Chapter 45: Escorting the princess

The air was thick with tension as Igaram stared at me with scrutiny while standing behind Vivi, his charge sitting down on the couch opposite of me with the poise of royalty.

Sitting beside me was Nami with the fakest smile one could imagine, while Zoro stood behind us alongside the now awake Sanji and Usopp; the former was pulling out the most suaveness he could ever muster, while the former just looked absolutely confused.

And our bloated captain was still fast asleep behind us, snoozing away without a care in the world; his snores were echoing throughout the entire room.

"So, let me get this straight…" Nami pointed at Vivi, "She is a princess from a kingdom called Alabasta, who was undercover in this organization to uncover some insidious plot against her kingdom."

I nodded, "Yup."

"And he," She pointed at Igaram, "Is the head of her royal guard."

"That's right."

"And you struck a deal with them to escort her back to her home kingdom unharmed."

"Exactly. She already agreed to pay us for our services."

Nami let out a groan, "And you didn't even discuss with us first, why?"

Yeah, I knew it would have to do with that; and she had the right to be angry at my spontaneous decision without informing the crew. Such a thing was seen as insubordination and could earn me days in the brig if we had one.

Even then, I didn't regret making the choice to do so. If I didn't, it might ruined our chances of getting two of the most crucial crewmates we would need to make it to Laugh Tale.

"I'm sorry." I apologised, "It's just that I didn't have the time to properly discuss it with you all. I had to make the deal then and there."

"It can't be that bad if we get sail with this lovely princess~!" Sanji cooed.

"But why do we suddenly had to escort a princess of all people?" Usopp asked, "There's a lot of context I'm missing here."

"Still, such a thing is a little much for a small crew like us." Nami noted with her hand on her cheek, "This is a princess, you know."

"I haven't really hash out the details, so I was counting on you to hell with that, like how much money we are—"

"A billion beris. Take it or leave it."

"And of course money solves everything…"

Vivi looked rather miffed and surprised at the crazy amount our greedy navigator had requested, and replied, "I-I'm sorry, but I don't think we could afford to pay you that much."

"Why not? Aren't you a princess?" Nami pointed out, "A billion has to be chum change for you."

"…what do you know about Alabasta?"

"Your kingdom? Not much, aside from what Rein had told us."

"It'a highly civilised country within the Grand Line. Not long ago, it was a peaceful one too."

"Not long ago?" Usopp raised his eyebrow in confusion, "As in, t's not peaceful anymore?"

"For the past few years, the kingdom of Alabasta has been mired by revolutionaries." Igaram explained, "Due to their radical actions, the country is currently in amidst of a chaotic civil war."

"Ah, I see; that's why you couldn't afford to pay us that much." Nami noted.

"Okay, but what does that have to with Baroque Works?" Zoro asked.

"Because I've heard that they were the one instigating the revolutionaries into rebelling against the kingdom." Vivi noted, "And to find out what their motive with our kingdom was, I asked Igaram here if there was a way for us to infiltrate the organisation."

"Well, aren't you a brave princess?" Zoro noted, "And I take it you found what you are looking for?"

"…we did." Igaram nodded, "Their boss plans to make use of the civil unrest to take over the Alabasta kingdom and use it to create their 'ideal nation'."

If we don't hurry back and warn our people about their evil machinations, things will go exactly as they planned! So please!" Vivi lowered her head to us, "Help us return to Alabasta! It may not be much, but I have 500 000 beris in my savings. You can have all of that in return."

"No, princess! You can't lower your head so easily!" Her guard protested, "Especially to some pirates!"

"These some pirates can also hear what you are saying." I pointed out.

"We are out of options, Igaram." The princess told him, "The boss already knows we are spies and have already sent officers to kill us, and you have seen how strong they are."

"Still, to enlist the help of pirates, and ones we were trying to capture moments ago…"

"I'm aware of how absurd this situation is, but we need all the help we can get. And you have seen their strength first hand. We need their protection if we are to made it back to Alabasta alive."

"…looks like your mind has made up." Igaram sighed, "Then I'll accept your decision, Princess."

"Sorry to bust your bubble, but we can't really accept the deal without our captain's final approval." Zoro pointed out.

"Wait, you're not the captain, Mr Bushido?" Vivi asked him.

"…no, I'm not." Zoro groaned as he pointed at our sleeping captain, "He's our captain."

