"I thought Mr. Ryan was such a steady person, but I never expected... him to be so improper."
Kaya detected the teasing in Ryan's words, her cheeks flushing hot again as if scorched by sunlight. Clutching the hem of her clothes, she took half a step back, a flicker of embarrassment in her eyes, though her tone carried a hint of defiant reproach.
Once the words left her mouth, she immediately felt she had been too bold and quickly lowered her head, the tips of her ears turning as red as ripe cherries.
Ryan raised an eyebrow, the smile at the corner of his lips deepening as he watched her flustered yet feigning composure. "What, can't I say that?"
"No..." Kaya muttered softly, her fingers unconsciously picking at the edge of the stone table. Suddenly remembering something, she lifted her head and hurriedly changed the subject: "By the way, Mr. Ryan, you're a traveler, right? Where do you plan to go next?"
Ryan naturally saw through her little scheme but didn't expose it. Instead, he followed her lead, his tone casual: "No particular plans. The world is so big—I intend to wander around."
"World travel?" Kaya's eyes immediately lit up like kindled sparks. "Then you must have been to many places? Like Alabasta, written about in books?"
She leaned half a step forward, gently placing her hands on the table, her voice brimming with irrepressible curiosity.
Those place names she had only seen on book pages, spoken by someone who had truly traversed mountains and seas, seemed to carry a tangible sense of reality.
Ryan looked at the girl's sparkling eyes, suddenly chuckled softly, and shook his head. "I haven't been to any of them."
"Eh?" The brightness on Kaya's face dimmed abruptly. She blinked, seemingly unable to believe it. "Not even Alabasta?"
"Hmm," Ryan's gaze fell on the undulating sea in the distance, his tone calm and unruffled. "It's true I haven't seen those places with my own eyes."
This was the truth—the scenery of the pirate world was something he had only seen through a screen; he had never actually been there.
Kaya's shoulders slumped slightly, her fingers unconsciously twirling the stray hairs by her ear. Just as she was about to say something more, she heard Ryan suddenly speak, his voice carrying a touch of casual seriousness: "But precisely because of that, they seem all the more interesting."
He turned his head, his eyes reflecting the shimmering waves. "You only know what's true or false after seeing it for yourself. Before witnessing it with your own eyes, letting it drift in your imagination—isn't that more intriguing?"
Kaya froze, then felt as if something had gently struck her heart.
Watching Ryan's profile gilded by sunlight, she suddenly felt as if those place names confined to book pages were unfurling into wings in the wind, softly beating against her curiosity.
"Is that so?" she whispered, the sparks in her eyes rekindling, brighter than before.
Seeing her reignited enthusiasm, the curve of Ryan's smile deepened. "Since you're so curious, why not go see for yourself?"
Kaya's pupils contracted sharply, like a stone tossed into the center of a lake, stirring ripples layer upon layer.
Instinctively, she straightened her back, her hands secretly clenching under the table.
Go see for herself? Those longitudes and latitudes only marked on maps, those wonders described in exaggerated tones by travelers—could they truly be reached in person?
"I..." She was about to speak, the heat on her cheeks hadn't yet faded when a warmer current surged in her chest, only to be extinguished the next moment by a sudden chill.
She lowered her gaze to her hands resting on the stone table, her knuckles turning white from the pressure. Sunlight filtered through her fingers and fell on the back of her hand, yet couldn't warm the perpetual cold that had settled there.
"My body..." Her voice was as light as a sigh: "The doctor said I can't undertake long journeys."
"What's the big deal." Ryan's voice suddenly cut through, carrying a casual certainty: "Just recover properly."
Kaya jerked her head up to look at Ryan. The man was turned sideways to the sunlight, squinting slightly as he blew smoke rings. The smoke slowly dispersed before his eyes, blurring the emotions in his gaze.
Yet the ease in his tone felt like a fine needle, gently piercing through the thick cocoon she had built around her heart.
Just recover properly?
Were those dreams she considered unattainable merely trivial matters that could be solved by "recovering properly" in others' eyes?
She watched Ryan's profile wreathed in smoke, suddenly feeling this man held countless stories within him.
When he spoke, he always carried the composure of someone who had been through it all, as if nothing in this world could truly trouble him. Those eyes that had witnessed mountains and seas contained a vast, carefree depth she couldn't decipher.
"Mr. Ryan..." She hesitated for a moment before finally asking: "How long will you be staying here?"
Ryan flicked his fingers, tapping ash from his cigarette. Pale gray flakes fluttered down onto the bluestone pavement. He lifted his eyes indifferently toward the distant coastline: "Just a day or two. Taking a breather before moving on."
Coming to Syrup Village had been a whim. This remote island held little of interest beyond this girl who always watched the world with wide, curious eyes - everything else was as bland as lukewarm water.
With no reason to stay, there was no point in lingering.
The words "taking a breather" brushed against Kaya's heart like a fine feather.
Watching Ryan's shadow stretching long in the sunlight, she suddenly realized this island she had called home for over a decade was merely a milestone in his long journey - a brief stop before farewell.
Where was he headed? In such a vast world, was there truly no place that could make him stay? Or was his journey simply without an end? Countless questions swirled in her heart, but she quietly swallowed them back.
"Then... where are you from?" Biting her lip, she finally voiced the question that had lingered in her mind for so long.
Ryan's movements abruptly stilled. His fingers holding the cigarette froze mid-air, smoke curling up through the gaps to weave a hazy veil before his eyes.
The air seemed to solidify, with only the rustling of coconut leaves in the wind and the faint, distant sound of waves silently counting the passage of this silence.
Kaya's heartbeat gradually quickened. She even began to regret asking - perhaps this was a past he preferred not to mention?
Just as she was about to lower her head and apologize, Ryan finally slowly exhaled a smoke ring. The bluish-gray cloud slowly expanded and dissipated in the sunlight, blurring the emotions in his eyes.
"Just consider me a wanderer." His voice came through the layer of smoke, low and carrying an indescribable vagueness.
Where was he from?
Even he couldn't say anymore.
Wanderer...
Kaya chewed on the word and suddenly felt it couldn't be more fitting. The man before her was like a gust of wind—with no origin and no destination, leaving only faint traces wherever he passed before hurrying off to the next leg of his journey.
Watching Ryan shrouded in smoke, she suddenly felt that behind that hazy white veil lay countless untold stories.
His tone was so matter-of-fact, yet it inexplicably filled Kaya with a sense of melancholy. What kind of past did this mysterious and powerful man have? How many roads had he traveled, how many people had he met, and how many unspoken burdens like this was he carrying?
Curiosity crept into her heart like ivy, wrapping itself tighter and tighter. Watching the flickering flame at Ryan's fingertips, she suddenly wanted to know more about him.
Perhaps she could take advantage of these two days to ask more about the world outside.
After all, wanderers like Ryan—if missed, might never be encountered again.