Enel

Sea Circle Calendar, year 1487.

Before they knew it, they had spent three months sailing across the White Sea.

At last, they reached Birka, the small Sky Island marked in the southeast of the map.

The entire island had an ancient feel to it.

It lacked the vitality of other Sky Islands, and most of its residents were elderly people and children.

Unable to bear the oppressive atmosphere, the young people had all left to seek their fortunes.

The warship docked at the shore, and the soldiers disembarked to talk with Birka's residents and purchase supplies.

Something about Birka's buildings struck Cricket as odd.

"Mr. Sakazuki, why do I feel like I've seen these buildings somewhere before?"

Sakazuki looked toward Birka's old-fashioned buildings and replied:

"The city of gold, Shandora."

Only then did Cricket suddenly realize how many similarities there were between the buildings here and those in Shandora.

The shapes of the houses, the towering altars, and even the carved patterns...

"But wasn't Shandora on an island in the Blue Sea a thousand years ago? How..."

Sakazuki's voice drifted over.

"Haven't you noticed..."

"The Shandia people..."

"Have wings too?"

Cricket stood rooted to the spot, stunned.

Sakazuki called to his adjutant, telling him to watch the warship.

Then he disembarked and wandered around the island with his Observation Haki fully extended.

Birka wasn't large, but even after Sakazuki made several rounds of it...

He still found nothing unusual. All the houses were ordinary.

"Well..."

Left with no other choice, Sakazuki returned to the ship to think of another way.

As soon as he came aboard, his Observation Haki detected an extra person-a child, at that. He looked at his adjutant.

"Where did this little fellow come from?"

His adjutant smiled and said:

"He has no wings, so he's probably a child from the Blue Sea."

"I don't know how he ended up here."

"From the look of him, he hasn't had an easy life."

Sakazuki's interest was piqued.

"Come on. Let's take a look."

With that, he headed for the storeroom belowdecks, and his adjutant followed with a smile.

Inside the storeroom belowdecks.

Crunch, crunch, crunch...

Enel held an apple in each hand, taking bites from them in turn.

His cheeks bulged like a little squirrel's as he chewed rapidly.

Just as Sakazuki approached the storeroom...

Enel seemed to sense something. He deftly lifted the lid of a nearby crate and hid inside.

He didn't forget the two apples in his hands, keeping a firm grip on them.

Sakazuki and his adjutant, who had both sensed Enel's movements, smiled faintly.

Interesting...

Pushing open the storeroom door, Sakazuki walked inside and spoke to his adjutant behind him.

"Carol, are we missing anything from the storeroom?"

Inside the crate, Enel startled and grew tense. What?! They could notice even two missing apples?

Carol looked at the crate where Enel was hiding and smiled.

"It does seem we're missing a few things, Vice Admiral Sakazuki."

Sakazuki spoke again.

"How should we punish a little brat who steals?"

Carol offered a rather "cruel" answer.

"Children who steal are usually hung above the dining table for three days. Their punishment is being allowed to look, but not eat~"

Enel's heart clenched.

Are these two devils?!

He quickly held his breath and prayed they wouldn't find him.

At a gesture from Sakazuki, Carol walked over to the crate where Enel was hiding.

He lifted the lid and looked down at Enel with a cheerful smile.

"What do you think~"

"Mr. Little Thief?"

The moment Carol's hand touched the crate, Enel knew he was done for!

Panic overwhelmed him.

He was only three years old, after all. His mind went completely blank.

Only after Carol lifted the lid and finished speaking did he react.

He hurled the apples in his hands at Carol, too frantic to mourn the half-eaten fruit.

Then he nimbly vaulted out of the crate and ran for the door.

He hadn't made it more than a few steps before an irresistible force hauled him into the air, leaving him flailing in panic.

Holding the two apples, Carol smiled at Enel, who was dangling from two of Sakazuki's fingers.

"Wasting food is a serious crime, Mr. Little Thief."

"So your punishment will be~"

Enel grew even more frantic at those words, twisting from side to side as tears glimmered in his eyes.

