Pirates: I Loaded the Game Panel

Both sides had shown their Armament Haki. If they kept fighting, they would probably lose control of the situation.

Koshiro knew a fight against an opponent of the Evil Swordsman's caliber would not end quickly. Once they began fighting in earnest, his little grove would be gone, for one thing.

Besides, a clash between swordsmen was dangerous. One careless move could turn it into a fight to the death. If he won, that would be one thing. But if he lost...

Koshiro refused to consider such a terrible outcome. He could not even bear to imagine it.

Adrian was frustrated. He had not expected Koshiro, who had fought so fiercely moments ago, to simply call it quits!

Being left hanging like this felt awful!

Adrian suddenly wanted to put Yubashiri against Koshiro's neck and force him to keep fighting!

A Request

"Master Koshiro, behold my Pee-Slant Sword Style!"

"Master Koshiro, a sword must be kept free of pointless emotion!"

"Master Koshiro, why teach swordsmanship when you're this soft? Go home and raise pigs!"

No matter how Adrian goaded or provoked him, Koshiro remained unmoved.

Those narrowed eyes behind his round black glasses made Adrian want to pluck them out and smash them like marbles!

Adrian muttered, "Damn it. A squinty-eyed monster!"

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that, Tao Ya." Koshiro adjusted his glasses and said evenly, "You're the real monster here, aren't you?"

Tales of monstrous newcomers circulated across the seas, but Koshiro had never seen one as strong as Tao Ya.

A Swordmaster so young and so powerful would surely be rare even in Wano Country, where warriors and Swordmasters abounded, according to his father...

And his instincts as a swordsman told him something else.

Koshiro had always felt that Tao Ya concealed an even greater power. He had only ever shown the people at the dojo his swordsmanship.

"I'm no monster." Adrian waved the label away. "I've still got a long way to go!"

Koshiro sighed inwardly and shook his head.

A young monster who was never satisfied with his own strength was the truly frightening kind!

Before long, the Evil Swordsman's reputation might spread beyond the East Blue and West Blue...

Whether it would be a good reputation or a bad one, he could not say.

"Come to think of it, I don't believe I've asked you," Koshiro said, changing the subject. "What do you plan to do in the future, Tao Ya?"

"The future?"

Adrian blinked, unsure why Koshiro had suddenly brought that up.

After a moment, though, he began to think.

A long silence passed before Adrian spoke slowly.

"In the future...

"I'll probably spend some time roaming the seas, free to do as I please and enjoying myself. When I need money, I'll hunt down a few heinous pirates and collect their bounties from the Marines...

"Once I've had my fill of the Four Blues, I'll wander around the Grand Line. The first half or the second, it doesn't matter. The sky or the seabed, either...

"Ideally, I'll have a few more young, beautiful human women with me. Beautiful is the important part, of course. Whether they're human... Ahem...

"Then, around the year 1521 of the Sea Circle Calendar, I'll retire from being a Pirate Hunter, join the Marines, and enjoy a leisurely government job—slacking off, snacking, and clocking in every day..."

Koshiro's forehead twitched at the middle part. The last sentence was even worse. What exactly did Tao Ya think the Marines were?!

Still, Koshiro noticed one peculiar detail in Adrian's otherwise pleasantly carefree dream.

"Why the year 1521 of the Sea Circle Calendar?" he asked.

Koshiro's question snapped Adrian out of his daydream. For once, the handsome man was at a loss for words.

Why wait until the year 1521 of the Sea Circle Calendar to join the Marines?

Because the Paramount War would break out before then! Afterward, the World Military Draft held by the Marines and the World Government could put him straight into a Marine Admiral's post!

He could spend a couple of years slacking off as an Admiral. If Akainu called him out, he could confidently say, "I'm learning from my senior Kizaru!"

And after that?

After that, Luffy would start punching Four Emperors, kicking Admirals, and closing in on the title of Pirate King!

The World Government and the Celestial Dragons would probably be on the verge of collapse by then!!

When war broke out, he could help from the inside.

Then he could retire right after the war and collect an Admiral's pension. What could be better?

Enjoy himself while he was young, then find someone to settle down with when he was old. Wasn't that the right way to live?

But he could hardly tell anyone that!

Adrian's mind raced, and he soon came up with an explanation that sounded reasonable but was complete nonsense.

"Because... I'll be pushing forty by then. After seeing enough of the world, I probably won't hate those foolish Celestial Dragons and kingdom nobles quite so much. Joining the Marines would give me a secure living while letting me do some good. Doesn't that sound nice?"

Judging by Koshiro's expression, he accepted the explanation, though only just.

Then his face took on an odd look. "You'll only be pushing forty in the year 1521? Thirty-nine? Doesn't that mean you're only about seventeen now?"

In Koshiro's mind, Adrian instantly moved up from monster to freak of nature!

An underage Swordmaster!

Good heavens!!

Adrian waved both hands. "I'm seventeen by actual age, eighteen by traditional reckoning, practically nineteen, and almost twenty! I feel old already!"

Koshiro felt as if someone had stabbed him in the heart more than once.

"Ahem!" He coughed heavily a few times, then got straight to the point. "Tao Ya, would you like to learn the Haki I mentioned earlier, Ryuo?"

Though impressed by Koshiro's talent for changing the subject, Adrian nodded so eagerly he looked like a chicken pecking at grain.

This was Ryuo!

If he missed this chance, he would have to venture deep into the New World and try his luck in Wano Country!

