3 Chapter 3

"100,000 Beli for one human adult, and 50,000 Beli for one human child!"

Arlong pirates. Those renowned to have come from the Grand Line—the sea where the unfathomable danger lurks by.

"Considering that we came with no notice, we'll only kill those who can't pay up right away...!" The fish-man with a saw-like nose and sharp teeth—Arlong the 'Saw'—grinned as he asked to his crew, "How many have we collected so far?"

"Almost 25 million."

"Excellent!"

Arlong the 'Saw,' wanted dead or alive for 20 million Beli. Considering that the average bounty of pirates in the East Blue amounts to 3 million...

'...Damn it.'

Rowan gazed at the pirates from behind the bark, with Nojiko and Nami alongside him.

"W-what do we do, Nojiko..." Nami whispered while gulping, "Do you think Bell-mere's alright?"

Nojiko replied with a dark expression, "Don't worry. They won't be able to see our house, since it's located outside the village."

Rowan grimaced as he watched Genzo, who was found sweating profusely while nervously watching the Arlong pirates. Then, he briefly shifted his eyes to elsewhere, and Rowan immediately noticed—Genzo was thinking of Bell-mere's house also.

'Bell-mere's poor. She barely makes enough to live through a day. A sheer amount of 200,000 Beli under her...' Rowan cursed to himself, '...Is that what you're worried of, Genzo-san?'

Rowan's heart was beating rapidly from the tension.

'Then, what about us? That old man... he wastes money on booze every single day. 100 thousand for an adult, and 50 thousand for a child?'

He, with a dark expression, contemplated upon his situation.

'You are shitting on me. No way we have enough to pay for both of us.'

He raised his head up. Pushing the nervousness away, he looked around his surrounding, and concluded,

'...I need to... kill that half-fish.'

Even though he's never killed in his life, in front of him lied the despicable pirates who wielded swords; Rowan, now fueled by the rage that began to build up in him, began moving out of the forest, silently.

"R-Rowan?" Nojiko, surprised by Rowan's sudden movement, whispered at him, "Where are you going?! Genzo-san told us to stay here—"

Rowan, overwhelmed by his emotion, couldn't hear Nojiko's words. He quickly snuck back into Genzo's house through the opened entrance and grabbed whatever gun came into his sight. Hiding the gun on his back and sliding his way out, Rowan merged with the crowd of Cocoyasi villagers and glared heatedly at the exposed back of Arlong.

'I can't aim.' Thought Rowan, as he ignored the incredibly loud heartbeat from his chest, '...I need to get closer.'

From behind the forest, Rowan could barely see Nojiko and Nami gazing at him with widened eyes.

"H-Huh...?" The villagers, as Rowan walked slowly, noticed that the latter was holding the gun. They exclaimed in shock, realizing what he was about to do, but did nothing as Rowan continued walking—for they were petrified from the fear of what's about to happen.

'H-haa...' Rowan took in a deep breath. Though there still was some distance, he was confident that he won't miss from where he now stood. His sweaty hands, holding onto the gun tightly, trembled.

'...Do it,' Thought Rowan to himself, '...If I don't kill, I will end up dead.'

Death. The thought of it made Rowan widen his eyes. Gaining strength in his arms, Rowan raised the gun up—

Tap.

"What are you doing, Rowan?!!" Genzo, gritting his teeth in disbelief, whispered at Rowan, "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!!"

"Huff... huff..."

Rowan, losing strength in his legs, fell down to the ground.

"Is it because of the money?! Listen, then!!" Genzo leaned down and whispered, "Your and Bell-mere's houses are located on the outskirts of the village! Since Arlong doesn't know about it yet, you can perhaps go unnoticed by him—"

"Yo, Arlong!" Then, one fish-man—the subordinate of Arlong—called out, "There seems to be a house a little away from the village!"

Arlong grinned in delight, "Hm...?'

"Over there, you see that smoke? It must be coming from someone's home!"

Rowan and Genzo jolted up in shock. Simultaneously, Nojiko and Nami widened their eyes in horror,

""Bell-mere!!""

The Arlong pirates began marching, rapidly, to where the smoke was arising from—Bell-mere's house.

"This is bad!!" As Arlong pirates disappeared from the scene, one villager shouted, "The pirates are heading to Bell-mere's home!!"

Another said while sweating profusely, "Even we barely managed to pay them off... so how could she ever come up with enough money?! What should we do?!!"

Nojiko and Nami, filled with desperation, began running after the disappeared Arlong pirates.

"NOJIKO!! NAMI!!!" Genzo, shouting in exasperation, immediately began running after them.

Rowan was left by himself on the ground, breathing heavily still.

