Author's Note:
The story itself is probably going to be a pretty slow start, but I want to write it in a way that's enjoyable for everyone. Thanks for sticking with me. And with that, here's Chapter 3. Please enjoy.
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Apparently, I was still alive.
My vision had gone dark, my hearing had cut out, and I'd genuinely thought, 'Ah, yeah, I'm definitely dead this time.' But when I opened my eyes, despite the fact that I should have collapsed outside, I'd been laid down in a bed.
That's right. I 'opened my eyes.' I wasn't dead after all.
"...An unfamiliar ceiling."
"Oh, you're awake, Missy?"
A voice from beside me.
I tried to sit up on reflex, but my body was so heavy I could barely move. I managed to turn just my neck and look to the side.
Sitting next to the bed was a woman I didn't recognize.
She wore wild clothing, with a surprisingly generous amount of skin showing, though not in a vulgar way. She reached over and placed her hand flat against my forehead.
"No fever, and some color's come back to your face. Stamina still hasn't recovered though, as expected. How many of these do you see?"
"Um... three?"
"Correct. Your eyes are working fine too. You hungry?"
"...Yes."
I hadn't been aware of it until she asked, but now that she mentioned it, I could tell my stomach was completely empty. Yeah. Definitely hungry.
"Appetite's there too. At this rate you should recover soon. Would've been a real downer to save someone only to have them die on us. Yeah, good, good. Oh, I'll have someone bring food in a sec, so just hang tight."
She said all this while jotting down notes on what looked like a clipboard.
So it seemed that just when I thought I'd die collapsed on the roadside, some kind soul had rescued me and I'd managed to cling to life. And this woman, was she a doctor?
Whether she was the one who'd saved me directly or someone else had found me and brought me to her, I wasn't sure. Either way, I needed to say thank you.
"Um... th-thank you for saving me."
"No need for thanks. I already got paid, and I was just following the Captain's orders."
'...Hm?'
"Captain"?
Wait, so if she used that kind of title, did that mean this woman was a Ship's Doctor on some kind of vessel? And come to think of it, I did feel a faint rocking. Hold on, was I on a ship?
And there was one more thing I'd just noticed. This wild-looking lady doctor (presumably) had something like a bandana wrapped around her head, and on the side of it was a mark I recognized.
A skull in the center, surrounded by snake heads... one, two, three... nine of them.
Wait. That mark, wasn't that...
"Oh my, noticed that, did you? Pretty sharp eyes for someone who just woke up."
My face must have given me away. She'd caught me staring at the mark.
"Relax, I'm not gonna eat you. Like I said, saving you was just a whim. I know you might not believe that coming from a pirate, but being scared won't do you any good either, so keep that in mind."
"A p-pirate... I knew it..."
"Yep. The 'Kuja Pirates'... ring any bells?"
Ah, just as I thought. Kuja.
The Amazonian faction of the One Piece World, and the pirate crew to which one of the Shichibukai, the Pirate Empress Boa Hancock, belonged.
That said, given that the current time period seemed to be well before the Original Work, Hancock probably wasn't Captain yet. Actually, I wasn't even sure if she'd been born.
After that, I ate the meal that was brought in and listened to the rest of the story. As I'd guessed, I'd been found collapsed on the road and taken in by a scouting party from the Kuja Pirates who happened to be passing through.
They'd carried me onto the ship, and this Ship's Doctor had examined and treated me. That brought us to the present.
Partway through the explanation, the Captain of the Kuja came by to check on me.
"Phew... you look more lively than I expected, Missy. Quite impressive for someone still a child."
A beautiful woman directing a gentle smile my way while puffing on a cigarette. At first glance, she didn't look like a pirate at all. Calm. Kind. Though her outfit had the same wild flair as the Ship's Doctor and the others.
But setting that aside... this Captain's face looked extremely familiar. From the One Piece Original Work.
