An hour later, at home.
"Let me comb through the events of your month at sea, and you confirm whether I'm right—first, you suddenly grew over ten centimeters taller?"
"Yes, it's normal during puberty."
"Won the championship of the Sword Dao competition on Asakura Island?"
"Yes, accidentally snagged the title."
"Also managed to uncover a major conspiracy on the island and became a celebrity in the East Sea?"
"Yes, but not that famous. The hype comes and goes and will soon be forgotten."
"Then you became a billionaire!!!"
"Yes, with four billion Belly. I took out fifty million, the rest is still in the bank. Look, the card is here."
Belle-Mere took deep breaths to calm herself down, but looking at the muscular hulk in front of her, she felt dizzy and blacked out.
Shano quickly supported her, "What's wrong, Belle-Mere?"
"I'm fine, let me go, I need some time to digest this... "
Belle-Mere sat cross-legged on the carpet, staring at the coffee table, in a daze for quite a while.
It took a whole glass of water from Shano to finally accept reality gradually.
"I told you, didn't I? This little guy's bloodline must be unusual; it awakens with age. His parents must be something extraordinary, maybe royalty..."
"No, it doesn't seem related to bloodline," Shano puzzled, "Just won a championship and made some money, it's all good, why can't you accept this..."
"I'm talking about height! Height! While it's nice to grow during puberty, who grows nearly twenty centimeters in a month!"
Belle-Mere angrily pounded Shano's calf, "What's going on with you! Do you know, in the month you were away, I made two sweaters, three thermal pants, half-finger gloves, full-finger gloves..."
"Now none fit, can't be used, and they have to be unraveled... boohoo..."
So that's why she's upset!
Shano rubbed his forehead, suddenly noticing a thick stack of newspapers piled on the next cabinet. "You've been buying papers daily while I was away?"
"Afraid you might miss something outside," Belle-Mere said with a pout, "But I didn't read them; they've just been sitting here. Not long ago, your Asakura Island escapades were all the gossip, and I only found out from the neighbors, couldn't sleep all night. "
"What about Nami and Nojiko? How did they react then?"
"What do you think?"
Belle-Mere replied irritably.
She was both worried and a bit relieved at the time, tossing and turning all night.
Nami and Nojiko didn't think much, each was excited, especially Nami, who almost jumped to the sky.
She dashed from the village head to tail boasting, eager for everyone to know her brother became a big deal in the East Sea.
Even yanking the ears of the big white dog at the village entrance several times, making it later run with its tail tucked away upon seeing her.
The two parakeets of the next-door neighbors were no exception, now loving to repeat phrases like "My brother! Champion!", "My brother! Hero!".
Shano listened and started sweating.
For the next period, perhaps the chickens, ducks, and geese in the village would look at him differently.
Shaking his head, he picked up the stack of newspapers, sank into the sofa.
He wanted to read through it entirely, see if there was any noteworthy news.
At this time, the door quietly creaked open, a dirty figure with orange hair tiptoed, carrying shoes, circling behind the couch toward the bathroom...
"Come here!"
Belle-Mere barked, "Think I'm blind? Couldn't see a little mud monkey sneaking in, still couldn't see the two rows of dirty shoe prints on the floor?"
Oh no! A momentary lapse! Nami turned to look at the two strings of black marks, slapping her forehead in frustration. She should have silently snuck in through the kitchen window!
"Be honest, where have you been? Didn't you say you were going to the bookstore to read in the morning?"
"I wasn't lying, Belle-Mere, initially, it was for reading, but the bookstore was too small, the Sailing Skill and Nautical Chart stuff I liked were nearly all finished... huh? Brother?!"
Nami walked head-down for a while, suddenly finding someone lying on the nearby couch, seeing the familiar face, immediately stared wide-eyed, extremely pleasantly surprised.
"When did you come back!"
She cried with joy, throwing herself into Shano's arms, raising both hands to pinch his cheeks, "So unfair not calling me back... ow, it hurts!"
She charged too forcefully, her nose slammed into Shano's solid chest, suddenly it tingled and ached, nearly bringing tears to her eyes.
"Tsk-tsk, now you're Buggy."
Shano mocked her swollen nose gleefully.
But glancing down, his shirt covered in mud spots, seeing two dirty handprints in the mirror, his face went black, no longer amusing.
"Hehe, bleh~~"
Nami's mischievous plan succeeded, making a face, "Serves you right for sneaking off solo without saying goodbye to Nojiko and me that morning!"
"Afraid you'd both turn into little crybabies."
Shano rubbed his face vigorously with a towel, grumbled, "Besides, I trust Nojiko more, you little rascal—if you'd followed me to the dock that morning, you might've snuck aboard when we weren't looking. I won't take a tagalong everywhere."
"Who's the tagalong! I've grown much, and my fighting skills are sharp now! Just earlier, two monkeys in the mountains teamed up but were chased around by me!"
"Monkeys in the mountains?"
Belle-Mere's keen sense perked at something, suddenly fuming, "Wait! You made yourself filthy like this, all because you were in the mountains fighting monkeys?!"
"I couldn't help it."
Nami blinked innocently, "I lifted the newspaper photo telling them my brother's a champion, and they kept eating fruit in the trees, rolling their eyes, ignoring me, so I threw stones angrily, then started fighting."
This wretched child!
Belle-Mere gritted her teeth, tugging her ears toward the bathroom, "Clean yourself thoroughly! If this happens again, see how I deal with you. I don't expect you to be like Shano, at least as sensible as Nojiko!"
Creaaak~
The door opened again, Shano on the sofa and Belle-Mere at the bathroom doorway instinctively turned.
A dirty blue-haired girl appeared at the entrance, face bruised, pants ripped in several places, just one shoe left.
Upon seeing Shano, her eyes lit with joy, but immediately met Belle-Mere's killer look, shrinking her neck back, sheepishly grinning:
"Um, there's a reason—I was talking to a goose at the village entrance about Shano brother's matters, halfway through, it lost patience and wanted to run. I ended up fighting, but just barely lost..."