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"This is Captain Hina's report, Tsuru. Please take a look."
Sengoku handed the organized report to Vice Admiral Tsuru, the Marines' Chief of Staff, who was seated nearby.
Tsuru took the report and began to read. Her expression grew more serious with each page, until she reached the end and looked up with a solemn face.
"Sengoku, are you certain this report is accurate?"
"Every detail in there was reported to me directly by Hina."
"She is Zephyr's disciple. He would not have raised someone reckless."
Hearing Sengoku's words, Tsuru nodded and continued.
"Then this will be difficult to handle. A country this powerful appearing out of nowhere..."
"And it's near Alabasta, no less. You know what the royal family there means to the World Government."
Tsuru left it there. Garp, who had been steadily working his way through a bag of senbei without a care in the world, spoke up.
"I say, Sengoku, Tsuru, aren't you two getting worked up over nothing?"
"They're a country, not pirates. Even if something's off about them, that's not the Marines' problem, is it? That's what those World Government people are there for."
Sengoku's tightly furrowed brows eased slightly at that.
Garp wasn't wrong. Even if something was amiss with that country, the CP organizations were the ones to deal with it. The Marines would assist at most.
"Garp has a point, Sengoku. Send the report up to Mary Geoise. What they do with it after that is none of our concern."
Hearing even Tsuru say so, Sengoku gave a slow nod.
"I suppose that's all we can do."
He said the words, but even as he did, he couldn't shake the feeling that this country was going to leave a mark on the world's balance that none of them were ready for.
'I hope I'm just overthinking it.'
Garp caught Sengoku's expression and burst out laughing, pointing at him.
"Hahaha! Sengoku, look at you! You worry so much, you're aging twice as fast as me!"
That did it. Sengoku's composure cracked.
He crossed the room in two strides, snatched the senbei bag right out of Garp's hands, and upended the entire thing into his own mouth.
"Ah! My senbei! Sengoku, you bastard!"
Tsuru pressed a hand to her forehead and said nothing. These two damned old men.
As it happened, Tsuru was not the only one expressing quiet helplessness at that moment. On the other side of the world, someone in the Jura-Tempest Federation was doing the same.
Jura-Tempest Federation · Kaito's Villa
"So... this is why they piled everything here?"
Sakuya stood in the living room, which was now buried under an assortment of foods and small toys, her brows drawing together as she surveyed the scene.
"Could it be that my cooking wasn't satisfactory to everyone?"
Every head in the room dipped at once. Nobody met her eyes.
"Hehe! Even Kaito-nii gets lectured sometimes!"
The little group of girls perched on the sofa with their desserts watched the whole scene with undisguised delight.
"Hmph hmph! Veldora, you really are a disgrace to our fan club!"
Aihara Enju sipped her Coke and shook her head at Veldora with great disdain.
"Rimuru-nee-chan and Milim-nee-chan's capes are so cute! I want one too!"
Shizu, seated beside Midori Fuse, reached over and tapped her gently on the head.
"You shouldn't be picking up habits like theirs. That's not how we do things."
Midori rubbed her head and nodded obediently to show she understood.
"Ah, Sakuya, it really isn't what it looks like. We went to the Commercial Street, and everyone was just... very enthusiastic!"
"Right, right, that's exactly it! They were enthusiastic. We definitely were not collecting protection fees!"
Milim jumped in immediately to back Kaito up.
"Milim, you idiot!!!"
The moment those words left Milim's mouth, Kaito felt only one thing: 'It's over.'
"You guys were out learning from street thugs and extorting protection fees?"
Sakuya decided then and there that she needed to step in.
If they were collecting protection fees today, would they be going out to pick fights tomorrow? Then again, her own master had already cut down more people than she could count. Thinking about it that way, Sakuya let out a slow breath.
"Sigh. I only ask that everyone try to behave in a way that suits your standing."
"Even if... no, never mind. I know you aren't going to change. Just don't let it happen again."
Knowing full well what she was dealing with, Sakuya chose mercy.
...She really did spoil them.
"Sakuya, don't worry! We'll do better, we promise!"
"That's right! Trust us, Sakuya!"
"Sakuya, I want pudding!"
That last one actually made her laugh despite herself. She straightened up, composed her expression, and said:
"I'll go prepare it now."
She headed for the kitchen. The moment her back was turned, the four of them bolted for the sofa and collapsed onto it in a heap.
Shizu watched them with a quiet shake of her head.
"Kai-chan... you really do cause Sakuya trouble every single day."
"Hehe!"
"Shizu-nee, we're just bored. There's nothing to do!"
"We genuinely don't know what to do with ourselves right now."
Something flickered in Shizu's eyes. She smiled gently.
"If you're all that bored, I actually have something that might help."
That got their attention immediately.
"What is it?!"
"Tell us, Shizu!"
Seeing that they had taken the bait, Shizu stated the real reason she had come today.
"The children are heading out to sea soon for their internship. Since everyone has so much free time, why not go along and see a bit of the world? Get a feel for how other places live?"
The mood in the room shifted instantly. Going out to sea sounded a great deal more interesting than playing tyrant on the Commercial Street.
"Yes! I want to go!"
"Hahaha! This great me has business to attend to with the Vice President anyway, so it works out perfectly!"
Shizu's eyes sharpened at that. She fixed Veldora with a look.
"Oh? Does that mean you still haven't disbanded that strange organization of yous?"
Veldora went stiff. He turned to Enju with a look that said: 'I'm counting on you here.'
Enju wore the expression of someone who had already decided the answer.
"Shizu-sensei... I've been meaning to report this. It's all Veldora. I told him ages ago to disband it, but he just wouldn't listen. This has absolutely nothing to do with me."
Veldora stared at her as though she had just stabbed him in the back.
"Aihara Enju! You... you traitor...!"
"And what do you have to say for yourself at this point, Veldora?!"
"I, I, I..."
"I don't need to hear it. Heavenly Punishment!!!"
"Ahhhhh!!!"