah's hand away indignantly. "I'm not a little kid anymore! Stop pinching people's cheeks all the time!"
Noah did not mind. He simply filled his own glass again.
"I respect Mr. Garp very much too. He had served in the Marines for over fifty years. He came from nothing, from a poor background, and fought his way to his position and prestige with his own fists, one punch at a time."
"Over those fifty-odd years in the Marines, who knew how many vicious pirates had died beneath his fists."
"And who knew how many comrades who had once eaten, lived, and fought alongside him had died on battlefields where they fought pirates to the death."
"Now that he was already so old, with Marine Headquarters so busy, he still put aside his pride every year and took several months of leave, traveling thousands of miles back and forth just to return to the East Blue and look after his grandson, hoping he would not go down the wrong path."
"Put yourself in your grandfather's shoes, Luffy."
He drained his glass in one gulp, then turned to Luffy with a genial smile. "In that situation, his grandson insists on becoming the pirate he hates most—the kind of pirate whose hands are stained with the