If he had been a little less bashful, Adrian would have asked Master Koshiro about it the moment their fight ended!

Seeing Adrian's excitement, Koshiro nodded slightly. He trusted his own judgment of character.

He believed everything Adrian had just said came from the heart. His time with the people at the dojo over the past few days had only confirmed it.

Who would have thought that the Evil Swordsman, notorious in the West Blue and East Blue, was actually a man of justice who hoped to join the Marines?

That being the case, Koshiro decided to entrust him with something.

"I can teach you Ryuo, but there's a task I'd like to entrust to you." Koshiro grew solemn. "It was also my father's lifelong wish, one he never fulfilled."

Adrian turned serious as well. "Please tell me."

"Once you've learned Ryuo, if you leave the Four Blues for the second half of the Grand Line someday, I'd like you to visit a country called Wano Country and find out how the Shimotsuki Family is doing."

At that moment, a message appeared on the panel.

[You have triggered the quest Last Wish!]

[Quest description: Thoughts of a homeland never seen again can turn a man's hair gray. Thirty-two years ago, Shimotsuki Kozaburo led his warriors out of the isolationist Wano Country, but never returned before his death... Now Shimotsuki Koshiro asks for your help, hoping to ease his father's greatest lifelong regret.]

[Quest objective: Travel to Wano Country, investigate the current state of the Shimotsuki Family, and report back to Shimotsuki Koshiro.]

[Time limit: None.]

[Quest rewards: 1,000,000 experience; Armament Haki trait: Ryuo.]

Ryuo

Adrian had no reason to refuse the unexpected quest.

Besides, Koshiro had already done so much for him. Adrian would have agreed to help even without a reward.

Wano Country was already one of the destinations he had chosen for himself!

As he accepted the quest, Adrian said, "Rest assured, Master Koshiro. Once I reach the New World in the second half of the Grand Line, I'll go to Wano Country and look into it. It's just..."

Adrian deliberately left the rest unsaid.

What he meant was clear enough.

As Adrian recalled, the Shimotsuki Family had once been a powerful and renowned family in Wano Country's history. Its members included Shimotsuki Ryuma, the legendary dragon-slaying Swordmaster and hero.

But in recent years, the Shimotsuki Family had fallen on hard times, its members scattered and dwindling.

By the time the family first appeared in the original story, only Shimotsuki Kōka and Shimotsuki Toko remained—and Toko was an adopted daughter...

Even at this point in time, Adrian had no idea how many members of the Shimotsuki Family were left.

Koshiro naturally understood what Adrian had left unsaid.

He shook his head calmly. "His homeland was my father's greatest regret. Even on his deathbed, he spoke of its cherry blossoms... When you go to Wano Country, you only need to find out how the Shimotsuki Family is doing. Don't worry too much about anything else."

After a pause, Koshiro seemed to recall something. His voice softened. "Come to think of it, I bear the Shimotsuki name, yet I've never once seen what our homeland looks like. It's..."

Koshiro sighed softly and let the thought trail off.

"I'm sure you'll be able to leave the East Blue and visit Wano Country someday too, Master Koshiro," Adrian said.

"That won't happen!" Koshiro said with a rueful smile. "It might have been possible once, but now I could never leave Isshin Dojo and Machiko behind."

Adrian fell silent.

Only then did he finally understand why the master of Isshin Dojo, quite possibly a hidden powerhouse of the East Blue, was content to remain in this tiny corner of the world.

The force holding him here was called responsibility.

Once Shimotsuki Machiko gave birth to Kuina, that responsibility would only grow stronger.

And when Kuina died in an accident, the responsibility binding Koshiro to Isshin Dojo would instantly become a far greater regret.

It was hard to imagine how Koshiro's life would have turned out without Zoro, that sword-obsessed boy with no sense of direction.

At that thought, Adrian's expression changed slightly.

Kuina...

Pretending nothing was wrong, he said, "Master Koshiro, isn't Machiko due in September this year? I wonder whether it'll be a boy or a girl. You mustn't play favorites."

"Ahem! Where did that come from?" Koshiro blushed faintly. He was unexpectedly shy about family matters, though anticipation still flickered in his eyes. "I hope it's a girl. Then... Ahem. Back to the matter at hand!"

Koshiro cleared his throat and put on a stern expression. "Now, let me teach you the details of Ryuo."

There was none of the arduous training Adrian had imagined.

Koshiro explained the finer points of Ryuo Haki several times, then went over the subtle differences between it and ordinary Armament Haki in detail.

Even though Adrian was a young monster who had already become a Swordmaster, Koshiro expected Haki to be another matter.

Unlike Observation Haki and Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki depended heavily on physical strength.

Generally speaking, a master of Armament Haki was also a master of hand-to-hand combat.

Adrian had unleashed his Armament Haki during their fight, but Koshiro had clearly felt that it was not especially strong.

Koshiro put that down to Adrian's youth. His body still had plenty of room to develop.

So Koshiro guessed that even a prodigy like Adrian would need at least a month to gain a solid command of Ryuo Haki.

But only three minutes passed after he finished his explanation.

First, the skin of Adrian's hands turned a cold, hard black from within—the appearance of ordinary Armament Haki.

A second later, Adrian's hands looked like metal heating to a glow. A flowing, cherry-blossom-pink sheen spread over them. Even the air around his hands faintly warped, accompanied by a soft, sharp crackling.

Ryuo had manifested!

Even behind his glasses, Koshiro's narrowed eyes widened enough to reveal his shock!

A monster!