Arashi received an incredibly warm welcome from the villagers of Cocoyasi Village. Many of them even tried to invite him to their homes as a guest, but he politely declined them all and chose to go to Bell-mère's house instead.
It wasn't that the villagers weren't hospitable—it was just that, in the entire Cocoyasi Village, Arashi was more familiar with Bell-mère, little Nami, and Nojiko.
Even though the three of them didn't know him, it didn't matter—going to their house was the right choice!
"Mr. Arashi, Mr. Arashi—"
The moment Arashi stepped inside, little Nami ran over excitedly, holding up a piece of drawing paper in front of him. "This is something I drew! Since you're a traveler, you should know what it is, right?"
"Nami, you should let Mr. Arashi sit first."
Bell-mère followed them in, smiling as she patted Nami's head. Then, somewhat embarrassed, she said, "Mr. Kairo D. Arashi, our home is a bit simple…"
"A minimalist style—quite nice."
Arashi interrupted her with a smile, waving his hand. "For a traveler like me, this is already more than enough. Of course, it would be even better with some fine wine."
"This…"
Bell-mère immediately felt awkward. It wasn't that she hadn't considered hospitality—it was simply that she couldn't afford such things right now.
Arashi had only mentioned it casually. But seeing her expression, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes. Although he knew from the original story that Bell-mère was poor at this time, he hadn't expected things to be this bad.
They really can't even put food on the table…
Thinking of this, Arashi smoothly changed the subject and looked at the drawing Nami had handed him.
On the paper was, naturally, a map.
At this point in the original story, little Nami had already begun to display her extraordinary talent for navigation—sneaking out to steal books and drawing maps, dreaming of one day charting the entire world.
"Mr. Kairo D. Arashi, is my drawing good?"
Seeing Arashi carefully examining it, Nami looked a bit nervous. Hearing her, Arashi nodded.
"It's great. Really great!"
"Hehe~"
Hearing his praise, Nami beamed with pride, not hiding her joy at all.
"Earlier in the village, I heard people say that little Nami loves navigation and dreams of drawing a map of the entire world?"
Nami widened her eyes in surprise. "You already know that, Mr. Arashi?"
"Haha, looks like you're lucky, Nami."
Arashi narrowed his eyes with a smile. "I'll be staying in Cocoyasi Village for a while. If you want to learn navigation, I can teach you."
"Wow!"
At the mention of navigation, Nami jumped up excitedly. "R-Really, Mr. Arashi?!"
"Of course."
Arashi nodded with a smile. After setting down the drawing, he turned to Bell-mère and got straight to the point. "Since it's still early, let's go take a look at your tangerine grove."
"Alright, Mr. Kairo D. Arashi."
Bell-mère, who had been waiting for this moment, quickly turned and headed out. Right now, she wished she could finalize the contract immediately, take the money, and buy Arashi a bottle of good wine.
Under Bell-mère's guidance, Arashi arrived at the tangerine grove.
The trees were heavy with fruit. Thanks to the excellent weather this year, the tangerines were especially large—just looking at them made one's mouth water.
"Mr. Kairo D. Arashi, this is my grove. Since I have to take care of Nami and Nojiko, I don't have much energy to manage it, so it's a bit small."
Bell-mère looked at Arashi nervously. Although he had agreed to contract her grove, nothing had been finalized yet, so she still felt uneasy.
Of course, it wasn't that she didn't trust him—she was just… truly poor.
Arashi walked around the grove. It was about one mu in size—not too big, not too small—just perfect.
"Very good."
He nodded in satisfaction. "I'll contract it for one year—200,000 Beli. How about that?"
"What?!"
Hearing the number, Bell-mère's eyes widened in disbelief. "T-Two hundred thousand Beli?!"
To her, this was an astronomical sum. She knew the value of her grove well—even at peak prices, it could only bring in twenty to thirty thousand Beli at most. Yet Arashi was offering 200,000 Beli for just one year.
How could she not be shocked?
After a brief moment of disbelief, Bell-mère hurriedly waved her hands. "Mr. Kairo D. Arashi, that's too much! You'll lose money—"
"I think it's just right."
Arashi smiled. "Of course, this 200,000 Beli isn't just for the grove. I'll also need your help from time to time. That's fine, right?"
Before Bell-mère could respond, Arashi turned around decisively. "It's settled. Wait here—I'll go get the money."
As Arashi and Bell-mère returned toward the house, a figure suddenly appeared on the village path ahead.
Bell-mère, who was walking in front, instantly froze when she saw him. Her pupils shrank sharply.
As a former Marine, even though she had never seen this man in person, she recognized him immediately.
A black hat adorned with white fluff, hawk-like sharp yellow eyes, a wine-red patterned shirt beneath a black coat—and most striking of all, the massive black blade on his back.
Dracule Mihawk.
One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. The world's greatest swordsman.
What was this man doing here?!
As Bell-mère stood frozen in shock, her body trembling slightly, Mihawk—holding two bottles of wine—walked right past her.
"Hey, Mihawk, what brings you here?"
Seeing him, Arashi was slightly surprised. "Got bored alone, huh? Haha, perfect timing—I just contracted a tangerine grove. I need 200,000 Beli."
As he spoke, Arashi casually extended his hand toward Mihawk.
"?????"
Is he… asking me to pay?
Mihawk felt completely disoriented.
Then, after barely composing himself—having come here just to drink with Arashi—he instantly exploded, almost roaring:
"You didn't even bring money to contract a grove?! …I don't have any either!"
Bell-mère, standing to the side, was utterly dumbfounded.
In her wildest dreams, she never would have imagined that Arashi—the likable traveler and tangerine grove contractor—was actually acquainted with Mihawk, one of the Seven Warlords and the world's greatest swordsman.
Mihawk was already in chaos.
As for Bell-mère—she felt like she was swaying in the wind, completely lost.
The world's greatest swordsman suddenly appearing before her—and then being driven to near explosion by a traveler she had never even heard of—
This was simply too shocking!
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