20 Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Servant Saber, Obedient to the Summons

Adrian contemplated the possibility of learning swordsmanship with Tom, but he preferred a different type of sword:

[Ordinary Knight Sword: Although placed as a decoration in the palace corridor, its quality is exceptional.]

When he held the longsword, he found it a bit heavy. He preferred the slightly wider double-edged sword. He wondered if Tom, his teacher, would agree. While looking cool was nice, becoming stronger was more important.

Apart from swords, Adrian had also drawn flintlock pistols, double-barreled shotguns, and revolvers – all props that Tom had encountered. Before achieving a certain level of physical prowess, firearms were good means of self-defense.

With a collection of weapons, Adrian began his physical training. In this world, physical strength was the foundation of becoming stronger. Even if one had eaten a Devil Fruit, they still needed strong physical strength to utilize it effectively.

By the time Tom woke up and came over, Adrian had worked up a sweat. Seeing his energy was at about 80%, Adrian stopped and said, "Awake, Tom? Let me take a shower, and then we'll go out to buy things."

Tom nodded and waited for a while, feeling bored. He opened the fridge and rummaged around. He wasn't hungry, just had a craving for something to munch on. The fridge was too tempting, and he couldn't resist giving it a peek.

Adrian had survived at sea with Tom, and he owed his life to him. Of course, he wouldn't scold Tom for stealing food, nor would he hit him for making a mess of the fridge, unlike Tom's previous owner who would scold or hit him for such things.

Adrian would only tidy up the mess bit by bit, salvage any crushed vegetables, and then educate Tom not to waste food.

"Tom, remember the days of survival at sea? Every bit of food was precious. Those eggs you broke could have fed us a 'feast' back then..."

The experience of starving at sea made Adrian intolerant of food wastage, and whenever he was hungry, he felt uneasy.

While lecturing, he realized he should probably prepare more snacks for Tom, like cat food, fish jerky, and maybe even cat toys and climbing structures. He had never considered Tom an ordinary cat, which caused him to overlook these things.

Tom knew he had done something wrong, so he obediently placed his hands behind his back, listening to his owner's reprimand. He was ready to be scolded or even beaten, as he had experienced being grabbed by his tail or hit with a mop in the past for similar mistakes.

Now, avoiding a beating was good enough. Although Adrian's expression showed how pained he was when talking about wasting food, Tom also understood he was in the wrong. He nodded and admitted his mistake, even raising three fingers to swear he wouldn't do it again.

Having such an adorable and well-behaved cat, what more could Adrian ask for? Of course, he chose to forgive him.

As usual, Adrian put Tom on his shoulder and headed out to buy things.

Their first destination was a bookstore. The bookstore had a variety of books, and Adrian noticed that the categories were well-labeled: medicine, biology, geography, history, and even literature. However, there was definitely no mention of the so-called "Void Century." They also sold newspapers.

Most people bought newspapers directly from the news birds or seagulls, but sometimes people missed out or wanted past newspapers. That's where the newspapers in the bookstore came in handy.

Adrian decided to buy newspapers from the past year. To live here, relying solely on the basic impressions he had gained from anime wasn't enough. It was necessary to learn more about this world.

Newspapers were only 50 Berries each (Nami had once complained to the news bird about the rising price, so it seemed that the price had increased from 50 Berries to 100 Berries), and less than 20,000 Berries could get him over 300 newspapers.

Not many people would buy so many newspapers at once. The bookstore owner cheerfully organized them, muttering that he never expected the "Running Adrian" to come take care of his business.

Adrian probably didn't realize how widely his nickname had spread. He continued to search the store for recipe books.

"The Complete Guide to East Blue Cuisine"

Looking to the side, he found similar guides for cuisine from the West Blue, South Blue, and North Blue.

After flipping through them, he noticed that there wasn't much repetition in content. Adrian picked up all four books and paid for them along with the newspapers.

The owner had thoughtfully stacked the newspapers in order and put them in bubble wrap. He warmly invited Adrian to visit again.

Carrying over 300 newspapers was quite heavy, but the bubble wrap made it much easier. One large bubble wrap contained the stack of newspapers and the four books. Adrian was no longer concerned about the scientific aspects of this item; it was just very convenient.

After that, they purchased vegetables, meat, seasoning, a few sets of fresh clothes for Adrian, and some snacks for Tom. They returned to the tavern laden with several bubble-wrapped packages.

Back at the tavern, they stored everything and Adrian checked the time. He decided to exercise and fill up his energy before dinner.

Since his arrival on May 5th and now being June 3rd, about a month had passed. Adrian hadn't kept count of how many times he had recharged the magic circle, but most of the time it was once a day, sometimes even two or three times.

With this consistent training, his progress was quite evident. He could now fill up his energy twice a day with a bit of effort. Though feeling exhausted like a dead dog wasn't pleasant, it was a price he was willing to pay for becoming stronger.

As night fell, the cool moonlight filtered through the gaps in the red branches, casting a tranquil atmosphere. Adrian looked at his energy, which had reached 90%, and was eager to activate the summoning – now that he had his own home, he didn't need to hide in alleyways anymore.

Just as he was about to read the item descriptions, he froze. There were no items, and his energy didn't decrease by the usual 80%. Instead, it dropped from 90% straight to 0!

Before he could ponder the implications, the shattered screen turned into tiny dots of light that fell to the ground in front of him, forming a one-meter-diameter magic circle.

Though the original light screen was purple, for some reason, the shattered pieces turned into golden dots, forming a golden magic circle. Wasn't Tom supposed to be blue? Was he colorblind?

The golden light brightened, and a figure appeared at the center of the magic circle.

With a delicate face slightly turned to the side, clear green eyes, a blue dress swaying gently, eye-catching silver armor adorning her chest and skirt, her golden hair glistening in the moonlight – she was a vision of beauty.

She appeared to be around 15 years old, her right hand seemingly holding an invisible weapon.

No amount of poetic description could do justice to her beauty, and though Adrian was close enough to sense her charisma, he nearly blurted out, "Wow, gorgeous."

Compared to her physical beauty, the allure

of a perfect knight seemed even more striking. Her slightly petite figure exuded an irresistible valiant aura, making it hard to forget her with just one glance.

As the golden light dissipated, the girl's full form was finally revealed to Adrian. She raised her gaze and locked it onto Adrian's face. Her voice, clear and crisp, sounded:

"Servant Saber, obedient to the summons. I ask, are you my Master?"