"The Straw Hat on the Jolly Roger not obvious enough for you?" I pointed out.

"I-I guess that's true… then, may I talk with him?"

"You can try, but I don't know if he's waking up anytime soon—"

"Hm?"

"What the hell!?"

As if knowing that he was being called upon, Luffy suddenly arose from his deep slumber; he rubbed his eyes before getting onto his feet, glancing about the room as if looking for something.

"Um… Luffy?"

"Toilet. Where?"

"…that way."

"Thank you."

Nami had her palm to her face as she directed our sleepy captain to the building's restroom, the pudgy rubber man hastily squeezing into the cubical and closing the door behind him.

I turned to the surprised Vivi and shrugged my shoulders, "Eh, don't you go to the toilet after waking up?"

"Ah, th-that's true…" She nodded.

The sounds of flushing water were heard moments later and Luffy came out breathing a sigh of relief, "Whew, that was a close one."

"Um, Straw Hat Luffy?" Vivi called out.

"Hm? The Miss Wednesday lady? Oh, and the swirly hair old man too! You guys woke up already?"

"Woke…up…? Ahem, yes, we did…" The princess nodded, "And we also have a request for you and your crew to escort me once more."

"Another one? I thought you are already home?"

"Yes, I'm aware I'm being greedy, but please let me explain."

She then gave the same explanation she gave us just a moment ago, Luffy at least looked to be listening carefully and even nodding a few times; though whether or not he understood, that was up for debate.

At the end of it all, Vivi asked him, "As such, we request that you escort us back to Alabasta post haste. We will make sure you are—"

"Sure, fine by me."

""Eh?""

"I mean, it's along the way, so I don't mind." Luffy noted.

Both the princess and her guard looked absolutely flabbergasted at his casual reply; Usopp and Nami letting out a dejected sigh in response while Sanji literally jumped for joy at the prospect of another girl joining us.

"I guess that's that." Our navigator sighed, "Captain's orders, and all that."

"Hah, damn it Luffy." Usopp groaned, "Couldn't you at least think about it a bit longer?"

"Mellorine~! Another beautiful lady is joining us!" Sanji cheered.

"Yo-You guys are okay with this?" Vivi asked us.

"Well, he is the captain." Zoro pointed out, "If this is what he wants to do, then we have to follow him."

"And it's not like we can persuade otherwise." I told her, "He can be as stubborn as a mule sometimes."

"I…I see…"

"By the way, who is this boss dude?" Luffy asked.

"You mean his true identity!? Do-Don't ask me that!" Vivi cried out, "In fact, don't ask about him at all! Just knowing about his identity will put a target on all your backs!"

"He sounds like one tough guy if you are so scared of him." Sanji noted before giving her a wide grin and a thumbs-up, "But do not worry, princess! We are plenty tough ourselves!"

"No, you don't understand how dangerous that man actually is! No matter how strong you are, you are nothing to Crocodile of the Seven Warlords—!"

"Princess!"

"…Ah."

A pregnant silence filled the room from Vivi's unintended revelation, the princess in question had hastily covered her mouth to no avail while we all looked at her with jaws dropped at abject horror of what she had done.

I quickly looked out the windows and saw the Unluckies standing on the roof of the opposite building and silently staring at us; the animal duo nodded to each other before the otter climbed onto the back of his vulture friend.

"Oh no, you don't!"

The moment I saw the black wings unfurled, I immediately went into my half-dragon form and jumped out of the window and flew right after them.

It didn't take long for me to catch up to the vulture in the air, the otter was shocked for a moment before he jumped off his partner and slashed at me with its shell's sharp spiky edges.

His weapon scraped hopelessly against my scales before grabbing onto his body, the marsupial struggling against my grip while striking at my hands with his weapon to get me to let him go.

Turning my attention to his avian partner, it let out a cry before diving down at me from above with its talons ready to strike down at me; but a flap of my wings had me fly over it as I grabbed onto the vulture's long neck in a vice grip with my other hand.

"Going down!"

With a grin on my face, I took a dive down towards one of the buildings, the two animal agents picked up on what I was trying to do and struggled against my grip with all their might; otter had even tried biting my hand, which only chipped its teeth against my scales.

Their desperate cries resonated with each other and were swiftly silenced once I slammed them down onto the roof of the building, webs of cracks spread out from where their bodies crashed into hard concrete.

