Upon entering the house, the odor doubled. It crossed Shun's mind to use the currents of air to create a wind bomb that could purify this disgusting smell. The smell wasn't the only problem; the house was filled with things that obstructed the passage.
Shun, Toma, and the old Krikens had to walk in single file, being careful not to collide with stacks of objects and knock them over. There was hardly any sunlight, as the few windows the cabin had were covered by objects that formed tall columns.
Although darkness wasn't an issue for Shun.
'I prefer to live in my old house than here' Shun thought, somewhat disgusted by the conditions of Krikens' house.
"Follow me. Don't move anything from its place" Krikens said as he walked through the dark passages formed by the object columns.
After walking a few steps, they reached a door that Krikens opened. Toma followed, with Shun right behind him. They entered what seemed like a garage, where there weren't as many columns of objects. Instead, items were scattered all over the floor.
"Wait there" Krikens said as he began to search for the sail.
Shun and Toma stood side by side, watching Krikens search for something amidst all the clutter. Finally, after 15 minutes of relentless searching, he found something.
From one of the stacks of objects, he managed to pull out with all his strength a piece of white fabric covered in dust and dirt. It had a length ranging from 20 to 25 meters, so it took him a while to free the sail from all the debris.
"I knew it was here" Krikens said proudly.
"..."
The sail was rolled up with some threads so it wouldn't come loose, "What are they waiting for? Help me" said Krikens with little patience.
Quickly Shun and Toma grabbed the long sail, "This will work, won't it?" asked Toma as he looked at Shun.
"I don't know... we'll have to see if the measurements are the same as the one on Gally's ship" said Shun who had no idea about these things.
"I have one more somewhere. Its dimension is bigger than this one, you can try both" said Krikens as he started looking again.
"Why do you have that look on your face?" asked Shun as he noticed a look of disbelief on Toma's face.
"The old man, I mean Mr. Krikens is never that nice" replied Toma as he watched Krikens energetically search for the other sail.
10 minutes passed and Krikens pulled out another sail about 30 meters long. With Shun's help, they managed to get out of the house with both sails and not knock down any pillars or objects on the way.
"How much money for both sails?" asked Shun already out of the house and breathing clean air.
"Nothing. They were created to be in the sea, that's their place" replied the old Krikens as he slammed the door shut.
"..." Shun.
"It's their way of saying thank you" Toma said in a not so convinced tone.
"What a strange way to say thank you" whispered Shun as he walked back towards the village. Behind him levitated many things, if anyone saw it it would look like a paranormal scene.
"What's wrong?" asked Toma noticing Shun's gaze on him.
"With that wooden stick will you try to defeat armed pirates?" asked Shun referring to his wooden sword.
"It's not a wooden stick, it's a shinai!" exclaimed Toma indignantly as if they had insulted his family. With this shinai, he began his way of the sword and held it in high esteem.
"All right...but in a fight to the death, it's not going to do you any good. Remember when you beat up that pirate who was holding Silk hostage? If you had had a real sword, your blow would have been deadly, and I wouldn't have had to intervene" Shun replied.
"True... but my master told me that once I use a metal sword, I must be ready to kill" said Toma in a somewhat shaky tone.
"Your master is right, Who is he?" asked Shun feeling some respect for the man's saying.
"You've already met him. It's Isao."
'That stubborn old man?" thought Shun with some surprise, he would never have imagined that Isao was Toma's fencing master.
"If you have the determination to go in search of adventure and see the world, you must also have the determination to use a real sword and kill someone if necessary" Shun said emphasizing especially the last sentence.
He didn't want Toma to be a burden and wanted him to be able to protect himself alone, and using a shinai is a very difficult thing to do.
After a few seconds of contemplation, Toma said resolutely, "Okay I'll do it! I'll buy a real sword!"
"That's the way to talk. Let's go to the blacksmith shop in the village" Shun said with a slight smile. He had seen a blacksmith shop in town, so he knew where it was located.
"O-okay, let's make it quick" Toma said as he walked faster. Shun looked at him weirdly and followed him without missing a beat.
Near the town square where they celebrated the banquet, they arrived at the smithy. It was a stone building, with a sloping tile roof. The most striking feature of the roof was the large chimney from which large quantities of smoke were billowing.
