"Come on, let's take a look." Norton stretched his shoulders and back, his joints cracking softly.
He had spent too long aboard ship. It had been ages since he had truly set foot on land.
Strictly speaking, Twin Cape was only a headland, not a proper island. The last time he had spent any real time on an island had been in Loguetown.
The group set off toward the Siberian-style town.
It looked close, but they walked for nearly twenty minutes before actually reaching the town limits.
The rocky shore and frozen ground stretched out the journey. By the time they stepped onto a level road, their boot soles were caked with wet mud.
The houses here stood tall, their walls built from tightly fitted, thickened planks. The heavy timber kept the bleak autumn wind outside.
The streets had been swept clean. Only a few freshly fallen yellow leaves swirled between the paving stones.
"Let's hurry up and find somewhere to drink," Zoro said, flexing his wrists. "A place like this has to have some distinctive bars."
"Not so fast." Kuro adjusted his glasses. "Let's hear King's plans first."
"Oh, right." Remembering something, Funing unwound her scarf and wrapped it around Norton's neck. "King, with how famous you are now... you should probably cover your face."
The scarf carried Funing's lingering warmth and faint scent. Norton did not refuse.
His name had appeared in the papers plenty of times lately. Anyone who read them regularly could probably recognize his face.
He really had caused quite a stir.
"It's freezing!"
Buggy rubbed his shoulders.
He wore only a thin jacket over a short-sleeved shirt. The island's cold wind made his nose even redder.
"I told you to wear more." Nami glanced at him.
"Who are you calling Red Nose?!" Buggy immediately flew into a rage.
They had not walked far into town before someone noticed them.
It was a little girl bundled in a thick padded coat, playing outside her front door.
She looked up at the oddly dressed strangers, her eyes widening, then turned and ran inside.
"Dad! Mom! More guests are here!"
Norton and the others stopped and exchanged looks.
Soon, a couple emerged from the house.
The man crouched and said a few words to the little girl. She nodded and ran deeper into town, shouting as she went, "Guests are here! New guests!"
More doors opened.
The townspeople came out one after another, slowly gathering around them.
"They really are new faces!"
"Wonderful! We haven't had visitors in ages!"
"Welcome!"
"Welcome to Birch Town!"
"That young man... he's so handsome," a woman murmured, her gaze resting on Norton.
"Silver hair. How unusual."
"Look! There's someone with a red nose!" The children spotted Buggy and crowded around him curiously.
"Don't touch my nose, you little brats!" Buggy flailed his arms in fury.
Although the scarf covered the lower half of Norton's face, his eyes and brows remained visible. His slightly curved eyes and silvery-white eyelashes left several young women staring in a daze.
"These people are a little too friendly," Nami whispered.
"Watch out for a trap." Kuro adjusted his glasses.
"Agreed." Zoro rested a hand on his sword hilt.
Norton said nothing, merely nodding to the crowd around him. He did not dislike being surrounded like this.
The crowd suddenly parted.
A balding middle-aged man wearing a long tanned-deerskin coat and gold jewelry stepped forward.
His clothes were clearly finer than those of the other townspeople, and his stride carried a certain authority.
"Welcome!" the man said, beaming. "I'm Polido, the mayor of Birch Town. Welcome to our town, everyone. Please, allow us to treat you properly!"
He spread his arms, his voice booming. "Don't worry, we're not bad people. Hospitality has been this town's tradition for a hundred years!"
Nami quietly tugged at Norton's clothes.
The others also turned their eyes toward him, waiting for his response.
Norton grinned, his smile beneath the scarf bold and unabashed. "Of course. It's your honor."
Shouldn't that be the other way around?
The townspeople froze, exchanging bewildered looks.
The silver-haired young man's arrogance had left them somewhat stunned.
Meanwhile, back on the shore.
After Norton's group disappeared around a street corner amid the townspeople, several masked figures silently appeared on the shore.
They nimbly leaped aboard the moored boat and began searching its cabin.
"Hurry up!" their leader urged in a low voice. "See if there's anything valuable."
One lifted a hatch while another rummaged through a storage chest.
There was nothing in the cabin but a coil of rope and half a barrel of fresh water.
"Empty." The man searching spat. "Broke bastards. They didn't even leave a single Beli."
"That can't be right. Anyone who can sail in a boat like this should at least have some..."
"Look for yourself!" The man kicked the empty storage chest, drawing a hollow echo.
The leader frowned, felt around the cabin's corners, and checked beneath the seats. There was indeed nothing to be found.
"Damn it. All that work for nothing." He straightened. "Forget it. Stick to the plan. Burn it."
