It's been three days since Nami and I left Cocoyasi Village.
In front of us was a pirate ship.
It wasn't huge, but compared to our sailboat, it was very large.
"Noah, get ready. As soon as they land on the island, we'll rob them," Nami warned.
Nodding, I could see the island not far from us.
It was a small island, even compared to the one they came from.
During these three days, I didn't stay idle. At least once a day, I dived into the sea and even caught some fish with my own hands.
"Noah, don't try anything funny," Nami warned.
I looked at her with an innocent smile and said, "What are you talking about, Nami-nee? Am I that kind of person?"
She gave me a doubtful look, saying, "Exactly because I know you that I know what you're thinking. But stop, believe me, pirates are not easy people to deal with!"
Her face darkened.
After so many years, how could she not know what pirates are like?
They are vile and cruel people who don't care about whom they hurt as long as they get what they want.
That, I knew very well.
Not all of them are like Luffy who calls himself a pirate, but his actions show that he's nothing more than an adventurer going around saving whoever he finds along the way.
The truth is that Luffy's crew has saved even more people than many marines.
But most pirates were cruel people like Kid.
Putting aside these random thoughts, I opened my status page.
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Assimilation in Progress [2/2]: [Hercules (Hercules) - ★★★★★ (7.6%)] - [Li Shang (Mulan) - ★★★★ (48.4%)]
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I narrowed my eyes as happiness bubbled in my stomach.
Even though it's getting harder to increase Hercules' assimilation, every bit of progress is a big step for me, and Li Shang is progressing rapidly, almost reaching 50%.
"They've landed. Let's get closer," Nami alerted. "Remember: we just need to go in, steal everything of value from those idiot pirates, and get out without being noticed. Don't act rashly."
"I know," I replied.
Whether I'll listen to her or not will depend on what I feel when I see those pirates.
There were about thirty of them. It was a considerable number, but I only needed to defeat one to complete the mission.
"But Nami-nee, aren't there usually pirates guarding the ship while the rest go ashore?" I asked, unable to hide the sparkle in my eyes.
"Sigh, if it's necessary. You can act, but don't do it on purpose," she said with a sigh. "Noah, I noticed you've gotten stronger and maybe you want to deal with those disgusting pirates."
She paused before continuing seriously: "But you need to understand one thing: no matter how strong you are, pirates aren't just one or two. They make up an entire crew with many members. Dealing with several of them is no easy task. That's precisely why even the marines have trouble handling pirates."
I looked at her with a look that asked something like: Why are you stating the obvious?
But I held back and said, "Yes, I understand that."
...
We approached the ship slowly with the sail down, rowing toward them without making much noise.
When we reached it, we still hadn't been noticed.
'Do pirates have no sense of vigilance? How can it be so easy to approach their ship?'
Of course, that was good for me and Nami.
Without warning, I held Nami by the waist, which made her give me a confused look, and then I took a bit of momentum and jumped straight to the side of the pirate ship.
Nami held herself back from screaming, and when we landed on the wooden deck of the ship, she gave me a furious and accusatory look.
"Calm down, calm down," I whispered. "Isn't this easier?"
She kept staring at me for a moment before looking away and simply ignoring me.
Scratching my head, I knew I had upset her.
"What was that sound?"
From inside a cabin, a man with yellow hair and a scar near his left eye appeared:
"Guys, you're ba—"
The pirate stopped mid-sentence when he noticed us.
Nami froze upon realizing this. But I acted quickly — I reached out to cover the pirate's mouth and, with the other hand, landed a punch straight to his stomach.
"Urghh!"
A muffled grunt escaped between my fingers as his eyes rolled back.
I had never fought before, so I didn't know if he was pretending to be knocked out from just that, so I punched him in the head and he stopped moving.
'Did I kill him, did I?'
When I looked at my hand, I saw it was stained with blood that wasn't mine.
[Mission "Defeat a Pirate" completed! 5 GP have been credited to your account and 2 Silver Scrolls can be claimed!]
"Noah, you..." Nami looked at me incredulously.
What to say... I was in shock myself.
"That..."
I tried to say something, but when we heard footsteps, I dragged the pirate I had possibly just killed while hiding with Nami.
"Did you kill him?"
After we hid behind some barrels, Nami asked me.
Still holding the pirate, I pushed him away and tried to feel his heartbeat and breathing.
"..."
"He's dead, probably." I replied.
I'm no expert. I had never killed anyone before... At least not personally. Even though I used the poisoned apple, that's not even comparable.
