Inheritance

"An utterly evil man...???"

Ye Mu froze, but then he reacted. Under the shopkeeper's somewhat panicked stare, he walked in and said, "Looks like the Marines gave me some bizarre title. Boss, could you clear up my confusion...?"

That made the shopkeeper freeze instead. Then he hurriedly pulled three bounty posters out from behind the counter and said with an ingratiating smile, "Customer... please take a look. These are the bounty posters the Marines issued ten days ago... for you and your companions..."

"Oh!!!"

Ye Mu was a little pleasantly surprised too. He looked toward the counter and saw that the photos on the bounty posters really were of him, Enel, and Tiger. The bounty amounts were pretty decent as well.

"The photos are good... this amount... five hundred million... that's acceptable too. But this title, 'utterly evil man,' really is plain... Boss, I'm taking these three bounty posters with me. You don't mind, do you...?"

"Of course... of course..."

The shopkeeper rubbed his hands together and said with a smile, then asked ingratiatingly, "May I ask what brings Captain Ye Mu to our humble little shop?"

"To buy swords, of course..."

Ye Mu followed the same routine as before and took out some gold.

"Bring out your best and most expensive swords..."

"Right away... right away..."

The shopkeeper turned around happily and entered the storeroom behind the counter to search for something.

At that moment, Ye Mu also looked toward the sword barrel beside him. If he remembered correctly, Sandai Kitetsu should be somewhere around here.

Although he was not a professional swordsman, he could still sense the difference between a good sword and an ordinary one.

"Found it..."

As Ye Mu stretched out his arm, he pulled a long sword with a crimson scabbard from the sword barrel.

"C-Customer..."

And this scene happened to be seen by the shopkeeper. He instantly grew nervous and rushed over, shouting, "That sword is not for sale..."

"Oh..."

Ye Mu turned his head and saw the shopkeeper running over with seven or eight swords in his arms.

"Why? Is it because it's a cursed sword...?"

"Eh... Customer, you know?"

Ye Mu did not pay him any mind. Instead, he slowly walked toward the shopkeeper and, under the man's somewhat flustered gaze, picked through the swords in his arms one by one.

Unfortunately, not a single one caught his eye.

At that moment, Ye Mu looked at the middle-aged man and suddenly said, "Boss, these swords can't be your best ones, can they...?"

"Of course they are, customer. These are all treasured swords of the Grade Sword level. Although they're a little inferior to your blade Lion Maru and this cursed sword, they are absolutely fine swords..."

But Ye Mu did not answer. Instead, he asked back, even with a hint of interrogation in his tone, "Boss, you're not being honest. It seems you don't want to sell me your truly good swords..."

"Eh... Customer, how could that be? You must be joking. I'm a sword seller. If you're willing to buy, of course I'm willing to sell."

Ye Mu looked coldly at the middle-aged man before him and suddenly said something shocking.

"Boss, have you ever heard of a country called Wano Country...?"

In truth, Ye Mu had also suddenly realized something was wrong.

Because he had suddenly thought of it: an ordinary weapons shop actually possessed both Snow Run, one of the fifty Skillful Grade swords, and the cursed blade Sandai Kitetsu at the same time. That was far too abnormal.

Leaving aside the special meaning represented by Sandai Kitetsu—a cursed sword formed only after a swordsman had gone through endless slaughter, condensing killing intent, making it extremely precious—

Just Snow Run alone, although it was only one of the fifty Skillful Grade swords, was still one of the top one hundred fine blades in the world.

These two swords had actually appeared in the same weapons shop.

And then there was the shopkeeper's appearance.

Although the world of One Piece had all kinds of styles of dress, this one was so clearly and distinctly in the style of Wano Country.

"Eh!!!... C-Customer, what are you talking about? Wano Country? What kind of country is that...?"

Sure enough, after hearing the name Wano Country, although the shopkeeper before him concealed it very well, that instant shift in emotion still could not escape Ye Mu's Observation Haki. Besides, with that aura, no matter how he looked at it, the man was a swordsman.

"Hmph..."

Ye Mu was no longer willing to pursue it.

"If you don't know, then forget it. However, since you understand swords so well, I want to ask you a few questions..."

At that moment, several drops of cold sweat visibly appeared on the shopkeeper's forehead, but he still forced a smile and rubbed his hands together as he said, "What would you like to ask, honored guest...? As long as I know the answer, I'll be sure to tell you..."

"First question. Among the swords you know of, are there any that aren't afraid of extreme heat and flames? Or one that can absorb flames would work too..."

"Well... I really don't think there are... As long as it's a sword, no matter how powerful it is, it was forged with high heat. It's only a question of how hot the flames are. As for absorbing flames, I've never heard of that either. There are swords that absorb Haki, though..."

"Is that so? Then the second question. If I wanted to have a sword like that forged, is there any master smith you'd recommend to me...?"

"Well... about that..."

The shopkeeper hemmed and hawed for a long time without saying anything. Seeing that, Ye Mu could only raise the stakes.

"I once met Kozuki Oden on the ship of the One Piece, Roger..."

"Eh!!!"

In the end, as if all the air had gone out of him, he turned his face away and said, "I... I understand... At present, of all the swordsmithing masters in the world that I know of, there are three in total. The first is Kai Jin, the master swordsmith of Fish-Man Island, but he's very old now, and I don't know whether he can still forge swords. The second is Luke, a master swordsmith of the little people—that is, the Tontatta Kingdom. Though he's a pure-hearted little person, Luke is extremely skilled at making cursed swords. As for the last one, he is Tenguyama Hitetsu, the master swordsmith of Wano Country. He is a descendant of the legendary swordsmith Kotetsu, and also the forger of the Sandai Kitetsu in your hand..."

"I see. I understand. Thank you for your answer."

As Ye Mu spoke, he tossed him the pouch of gold hanging at his waist.

"Consider this payment for that information and for the Sandai Kitetsu. Next, I'll ask you one last question... Do you know if there are any restaurants in Loguetown that are a bit less crowded, but still taste pretty good...?"

"I do... I do..."

Hearing that Ye Mu finally meant to leave again, the shopkeeper hurriedly answered.

"Just follow this street all the way in. When you reach the end, you'll see an inn that's a little run-down, with a tattered signboard hanging out front. Don't be fooled by how shabby that inn looks—the food is absolutely delicious, and it's very quiet too."

"Thanks."

After thanking him, Ye Mu left the weapon shop.

Only after seeing Ye Mu's figure disappear did the weapon shop's owner let out a long breath.

At that moment, a somewhat plump woman walked in from the back of the shop, came to her husband's side, and quietly asked, "Didn't you say you didn't want to be a swordsman anymore? In that case, why didn't you sell Snow Run to him? With his reputation, he wouldn't disgrace Snow Run's name, and we could have made a huge sum of money."

Hearing his wife's words, the shopkeeper shook his head and said with a deep expression, "You don't understand. This pirate called Ye Mu isn't a pure swordsman, nor is he someone who loves swords. What he pursues is power, nothing more. I want to find Snow Run a better master..."

"You... honestly... Forget it. Still, this guy really is generous. This much gold is enough to buy our entire shop. Looks like he isn't as evil as the Marines describe..."

At that, the shopkeeper had no desire to say more. With a smile on his face, he said, "What do you know...? But no matter what, we made such a huge profit today. We can eat something good... Heh heh..."