"What rotten luck. I thought we'd make a little money." His companion grumbled as he picked up the gasoline can they had prepared.
With practiced movements, they splashed gasoline over the cabin and deck. Its pungent smell immediately filled the air. A torch traced an arc and landed on the fuel-soaked planks.
Flames erupted with a whoosh, swiftly engulfing the entire boat.
The wood crackled in the heat. Billowing black smoke rose, filling the shore with the smell of burning timber.
Once the fire weakened, they used iron bars to smash the weakened hull apart. Under the heavy blows, the wreckage broke up and slowly sank into the icy seawater.
Their work finished, they let out relieved breaths.
One wiped away his sweat and was about to call the others away when he suddenly froze, pointing out to sea. "...Wait. What's that?"
The others looked in the direction he indicated.
At some point, a thick bank of gray-white fog had spread across the nearby sea.
The dense mist completely shrouded that stretch of water. Only a few blurred silhouettes of ships flickered within the gray-white haze, like lurking beasts.
Someone's expression changed. "Could those people who landed... have companions?"
"There's more than one ship... with this many..."
"They could also be 'ghost ships'..."
The leader gritted his teeth. "Whatever they are, we have to report to the mayor immediately! The situation's changed!"
They quickly turned and retreated into the island along a hidden mountain path, their figures soon vanishing behind the jagged rocks.
At the center of the gray-white fog lay the White Pearl.
The lookout had seen everything that happened on shore.
He immediately turned toward Sanosuke, who was practicing flying nearby, and called in a low voice, "Sanosuke! Something's wrong! Someone burned the boat on shore!"
Sanosuke drew in his wings and hovered beside the mast, frowning. "Did you see who they were?"
"I couldn't see their faces. They were all masked. But they were definitely townspeople," the lookout said firmly.
"Understood." Sanosuke nodded. "I'll contact King."
He took out the Den Den Mushi Funing had given him before they departed and deftly dialed a number.
"Puru puru... puru puru..."
Birch Town, the Banquet House.
The wooden building was spacious, with dozens of oil lamps hanging from its lofty beams. The air mingled the charred fragrance of roast meat, the rich aroma of ale, and the distinctive resinous scent of burning firewood.
"Whoa! How many cups has that been?"
"I've lost count! Definitely over a hundred!"
"That green-haired swordsman... he's a bottomless pit!"
The townspeople gathered around the long table, letting out exaggerated cries of amazement.
Zoro tipped back yet another cup of liquor, having long since lost count. His throat bobbed, and the empty wooden cup landed heavily on the table with a dull thud.
After a deep, drunken belch, he wiped his mouth and toppled unsteadily onto the fur-covered sofa behind him, his eyelids drooping.
Within three seconds, he was snoring like a pair of bellows.
At the other end, Buggy sat cross-legged on the rug beside the fireplace, surrounded by little boys. The firelight shone on his red-nosed face.
The children rested their chins in their hands, eyes wide as they listened to him gesticulate and brag about his past voyages. "...That fish's eye alone was bigger than this room! With one gulp, it could swallow an entire warship!"
"Wow!" the boys exclaimed.
"And there are islands in the sky! Made of clouds! They're soft under your feet, but you never fall through! I even slept up there back in the day!"
"That's amazing!"
"Captain Buggy is so cool!"
Their cheers nearly lifted the roof.
Funing sat on a bench beside the window, several young women gathered affectionately around her.
They carefully stroked her long, silky white hair, their fingertips lingering as they murmured heartfelt praise.
"This hair... it's like woven moonlight!"
"Your skin is so fair, too. You must be a noble lady. You're so graceful."
"Could you teach us how to take care of ourselves?"
Funing maintained a polite smile, responding to each of them.
The mood in Nami's corner was entirely different. With one foot planted on a wooden stool and her sleeves rolled to her elbows, she was competing in a drinking contest with a burly, heavily bearded man.
Ten men already lay sprawled at her feet, all flushed and unconscious.
The male spectators exchanged looks, cold sweat beading on their foreheads.
"This girl... she's even fiercer than that green-haired kid!"
"She must've grown up soaking in a booze barrel..."
"This is the eleventh... Hans is the best drinker in town..."
Nami wiped the corner of her mouth, her eyes clear, without the slightest hint of drunkenness.
She crooked a finger at the next challenger, her smile brimming with wild defiance.
Norton, meanwhile, sat alone in a high-backed chair at the far end of the banquet hall.
Women clustered around him at varying distances, their gazes fixed on him as they whispered, affection almost spilling from their eyes.