I lifted them up and was surprised to see them alive and still somewhat conscious after tanking a hit like that, even if their limbs twitched ever so often like they were having a seizure.

These two were a lot sturdier than I gave them credit for; no wonder they were made into Crocodile's personal enforcers.

With the two animal agents firmly in my grasp, I flew back to the building we were in, climbing back in through the same window I had jumped out from moments ago.

I was greeted with Usopp sulking on the floor with his head hanged low, as Nami angrily screamed at Vivi for leaking such dangerous information to us without any prior warning while the princess apologised to her profusely.

And all the while Luffy and Zoro were talking excitedly about the prospect of having to face a Warlord so soon in our voyage; the latter most likely wishing to see how far he had gone to measure up against Mihawk.

Sanji and Igaram being the ones that were somewhat calm in this chaotic mess, though the fact that the blonde cook was halfway through his cigarette was a good indicator of how stressed he was about it all.

"Oh, you're back, Miss Rein." Sanji greeted me.

"…I was only gone for like a few minutes." I noted.

Wel, you know how they can-hm? Wait, Rein, aren't those two…!?"

I nodded as I lifted the Unluckies for everyone to see, "Yup; caught them before they could get off the island."

"Oh! Nice job, Rein!" Nami cheered, "Quick! Tie them up before they can escape!"

"On it!"

Pulling out some rope from his bag of tricks, Usopp made quick word with tying the two animal agents up, while making sure to disarm them of any weapon they could use to break free.

There were quite a few bombs tucked within the vulture's feathers, which I had the sniper stored away for future use; and considering who we would be facing in the future, we would definitely be in the need of them.

I even helped with gagging them using some of the leftover fruits that were lying around, an apple for the vulture and an entire banana for her partner in crime.

"Why a banana?" Usopp asked me.

"Why not a banana?" I questioned back.

"…Yeah, that's fair."

"So, what should we do with them?" Sanji asked.

"Shouldn't we just kill them?" Zoro suggested, "We can't exactly let them live."

"Maybe we can cook them up for breakfast?" Luffy noted as he licked his lips, "Do you think vulture tastes like chicken?"

That had Carue backing away from the rubber man till it reached the wall, "Kwack!?"

"Too soon, Luffy." I told him, "Much too soon."

"Didn't you just ate like a town's worth of food?" Usopp poked the rubber man's pudgy tummy, "And I'm pretty sure some of it still hasn't digested yet."

"…No. We should keep them as our prisoners." Vivi suggested, "At least, until we reach the next island."

"Why? That seemed to be a huge waste of time and effort." Zoro pointed out.

"Crocodile is a very cautious man, so no matter what we do with them, he will find out who else had discovered his identity." She explained, "But if we can delay him finding about you guys for just a little bit…"

"That might give us an edge in eluding him in the long run." Nami concluded, "Grant us some more time to escape his agents."

"Exactly."

"But, where are we going to keep them?" Usopp asked, "We don't really have a brig on the Knight Merry. The supply closet?"

"That's a bit much, even if they are prisoners." I pointed out, "Just throw them in the cargo hold."

"Isn't that just as bad?"

"Is it, though?"

"In that case, I suggest we also split up." Igaram noted, "I'll head straight for Alabasta disguised as the princess, while you pirates will escort her using the normal route with the Log Pose. From here, it should only take a few—"

"Hang on, Igaram! Are you suggesting that we use you as a decoy!?" Vivi cried out, "That's too risky! I won't allow it!"

"Princess, once Crocodile finds out what happened here, he will be sure to send pursuers after us. And if he have sent Mr 5 and Miss Valentine, you can be sure that he will be sending the other officers after us."

"That's more the reason to stick together! You saw how powerful they are! If they caught up with you, you wouldn't stand a chance!"

"…I am aware of that, but if that means that you will reach Alabasta safely, then I will gladly lay down my life."

"Igaram…"

"Um, sorry to interject…" The two turned to me as I asked them, "But couldn't you just load a ship with dummies of you and the princess and use that as diversion instead?"

"No, that wouldn't work." Igaram shook his head, "Unless you have someone steering it, the ship would just end up stranded off the coast. It would defeat the purpose of the whole thing."

"Ah, I-I guess that's true…"

That was honestly the only plan I could think of that did not involve him getting aboard the ship that was rigged to blow into a ball of inferno the moment it left the shoreline.

