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"Little beads? I don't have those," Arton said with a grin. "But I've got something bigger. Need it?"
"Hm… to increase the training difficulty?" Uta tilted her head. "That's fine by me. I'm the number one songstress. If I'm training my voice, of course I should be more willing than anyone to take on tougher drills."
She tugged Arton over to the lookout window so he could keep using his Hawkeye skill to watch the sea, then knelt down on the floor between him and the window.
"Slurp… Slurp … Slurp!"
…
In the passageway below deck.
"Spit it out—why did you push Arton to head for Enies Lobby? That was your idea, wasn't it?" Carina crossed her arms, fixing Ain with a severe look. Nami, Nojiko, Tashigi, and Kaya stared just as intently.
"B-because… I don't want to leave," Ain said, pressing her lips together.
"Ha. You don't want to leave, so you make Captain Arton go to Enies Lobby?" Nami snapped.
"T-that was Captain Arton's own decision," Ain answered cautiously.
"Don't call him 'Captain Arton'," Nami shot back. "You're not part of our crew yet."
Then she turned on Tashigi. "And you—why'd you let her steer Arton toward Enies Lobby?"
Tashigi fell silent. She couldn't exactly say she'd passed out from exhaustion after "going all out" with Arton. If she did, she suspected Nami and Carina would stop interrogating Ain and start interrogating her instead. For now, silence was the better part of valor.
"Tell me this," Nojiko asked evenly. "Is Saint Shalria really at Enies Lobby?"
"I… don't know," Ain said, shaking her head.
"What—you don't know?" Nami's temper, already frayed by Ain nudging Arton toward Enies Lobby, spiked two notches.
"Nami—keep it down," Nojiko murmured, patting her shoulder. "It'll be bad if Captain Arton hears."
"Sorry. I got worked up." Nami exhaled. "Still, with Uta singing and dancing for Arton, his attention probably isn't on us." She flicked a glance at her diary copy; there was nothing about Arton and Uta's exchange recorded there—which struck her as odd—but at least Arton hadn't written Enies Lobby as their next destination. That much reassured her.
"Alright," Carina said. "Spell it out. How did you make Captain Arton conclude that Saint Shalria is at Enies Lobby?"
"W-well, it went like this…" Ain took a deep breath and repeated everything she'd told Arton about Hina and Saint Shalria. Only then did Carina, Nami, and the others look somewhat mollified.
"Please—don't kick me off the ship," Ain pleaded. "I know Arton wants me gone. I brought up Saint Shalria because I wanted him to feel I'm useful."
"So that's it," Carina said. "We don't know how to reach Enies Lobby, but you do. That way, Arton won't toss you overboard—at least for now. That's what you're counting on, isn't it, Ain?"
Ain dipped her head in quiet confirmation.
"Honestly," Nami huffed, waving a hand, "Arton could just use a Command Spell and force you to cough up the route to Enies Lobby."
Chapter 334: Kaya—"Arton Probably Likes Nurse Outfits, Right?"
Hearing that, Ain tensed up inside. She'd already experienced what a Command Spell meant. Under that power, she couldn't resist at all—she'd spill every last secret.
For a moment she truly worried Nojiko might use a Command Spell on her. If that happened, she'd be useless to Arton's crew—and if she was useless, the only path left was getting kicked off the ship.
"Maybe Arton decided it's safer to keep Ain around for now," Nojiko said with a smile. "That's why he didn't have me use a Command Spell on her."
"True," Carina nodded. "With a live Marine here, if anything changes while we're heading for Enies Lobby, we can use what's in her head about the Marines to judge things more accurately. And if we run into Zephyr, taking her as a hostage wouldn't be a bad move either."
Ain let out a long breath. Sure, Carina meant to use her as a hostage—but at least that meant she wouldn't be thrown off the Flameblade Pirates' ship right away. If she could just stay long enough, she believed she'd find a chance to become one of them for real.
"You've achieved your aim, Miss Ain," Carina went on. "But we want you to keep your head down for a while. Best if you don't leave any one of us out of your sight—at least for now."
"Don't worry, I'll comply," Ain nodded. "Um… can I go to Arton now? It should be fine if I stay by his side, right?"
"Hehe. Trying to win his trust through Arton himself, are you?" Nami snorted. "Not that easy. Since you made us change course, you can behave and help us work the ship."
"…Okay, I understand." Disappointed, Ain could only agree.
"Then it's settled," Carina said, turning to the rest of the Flameblade Pirates. "To keep Arton from revealing our destination, we'll take turns going to him one by one. Kaya, as the doctor you're less busy right now. Once Uta's done, please relieve her."
Kaya's face flushed red. She had a pretty good idea what Uta and Arton were up to. If she were to replace Uta… wouldn't that mean doing the same kind of thing? Even so, thinking of their situation—and of the decision she'd already made—Kaya nodded firmly.
"Don't worry. I know what to do," she said. "I definitely won't let what happened at Reverse Mountain happen again."
Carina smiled and patted Kaya's shoulder. "I believe you. After all, you have the heart that captivates Arton the most. As long as he's nestled in your arms, he'll forget all about writing in that diary."
Kaya's face turned apple-red. "Geez, you're saying too much!" she squeaked, then spun around and ran shyly toward the infirmary. Nami and the others couldn't help but smile kindly at the sight.
"Alright, you—come work with us," Nami said, tugging Ain by the hand toward the deck. "And don't even think about slacking."
Nojiko and the others followed close behind.
Meanwhile, in Kaya's place—the infirmary.
"This pink nurse outfit should do, right?" Kaya murmured, cheeks glowing. "Mm… Arton will probably like this. But the hem is way too short… I'll have to wear white garter stockings with it… Still, if Arton likes it, there's nothing I can do."
She laid the nurse outfit out before her, whispering to herself with a rosy blush.
...
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