After cleaning the stickiness from Uta's hair, Cain looked toward the clothes they had changed out of.
His once-white shirt was now splattered with stains from his earlier nosebleed.
After the steam had soaked into the fabric and spread the marks, the stains looked especially glaring.
There was obviously no way he could wear it again.
Cain knocked on the small, ornately decorated door.
With a crisp ringing sound, several round little Homies wearing tailor hats hopped out.
The little things were clearly somewhat afraid when they saw Cain, but they still forced down their fear and seriously listened to what he had to say before speaking.
"Custom tailoring! Custom tailoring! Mama's guests must not be without proper clothes!"
Because the bathhouse was enormous, it was connected directly to a dressing room in the back.
The Homies busily pulled out measuring tapes and darted around Cain and Uta, measuring their sizes.
They guaranteed that they could make new clothes in less than ten minutes.
While waiting, Cain sat in a reclining chair, staring at the faint pink liquid slowly draining away through the drain.
It had been dyed by Cain's nosebleed, and at the moment, the Homies were constantly cleaning the floor.
"Actually…"
Uta also moved closer, staring at that faint pink color.
"This kind of pink is pretty."
She raised her head, her eyes shining.
"I heard there's a special red wine bath here too, in another bathhouse. When we go soak there later, it'd be nice if we added some milk and turned the red wine pink too."
Added some milk?
Cain's brain instantly began working.
The pink milk bath just now had been dyed by his blood, so his thoughts subconsciously went in the wrong direction.
If they wanted to turn it pink next time, they would need to add something white.
His gaze drifted uncontrollably toward Uta's chest.
"PERVERT! WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?!"
Uta reacted extremely quickly, her hands flying up to protect her chest.
Seeing through Cain's absurd association, she shouted in embarrassment and anger,
"ANYWAY, YOU RUINED THE MILK BATH THIS TIME, SO NEXT TIME, YOU FIGURE OUT A WAY! WORST COMES TO WORST, YOU DO IT YOURSELF AND TURN THE RED WINE PINK!"
"EH?! ME? MYSELF?!"
Cain nearly flipped out of the reclining chair.
What white thing did he have that could dye a red wine bath pink?
…Apparently, he really did have something.
But that thing did not dissolve in water!
And to dilute an entire pool of red wine into pink, that meant…
A terrifying image appeared in Cain's mind.
In the middle of an enormous red wine bath, he had overdrawn himself so badly that he had turned into a dried-up corpse, eyes rolled back as he floated on the pink water.
That was clearly a plan to squeeze him completely dry in the bath.
"Uta, you really can't joke about that…"
Cain's face turned pale as he shrank backward.
"That amount would seriously kill someone!"
"Idiot! You could just bring over a barrel of milk and pour it in, couldn't you? How would that kill someone?"
Seeing Cain's face turn deathly pale, Uta looked at him in confusion.
"Ah… so that's what you meant."
Cain scratched his head awkwardly, wishing he could find a crack in the floor and crawl into it.
So he had been the one thinking dirty.
"What else would I mean? What exactly were you thinking just now?!"
"Ah, nothing."
The two of them fell silent.
Neither of them spoke again. They simply sat side by side, listening to each other's breathing.
After an unknown amount of time, the Homies happily ran out carrying freshly made clothes.
The new outfits were far too gorgeous, completely inheriting Totto Land's style.
Uta changed into a red-and-white dress, neat and eye-catching.
Cain, meanwhile, put on a well-cut pink suit, simple and proper.
Once they had finished changing, the two of them looked at each other, then burst into laughter at the same time.
The outfits had clearly been matched according to their hair colors, and the coordination was almost too perfect.
The awkwardness from earlier disappeared in their laughter.
Cain reached out and held Uta's slender fingers.
Hand in hand, they walked out of the bathhouse filled with a sweet scent.
The moment they stepped out of the doors, the entrance that had originally been empty was suddenly flooded from all directions by a large number of figures from the Charlotte Family.