'...I couldn't,' Rowan thought, 'Before Genzo-san stopped me, I had a second of a time. But...'

He hesitated. Whether it was by fear, by nervousness, or by uncertainty, he didn't know.

And now, Arlong was going to Bell-mere's home.

"Fuck!"

Rowan stood back up wobbly. Gazing at the vertical trail of smoke up at the sky, Rowan too ran toward it, and came to sight Nako—the doctor within the Cocoyasi village—blocking Nojiko and Nami's advancement to Bell-mere. Next to Nako was one villager, gazing at the three of them with a cold sweat.

And then, just when Rowan came to stop,

"—UAGHHH!!!"

he saw—Arlong mercilessly crushing Bell-mere's left arm with his foot.

Everyone froze. Nojiko, Nami, Nako, villager, and Rowan, all of them watched the scene with horror. Bell-mere's pain-filled scream caused two girls to tremble uncontrollably, Nako, leaning down, immediately embraced the two girls, blocking the girls' view.

"Shahaha... look how laughable you are," Said Arlong as he grinned menacingly, "So what if you were a marine? No matter how much you train... you will always be inferior to us—"

"BELL-MERE, YOU FOOL!!!" Then, from the other side, Genzo screamed in his lungs, "Don't throw your life away just because of some inane sense of justice!!! This is a meaningless fight that can be solved with money alone!!!"

Bell-mere, in the midst of her heavy breathing, mumbled, "Gen...zo..."

Arlong's grin died down. Snorting, he agreed to Genzo's words, "...It's as he says, marine woman. 100 thousand for one human adult and 50 thousand for one human child. As long as each household can pay that amount, no one will be killed."

Genzo quickly took the opportunity to move Bell-mere away from Arlong. Her left arm, fully broken, was bleeding heavily.

"Each house... hold..." Bell-mere whispered with her eyes closed from the pain. Genzo, leaning in, whispered at her,

"Bell-mere, how much money do you have saved up...?"

"Not nearly... huff... enough... even with my secret savings, I... barely have 100,000..."

"Arlong!!" One fish-man exclaimed as he pointed toward the opened door of the house, "There's a meal set up for three people inside!! Three people must be living here—"

Genzo quickly shouted as he stood back up, "Just pay the amount for one adult, Bell-mere!! You invited Dr. Nako and me for tonight's dinner, right?!" He then adjusted his cap to hide his trembling eyes, "Good thing that you had enough money. Looks like all the villagers are safe now."

One Fish-man, reading through the papers in his hands, informed, "According to the town registry, this woman's never been married or had any children."

Arlong, looking down on Bell-mere, stated, "Alright then... 100 thousand Beli it is. Are you going to pay or choose death?"

"...Do you understand, Nojiko, Nami? There's no proof that you're Bell-mere's daughters."

Rowan then heard from nearby, Nako whispering to two girls,

"So while those pirates are blind to your existence, you two need to leave this... island. Cross the ocean and run away—" Nako, then sighting Rowan, called him out, "—that's right! Rowan! You take them with you! Is your father still away?"

"NO! Why do we have to leave?! I want to stay and live here in this village!!" Nami, shaking her head and crying, refuted with sorrow, "Is it because we're poor...? Can't... can't we be Bell-mere's daughters anymore...?!"

"Doc... this is too—... damn it." The villager looked down and clenched his fists out of frustration, knowing that this was the only way.

"Family or their lives!" Said Nako, "There are no other alternatives in this crisis!!"

"...Hide away in my house for now." Rowan spoke up, "Old man isn't back yet, but ours is literally located by the shore. We can get a boat floating anytime."

Nojiko, making up her mind, stated, "...Alright, I'll leave this village."

"Nojiko!!" Nami cried in disbelief.

Rowan looked at the distant Bell-mere, who handed Arlong the 100 thousand Beli in her possession.

"Thank goodness..." Said Bell-mere, "With those 100 thousand Beli..."

Biting his lips out of frustration, Rowan turned and began walking.

"Bell-mere..." Nami mumbled in a teary tone, but Nojiko said coldly,

"Let's go, Nami! It's fine as long as it means Bell-mere will be saved!"

Nojiko, Nami, Nako, and the villager followed Rowan. The five of them silently distanced away from Bell-mere's house. Similarly, the Arlong pirates walked the other way, having received the payment—

"...I'll be able to save my two children...!"

Rowan stopped in stupefaction. So did the other four.

"That money is my children's share. I don't have enough to pay for myself."

Genzo shouted, "BELL-MERE!!!"

"...What?" Arlong turned his head and narrowed his eyes.

"...I'm sorry, Gen." Bell-mere, with a cigarette in her mouth, smiled, "...I couldn't bring myself to say that I don't have a family.