But is checking breathing and heartbeat enough to determine if he's dead?
Wouldn't he miraculously come back to life?
After all, that happened, although maybe not that often.
While I was thinking, Nami sighed beside me.
"That's why I said not to act rashly." She put her hand on her forehead. "If they find out what we've done, it'll be hard to get out unscathed."
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," I said.
Although a bit cliché to say something like that, I was confident.
Even though my hands trembled a little when I realized I had killed someone with my own hands, thinking he was a pirate, it ended up helping me stay calm and pretend indifference about what I had done.
"Seriously, thanks then~" Nami replied.
I understood that she didn't take me seriously.
Who would?
But that didn't matter anymore. I said what I had to say — whether she believed it or not.
"Koku?"
Someone was approaching while seemingly calling for someone.
'Who the hell would name someone Koku?'
But thinking about it, I knew that was far from the strangest name out there.
Nami, beside me, went completely silent. I could barely hear her breathing.
I closed my eyes and listened carefully.
'Ten steps away,' I thought.
When I counted only five steps, I decided to act.
Before I could stand up, Nami tugged on my shirt.
I looked at her, giving a reassuring look.
She hesitated but ended up letting go of me.
Standing up from behind the barrels, I saw a bald man holding a sword.
"Die!"
He shouted as he attacked me with the sword without hesitation.
Faced with this scene, I panicked a little.
However, even afraid, I kept my mind clear when I saw how slowly he moved.
Even when he swung the sword at me, I saw it coming down toward me and dodged it so easily it felt like a joke.
'Wow!'
I didn't have time to be amazed at myself. Acting quickly, I struck a karate blow directly to the bald pirate's throat.
"Crack!"
"GUahhh!"
I heard the pirate try to scream as his neck went limp.
'Did I use too much force?' I thought as I saw him begin to fall, believing I had held back.
"Naoh!" I saw Nami muffle a scream with her hands as she said my name.
"Sorry." I didn't even know what I was apologizing to her for.
I just didn't know what to say in this situation.
I know I wanted to fight some pirates and test my strength, but this was too much.
[A new mission has been activated: "Defeat the Mist Wolf Pirates!"]
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[Defeat the Mist Wolf Pirates (2/28): Kill all the Mist Pirates, or turn them in to the government.]
[Reward: 2 Gold Scrolls and 50 GP]
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"Nami-nee, do these pirates have bounties on their heads?" I asked.
"Although there are at least 30 of them, I didn't see them on the wanted list," Nami said. "They must be a new pirate crew."
"I see." I sighed.
Turn them in to the government?
What's the advantage in that besides doing free work?
Sure, I know that by doing so I would complete the mission, but isn't it easier to just kill them all if the goal is to complete the mission?
"..."
I froze upon having that kind of thought.
That kind of reasoning wasn't something a normal person should have — especially not me, who had just killed someone for the first time.
Now, I found myself on the fence. On one hand, I wanted to eliminate them all with my own hands; on the other, I felt that, even without a reward, the right thing to do was to hand them over to the Marines — and not become a cold-blooded killer...
"Nami-nee." I looked at her seriously as I clenched my fists. "I will deal with these pirates."
"Noah, you..."
"Yes, I know," I said. "But you must've noticed, don't pretend you haven't. I've become strong and... I want to test my limit."
"Nojiko left you in my care," she said.
"I know, but I still insist."
"I promised to take good care of you."
"I'm still insisting."
"You, you...!" She pointed at me, looking incredibly upset and angry.
Sighing, I said, "Nami-nee, try to understand me. If it were you, wouldn't you try to do something? Right now, they're just a bunch of rookie pirates, easy to deal with, but in a few years, they'll be the next Arlong. And it'll be too late when they've killed several people and enslaved others."
I knew I was being dishonest by bringing up something that would hurt her, but I had to do it... Or rather, I wanted to do it.
When I saw her eyes turn red, my heart ached for her — the worst part was that I was the bastard who made her cry, but I still had to stay true to my decision.
"Do whatever you want." She turned her back to me.
I knew I had disappointed her.
However, if I stay passive, when I really need to act, will I have the courage to?
That was my biggest fear.
Even with the full strength of Hercules, to be a coward.
That's why I need to be decisive — or so I believe.
Maybe I'm being foolish, maybe my decision is wrong, but this is how I feel at this moment.
I didn't even need to check if the two pirates were still alive — the fact that the mission tab showed 2/28 was living proof they were no longer among us.
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