[Raki: Conis, are you busy?]
[Conis: Good afternoon, Ms. Raki. Do you need something?]
[Raki: I just wanted to talk about Arton. You know he's already arrived on Skypiea, right?]
[Conis: Yeah. Before Mr. Arton ended the livestream, I clearly saw the moment he arrived on Skypiea.]
As the only two people on Skypiea who possessed diary copies, Raki and Conis had naturally already added each other as friends through discreet means.
Thanks to the diary copy, even if they discussed topics in their messages that would absolutely anger Enel, Enel still wouldn't be able to find out.
No matter how high his Observation Haki mastery was, it still couldn't override the Diary System's permissions.
[Raki: Since that's the case, what are you planning to do, Conis?]
[Conis: Well… if possible, I want to ask Mr. Arton to drive Enel away.]
[Raki: So you finally figured it out.]
Seeing Conis's reply, Raki felt genuinely relieved.
Ever since she'd added Conis, she'd expressed her disgust for Enel more than once, and talked about how she longed for the day he'd finally be dragged off his throne.
But Conis—maybe because she'd lived under Enel's rule for so long—had a deep, instinctive fear of him. Even in the diary copy, Conis had never once said she wanted to overthrow Enel.
And yet now… Raki was finally hearing a clear answer from Conis herself.
[Conis: Mr. Arton is here now. If it's him, then he definitely has a way to drive Enel out. And if that happens… everyone can finally live in peace, right?]
Under Enel's rule, the native Skypieans could still survive, sure.
But if you asked whether they were truly happy… it was impossible to call it happiness.
Enel's rule was suffocating—something the freedom-loving people of the sky hated at their core.
Before, Conis endured it because there was no hope to cling to.
But now, she'd seen someone who might be able to pull Skypiea out of that oppression… and of course her heart moved.
Especially when she realized that saving Skypiea might only require her to make a sacrifice.
Based on the work Arton had drawn with her as the heroine, Conis believed that if she did exactly what she did in those scenes—using Arton's little brother as her microphone and singing properly into it—then maybe Arton would agree to help.
Or… after showing off her singing voice, she could perform a few special dances for him too. [T/N: She's speaking in a double entendre.]
Judging by Arton's behavior so far, Conis felt like that would be more than enough to make him tempted.
Sure, Arton was a bit of a womanizer… but Conis didn't think he was a bad person.
And if Arton could save an entire Skypiea… then honestly, it wouldn't matter if he was a little shameless with women.
[Raki: I see. So you've already made up your mind—you're ready to offer yourself to Arton.]
Raki couldn't see Conis's expression through the messages, but she could pretty much guess what Conis was thinking.
[Conis: What about you, Raki? What are you thinking?]
[Raki: Seriously… I'm the one asking questions. How did you end up questioning me instead? Whatever—fine, I'll tell you. If Arton can help us Shandians… then I don't mind marrying him.]
[Conis: So our goals are the same, then.]
[Raki: Yeah, that part's true. The real question is—if Enel actually gets taken down, how are you native Skypieans and we Shandians supposed to coexist?]
[Raki: I want us to live peacefully together… but a lot of people probably won't be willing to.]
Raki thought about her hotheaded Shandian chief, and she immediately got a headache.
That guy treated Enel—and pretty much every Skypiean—as an enemy.
Even she couldn't convince him to peacefully coexist with the Skypieans.
[Conis: …I don't know. But I think Arton might have a way.]
Chapter 507: For Skypiea's Sake, Conis Steels Her Heart
[Raki: You're right. Maybe Arton will have a way.]
Hearing what Conis said, Raki silently nodded to herself.
Not just Conis—even she, a Shandian warrior, felt the same way.
With Arton's ability, he should be able to persuade the Shandians and the native Skypieans to reconcile.
Suddenly, a spark of inspiration flashed through Raki's mind, and she quickly typed a new message into her diary.
[Raki: Conis—what do you think about this? The two of us announce in front of everyone on Skypiea that we're both going to marry Arton at the same time.]
[Conis: P-Publicly… announce we're marrying Arton?]
Conis froze.
She'd originally been planning to develop a secret relationship with Arton.
After all, she still hadn't figured out how to even tell her father about something like that.
To her, Raki's suggestion was just way too bold.
[Raki: Think about it—one of us is Shandian, the other is a native Skypiean. If we both marry the same man, wouldn't that more or less ease the hostile tension between the Shandians and the Skypieans?]
[Conis: I-I mean, sure… but will the people on your side agree to you marrying him together with me? If they find out, won't they really try to attack Arton?]
[Raki: Th—…]
Raki blanked out.
After thinking about what her comrades were like, she had to admit Conis had a very solid point.
Her people weren't exactly the type to think things through or compromise.
If it were them… they might actually try to attack Arton, just to stop her from marrying him.
And when she imagined what might happen if her comrades made a move on Arton, Raki couldn't help shivering.
She didn't believe Arton would go easy on them just because she was a heroine in his doujins.
Gion had thought the same thing back when she was still a Marine, and what happened?
Even back then—when Arton hadn't had much power yet—he still managed to ambush Gion anyway.
And the end result was that Gion missed her chance with Arton once… and then missed him again and again.
By now, Arton had grown into someone strong enough to fight a Marine Admiral, and he'd also gathered a group of diary-copy holders with terrifying potential as his companions.
At this point, Arton basically had no chance of ever becoming a Marine, and Gion's schemes were probably never going to succeed for the rest of her life.
No matter what, Raki didn't want to see Arton end up in that kind of relationship with the Shandians.
[Conis: And besides… in Skypiea, I'm really just a nobody. People won't suddenly stop holding grudges against the Shandians just because you and I both marry Arton.]
[Raki: Ugh, what a pain… so are we saying the only way Shandians and native Skypieans can coexist peacefully is if we personally defeat Enel?]
[Conis: Maybe… maybe that really is the only way.]
If they could defeat Enel with their own hands, then in the Skypieans' hearts, they'd definitely hold enough weight.
Maybe not one word and everyone obeys, but people would have to seriously consider what they said.
And as long as they didn't rule everyone through violence like Enel did, there wouldn't be extreme backlash.
[Raki: If we want to personally defeat Enel… then we'll probably need Arton's templates, huh. I wonder how he's thinking about it—did he draw a lottery, and did he pull a template?]
[Conis: Mr. Arton only has enough points for one normal draw. The odds of pulling a template should be pretty low, right?]
[Raki: Yeah. Even if he did pull one, he has no reason to give it to us. Even if we throw ourselves at him, it'll only 597 make Arton confused—or he might even be too wary to accept.]
[Conis: No matter what, we still need to make contact with Mr. Arton. Can I ask you, Raki?]
[Raki: Yeah. I have more freedom than you do. I'll go find Arton in a bit—wait, Arton's recording in his diary again!]
[Conis: He really is! He—he actually drew the lottery, and he even pulled a template?!]
[Raki: Tch—seriously! No, I've gotta go to him. I refuse to believe that if I strip naked, squat right in front of him, and lick, he'll still say no!]
[Conis: P-Please… don't say that kind of stuff in here!!]
Conis' face turned bright red with embarrassment.
Even so, when she thought about the changes Arton might bring to Skypiea… Conis couldn't help but agree with Raki's thinking.
Without even realizing it, Conis stuck out her tongue and licked her lips.