"Then how are you planning to disguise yourself as the princess? Don't tell me you are just going to dress like her. You're not fooling anyone with that body of yours."

"…I'll have you know, my wife thinks I looked great in drag."

I turned to my crewmates for support, with most of them just nodding in agreement of my objection while Sanji visibly gagged at the mental image; though to be fair, his wife looked like she might be related to him, so maybe that was why she thought that way.

…And I refuse to go any further down that particular rabbit hole.

"Then what do you suggest otherwise?" Igaram asked me.

I shrugged my shoulders and told him, "Use a dummy to act as the princess?"

"…that would work better, yes."

"Yes. Yes, it would."

Out of the corner of my eye, Sanji gave me a thumbs-up in appreciation of what I had accomplished, not that it really mattered in the end.

"Then swear to me, Igaram." Vivi grabbed her guard's hand as she looked at him in the eyes, "Swear that we will meet again back in Alabasta."

"…I swear to you, and my honor as head of the royal guard." Igaram raised his arm in a salute, "We will see each other again, princess."

…This is probably the first time I hate the fact that I was aware of future events.

…

With the plan now set, we bid farewell to Igaram as he went off to make preparations for his diversion, while we escorted Vivi to the Knight Merry and prepared to set sail.

And among them was helping Luffy get rid of his bloated stomach the only way I know how.

"You ready, Luffy?"

"Yup! Hit me!"

"You got it!"

That I did, reeling my arm back as far as I was physically able before punching into his balloon of a gut as hard as I could, my fist sinking deep into his rubber skin and flesh until I felt something gave way.

And that being my captain's indigestion as I felt his body deflated as he let out the loudest and longest burp I had ever heard; and I spent two years with sailors, so I heard my own share of crazy loud burps.

Once the final few burps left his mouth and his body shrunk back to normal, Luffy let out a sigh, "Whew, I feel so much better now. Thanks, Rein."

"Anytime, captain." I told him with a thumbs-up.

"Please watch your step, princess." Sanji said as he pulled Vivi onto our ship.

An act that made her a little uncomfortable, "Th-Thank you for assistance, Mr Cook."

"Anytime, princess. I am at your—"

"Kwack."

"Ow!"

And that did not go unnoticed by her duck companion as Carue imitated a woodpecker and started pecking Sanji's head nonstop, even as its owner tried to get the duck to stop.

I took the chance to walk up to the flustered princess, patting her on the shoulder to get her attention as I told her, "Whatever happens, I need you to promise me that you will have faith in your guard."

"Oh. Um… yes, I promise." She nodded, though was caught off-guard by my sudden request.

"Rein! The prisoners are locked and secured!" Usopp announced.

I gave him a thumbs-up, "Good job."

"Nami, how are we doing with the Log Pose?" Zoro asked.

"Let me check…" One quick look had the navigator nodding, "Yup, we are set for the next island."

"Alright! Raise anchor!" Luffy commanded, "Time to set—"

*BOOM!*

The sounds of an massive explosion erupted from the opposite end of the island, in the direction where Igaram had stowed a hidden vessel that he was planning to use for his decoy plan.

Though faint, the light and flickers of the wall of flames that came about from the resulting explosion could be seen over the buildings.

"That's where…!" Vivi turned to me, "Did you already know about this!?"

"Remember what you promised me." I reminded the princess, "Have faith in your guard. That's all I can tell you right now."

Her eyes widen at the realization of my words' hidden meaning, before steeling herself and nodding with understanding.

Nami turned to me, "Rein, did you…?"

"I'll explain everything later." I told her, "For now, we have to get out of here. The one responsible isn't too far behind."

"Ah, right! Vivi, which way?"

"Head down this river." The princess told her, "It should lead us straight into the ocean."

"Okay! Rein, take the helm! Zoro, Sanji, lower the sails!"

"""On it!"""

We quickly rushed for our assigned post as the sails were unfurled and the ship was turned around before sailing down the river, while a thick fog rolled in and dampening our vision ever so slightly.

Luffy then asked Vivi, "Say, how many people are going to be after us?"

"I can't say for certain." She told him, "Baroque Works is reported to have over 2000 agents under its banner. And towns like Whiskey Peak are a common practice for them."

"So at least a thousand of them would be after our head!?" Nami cried out.

"It's possible, though he could also send officers like Mr 5 and Miss Valentine after us as well; especially since you guys defeated them."