"It is here Kenzo's smithy, let's go inside" said Toma as he quickly entered, Shun followed him quietly.
As they entered the smithy they were met with a warm and smoky atmosphere, as the fire in the central furnace was blazing. In the center of the workshop, there was a large metal anvil on a sturdy wooden pedestal.
Next to the forge, stood a tall, muscular man, his hair color was brown and he had a large beard. He was currently hammering a piece of iron with his hammer. The echoes of the blows could be heard throughout the smithy.
In one corner Shun noticed an area where there were several swords and other weapons.
Although there were also more decorative metal objects these were more abundant than weapons. This was because it was a village and the blacksmith Kenzo had to subsist somehow since he did not sell many swords and weapons.
Kenzo noticed the arrival of two people, so he stopped hammering. Seeing that it was Shun and Toma he said with a big smile and a lot of sweat on his face, "If it isn't Toma and our drinking hero Shun! What brings you guys here?"
Shun hearing the drinker made a slight grimace. Kenzo was one of those responsible for passing a pitcher of beer to Shun every time he finished with one.
"H-hello Kenzo-san. I've come to buy... an s-sword" said Toma stammering.
"Mm, a sword?" asked Kenzo.
"Y-yes..." replied Toma nervously.
"Did old Isao let you?" asked Kenzo again in a questioning tone.
He knew that Isao was the dojo master and was very strict about the use of real swords that could do mortal harm. And stricter he was with his best disciple, Toma.
"O-of course he was. Otherwise why else would I be here?" asked Toma with sweat on his forehead and a twitch on his face.
'You're bad at lying...' thought Shun connecting the dots as to why Toma suddenly started acting strangely.
Kenzo was silent and in the smithy only the embracing fire of the forge could be heard, after a few seconds in which Toma didn't look at him he spoke, "You're lying."
"Please Kenzo! I'll go on adventures with Shun how will I face the evil pirates with a shinai?" said Toma with puppy dog eyes.
'Adventures...?' thought Shun, but he didn't say anything.
"What are you crazy!? Leaving town to take on pirates? At only 12 years old!!?" shouted Kenzo with anger in his tone.
Toma and Shun were startled by Kenzo's sudden anger. Before Toma could speak again, Kenzo continued speaking angrily.
"I doubt you said anything to Isao, does Silk know? What about the others?"
"N-no..." replied Toma. He had taken advantage of Isao still sleeping with a hangover, to grab all his stuff and look for Shun as fast as possible, since he knew they wouldn't let him follow him.
"I thought that once Isao taught you everything he knows, you would go to the Marine Academy" Kenzo said.
Toma looked down not knowing what to answer, at first he had that plan, but just the thought of going to an academy to study made him lose all desire. He wanted to gain experience like Shun who is only two years older than him. And going to an academy would not achieve that.
What good was it to him to know how to use a sword if when he faced death he would be paralyzed?
"You stay here. I'll call Isao and Silk" Kenzo said in a strict tone as he left the smithy.
Toma stared at the floor with a sad look on his face, after all, he was still a 12 year old boy and the most extreme thing that happened in his life was the days when he met Gally pirates and Shun.
Shun had an uncomfortable look on his face, he never expected to get into this mess by accepting Toma to follow him and telling him to buy a real sword.
Noticing Toma's crestfallen look, Shun said, "Grab a sword, and let's get out of here, we must be quick."
"What?" said Toma with surprise looking at Shun. He thought he would be angry too since he didn't tell him that he was running away from home.
"Let's go fast" Shun hurried.
"Wouldn't we be stealing?" asked Toma doubtfully.
At this Shun from one of his pockets pulled out a large wad of bills. This was what he had intended to spend to buy all the things, but he got it all for free. This money he got from Oyag and other pirates.
Shun rested the big wad of bills on a table. Toma smiled at this and quickly went to look at the swords in one of the corners. Without much thought, he grabbed the one he liked best.
"This one is great!" said Toma with stars in his eyes.
"Let's go to the ship. We should run before everyone gets here!" said Shun with a slight smile as he sped out of the tent.
"Yeah!" said Toma with a smile as he followed Shun.