Yet not one dared approach within three feet of him, as though an invisible barrier kept the bustle and noise at bay.
He simply held his wineglass quietly, the amber liquid swaying gently in the lamplight, and watched the lively scene with a smile. Paired with those unfathomable silver-gray eyes, it only made him more tantalizing.
"I've never seen such a beautiful man..."
"Like a young, lonely king!"
"I want to marry him so badly!"
Kuro leaned alone in the shadows by the door, his wineglass full and untouched.
His lenses reflected the flickering firelight, as well as the unfailingly kindly smile on Mayor Polido's face nearby.
Kuro silently observed and calculated, noticing how Polido's gaze discreetly swept the room at regular intervals, lingering longest on Norton.
As everyone grew flushed with drink and the festivities reached their peak, Polido carried his glass onto the low wooden platform in the hall.
He tapped the glass, and the clear ringing sound quieted the clamor a little.
"Honored guests!"
Polido's booming voice was full of infectious enthusiasm. "Welcome to Birch Town! Please consider this your home and settle in without a care! In the days to come, we'll make sure you feel all the warmth of home!"
"Yeah!" The townspeople raised their glasses and cheered, their voices nearly shaking the dust from the beams.
Nami raised her hand just then. "Mayor Polido! Thank you for your hospitality, but once our Log Pose finishes recording this island's magnetic field, we'll be setting sail again."
The banquet hall fell silent for a moment.
Everyone knew the Log Pose would only point toward the next island once it had finished recording the magnetic field.
Setting sail before then meant losing all sense of direction on the vast sea.
Polido's smile did not falter. Instead, it deepened. "Oh dear, I'm afraid you may be disappointed, young lady. Here in Birch Town, it takes a full month for a Log Pose to finish recording the magnetic field."
He paused, swept his gaze over them, and slowly added, "And unfortunately, that happens to coincide with the 'snow disaster' that comes every four years. The surrounding sea will freeze over completely. Ships won't be able to sail at all."
"Snow disaster?" Nami frowned.
"'Granvor's Winter.'" A trace of gravity entered Polido's voice. "Although ours is an autumn island, its climate is unusual. Every four years, we experience an exceptionally harsh winter!"
Then his tone shifted, and his smile grew warm again. "So staying here is your safest choice. Our houses are all built from the island's unique 'insulating dead birchwood.' They can withstand even the coldest winter."
"As long as you stay in town, I guarantee you'll survive the 'snow disaster'!"
Nami bit her lip, looking troubled. She turned toward Norton, about to ask his opinion.
Just then-
"Buru buru-buru buru-"
The sudden ringing of a Den Den Mushi came from Funing's direction.
Almost the instant it rang, a sharp glint flashed through Mayor Polido's eyes. He turned his head with perfect nonchalance toward the sharp-featured Bald-Headed Girl beside him and gave an almost imperceptible movement of his chin.
Funing picked up the Den Den Mushi and smiled apologetically at the girls looking her way. "Excuse me. I need to take this."
She rose from her seat and walked briskly toward the door.
The Bald-Headed Girl immediately put on an innocent, sunny smile and followed. "Miss Funing, would you like me to show you somewhere quieter?"
"No need to trouble yourself." Funing returned an elegant smile, her tone gentle but leaving no room for argument. "I'll be back shortly."
As she stepped out of the Banquet House, the autumn wind swept up fallen leaves and instantly stripped away the warmth from inside.
Funing hurried to the sheltered side of the building where firewood was piled. Only after making sure no one was around did she answer the Den Den Mushi, which had been vibrating nonstop.
"Hello? It's me, Funing. What happened?"
"Sanosuke here. Tell King that the townspeople burned the ship by the shore. They searched it first, found nothing, then doused it with oil and set it on fire."
"What?!"
Funing clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling the cry that nearly escaped. "Those townspeople... but they were so welcoming..."
"Don't be naive, young lady," Sanosuke's voice came through the Den Den Mushi. "Anyway, that's the situation. Ask King whether the fleet should come ashore immediately."
"...Understood." Funing drew a deep breath of icy air and forced herself to calm down. "I'll tell him right away."
Funing hung up and cautiously surveyed her surroundings.
The street was deserted, with only the distant, muffled din from the Banquet House breaking the silence.
Funing composed her expression, turned, and headed back.
Not far behind Funing, in the shadows of a tall stack of firewood, the Bald-Headed Girl slowly revealed half her face.
Moonlight shone in the Bald-Headed Girl's unsmiling eyes, reflecting a cold, vicious gleam. She stared at Funing's retreating figure until the wooden door closed again, then slipped soundlessly into the deeper darkness.