"So people like them will be after us too…" Zoro grinned, "Sounds like fun."

"Wi-Will he really go that far?" Usopp asked worriedly,

"That's how serious knowing the boss's identity really is." Vivi noted, "We were fortunate that we managed to grab the Unluckies when we did."

"Oh, so they are still alive. That's good to hear."

A foreign voice caught us all by surprise as many of us immediately turned around in preparation for a fight, except for me as I was left staring at the one person I had secretly wanted to meet for the past two years.

Black hair cut in a bob with deep blue eyes shadowed under a cowboy hat, a sleeveless cropped vest that showed her smooth stomach and a bit of cleavage, with a matching jean skirt and boots, Nico Robin really went all out for this cowgirl aesthetic as she sat on the railings of the upper deck with legs crossed.

I originally didn't have much an impression on Robin when I read the Alabasta arc for the first time, but that changed into somewhat of a cartoon crush after she joined the Straw Hats.

From then on, she became my favourite female One Piece character as I got to know her backstory and saw her come truly lower her walls around the Straw Hats and let herself to develop bonds with them.

It helped that Oda made her so smoking hot; if I was not careful, I might end up swooning like Sanji.

"Ah~~! Another beauty~~!" Sanji cheered happily.

"Congratulations on your escape, Miss Wednesday." Robin told Vivi with a small smile, "Or should I refer to you as Princess Vivi?"

"Wh-What are you doing all the way out here…!?" The princess cried out, "Wait, then the reason Igaram is…"

"Mr 8? Oh, I met him just a while ago."

"You… you didn't…!"

Nami turned to the princess and asked in a panic, "Who is it this time!?"

"That's Miss All-Sunday; partner of Mr 0." Vivi explained, "She's the only one who knows the boss's true identity. Me and Igaram have tailed after her for days in order to find that out."

"Technically, I allowed you to tail after me." Robin told her.

"And I'm sure you're that one that told him that we found out too! Just what exactly is your objective here!?"

"Now, now. There's no need to get so worked up, princess; I only let you follow me because you looked so desperate for a lead. Besides, it is so amusing to see you struggle around like that."

"Am-Amusing!?"

"I mean, a single naive princess that foolishly believed that she can take on Baroque Works all on her own and save her kingdom? There's nothing more amusing than that."

"You… Don't you mock me—"

I placed a hand on the princess's shoulder as I told her, "Calm down. She is deliberately trying to rile you up."

"I…I am aware of that…" Vivi muttered to herself.

Robin turned to me with a small smile, "You are remarkably calm, White Devil. Are you not wary about my presence?"

"There's nothing to be wary about." I told her, "You're not here to cause harm to any of us, right?"

"Oh? How can you be so sure?"

"Because you could have easily snapped our necks the moment you stepped onboard this ship."

Usopp turned to me in horror, "She can do that!?"

I nodded, "With her abilities, it is as simple as a snap of her fingers."

With her Flower-Flower abilities, Robin could have easily killed all of us the moment she stepped onboard the Knight Merry; it would have only taken a moment for her to conjure her limbs and end our lives with us none the wiser.

Yet she didn't, which meant that she was either really confident that she would be able to defeat us all, which wasn't really a stretch, or she had another plan in mind for us.

Robin's smile faltered for a moment before she let out a giggle in response, "My, oh my, you are quite sharp for a rookie pirate. Well-informed, too."

I gave her a smile of my own, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"…You are right about my reason for being here. I'm not here to fight any of you, nor am I under orders to capture you."

Vivi took a step forward and asked her, "Then why are you here?"

"Hm… a sense of empathy, I suppose?" She noted with a tilt of her head, "The next island your Log Pose has chosen is called Little Garden; even without my interference, you will perish there and never reach Alabasta."

"Like we will just roll over and die!" Luffy shouted at her.

"Ye-Yeah! You tell her, captain!" Usopp cheered, all the while hiding behind the mast.

"Anyone can put up a brave front, yet to know the difficulty that lies ahead and still rushes in is an act only for fools."

With a flick of her wrist, Robin tossed something she had kept under her cowboy hat that landed squarely in Vivi's opened hand, the princess's eyes widened when she saw what she had been given.

"An… Eternal Pose?"

"That Eternal Pose will lead you to the uninhabited Vacant Islands located right before Alabasta." She explained, "You may use it to skip over Little Garden and save yourself the trouble. Moreover, the route you'll be navigating through is unknown to Baroque Works."