But the toughness he had developed from wandering the streets for as long as he could remember kept him from crying.

"To eat both of these apples."

When Carol announced his cruel punishment, Enel grew even more frightened.

But he immediately realized something was off. Eat them?

He turned his head from side to side, looking at the beaming Carol and the faintly smiling Sakazuki.

His face flushed red. How could he not realize they had been messing with him?

"Bastards, let me go!"

"I... mmph, mmph!"

Carol stuffed an apple into Enel's mouth. "Children who swear get strung up, you know~"

Realizing that neither man meant to hurt him, and faced with that "cruel" punishment, Enel took the apples in both hands.

Crunch!

He took a huge bite and stopped talking.

Sakazuki carried Enel out of the hold, with Carol beside him.

They headed toward the office. What happened next introduced Enel to a feeling called "social death."

"What's this..."

"Huh? Where did that kid come from?"

"When did he sneak aboard?"

"Who was on watch?"

"Huh? I was on watch during the day. That's impossible."

"Hahaha..."

With his innate Observation Haki, Enel heard every word the distant soldiers said.

For the second time in that brief span, his face turned red. Too embarrassed to look at anyone, he let all five limbs droop and played dead.

Click!

Carol shut the door, and Sakazuki set Enel on the sofa before asking:

"What's your name?"

Enel turned his head away awkwardly, only to meet Carol's smiling gaze. His heart tightened, and he answered honestly.

"Enel."

So it really is him. Sakazuki continued:

"How did you sneak aboard?"

That was Enel's biggest secret. How could he just tell them?

"Your men were just too stupid."

Sakazuki's low voice rang out.

"It's because you can sense other people's movements, isn't it?"

"How far does it reach?"

"To the bow? The harbor? The town?"

"I see. As far as the town, then."

At Sakazuki's words, Enel's eyes widened and his fists clenched. This man must be a devil!

Enel had stiffened the moment Sakazuki mentioned sensing other people's movements.

Then, when Sakazuki mentioned the town, he had grown even more flustered.

That was how Sakazuki had determined the range of Enel's Observation Haki.

That range... what talent. He continued asking:

"Where's your family?"

Enel's expression dimmed, and his voice grew subdued.

"I don't have a family. I've been wandering for as long as I can remember..."

Seeing Enel's downcast expression and the tattered clothes he wore, Sakazuki was reminded that he was still just a child.

He lost the desire to question him any further.

"Carol, take him to wash up. Do we still have uniforms for children? Give him one to change into."

Carol stepped forward and scooped Enel up, ignoring his struggles.

"Yes, Vice Admiral Sakazuki."

Enel pushed against Carol's arm with his thin arms.

"Hey, I haven't agre... mmph, mmph!"

At some point, Carol had produced a fresh apple. He stuffed it into Enel's mouth and walked out.

Splash!

After being washed, Enel looked much cleaner. Carol found him a new child-sized military uniform and dressed him in it.

Since they occasionally took in children whose towns had been massacred, they kept uniforms for every age group.

Carol pulled Enel in front of a mirror.

"All done. Have a look."

Enel stared at his reflection in a daze.

For the first time in his life, someone had taken care of him... That feeling... Tears gradually welled in his eyes.

Enel turned and bolted through the door, running all the way off the ship until he vanished into Birka's little town.

Standing by the deck railing, Sakazuki watched Enel run into town and asked Carol beside him:

"How did it go?"

Carol smiled as he looked in the direction Enel had disappeared.

"It's all in place. It should last him a while."

Sakazuki nodded.

Birka Island.

Beneath a bridge in town, Enel sat panting.

"Tch. Who needs your kindness?"

Then, afraid of dirtying his new clothes, he quickly stood and straightened them. Suddenly, he noticed that there seemed to be something in both pockets of his jacket.

He reached inside.

Two stacks of high-denomination Extol notes appeared in Enel's small hands.

Enel lowered his head, hiding his face as he struggled to control his expression.

Drip! Drip! Drip!...