Once Kuta had finished laughing, he told Kuina the story of the Lord of the Coast, Shanks, and Luffy.
It was a short story, though Kuta wove in everything he knew, and it took quite a while to tell.
Of course.
As she listened, Kuina's expression shifted from puzzlement to curiosity about the mountain bandit king. But when she heard how Shanks had wagered his arm on the New Era to save Luffy, her look turned strange.
"So... Shanks's arm was bitten off by a small Sea King like the Lord of the Coast you fished up?"
Kuina asked again in amazement, her expression still odd.
"Yep!"
"Hahahahaha!"
Kuta nodded, then couldn't help laughing again.
The truth was, it wasn't really funny.
But Shanks was here on the island, a living person standing before him rather than a character in a manga from his previous life. Whenever Kuta thought about how easily the man had lost his arm in the East Blue, he couldn't help laughing.
"Well, that's..."
Even Kuina was left speechless by the truth.
Bang!
Just then, the room's door was shoved open from outside.
"Kuta, get up! Time for a banquet!"
Backlit by the setting sun, Shanks looked at the boy and girl leaning over the side of the ship and stopped short in the doorway. He scratched his head awkwardly. "Haha! You're already awake. I thought you were still asleep!"
As he spoke, Shanks strode into the room without ceremony.
At that moment, the boy and girl exchanged a glance and turned around together.
The moment she turned, Kuina's gaze fixed on Shanks's missing left arm. She couldn't have hidden her peculiar expression if she'd tried.
"What's wrong?"
Shanks gave Kuina a puzzled look and touched the empty space by his left side with his right