"Thank you for helping me."
After her drunk father got knocked out, the girl could no longer help but tear up and let it all out.
"I did just the minimum after I felt like it." Sear calmly stated, responding to her gratitude.
The girl chuckled as she wiped her tears. "Is this considered minimum?"
They both glanced at the unconscious man, collapsed face-flat on the hard ground.
"Yes," Sear nonchalantly stated.
"I don't think the same. Even though you could have ignored me, you chose to help. I am very grateful." The girl had a very warm smile on her face.
Sear was visibly amazed by how quickly she moved on from such a painful experience.
Genuinely, he didn't have any interest in intervening in every unfortunate situation he encountered. Even previously, when he was about to help that boy, it wouldn't have been out of any sense of justice but merely self-centric action.
He would have intervened, because he found that big guy bullying a scrawny kid disgusting.
Not knowing how to do small talk, Sear was almost at a loss. Thankfully, the girl kept going.
"My father fed me and raised me, gave me shelter when most parents here just abandon their children and are left to fend for themselves. I wish it would go back to how it was like in the old days. I am sorry, I am talking non-stop on my own."
She had been secretly suffering alone—but now, being able to share it with someone, she wasn't able to hold back.
Sear, however still not knowing how to keep the conversation going with a normal girl he just met, asked a question instead.
"I saw you rescuing that boy earlier, do you do that often?"
"I help when I can... that boy, me, and the rest of the street kids in the neighborhood grew up together. Boss Krieg often hands out food to the poor people here, so everyone lives somehow. I am one of the lucky few who didn't have to get food that way, before."
"Is that so?!" Sear wondered if it was the same Krieg he had in mind.
After helping the girl carry her unconscious father into their house and assuring her that he would see her later,
Sear resumed his search for any clue on the revolutionaries. "Master Kyoushirou did tell me who to look for at this island... but how do I go about finding him?"
As he searched at random and roamed the streets, he came across a beggar carrying an empty bowl.
'?? A beggar, in this kind of place... the only thing a beggar's gonna get here is a handful of curses and a lifetime of disease. Even that could get stolen, somehow.'
Finding it very suspicious, Sear approached the dirty man in rags.
"How is business going?" he asked the beggar, who in turn looked at him as if seeing a dumbass.
"I don't answer questions for free."
Frowning, Sear took out a 5000 berry note. A shine appeared in the eyes of the beggar.
"Tell me if there are any revolutionaries in this place, and if there are, say their location."
"That's sensitive information, it will cost more than that."
Sear took back the 5000 note. He appeared to be thinking as he stood up.
The beggar panicked, believing the deal was going to get canceled.
"Fine! Fine!" He quickly grabbed the 5000 berry note from Sear's hands, carefully observed it under the sun, and said "I might know a guy who might know something."
Actually, Sear was about to present a 10,000 berry note instead, but it worked out better.
At the outskirts of the settlement in Goat Island, Sear knocked on the door of a wooden house.
It was a place purposely hidden by shrubs and thick bushes. he was told if there were any suspicious revolutionaries here, then they were likely in this abandoned house.
"I know this is the place where people from the Revolutionary Army are staying. I have some business with a guy called Saga. I know you are there, it's me, Sear."
After a minute long wait, the door slightly opened. A man wearing a cowboy hat, peeked out. "Please come in quickly."
He widened the opening for Sear to enter inside without any problem.
Inside, around a dozen people stared at him with mixed reactions.
They chattered among themselves. His horns drew some attention, but that was about it. With his appearance alone, he couldn't be abnormal in this wacky world even if he wanted to.
His eye, after a quick sweep of the place, landed on the back of the hall.
"I always wondered where you disappeared to, who knew you were at a place like this." Sear spoke while smiling.
"Good to see you too," the person replied, returning the smile. This was Saga; a few years older than Sear, a fellow from back home.
The two shook hands.
"So what's up? How is it going in the village, is everything fine?" Saga asked while pouring a glass of beer.
He handed over the glass to his guest. "Oh, you are only 16 right, maybe I should give you apple juice instead."
Sear snatched it. "Give me that."
After he finished figuring out the beer, he quenched the guy's curiosity.
Knowing the recent events in Shimotsuki Village and being assured about the villagers' well-being, Saga had a hearty laugh.
"Hahhahahhahahah!!!! Zoro and Kuina are rivals now, those kids, that's funny, I remember they had just started to learn to wield swords back then."
"And what about you, so what's your reason for coming to meet me? Did you just come to have a visit, or..."
"I wanted to join you... for a while..."
"For a while," Saga repeated the last sentence and lingered on it for a few moments.
In a second, he jumped from his seat, startling those around them.
Sear was unfazed.
"Alright, you can join. We are having a shortage in manpower either way... I am sure we can make you stay longer in the future."
"Sure," Sear said, but he had no intention of staying with the revolutionaries for longer than 2 to 3 years at most.
A discussion was underway between the revolutionaries. Sear naturally joined as well...
Even though there were chairs, everybody was standing around a table. Saga was the one to speak while the rest carefully listened.
"Our group of 13 were assigned her 2 months ago, the mission is to liberate this island from all the criminals running it, along with the marines in the nearby base who are in colluding with them. I was given full authority by the East Blue commander to over this mission."
"The marine base and this island are just 20 minutes distant from each other. We have to time it perfectly so the two can't reinforce each other."
"Until now we lacked the strength, so there was no choice but to wait for reinforcements to arrive.. Now however, there's you, Sear!. I can vouch for your strength. You and me will attack the criminals on the island while at the same time excluding the two of us, everyone will ambush the marines and keep them busy."