Chapter 36
"Hm, yeah, I will be fine. I have enough. I have been saving up quite a lot from all the jobs I do around the village. I will be able to pay for myself for the next few months if it comes down to it." So I say, calming their worries. And they have no clue that I am lying because I have nowhere near the amount required to pay for myself. I barely have ฿20,000 left, and that was just because I was saving it to buy myself and George a nice meal.
Every time I was paid, I bought the necessities, and then I immediately went about getting supplies to improve and work on my home, and all my money was sunk into it. I also sometimes splurged on cool clothing for myself whenever merchant ships pass by and they have some unique items in stock. What is the point of just sitting on money after all? It is there to be spent, and that is what I did. I was spending just as much as I was earning every month so I could make my house even better. Who knew that I would be forced into such a position now, and I have no money to pay for myself.
And I refuse to ask any of the other villagers on this island to pay for me, not when their own lives are dependent on that same money. If they spot me now, what happens if the pirates do end up holding this island for a prolonged period of time. The villagers will need every scrap of money they have to keep themselves safe in the coming months, and I can't leech their very livelihoods off of them, even when I know that they would be very much willing to pay for me. I can't risk it coming to bite them in the back later down the line.
"That is good, Detoro-Kun. Now, let's wait until the rest of the villagers come back, and if anyone has problems meeting the amount, then we can help out." Genzo says, Avaganda-San nodding his head as well. I also shake my head in affirmation because if any of the other people here have money problems, then I will try my best to help them out, and if they are all fine, then... I don't know what I will do.
"Anyway, Genzo-San. If the pirates attacked your village, how were you able to get away and come warn us about this?" I ask because I am a bit confused. He was describing the Fishmen pirates as bloodthirsty, vicious animals, yet he somehow managed to get away and run all the way here to warn us. If the pirates were as strong as he says, then they would have been easily able to prevent him from doing so.
"After we all paid our dues... one way or the other. They left us alone, no longer bothering with us after they got what they wanted. We were beneath their notice. They didn't particularly care what we did since they thought our actions would amount to nothing. They left, saying something about a park. Some of the other villagers set about gathering weapons to go and attack them, I tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen. I already witnessed what the Fishmen can do, and I knew attacking them would be useless, but they wouldn't listen to reason, so I ran here to warn everyone." He says, and after that, we stay silent until the villagers return.
Seemingly all at once, the villagers begin to return, and each one confirms that they have enough money and that they are each capable of making that same amount every month. Which is a huge relief, and as everyone begins to mix together and discuss, I quietly start to walk and discreetly leave the crowd, quickly ducking out of view and then making a beeline towards my home, sprinting all the way.
Yes, I could probably scrape together the remaining ฿30,000 from all of the villagers, but then I would still be working for them and getting paid by them, draining even more money from their coffers. So I think it best that I just disappear and leave, for now, making things less complicated and the villagers' lives easier. I will go and try and find a marine base, probably not the one Captain Nezumi commands since he is a big coward and is more likely to roll over than try to stop them.
This will be a one-time cash injection for these pirates because I will sail off, find a reliable marine base, and maybe even find Garp himself to come and free the island. I think Garp lived on an island somewhere in the East Blue with his grandson. Before a month even passes, I will go and get help and come back to liberate this island. The villagers will just be paying this tax just this once to buy some time because the pirates will soon be defeated.
"GEORGE, WAKE UP!! IT IS NO TIME!!!" I shout at George as I spot my home in the distance. Arriving back at my home, I run down my cobbled path and past the bleary George and into my house, quickly making my way to my wardrobe and getting a few sacks before shuffling a bunch of his clothes into one of the sacks. No time to be picky and coordinate or anything. I need to be quick and leave before the fishmen come and demand payment.
I go to my desk drawer and open it up, immediately pushing past all the books to reach the map I have at the bottom, along with a compass since I was practising, wanting to travel myself one day. Then, moving out of my bedroom, I head to my fridge and quickly shove some of the food that will last a while inside, and I also then move the refrigerator out of the way, revealing a hidden compartment behind it where I keep my valuables. Which, right now, is just my ฿20,000, which I take and stuff in my bag full of clothes, stuffing it into the very bottom. With that done, I throw both bags over my shoulder and walk out of my home to see George standing outside and looking around, confused.
"Gebu?" He questions me as I turn around and lock the door of my house, and then I go to pocket the key. But I freeze, knowing that I am again leaving the island and I won't be coming back for a little while, and I don't want to lose my key out there and have to break the door when I come back. I worked really hard on that door. So I guess I have to bury it again, probably in the same place, and I can pick it back up when I return.
"We are leaving, George. I have already put some fruits in the sack for you, so don't worry. We will sail to the nearest island, and from there, we will figure out where the nearest reliable marine base is." So I tell George as I place the key temporarily in my pocket and walk around my house towards the attached shed. Opening it up, I look in to see all of the tools I have procured over the last four years, tools that I bought and tools that I made myself for a specific purpose, and right there at the back is my objective.
"GEEEEH?" I hear George exclaim behind me as I begin to carefully move things around in the shed. I don't want to break any of this stuff since I will have use of it in the future, so I carefully move things about an inch towards the back where my objective lies.
"Why? Because strong pirates have attacked and they are demanding payment, and we don't have enough. So we are leaving before they can kill us, and we are going to get reinforcements as well." So I say, continuing my foraging.
