Sailing at Sea: The Breath of the Day at the Start

Page 204

The sky above was filled with stars.

"Nami, how old are you now?"

"18."

"You're already 18... When I first saw you, you looked so young, a crybaby who always tried to be strong. You must be all grown up by now..."

Nami listened to his words, glanced down, and her pretty face inexplicably turned red.

Indeed... I've grown up a lot compared to before.

"Are Sister Robin and Sister Conis alright?"

Nami turned to look at him and asked.

"Well, it's probably better than you think."

"Yeah, that's good."

Nami's eyes crinkled with a smile.

"The orange tree you gave us is still on our ship. Connie and Robin have been taking good care of it. They probably haven't forgotten you either."

As Nami listened to Ron's words, memories of that time flashed through her mind. She recalled Robin and Connie's gentle care for her, and her eyes involuntarily welled up with tears.

"Cried?"

"No, no."

She quickly wiped it off with her sleeve.

Ron smiled.

The sea breeze at night carried a slight chill.

Ron rested his head on his hands, his hair ruffled by the sea breeze, looking relaxed and content.

Have you made up your mind?

Nami looked at him, her face full of doubt:

"Eh?"

"Are you ready to set sail as a navigator?"

Nami looked at him, nodded slightly, and hummed in agreement.

"In your eyes, are Luffy and his crew the most suitable partners for you?"

Ron's calm voice rang in Nami's ears.

A hint of hesitation flashed across Nami's face.

"I... don't know yet, but I feel like they're different from ordinary pirates."

"Compared to pirates, the feeling these two give me is somewhat similar to the feeling you give me as travelers like Ron—they are all pure, yearning for freedom and adventure..."

Nami said softly.

Ron smiled.

"indeed so."

…………

The first rays of sunlight appeared on the distant sea.

The sky is breaking at dawn.

"Nami, Nami..."

Nami, who was asleep, gradually woke up when she heard the shouts in her ear.

"Is it already morning...?"

She slowly opened her sleepy eyes.

Visibility gradually improved.

When Nami finally saw the profile of the face so close to hers, her eyes slowly widened.

"Ron?"

"Hey, good morning! Did you sleep well?"

"It's okay."

"Then get off me."

Nami looked down and realized that most of her body was on top of him.

Her cheeks flushed instantly, and she quickly got up and moved away.

Ron sat up, twisted his neck, and made a cracking sound.

Nami's cheeks grew redder.

I fell asleep without realizing it last night. Could it be that I actually slept on his shoulder all night?!

"That, that..."

Before Nami could speak, Ron stood up, facing the rising sun, and said, "I should probably go."

Nami was taken aback: "Huh? They're already leaving?"

"Well, I still have some things to do later, and I can't keep Robin and the others waiting for me for too long."

As Ron spoke, he drew a sheathed longsword from the void in front of him and handed it to Nami: "This sword is called Wood Wither. Please give it to Zoro for me. Consider it a loan from me. How can a swordsman aiming to become a top-tier swordsman not even have a decent sword? Let him return it to me the next time we meet on the Grand Line."

Nami took the sheathed longsword, looked at him, and hesitated to speak.

"Let's meet again on the Grand Line, Nami."

As Ron spoke, his figure floated up, then transformed into a streak of black light that shot straight into the sky, disappearing into the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Nami held the long sword in her hand, gazing at the sky with a somewhat lost expression.

She once again let go of the opportunity to be by his side...

Last night, he could have easily taken me away with him if I had just said a word...

She really wanted to stay by his side...

"why……"

Even Nami herself doesn't understand the reason.

But probably...

Perhaps it was because such challenging and difficult unknown voyages were what she longed for and looked forward to even more.

…………

Before leaving the East Sea, Ron made a detour to another place.

Rogue Town.

When he arrived in Loguetown, he happened to witness a group of marines capturing a group of pirates.

He initially didn't want to pay any attention, but he stopped in his tracks after hearing a pirate's panicked voice.

"That...that's the female swordswoman with a bounty of 140 million Berries, the Sky Calamity Warrior?!"

"not good!"

"Why would the female swordswoman from the Sky Calamity Brigade join the Navy?!"

The pirates were in a panic.

Then a woman's extremely angry voice rang out.

"I'm not some female swordswoman from the Sky Calamity Brigade! The female swordswoman from the Sky Calamity Brigade is called Shimotsuki Kuina, my name is Tashigi, and I'm a sergeant first class in the Marine Headquarters!"

"No, no, no, you are definitely the female swordsman of the Sky Calamity Brigade. Comparing you with the photo on this bounty poster, you are exactly the same, except that you are wearing glasses."

"That's it!"

Is she the female Marine named Tashigi who looks exactly like Kuina from the original work?

It seems these pirates mistook her for Kuina.

Having already understood everything, Ron found it very interesting and stood not far away, observing the movements over there using his Observation Haki and Clear World.

"No! I'm not the female swordsman of the Sky Calamity Brigade. We just look a little alike! We're completely different people!"

Tashigi glared at the group of pirates in front of her.

"So you are Shimotsuki Kuina's twin sister. I never imagined that one of you would become a Marine and the other a criminal."

A pirate wielding a long sword looked at her and said.

"No! She and I are not related by blood!"

Tashigi's voice was practically screaming with frustration.

181, are you kidding? No, I'm serious.