Showed Up at My Door and Still Wanted to Run

"Negative Emotion Points from Nami: +15, +16, +17..."

The words continued flashing through his mind, and Duen froze for a moment. Huh... Nami?

The two stared at each other. You looked at me, and I looked at you. The entire room sank into an intensely awkward silence.

"C-customer... I-if there's nothing else, I'll be leaving first!"

Nami's tongue had started tying itself in knots. She lowered her head and could not wait to get out of there.

Once she started talking, Duen snapped out of it and remembered that he was still naked. He hurriedly grabbed a bath towel from beside him and wrapped it around himself. "Stop!"

With her head lowered, Nami had no intention of listening to Duen. She took three steps as two, and the instant she drew near him, she accelerated to the limit and lunged for the door!

But Duen reacted swiftly, shooting out his right hand and instantly grabbing Nami's arm.

Nami had spent four years running all over the seas and had encountered every sort of situation. Her experience in self-preservation was no less than that of veteran pirates who had sailed the seas cautiously for years. After freezing for only an instant, she hooked her left hand around the staff tied to the outside of her left leg. With a flick of her wrist, three short rods combined into a long staff. Crossing the one-meter distance between them, it swept viciously toward Duen's head!

Duen saw through her move. He ducked beneath the staff, planted his stance firmly, then stretched his right foot forward and hooked outward.

Nami's swing had only been a feint. Her real killing move was an upward kick with her right foot aimed between his legs. But because she was standing on one foot, she lost her balance before she could unleash it and was flipped onto the floor.

The three-section staff that had flown from her hand changed owners in an instant, then pressed firmly against her throat.

"You're just a hot-water delivery attendant... Why are you so vicious?" The friendly smile on Duen's face looked strangely unsettling. A bag had appeared in his hand—the seven million Beli bounty money she had tried to steal.

Even in such a disadvantageous position, the panic on Nami's face vanished in a flash. The cunning light in her eyes still flickered as she rapidly considered ways to escape.

"This is a new [Disaster Simulation] service offered aboard the ship. It's meant to train your reflexes, so that even if you encounter pirates in the future... you'll be able to fight back effectively."

After delivering that entire lie, Nami barely even blinked. Through all the hardship and experience of the past years, improvising on the spot had become second nature to her.

Duen used the three-section staff to lift away the scarf and strips of cloth covering Nami's head, revealing an adorable face that still retained its childishness and a head of short orange hair. "Then why did you cover your face?"

"Th-this was to make the situation more realistic and sudden. If something like today's Lone Wolf Pirates invasion happens again, you'll be able to handle it with ease."

"That makes a lot of sense..."

As though he believed her, Duen raised the three-section staff slightly. Just as Nami was about to lift her head, the staff pressed against her throat again. "But do you think I'd believe that?"

"Negative Emotion Points from Nami: +110..."

Duen figured Nami had to be pretty annoyed inside. But since he was not a pirate and had not done anything excessive, her negative emotions would not rise to the level of "fear."

"You actually want this, don't you?"

Seeing Nami momentarily speechless, Duen weighed the money bag in his hand and said leisurely, "I've never handled much money, and I don't care much about it either. If you want it, I can give it to you."

"Huh?!" Nami froze. The words "Give it to me" nearly slipped out, but she swallowed them back down. Instead, her expression became unusually calm. "What do you want me to do?"

"Heh heh..."

Duen raised the three-section staff and let Nami stand up, then tossed the staff to her. "The seven million Beli in my hands came from Lone Wolf Arnold's head, so don't question my strength, and don't think about taking this money from me by force. If you truly want it, we can make a deal."

The smile on Duen's face looked like a demon's hypocritical grin in Nami's eyes, making her shudder. She could vaguely guess what Duen wanted.

Although she had never encountered such a thing during her years of traveling, she had gradually come to understand as she grew older. She had no desire to do such a thing. She had always kept her hair short partly to reduce her feminine appeal and protect herself.

Not only that, on pirate ships, even pirates with only a little knowledge of navigation were treated well. With her exceptional navigation skills, she had never been harmed.

But...

With these seven million, she would be one huge step closer to her goal of one hundred million Beli. She could free the villagers from their pain and torment that much sooner...

This was a full seven million Beli!!

Other than the powerful Marines, Nami truly could not think of anyone else in the East Blue who could place so much money before her all at once. But... would the Marines give it to her for nothing?

Even a well-known East Blue pirate like Lone Wolf Arnold could yield only one or two million Beli from an entire ship. And how many pirates on Lone Wolf's level were there in the East Blue? There were even fewer above that level, and they were far more dangerous.

But if swallowing her pride now could bring a glimmer of hope...

What should she do...

Nami clenched her teeth and lowered her head, struggling to restrain her emotions. As she thought over her next move, she stalled for time with her words. "You want to..."

Duen replied calmly, "Play a few rounds of poker."

"Play a few rounds of poker..." Nami muttered with a dim expression. Then, as if waking from a nightmare, she suddenly widened her eyes and looked at Duen. "Huh?!"

Duen nodded. "Hm? Yes."

"Negative Emotion Points from Nami: +55..."

Seeing the faintly suggestive look in his eyes, Nami's first feeling was not the relief of a weight being lifted from her heart, but the sensation of having been maliciously toyed with like a cat playing with a mouse.

That guy's expression and smile just now had clearly been... off!!

He had to have done it on purpose!

Duen rubbed his chin. "What did you think I wanted?"

"Just poker!!"

She did not want any complications at all, but after thinking it over roughly, she still could not understand why Duen had made such a simple request...

"Then go outside for now. Wait until I've changed."

Duen pointed toward the door. "If you barge in again without my permission, our agreement will no longer count."

Nami glanced at Duen's bare upper body and said softly, "What does it matter? I already saw it earlier."

"You want to see down here?" Duen reached down as if to untie the bath towel around his lower body. Nami hurriedly turned her head away, her face flushing slightly.

"Get out."

"Fine, I'm leaving!" Nami muttered under her breath as she opened the door. Even as she stepped outside, she looked back and added, "Hurry up!"

Duen nodded slightly. Only then did Nami leave the room and close the door behind her.

Duen picked up the black broadsword weighing over twenty kilograms from the desk and propped it against the door. He did not like changing clothes while others watched; it gave him the uncomfortable feeling that his privacy was being violated.

Then he returned to the bathroom and washed away the bloodstains that had not yet been cleaned from his body.