Cain quickly looked around, but he never saw the figure who could put him at ease.
"Looking for me? Perorin."
Perospero walked out from the shadows, swaying his huge candy-cane staff.
He looked over their joined hands once before speaking.
"It seems not… Stop looking, Cain. Katakuri has gone to deal with the matter involving the Beasts. He is busy right now."
"As for me, allow me to introduce myself. I am the eldest son of the Charlotte Family, Perospero… Don't worry. I bear no ill will."
'The moment someone says they bear no ill will, even if I wasn't wary of you, that would make you suspicious as hell.'
Cain silently complained.
Perospero did not notice Cain's thoughts and turned sideways in invitation.
"Even if Katakuri is not here, you still have me. I can absolutely act as your guide in Totto Land."
"However, it is getting late. Come with me. Mama has already prepared a bedchamber. You should rest first. The banquet will not officially begin until a week from now."
"No need, Perospero."
Cain cut him off expressionlessly.
He knew very well that on this island, the only person worthy of trust was the upright Katakuri.
Someone as calculating as Perospero could pull strings in the dark at any moment.
"To put it bluntly, we have to go there now. After all, Yamato came here with us, and some things still haven't been settled. So take me to Katakuri."
Perospero's smile froze on his face.
The staff in his hand made a faint grinding sound from the force of his grip.
He stared at Cain for a moment.
In the end, because Katakuri held extremely high prestige and popularity within the family, Perospero could only helplessly shrug and wave for the chess soldiers to lead the way for Cain.
…
In a clearing in the Biscuit Forest, Jack was already fighting Katakuri.
Earlier, Jack had first been blown away by Big Mom's attack, then knocked unconscious by Yamato.
When he woke up again, what faced him was Katakuri's expressionless face as the man lectured him at length.
They were both officers under Four Emperors.
What gave Katakuri the right to stand there so high and mighty, pointing fingers and giving orders, while Jack himself was left in such a miserable state?
Jack was extremely unhappy.
So after a few words, the two of them started fighting.
However, Katakuri had no intention of truly battling him and only kept dodging.
This made Jack even angrier, and his attacks grew fiercer.
During that time, Yamato struck him hard on the head who knew how many times, making him faint, wake up, faint again, and wake up again in an endless cycle.
Yet he remained full of rage, and the battle never stopped from beginning to end.
"HEY, STOP ALREADY! THERE'S NO MEANING IN CONTINUING THIS FIGHT!"
Katakuri shouted loudly at Jack, but the other man completely ignored him and had already gathered his strength to attack again.
"Who do you think I am? What's so amazing about the Sweet Commanders? I'm an All-Star of the Beasts Pirates—Jack the Drou—"
At that very moment, the sky, already dim because the sun had set, suddenly became even more oppressive and heavy.
A violent wind rose from the ground without warning, and thick dark clouds gathered in the air.
Deep within the clouds, dull thunder rumbled again and again.
As lightning flashed, something could gradually be seen moving inside, and an unbearably heavy pressure descended in an instant.
That terrifying pressure cut off Jack's roar on the spot.
The familiar trembling that was carved deep into his bones made cold sweat pour down his body.
"This feeling… Kaido-sama?"
With a dragon roar that seemed to shatter the clouds, the cloud layer was violently torn apart, and an enormous dragon head slowly lowered itself from high above.
It was a massive creature coiling across the sky, each dragon scale shining with a soft pink luster.
Its dragon body churned through the sea of clouds, dense lightning exploding around it.
As the dragon head gradually approached the ground, pink dragon whiskers danced in the wild wind.
The one who had arrived was none other than Cain.
In dragon form, he looked down at the tiny Jack below.
That close-range pressure made Jack's boast of "the Drought" get completely stuck in his throat.
---------
Read 30 chapters ahead and support me on patreon.
patreon (.)com/Newbietranslator