"Thank you for saving us." The two militia members walked out of the bar alongside Shirakawa. Once they were out on the street, they turned and offered their thanks.
"Don't mention it. If it weren't for me, you two wouldn't have set foot in a place like that in the first place. Helping you out was the least I could do."
Hearing Shirakawa say that warmed them inside. This was the first time a pirate had ever lifted a finger to help them.
"You're not like the other pirates we've run into."
"Oh? How so?"
"Most of the pirates we've met before were vicious and cruel. Didn't matter if they were strong or not, the second they landed here, they acted like they owned the place. But you're different. Even though you're a big name pirate, you still give off this vibe... like you're a decent guy."
"Decent guy, huh?" Shirakawa let out a rueful little laugh at those words. From the moment he'd taken his first life, he'd stopped qualifying as a good person. It didn't matter if the ones he killed were villains or saints. The reason he gave off that "decent" impression was probably just because he'd gotten good at faking it.
It helped lower a potential enemy's guard. Take these two militia men, for instance. At first, they'd been too scared to even speak to him. Now, they were chatting with him like it was nothing.
"Can I ask you something? What exactly are you here for? On our island, I mean."
One of the militiamen finally voiced the question that had been gnawing at them.
"Nothing special. We just happened to pass by and figured we'd rest and resupply here for a bit."
"Oh, is that all? That's a relief."
Hearing Shirakawa's answer, the two men exhaled in unison. They believed him.
Shirakawa just smiled at their reaction. It was perfectly natural, given the circumstances.
"Right, I know this might sound pointless coming from me, but I still gotta warn you to be careful."
"What do you mean?"
"That blond punk has someone backing him up. That's the guy who's been keeping our militia tied down. Otherwise, we would've never let that blond run wild the way he did."
"Who's behind him?"
"His older brother. Name's Gral. Biggest crime boss on this island."
"Got it. Thanks for the heads up."
Shirakawa didn't seriously think this Gral character could pose any real threat to him. Still, he appreciated the warning.
Meanwhile, on the other side of town, a sprawling and rather opulent estate sat in quiet luxury. A figure burst through its doors, running frantically inside.
Gasping for air, he dropped to his knees on the polished floor.
"Boss! Bad news! Something terrible's happened!"
"What's got you in such a panic?" A man lounged on the sofa, one leg crossed lazily over the other, a glass of red wine cradled in his hand.
"B... Boss! Your brother... he's dead."
"What?" The wine glass shattered in the man's grip. Crimson liquid dripped down his hand and splattered onto the floor.
"Say that again." His voice was thick with fury and disbelief. He refused to accept that his brother was simply gone.
"Boss, your brother really is dead."
"Tell me who did it. And don't tell me they didn't know he was my brother."
"It was an outsider."
"An outsider? An outsider dares to step on my toes? Do they think Gral is some pushover? Spit it out. Who is he, and where is he now?"
"He's a pirate."
As his subordinate said this, he produced a wanted poster and held it out to Gral.
"Him!" Gral's eyes widened in recognition. He knew who Shirakawa was. Shirakawa, however, had no clue who Gral was.
But Gral felt no fear. Just like his late brother, he had boundless confidence in his own strength.
Before he could process this further, another underling came scrambling in, dropping to his knees in front of him.
"Boss! More bad news! One of our weapon shops just got trashed!"
"Who? Who's got the guts to wreck my shop? They must have a death wish."
Gral felt like the world was conspiring against him today. First his blood brother gets killed, and now his weapon shop gets demolished.
"It's a pirate." This second subordinate also handed over a wanted poster.
"Pirates. Pirates. Why is it all pirates today?"
Gral snatched the poster, glanced at the face on it, and then tore it to shreds.
"Seems like the whole lot of them are asking for it today."
The one who'd wrecked his shop was another member of the Shirakawa Pirates: Ural Jora.
As for why Jora had trashed the place? Simple. He felt cheated. The shop had tried to sell him a blade at a price so outrageous it would've cleaned out his entire savings.
"Where is he now?"
"Our guys have him surrounded inside the shop."
"Good work."
Since he didn't know Shirakawa's current location, Gral figured he'd start by taking his anger out on one of his crew members. Both of them had crossed him on the same day, after all.
"Lead the way."
"Right away, Boss." Seeing that their boss was about to handle this personally, the men felt their hearts settle. In their eyes, their boss was invincible. No one could stand against him.
But that kind of blind faith rarely led to pleasant outcomes.
"So you're the one who trashed my shop?"
Before long, Gral arrived at the ruined weapon shop. The first thing he saw was a pile of his own men sprawled across the floor, groaning in pain. Standing in the middle of them was Ural Jora.
"If this shop belongs to you, then yeah. I'm the one who wrecked it."
Jora's voice was perfectly calm, as if wrecking the place was a trivial matter.
"And why exactly did you wreck my shop? As far as I know, I haven't done anything to offend you personally."
"Because your shop's a ripoff joint. And you tried to rip me off."
Gral didn't look surprised, and he didn't deny it either. His shop was a scam operation. Countless travelers passing through the island had been fleeced by him over the years.
"So you wrecked my shop over that?"
"That's right. You saying it didn't deserve to get wrecked?"
"Hahaha." Gral let out a bitter laugh. He'd never met someone so self-righteous about vandalizing property.
"This works out perfectly. I was planning to deal with your captain later anyway. I'll take care of you first. Consider it a little welcome gift for him."
"Deal with me? And my captain? Who exactly gave you that kind of confidence?" Jora found the statement genuinely amusing. It might have been the funniest thing he'd heard all year.
"Let me tell you something, punk. Our boss is invincible!"
One of Gral's underlings piped up from the sidelines, taunting.
"Invincible? Is that so? Well then, today's as good a day as any to shatter that little myth."
Jora had never believed in the concept of invincibility. It just meant a person hadn't run into anyone stronger yet. But today, that was about to change.
/-\
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