Was this person Shakky... or rather, Shakuyaku-san?
When I asked her name, sure enough... wait, hold on, you're that, um... that person who runs the Rip-off Bar on the Sabaody Archipelago, who's basically Rayleigh's common-law Wife.
And the Captain of the Kuja Pirates, which meant she was also the Empress of Amazon Lily... that was her background!?
I'd only read partway through the One Piece Original Work and my memories were hazy, so suddenly running into a character from the Original Work while having a bombshell revelation dropped on me without warning nearly sent me into full panic mode.
I wonder when this was revealed in the Original Work...
"Oh my, what's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
"N-no, it's nothing! Sorry, I was just spacing out..."
"She was probably captivated by you, Captain. Because you're so beautiful."
"Now, now, flattery will get you nowhere. And Missy, I know you might be shocked to hear you're on a pirate ship, but we have no intention of doing anything scary, so don't worry."
After that, she gave me a simple rundown of the situation.
According to Shakuyaku-san, saving me had been on a whim.
She figured I was probably a survivor from a village that had been destroyed by pirates, and she'd taken an interest because despite being so young, I'd managed to walk all that way on my own. Said it showed real grit and stamina.
Then she continued, and this touched on something the Ship's Doctor had mentioned briefly earlier: the village where I was born and raised had been destroyed.
No survivors among the residents. Anything of value had been looted, and several houses had been set on fire. One of those was probably our bookstore. The whole place was in terrible shape.
They'd stopped by to take a look, but there was almost nothing worth salvaging left.
Naturally, it was no longer a place where anyone could live.
A few houses were still standing, but everything was smashed up and one step away from ruins. A child, a girl living there alone? Impossible.
"I figured leaving you there would just mean you'd die, so... sorry for the executive decision, but I had us set sail with you still on board. We're out on the open sea now."
"I see..."
Apparently I'd been asleep for close to two full days.
They couldn't very well stay anchored at a destroyed, empty village waiting for me to regain consciousness.
If I could have, I would have at least liked to make graves for my parents and pay my respects. But I wasn't in a position to ask for luxuries. I'd fled the village prepared to never go back. Time to accept that and move on.
"What's your name, Missy?"
"Sue... it's Sue. Venerdi Toto Sue. Um, what's going to happen to me now...?"
"Like I said, we didn't go through the trouble of saving you just to make you suffer. I'll let you ride on this ship until we reach an island where you can make a life for yourself. You can get off there. After that... it'll be tough, but you'll have to do your best to survive."
"Yes... thank you so much."
"That said, I'll have you help out with chores to the extent you're able. Also, the money and jewels you had on you, I'm taking those as payment for your treatment. I need to set an example for the sailors, and besides, we're pirates. We can't afford to keep a freeloader on the ship."
Yes, ma'am. Perfectly reasonable.
Well, this was unavoidable. They'd saved my life and were letting me stay on the ship for a while. And these were pirates, no less. I should consider myself lucky that was all it cost me.
Normally they could have just taken my money and tossed me overboard, and I wouldn't have had any right to complain.
"I'll do my best. Thank you for having me."
"Good answer. I like honest children."
Then Shakuyaku-san said "Oh, but," as if suddenly remembering something, and reached into her pocket to pull something out.
She placed it on top of the blanket where I lay.
"I'm returning these to you. I'm guessing they're... important, right?"
"...Ah...!"
They were the keepsakes I'd taken with me. My parents' wedding rings, and Mom's earrings.
Apparently these three items hadn't been in my bag. I'd been clutching them in my hand when I lost consciousness.
After that, Shakuyaku-san and the others said they had work to do, and everyone, including the Ship's Doctor, filed out of the room.
I think they were being considerate, seeing that I could no longer hold back my tears.
And so, temporarily at least, I ended up aboard a pirate ship as a chore girl. And not just any pirate ship, but the vessel of the legendary Kuja Pirates.
To be continued...