Hina, the rebellious girl

"An old man?"

The twelve-year-old boy suffered a crushing blow, his smile stiffening:

"Do I really look like an old man?"

Hina turned around, looked him up and down, and said:

"Short, with a puffy, fat face, approaching a strange girl out of nowhere. Not just an old man, but a creepy old man."

"Hina really dislikes you."

The pale pink-haired girl closed the little notebook in her hands, her face cold, then turned and left.

An awkward atmosphere filled the deck. Passengers with children quietly moved away from Dill.

Holding a boxed meal and sandwiches in one hand, Dill curled his lip in displeasure.

Kids these days had no manners.

After finishing their performance on Cologne Island earlier, he and Robin had disguised themselves and boarded this red passenger ship.

It was evening now, and he had just picked up dinner from the second-floor dining hall.

When he came out, the pink-haired girl had looked familiar, so he had gone over to say hello.

And ended up becoming a creepy old man.

Fortunately, the girl's verbal tic had helped him confirm her identity.

"Future Marine Hina, a Cage-Cage Fruit user. Was she from the West Blue too?"

Dill rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He only remembered where the Straw Hat Pirates and some important supporting characters came from.

Like Robin and Bege from the West Blue, a whole bunch of important characters from the East Blue, and Germa and Law from the North Blue.

And from the South Blue... whoever that was.

For a supporting character like Hina, who had only appeared a few times, remembering her name was already pretty good.

Speaking of which, wasn't she a Marine? Why was she writing news articles?

The future Marine Rear Admiral had dreamed of becoming a reporter as a child?

This world really was bizarre.

Dill strolled toward his room with the food, not planning to seek Hina out again.

He had hypnotized Bege during the day and publicly demonstrated his control over flames. At this point, he had no energy left for more hypnosis.

Meanwhile, Hina returned to the suite and was greeted by her parents' reproaches.

"What did you go out for this time?"

Dean wore his hair slicked back and gleaming with oil. His features looked particularly small, squeezed together by fat, and an expensive tailored suit wrapped around his big belly, while his suit trousers stretched tight below.

He pointed his gold-ringed index finger at Hina, his face full of exasperation:

"I don't expect you to inherit the family business, but can't you learn etiquette and dancing, and hurry up and find me an outstanding son-in-law!"

"Father, I'm only fourteen."

"That's right, darling. Our daughter is only fourteen this year."

Dressed in an extravagant gown, Tilly rested both hands on her daughter's shoulders. Her finely engraved gold bracelets clinked crisply against jade.

"I heard the next island happens to have a prince your age. How about we introduce you so you can be friends?"

"No. Hina doesn't want to."

Tilly tightened her grip, her smile growing even brighter:

"You're so cold, Hina. That prince is the only son of an Affiliated Nation's king;

if you leave without a word like last time, Mommy and Daddy will be angry~"

"Father, Mother, I'm going back to my room."

Hina pulled free of Tilly's hands and walked back to her room with heavy steps, clutching her little notebook.

They had chosen a suite, with a separate room for each of them.

Click~

After closing the door, Hina sat silently on her bed, staring blankly at the boundless sea outside the window.

Having her life planned out like this really was awful.

Her family was wealthy.

But money did not equal power.

Her father had always hoped she could find a prince from an Affiliated Nation, allowing him to rise straight into the ranks of royal relatives.

To that end, Dean had laid down many rules for her: address her parents with honorifics, take small mouthfuls when eating, sit down gracefully...

Rule after rule wrapped around her in layers like invisible chains.

They pressed down on her until she could barely breathe.

Hina did not want an arranged marriage with a noble and had long since planned to run away from home.

But she did not know what she should do after leaving, or what profession she should pursue.

Now she was trying them one by one, intending to find a profession she loved.

"I'll cross out writer too. I didn't feel any excitement at all while writing."

Hina took out the little notebook she had been writing in earlier, opened it to the first page, and drew a line through the words "professional writer."

Besides that profession, many others were densely listed on the page: farming, selling perfume, bartender, pirate, Marine...

"If nothing else works, I'll just join the Marines. I'm definitely not going through with an arranged marriage!"

She stretched, planning to take a bath first, then read in bed for a while before going to sleep.

The setting sun was gradually swallowed by the horizon. The bright moon rose, adorning the sky alongside the stars.

"What lovely weather. Looks like another calm night."

"Let's have a drink tonight. I got some good stuff from Jowen."

"Then I've got to try it. I'll ask the kitchen to whip up some food to go with it."

The sailors dropped anchor and went off in twos and threes, enjoying the quiet hours of the night.

Sailing ships rarely traveled at night. Whenever darkness fell, they would choose a calm stretch of sea, drop anchor, and temporarily stop on the water.

The sailors who had worked all day would rest, leaving only a few on duty to keep watch for pirates and storms.

The night deepened.

Knu, who was on lookout duty, could not help yawning as he stared at the sea in utter boredom.

Was keeping watch really necessary tonight?

This wasn't the Grand Line. The weather wasn't that changeable. Tonight there was a light breeze and not a cloud in sight. There couldn't possibly be a storm.

The odds of a pirate raid were low too. Under cover of darkness, both finding prey and pursuing it were difficult.

Knu wrapped his blanket more tightly around himself, planning to doze for a little while.

He wasn't the only lookout. Surely they couldn't all fall asleep.

Before long, snores rose from the crow's nest on the mast.

Masked by the sound of the waves, Knu's falling asleep went unnoticed.

Tweet! Tweet!!

Tweet! Tweet!!

A piercing whistle sounded. Knu jolted awake, a hoarse, desperate shout ringing in his ears:

"There's a sea beast!!!"

Sea beast? What sea beast?!

Splash~

Sharp bull horns pierced the surface. An enormous black bull's head slowly rose, its scarlet eyes fixed on the passenger ship as though it had spotted a mortal enemy.

Spraying seawater struck his face. The monstrous creature was right before his eyes.

Knu froze in place, remembering a story the village elders had told.

"Those enormous monsters come in two kinds. The ones with mammalian upper bodies are sea beasts. The rest are Sea Kings."

"Sea beasts behave differently from ordinary animals. Fighting bulls can't distinguish the color of a cloth at all. They only get angry because the waving cloth provokes them."

"But bull-headed sea beasts are different."

"I saw one when I was young. Whenever that thing saw red, it was like seeing its sworn enemy. It just had to charge over and pierce it."

"You're asking how I escaped? I tossed the red canvas into the sea and rowed back, of course."

Bang!!

The bull-headed sea beast rammed the passenger ship.

Amid the cracking of splintering timber, Knu fell from the crow's nest and lost consciousness.

"Aaaah!!!"

Piercing screams rang out. Passengers jolted awake amid the violent rocking, and those by the windows had already spotted the enormous bull's head.

"What is that?!"

Terror appeared on Hina's face. She ran out of her room, instinctively wanting to find her parents.

However much they disliked them, most children would seek their parents' protection when faced with danger.

"Father! Mother..."

Looking at the master bedroom's wide-open door, Hina froze. There was not a soul in the empty room.

They abandoned me?!

She clenched her back teeth, her eyes growing slightly moist.

Now wasn't the time to cry!

She wiped the corners of her eyes and hurried out of the suite in her pajamas.

The ship rocked again. Hina stumbled and fell into the suite across the hall.

"Ah!"

The pain at the back of her head drew a quiet cry from her.

Through her hazy vision, Hina saw a handsome boy holding a long-haired girl's hand.

Petals scattered. In the blink of an eye, the boy turned into the creepy old man she had met that evening.

The old man grabbed her wrist and shouted:

"What are you standing around for? Run for your life!"