Not long after, all the dishes Cosette had ordered were served.
She tasted them one by one.
Rowan and the others also started eating, but unlike Cosette—who gave professional evaluations like, "This fish is cooked well, the heat brought out the flavor," "This crab is very fresh," or "The seasoning sauce has a very distinctive taste"—
Rowan only had one thought:
Damn, this is good.
By the time the meal was over, everyone—Rowan, Cosette, and the others—was thoroughly satisfied.
Because the food really was that good.
When it came time to pay, Cosette's eyes flickered slightly, and she suddenly said, "Lord Rowan, this restaurant's food is very special, so I'd like to stay here and learn for a few days. I wonder if Lord Rowan would allow it."
"Of course I allow it. Why wouldn't I?"
Rowan agreed immediately. If Cosette could learn the essence of Baratie's cuisine, then she would be able to make even better food.
And that meant Rowan would get to eat even tastier meals, so there was no way he would object.
"But my agreement alone isn't enough. The important thing is whether he agrees."
Rowan pointed at Zeff, the owner of Baratie, who was currently serving customers.
Cosette gathered her courage, walked over to Zeff, and bowed deeply.
"Please, let me join Baratie."
Zeff froze for a moment, then flatly refused.
Because Baratie didn't take in women. The heavy work there was too much for them.
But Cosette insisted that she was a chef too, and that she could handle the same work men did.
After a bit of back-and-forth, Zeff finally gave in under her persistence.
"One week." Zeff held up a thumb. "I'll give you one week. If you haven't earned everyone's recognition by then, pack your things and leave."
"Yes." Cosette agreed without hesitation. On that front, she had plenty of confidence.
So for that entire week, Rowan and the others stayed near Baratie.
Every day, all three meals were eaten there.
After meals, Rowan, Nico Robin, and the others would wander around the nearby islands.
Bang!
One day, while Rowan and the others were sailing, they were suddenly attacked.
A cannonball tore through the air with a sharp howl, flying straight toward their ship.
Whoosh!
Before the cannonball could even get close to Rowan, Minato spotted it. He casually threw out a kunai, sending it dozens of meters through the air and hitting the cannonball with perfect accuracy.
The cannonball exploded midair with a boom.
Because it detonated far enough away, Rowan's ship was left completely unharmed.
Only the shockwave reached them, making the ship sway slightly.
But in the next second—
Bang, bang, bang… three more cannonballs came hurtling toward them, forming a triangular pattern as they flew at the group.
This time, Minato didn't bother throwing another kunai. He formed hand seals with both hands.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
In an instant, the sea churned, and a massive water dragon surged skyward. With effortless ease, it swallowed the three cannonballs, neutralized their momentum, and trapped them inside its body.
Rowan swept his gaze across the sea and spotted another ship about a hundred meters away.
The earlier cannonballs had been fired from that pirate ship.
What Rowan could see, Minato could naturally see as well. Under Minato's control, the lifelike water dragon rushed toward the distant pirate ship.
Rowan could vaguely hear panicked shouting from aboard it.
It was obvious they had been scared out of their minds by the water dragon.
Then several more cannonballs were fired.
But it was useless. Minato controlled the water dragon and spat out the three cannonballs trapped inside it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The moment the cannonballs collided, a massive explosion erupted, and the resulting shockwave slammed into the pirate ship, rocking it violently.
Quite a few pirates standing on deck were flung into the air.
At the same time, the Water Dragon Bullet crashed head-on into the pirate ship with a loud bang.
The hull was split clean in two.
Pirates started falling into the sea one after another with a series of splashes.
All Rowan could say to that was: serves them right.
They had brought this on themselves. He had just been sailing along peacefully when these pirates suddenly attacked him. Who was he supposed to complain to about that?
It was a good thing they had attacked him. If it had been someone else, they might have ended up robbed by those pirates.
Lelouch once said that only those prepared to be shot have the right to pull the trigger.
Since these people had fired their cannons, they naturally had to be prepared to die.
And if they weren't, Rowan didn't mind helping them along.
He truly had zero sympathy for pirates who burned, killed, and plundered.
If he sympathized with pirates, then who was supposed to sympathize with all the ordinary people killed by pirates?
"Hm?"
But just then, Robin suddenly noticed something. She stretched out her right hand, and an arm instantly sprouted from her palm. Then from that new arm's palm, another arm grew.
And so, arm after arm extended outward from Robin, crossing more than a hundred meters over the sea. She grabbed someone out of the water and pulled her back to their ship.
Then, with a thud, she dropped the person onto the deck.
Rowan took one look and froze, because he knew exactly who this was.
Wasn't this the Cat Burglar, Nami?
"How did you end up on that ship? Didn't we already deal with the Arlong Pirates?"
Rowan asked curiously, eyeing Nami with suspicion. Had this woman gotten addicted to stealing from pirates or something?
The Arlong Pirates were gone, and she was still robbing pirates?
After being dragged aboard, Nami was full of fear and had just been about to make up an excuse to fool them when she suddenly heard Rowan mention the Arlong Pirates.
Without thinking, she blurted out, "How do you know the Arlong Pirates were taken care of?"
The moment the words left her mouth, she realized something. She immediately jumped to her feet from the deck.
"It was you! You're the ones who took down Arlong and saved the village!"
Rowan nodded. "That's right, it was us. And what about you? Did you get addicted to stealing from pirates or something?"
"Who got addicted to stealing from pirates?!"
Nami shot back instinctively.
"I was actually looking for you."
"Looking for us?" Rowan asked. "What for?"
"To thank you, obviously," Nami said as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Rowan waved a hand. "That really isn't necessary. The villagers already thanked me."
Nami said, "That was them. This is me. They thanked you, but I haven't."
~~~
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