"Geagh?" I hear him question behind me as I move some more of my tools. Would you look at that? The same tools I built for myself on Troga, though they are quite a bit older now and very unusable, they won't do the job anymore, but I kept them for some reason, the sentiment, I guess.
"Why don't I just go and kick their asses? For several different reasons. First of all, I have only been training for the last four years and have not fought at all, so I am unsure how strong I am in comparison to other people. Secondly, I might be strong, but I have no technique, and the attackers are pirates who have no doubt been in many battles. Thirdly, while I may, in fact, be stronger than them, they are fishmen that are apparently way stronger than humans. Finally, even if I was stronger, there is a whole pirate crew of them, so I won't be able to fight them alone otherwise, I would just be walking to my death, and I know if I rallied the villagers to fight, they would just end up dying since they have lived peaceful lives all this while." Finally getting to what I want, I stop talking for a moment and grab hold of it and one other item before dragging them out of the shed and beginning to walk down to the shore.
"There are way more reasons, George, and I can list them all. The best thing to do now is for the villagers to all cough up and pay the toll while I go and find allies, strong ones and a lot of them so that I can come back and liberate the island. The villagers' lives are worth more than their money, so hopefully, they will continue to pay until I can come back." I finish as I reach the shore, and I push the boat I made into the shallow water. I dump the two sacks in the ship as well as the oar before looking to George, who seems surprisingly thoughtful instead of being his usual lazy, dumb look.
"Now, hop in, George, and I will push us out onto the sea... Come on then, what's taking you so lo- what's wrong?" I continue to push the boat, but when I don't hear him behind me, I look back to find George standing in the same spot and looking at me with a sad face for some reason.
"Geaghh..." He mumbles out quietly, surprising me.
"What? What do you mean you can't go? Why can't you..." I trail off, looking back at the boat and the ocean and then I understand what he means. It is just like back on Troga, where my ships would continually sink with George on them when we pushed off from shore, and we needed a dock for the boat to rest in so that the force upwards from the ocean would be more than the force downwards from the ship. As we are now, the boat would sink if George were to come with me, and I don't have time to make a dock or find some solution, and George can't swim either.
"Alright, listen. You are going to have to stay here, but don't worry, it will only be for a month at the most. You can't stay at the house or the home I built you since the pirates are bound to come around sooner or later, so I want you to go and live in the forest, for now, live off of the fruits there." I say, having come to a decision. George will just have to stay here. To be honest, I don't even know why I was planning to bring him with me in the first place. I guess George has just been by my side for the last four years, even if he was annoying. I couldn't imagine being without him now, so I automatically thought to bring him with me.
"Gah." George nods his head in confirmation, agreeing with my words. I think for a moment before I reach into my pocket and pull out my key.
"I want you to look after this while I am gone, okay? Keep it safe for me, for when I come back, and we can live at the house again, alright." I hand the key over to George, who holds it between two of his giant fingers and looks at it in wonder. And then he promptly stuffs the key inside his mouth, catching me completely off guard.
"Wha- GEORGE, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! I TOLD YOU TO KEEP IT SAFE, NOT EAT IT!!" I shout at him, but the words just bounce off like they have always done these past few years, in one ear and out the other. I am about to shout even more when George suddenly closes in on me, his mouth opening wide and giving me a close look at his sharp teeth that unnerve me greatly. But then I get a clear look inside and spot my tiny key resting on one side of his teeth, keeping it hidden.
"Haaah... You scared me then, George." He backs off and smiles at me smugly, proud of himself. "Alright, now go to the forest and don't come back out till I come and find you when I return, okay?" He nods and then turns around and bolts off towards the forest. I watch as he goes and disappears into its depths, relieved that he will stay inside there and be safe until my return. With one last look towards the forest and George, my annoying grey gorilla friend, I turn around and push the boat into the sea.
Quickly hopping in, I grab hold of the oar and start to paddle. First things first, I will sail out into open water, and then when I am out in the open ocean, I will consult the map and figure out where to go from them.
Just you wait, you damn pirates. I will be back to kick all your asses soon with a bunch of other guys.
------------------------------------
Thank you to my Superhero Patrons, Marcus Lane, אוהד דולינסקי, Hunayn Abbas and Steve Resendez. Thank you for all your support.
Thank you to my Galactic Hero Patrons James Feazell, Luis Barreda, Orest, Spoder man, Clocker, 2Bizzy, Wilder, Jeffrey Iverson and Tariq Syed. Thank you for your extraordinary support.
Thank you all for your support, I truly appreciate it.
If any of you have any questions, suggestions or want to chat about the stories then hit me up on either Pat reon or Discord.
I currently have three regular fics active, and I now update each of them in turn every 5 days.
It starts with From The Smoke, then moves on to The Will of Gill, and finally Amarillo's Pirate Adventure.
I also have a Pat reon that is currently at least 10 chapters ahead of schedule.
You can read my next chapter three days ahead of time for $2.
You can read the next chapter of all three fics for $5.
For $10, you can read the next two chapters of two of my fics, as well as one chapter from the remaining one, before the general public.
For $20, you can get the next three chapters of all three fics.
Finally, for $30 you get access to all chapters as soon as they are complete. Please keep in mind that there is no guarantee that this is above the definite nine chapters of the above tier.
My discord: https://discord.gg/AY7vBWMN to discuss the fics and hang out.
My Pat reon: www.Pat reon com/ DragonField (no spaces and a dot before the com) for anybody who wants to read up to and maybe even past the next three chapters of all my fanfics.
That is all for now. I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I will see you in the next one!
Stay safe and have fun!