Even if it means I'll lose my life..."

Nako closed his eyes tightly, "How could you do such a stupid thing?!!"

"...Even if it's just mere words, I still want to be called their mother." The tears dropped from Bell-mere's eyes. She stated as she raised her hand up to wipe them, "Those girls... they are my children, aren't they?"

Arlong grinned, "You have... children...?"

""BELL-MERE!!!""

"NO, GIRLS!!!" Nako held his hand up as two girls began running back, but it was to no avail.

"...Why?"

Muttered Rowan as he saw, Bell-mere embracing her two daughters.

"Why would you willingly choose death, when you could've lived...?"

"...I really wanted to buy you girls a lot of things... whether it be new books or clothes. Forgive me..." Bell-mere said to Nojiko and Nami, "...for not ever being able to do anything motherly for you girls..."

"That's not true!! We don't need anything to please don't die!! Stay with us forever!!" Nojiko shouted as she looked Bell-mere in the eye, "Aren't you a former marine, Bell-mere?!! You're strong, right?!! You should be able to beat these guys no problem!!"

Nami cried desperately, "I still haven't shown you the map of the world I'll draw!!"

Arlong chuckled in amusement at the two girls. He then asked, "Are these kids your daughters?"

Bell-mere stood up and grinned, "Yes, that's right. So don't lay a finger on them, you hear?"

"Of course... that is, as long as you die quietly."

"SOMEBODY!! PLEASE HELP!!" Nami shouted, and responding to her plea, Genzo flipped out his guns.

"HAAAA!!!!!"

BANG BANG BANG. Genzo, letting out a war cry, blasted all the bullets available in a single go. However, contrary to his expectation, one of Arlong's subordinates, Kuroobi, simply stepped in and blocked all of them with the fin on his left arm, and,

—Swoosh!

Genzo was slashed at the next moment—immediately disabled.

"...Ha... hahah..." Rowan, watching this from the back, let out a dry laugh, "...Gun doesn't work?" He lowered his head and looked at his open palm. "Hard skin, huh..."

'...Look how pathetic you are, Rowan.'

"LET'S GO SAVE BELL-MERE!!!"

"TAKE UP ARMS AND FIGHT!!!"

The villagers cried while getting their hands on whatever was available. The Fish-men all raised up their weapons with annoyance, ready to draw blood.

'Move.' Thought Rowan, 'What peaceful life? What preparation? What have you been doing up until now?!'

"Hmph, pathetic primates..." Remarked Arlong, "Deal with them appropriately but don't kill them."

"Got it."

'...I always thought that being useless is better than being dead. But that Bell-mere's will...'

Rowan, drenched in a cold sweat, unconsciously gulped.

'...I couldn't help but be amazed.' His open hands then clenched up upon his will, 'So what if a gun doesn't work.'

<I don't think a gun is meant for you, Rowan.>

'...Are you going to do nothing but watch as Bell-mere gets killed? Are you going to let all your training up until now, become useless?'

<Let's work with what you already have.>

Rowan took in a deep breath. His body momentarily relaxed, and then, his legs began moving.

Click.

Arlong raised up his pistol, directly to Bell-mere's exposed forehead,

"And you'll be my first example to the others...!" Arlong bickered, "Die for your stupid love—"

PUK!

Before Arlong could pull the trigger, the pistol was kicked out of his hand. Arlong, caught off, raised his eyebrow at the sudden appearance of the black-haired teenage boy, who was sweating profusely but albeit glared at Arlong with all his might.

""ROWAN!!!"" Nako, who was busy looking at the severely injured Genzo, and Genzo himself, cried upon noticing what happened.

"...Are you also a villager here, boy?" Arlong frowned, "I don't recall seeing you until now. Have you paid already?"

Bell-mere, Nojiko, and Nami all looked at Rowan in shock. Rowan, forcing a wide grin on his face, gave Arlong a middle finger,

"As you can see, I am a human being," Said Rowan with a cold sweat, "A... a race that eats fish for a living."

And that's when Arlong, for the first time since his arrival here, exhibited rage, "Ha...?"

"And what payment are you talking of?" Rowan erased all thoughts, all fears, and everything else that prevented him from fighting the monster in front of him. Filling his mind with nothing but a rage of his own,

"Go back to the water, you damn fish."

he jumped up from the ground, aiming to punch straight toward the Fish-man with a saw-like nose—

BOOM.

A sudden shift of view, followed by an immense pain that emanated from his entire body. Rowan perceived that something happened just now. The voices and all noises muffled out. His vision became hazy.

"ROWAN!!!"

He thought that someone was crying his name, but couldn't see if it was true or not.

'W-what just... happened...'

Then, he lost consciousness.