"Huh? She's helping us?" Nami questioned, "Isn't she one of them?"

"It's most likely a trap." Zoro pointed out, "That Pose could lead us to another island."

"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't." Robin shrugged her shoulders, "It's up to you whether or not you believe me–"

"There's no need to think about it!"

Without a word, Luffy snatched the Eternal Pose out of Vivi's hand before effortlessly crushing it in his hands like he was crushing an egg; I flinched somewhat when I saw the shards of glass stabbing into his hand.

Tossing away the destroyed navigation tool over the railing and into the ocean, he told Robin, "You dont get to choose the path of our adventure!"

Robin's eyes widen in surprise at our captain's sudden and frankly reckless proclamation, one that had Nami berating him for not even considering accepting the gesture of supposed goodwill.

And for split second, I saw the facade of Miss All-Sunday dropped and revealing a little of the actual Nico Robin hidden underneath; though the mask was back on just as quickly as it had faltered.

"…hm, I see. How unfortunate. Well, I don't dislike bold men like you." She noted as she got off the railing and walked towards the edge of the ship, "If you managed to survive, let us meet again."

Luffy responded by sticking out his tongue, "I don't want to, nyeh!"

Ignoring the childish taunt, Robin leaped over the railing and landed onto her vessel, a giant turtle wearing the same kind of cowboy hat as hers, which had Luffy looking in awe at her unique mount.

As she sat down on the sofa atop its shell, she turned around and stared at me for a moment with an inquisitive eye, before telling her mount to swim off.

And with the tension now gone, Vivi dropped to her knees while letting out a huge sigh, "That woman… I don't have the faintest idea what she is planning…!"

"Then it is a waste of time and effort to think about it." Nami assured her.

"Speaking of which…"

Almost everyone turned their attention towards me, Vivi in particular looked to be trying to burn a hole through me with her glare; the only exception was Sanji considering that he was still enamoured by Robin's beauty.

I let out a huge sigh, "Alright, alright, I'll explain everything. No need to keep glaring at me."

"You knew that she is going to show up, didn't you?" Nami pointed out."

"Guilty as charged."

"And you didn't even try to warn us!?" Usopp cried out.

"Because there's nothing to warn you about." I explained, "I know that she wouldn't hurt us, so I choose not to say anything and over complicate the issue."

"Even then, at least inform us in advance!"

"How do you know that for certain?" Vivi asked me, "In fact, you were unusually calm throughout the entire thing, even when she admitted to killing Igaram. Did you know that he was going to get attacked?"

"…I did." I nodded in response.

"Then why didn't you say anything before!? You could have object to his plans! You could have save him—"

"Because I know he will survive the attack!"

The princess's mouth closed immediately, confusion marred her expression as she was making sense of what I had just told her; though my crewmates immediately caught on to what I was saying.

I continued on, "The explosion didn't kill Igaram; he is way too tough to get taken out so easily. I did not say anything then because he needed to be proclaimed dead to Crocodile in order to bring him down."

"Rein, no spoilers!"

"It's not much of a spoiler, Luffy!"

"…How can you be so certain?" Vivi shakily asked, "It's not like you actually see him alive in the future. Because that's impossible—"

"Actually, I did see him alive in the future." I explained.

The princess's jaw dropped at my confession of future knowledge, no doubt confused at my rather absurd claim of knowing future events; in fact, I could tell that she didn't believe any of it.

Then, the sun began to rise over the horizon, and our captain's stomach let out a loud familiar growl that reverberated across the deck.

"…Right on que."

"Sanji! It's morning! Breakfast time!"

"Right, right, I'm on it."

"I'll have my eggs over easy, Sanji."

"Anything for you, Miss Nami!"

As everyone followed after Luffy and Sanji into the kitchen, I patted the princess on the shoulder to snap her out of her confused state.

"Let's us go; I'll explain everything over breakfast."

"O-Oh… okay…"

Hopefully, I could convince her otherwise by the time breakfast was over.

…
To be continued…

Happy Halloween, everyone!

The Alabasta saga now officially commence!

With the anime now taking a break from Egghead, and the Fishman Island arc is now getting remastered, I thought this might be time for this fic to get a new chapter.

And just in time for Halloween, too! Rein can be considered a monster girl, right?

With that, I thank you all for reading this!