The day of the trip, near the shores where Princess Katleho was staying at
"Tirujaga, why is there another person accompanying you on this trip?" Princess Katleho asked the former marine as she looked in Hughes' direction with a raised brow.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about him coming along with us. He's a trustworthy guy. The two of us have been working together for more than three years now. You have my word on that." Valerie answered the princess' question.
"We guarantee that he will not be accepted by the people of our beloved kingdom, Lady Tirujaga. He is an unknown as far as we are concerned." Mdomo voiced his disagreement as he gave the bespectacled man standing next to Valerie a look of contempt.
"Well, I have another reason for bringing him with me on this trip. He will act as my security guard throughout the duration of my trip. And before you say anything bad about him, let me remind you again that I trust him to have my back."
"But Lady Tirujaga, we are well aware that you are-"
"I understand that you see me taking him with me as a security guard as being a pointless action, but I do not plan to fight in any capacity throughout my stay in the Utshani Kingdom."
"Why would you make such a statement, Tirujaga?"
"I am doing this because I want to let all the involved parties that I will be meeting that I am solely there to act as a mediator. And I plan to do this until the power struggle is resolved. And as for your concerns for Hughes' safety, I assure you that he is more than capable of protecting himself from the possible dangers that may come his way. This is my ultimatum, and if you can't accept his presence during the trip, then you are free to leave without us and start your search for a mediator."
After a moment of looking at the former marine officers standing before them, the two Utshanians sighed before they gave Valerie their answer.
"Very well. We shall allow him to come with us on the trip."
"But do not expect to receive a warm welcome when you arrive at the island. Especially from the people administrating this country."
"That's good. I'm happy that we could come to an agreement on this."
"Same here. She really wouldn't have gone alongside you as a mediator if you had said no."
'Great. Now we have to explain why the man in glasses is accompanying us to dad and the Utshani Royal Court.' Princess Katleho thought as she entered the rowing boat that she and Mdomo had used to move around the waters of the South Blue.
'It will be interesting to see how she will convince our important figures to let him stay by her side. Or maybe Lady Tirujaga will be the one to do that.' Mdomo wondered as he perched himself on top of the princess' shoulders.
Not long after the four boarded the boat, the small group began to make their way away from the shores of the island and began to make their way towards the island occupied by isolated minks.
A few hours later, out in the seas of the South Blue
"Well, that's an interesting mess that you've decided to get yourself involved in boss." Hughes stated as he placed a hand under his chin.
"I know Hughes. But I'll just have to see to it that the matter is resolved peacefully."
"And now that I think about it, this political feud reminds me of the time that we were deployed to the Ballywood Kingdom."
"Oh, please don't remind me of that day, Hughes. I still don't understand why they had to send us over there when there were more important things for us to do."
"You said it boss. Do they really not trust their Cipher Pol agents this much?"
"Eh, I think the king didn't want to hide the fact that he was under the protection of the World Government when he made the request to hire us as his personal security detail during the conflict."
"That's a fair point."
"You have piqued my interest on the matter. I must ask whether it be alright for you to share the details of the events that took place while you were in the kingdom."
Mdomo simply nodded to the princess' words. And after taking a moment to think over the request the Utshani Kingdom's princess, Valerie began to recount the events that took place in the Kingdom of Ballywood.
"First of all, I must mention that we weren't the ones actually acting as the neutral third party during the negotiations between the two factions of the Ballywood royal family. And that is because we were hired to solely act as personal bodyguards for the King of Ballywood. You see, the kingdom had sent a request to the World government in order to send two marine officers who held the rank of captain and had sailed the seas of the Grand Line. And since we happened to be the closest high ranking marine officers in the area that fulfilled the criteria that the king had set for the Marines, we were deployed to the Kingdom of Ballywood as soon as he made his request."
"And why is the World Government helping one member of the royal family of the Ballywood Kingdom? Are they not supposed to be the neutral party in these kinds of situations? At least that is what I would assume to be the case."
"Well, you aren't wrong there Mr. Mdomo. But I will say that the World Government had a valid reason to back the king this time around. And the main reason behind this decision is the king's brother was aiming to break away from the World Government's banner once and for all. Which of course, would obviously be a matter that the World Government would not take lightly."
'Not like that would have stopped them from backing anyone they consider as suitable puppets.' the bespectacled young man added in his head.
"Hmm… I am liking the brother of the king already."
"Yeah, I can see why you guy would like him. But from what I had heard of him at the time, I wouldn't say that his methods to accomplish that goal were necessarily the best methods that one could have chosen."
"The boss' right, princess. There are a number of reasons as to why them leaving the World Government would be an undesirable action for them to take. One of them being their capability to defend their borders would be greatly reduced once the Marines stationed at their island abandoned their base there. And based on the first impressions of the kingdom's soldiers, I'm certain that they would have a hard time defending their island. They would also have to face the threats from neighboring islands affiliated with the World Government, who will now have free reign to raid the Ballywood Kingdom and steal their resources without facing any consequences."
"Well, I for one am glad that we do not have to rely on an external power in order to defend our kingdom's borders."
"Yeah, you guys sure are lucky that you do not have to worry about anything like that."
"Anyways, we really had our work cut out for us, seeing as the younger brother of the Ballywood Kingdom's king and his underlings would relentlessly make a significant number of attempts to assassinate the king before he could enact his plans to become a nation free from the World Government's clutches. And after a few weeks of us dealing with the threats to the king's life, he was able to deal with the rebellion that his brother had led against him and his claim to the throne."
"Now, why don't you guys tell us about the members of your kingdom's royal court that could help us prepare for the upcoming meeting with the important figures that live in your kingdom, huh?"
"Very well. Mdomo, please provide you with the necessary information on the members of the Utshani Royal Court." Princess Katleho stated as she continued to row the boat towards her home island.
A day after Valerie and Hughes left for the Utshani Kingdom, out in the seas of the Grand Line
On a bright and sunny day, aboard a dinghy with a mast that had white sails draped on top of it, two young people were currently navigating the seas of the Grand Line while conversing with each other.
"What do you think we'll encounter once we reach our destination, Peng?"
"You seriously don't know what awaits us in our destination? Have you never heard of the Tasmanian Island?"
"Nope. The name doesn't ring a bell."
"Oh right, I forgot that you're not familiar with the Blue Seas. Well it looks like I'll have to fill you in on the island that we're headed towards." Peng said with a sigh as he prepared to give the violet haired woman accompanying him a piece of information about their destination.