"So why did I have to pay so much to learn swordsmanship at a dojo?"
"I couldn't even sell myself for that much!"
That was what Zoro was thinking.
In a daze, he followed Kuina, who was carrying the money bag, and then met Shimotsuki Koshiro.
When he saw Kuina hand over the bag full of Belly, Shimotsuki Koshiro looked surprised.
"I don't have any money!"
As he watched Koushiro count the Belly, Zoro's expression shifted with indecision before he finally spoke in defeat.
His words drew surprised looks from Kuina and Koushiro.
"You're different from him. You don't need to pay!"
Shimotsuki Koshiro immediately saw what Zoro was thinking and shook his head.
In truth, he had already made his intentions clear when he brought up the tuition. This boy named Dunn had understood what he meant, too.
This lesson was simply a lesson—a transaction.
The other party paid tuition, and he taught them swordsmanship.
Nothing more would be involved.
He couldn't see through this boy at all. There was something contradictory about his bearing.
As for what the boy himself was planning, he had no way of knowing.
Zoro was about to say something, but Kuina beckoned him outside.
"Nine million Belly. That really is a huge amount!"
A while later, Shimotsuki Koshiro sighed as he looked at the Belly neatly laid out in front of him.
Not just anyone could come up with that kind of money.
"Such a strange bearing, and able to produce this much money so easily. He really is interesting."
The next day.
Dunn got up early and warmed up according to his own training routine. Then he met the other students at the dojo.
Ninety-nine percent of the dojo's students were from Shimotsuki Village. Most were around the same age as Kuina and Zoro, though a few were about Dunn's age, and two young men looked to be in their twenties.
Naturally, everyone was curious about Dunn's sudden appearance.
Especially at breakfast, when they saw how much he could eat, everyone's eyes widened.
He didn't seem to eat quickly, but the food in front of him disappeared at an astonishing pace.
That was more than an ordinary person could eat.
Shimotsuki Koshiro, who was eating breakfast as well, watched Dunn with a thoughtful look.
Compared to the young students, he had seen much more of the world.
As expected, this boy named Dunn was unusual.
"Plop!"
Zoro stared at Dunn in shock. The piece of meat in his hand fell, and he didn't even notice the drool running from his mouth.
"No wonder he had to pay so much. Is that the food bill?"
Zoro muttered to himself.
Dunn naturally paid no attention to the looks around him.
After all, eating enough would give him the energy he needed and might even improve the results of his training.
Besides, he didn't want to practice on an empty stomach.
The breakfast-time spectacle made sure that everyone knew about the new student who had just joined the dojo.
Not long after breakfast, formal swordsmanship training began.
Everyone practiced the basic moves, wooden swords in hand, following each step precisely.
Dunn didn't show the slightest impatience, either.
Kuina stood beside him, teaching him the basic sword techniques and correcting him as she went.
Not far away, Shimotsuki Koshiro kept his eyes on Dunn.
He had practiced some swordsmanship, but it seemed to be self-taught. He had never even used it in a fight, and many of his techniques were a little off.
Of course, that didn't mean flawed techniques were useless.
They just weren't as efficient.
But even so, they revealed the foundation Dunn had built.
After watching for a while, Shimotsuki Koshiro turned and left.
Kuina, however, remained patient. She seemed to take her temporary role as instructor seriously, patiently explaining the purpose of each move and how to put force into it.
Dunn showed no impatience at all.
Now he understood why his movements had felt awkward when he practiced sword techniques before.
He could only say that he still had a lot to learn.
The morning was for basic training, while the afternoon was set aside for free practice.
Kuina and Zoro continued their ongoing battles.
Most of the other students left the dojo, though a few stayed to practice. Dunn was among them.
He continued training with proper sword forms.
He kept at it until everyone else had left, leaving him alone.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The wooden sword cut through the air in a steady rhythm. Dunn's expression remained calm, and after a full day of training, his breathing hadn't changed at all.
This amount of training put no pressure on him.
But after Kuina corrected his form, he could feel that there was a lot to proper posture and technique.
Since it was helping him improve, Dunn was more than willing to be patient.
By the time the sky grew dark, Kuina came to call him to dinner. Seeing him practice with proper sword forms, she wore a peculiar expression.
"Training requires a balance between work and rest!"
That evening, the other students had left the dojo. Only the four of them sat down to eat. During a lull in the meal, Shimotsuki Koshiro calmly offered the reminder.
"This is easy for me. I can feel that I'm getting better at controlling my strength."
Dunn knew he was talking to him.
Shimotsuki Koshiro was taken aback. He glanced at Dunn, then looked toward Kuina and Zoro, who seemed to be eating but were actually listening closely.
"If that's the case, then if you can meet my expectations within a month, I'll teach you personally."
"Okay."
Dunn nodded, then buried his head in his food.
After that, Dunn entered a period of intense overtraining.
Shimotsuki Koshiro even had to send him elsewhere to train on his own.
Otherwise, he was worried the other students would get discouraged.
Of course, Kuina and Zoro also started training like crazy.
In the woods behind the dojo, Dunn closed his eyes and held a wooden sword in his right hand, blocking the attacks coming at him from all around.
Kuina and Zoro attacked Dunn relentlessly with four wooden swords between them.
Dunn didn't care about the pain when their wooden swords struck him. Instead, he focused his mind on sensing the swords coming at him.
He didn't know whether this method of training Observation Haki was correct.
But it seemed to be how Monkey D. Luffy learned Observation Haki from Rayleigh.
Whether it worked or not, there was no harm in trying. He could treat it as sparring practice for Kuina and Zoro.
Whoosh, whoosh!
The two panted heavily and exchanged a glance. They could both see the helplessness in the other's eyes.
Kuina's eyes, however, held even more resentment.
As she grew older, she became increasingly aware of the gap between people.
Or rather, the gap between men and women.
She had already started to notice it when Zoro's strength improved so quickly.
Now, the same thing was even more obvious with Dunn.
She could clearly feel that Dunn was using at least nine-tenths less force when he swung his sword. Even so, neither she nor Zoro could take his wooden sword head-on.
That was the gap.
A gap they were born with.
"There are countless powerful women on the sea. Even among the pirate emperors who stand at the very top, one of them is a woman."
Just as the resentment in Kuina's eyes was growing stronger, Dunn's voice suddenly rang out.
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