10 Going pirate-hunting with Vivi
...
"Pfft... Hahahahaha!!"
"..."
Suddenly, as both of them looked at me with strange expressions, the girl called Vivi was the first one to react, as she exploded into laughter just a few seconds after I finished speaking to them.
'What... Why is this girl suddenly laughing...?'
Was she not taking me seriously? Well, this was indeed my first time fighting against ghosts...
Did my super strength even work on them? Probably not...
Damn it, I feel like an idiot now. How could I not realize something SO obvious?
-Sigh...-
The girl called Vivi continued laughing for a long time. At first, I thought she would calm down in just a few seconds, and she was actually doing so at first. However, for some reason, as soon as she looked at my face again, her laughter erupted once more and continued for a while.
"Vivi-sama..."
While the girl laughed uncontrollably at me for some reason, the ghostly guy looked at her with a surprised expression, as if he was watching something very precious, before he then closed his eyes and started smiling happily while continuing to watch her laugh.
Tsk... I'm not being taken seriously, am I?
What a rude pair of ghosts... Whatever, I will just leave. I have work to do, after all... Can't lose it here talking with these guys...
"Alright, bye"
Saying my goodbyes, I passed by the side of the man and started walking in direction of the main square without looking back at them.
"Ah, wait!"
However, just as I was about to walk away, the girl stopped me and looked at me with a nervous expression.
They are not letting me get away, are they?
However, just as I thought things were gonna get violent, the girl suddenly bowed her head to me and apologized.
"I'm sorry for laughing, I just found it funny that you thought we were ghosts!"
They are not ghosts, then?
Then who are these people?
Ugh... My head is starting to hurt, too much thinking for one day... I usually just go punching pirates around, not deciphering people's identities like a detective... I wonder why is it that this day became so complicated all of the sudden?
"Then what do you want...?" Cutting down to the chase, I looked back at her and raised an eyebrow, and asked her with curiosity evident in my tone. At least, they didn't seem to have evil intentions against me... So who, and why was this girl so fixated on talking with me?
And who was this "Pell" guy? calling her Vivi-sama as if she were royalty or something...
...
Hmm...
Royalty, huh...? I remember sister Elena saying that the king had a daughter called Vicir...
Or was it Victor?
Vava... Voltier, Venus... Va... Ve... Vi... Baba Yaga?
Maybe I should pay more attention to class... I feel like I'm becoming an idiot...
There was a stat called Cerebral power, right? Maybe it will be useful in my case...
"I want to be your friend!"
Yes, cerebral power will be the next choice... While being the strongest is my goal, I don't want to become an idiot on the way... Do I?
Wait what did she just say?
"My friend?"
...
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|A few minutes later...|
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"Your costume looks so... Extravagant"
After I finished putting on my bounty hunter costume, Vivi looked at it with a strange look and smiled wryly before she said those words.
Well, it wasn't a hard job making it, but the final result was indeed very epic.
"I did it with things I found abandoned in the storage of the orphanage... It's awesome right?" Puffing up my chest in pride, I showcased my masterpiece to her, and she only laughed a little bit while only nodding her head.
After answering her, I lifted my mask and covered my face completely with it. It was time to begin already after all.
Immediately after that, both of us left where we were hiding and started walking across the city looking around for pirates.
Vivi, who was currently walking behind me with a curious expression on her face, hummed happily some kind of song while looking around excitedly.
It was left to say, with me being disguised as a bounty hunter, it was kind of strange having her following me around across the street with everyone looking at us strangely. There was a rumor already about me being a kid due to my low height, however, with Vivi being here as well, it was like confirming those rumors... After all, kids tend to play with other kids, right?
"No way, the midget bounty hunter is with...?!"
"I already knew he was awesome, but for him to be with her... I guess we all underestimated his capabilities..."
"Is he planning to become a royal guard...?"
I even heard the people around muttering like crazy... Though I don't know what they were saying, I could guess that my identity as a kid was already leaking out.
It was kind of troubling. However, because I just didn't want to take any more time bickering with her back at the orphanage, I simply allowed her to come with me.
She was quite the stubborn person...
That Pell guy for some reason stayed behind and didn't follow us at all. Which was quite strange, as I had thought he was some sort of bodyguard of this girl... I might have been wrong though.
I wonder how strong he was...? He appeared to be more dangerous than the pirates I have been dealing with until now at least...
"So you usually just stroll around looking for pirates?"
Suddenly, while I was lost in my thoughts, Vivi hastened her steps and started speaking to me. She appeared to be curious if this was the only thing I did.
Nodding my head to her, I pointed at the people around us and started explaining to her.
"It wasn't that effective of a method in the beginning. At first, it was kind of hard to know who was a pirate in this enormous city with thousands of people walking in the streets constantly. However, it didn't take long for me to notice that they were almost everywhere and that it was easy peasy to find them"
"Pirates everywhere? Easy to find them?" Vivi seemed confused at my words for some reason, it seemed that she really didn't know how easy it was to spot a pirate among a crowd.
"Heh, let me teach you then" Patting my chest proudly, I pointed at a nearby alley with my thumb and signaled her to look there.
"Huh?"
When Vivi looked in the direction where I pointed, she saw a sturdy-looking man wearing a bandana on top of his head with a pirate skull engraved at the center of it.
Seemingly understanding my point, Vivi turned to look back at me after analyzing the man from head to toe. However, instead of showing the amazing expression I expected, she was looking at me with a dubious expression on her face.
'What's wrong with her? Could it be that she can't comprehend my extremely profound methods? Well, I guess not everyone is as awesome as me...'
"Are you really sure he is a pirate? He would just be a random person that likes those types of bandanas..."
Ah, I see now.
I forgot to mention the most important fact...
"Follow me"
Grabbing her hand, I dragged Vivi with me, and we approached the guy I pointed at earlier before hiding behind a wall.
It was a good spot for overhearing, after all.
"Hey, Farid... What are we do-?" Vivi tried muttering something at me, however, I gestured her to be silent, and pointed at the man once again.
Soon, as I expected, the man began talking.
"Damnit, how could it be that I, the great pirate Pedro of the Unshaved beard, with a bounty of 5 million bellys, have to go through poverty just because some brat working as a bounty hunter is capturing every other pirate around...?"
...
"...?" After hearing what the man said, Vivi just stared blankly at him for a few seconds, before she looked at me with an extremely confused expression on her face.
Yeah, she had the same expression I had when I heard them saying those things even if they were completely alone. For some reason, most pirates really loved saying their aliases and their bounties, even if no one was hearing.
'I wonder if they also say their aliases and bounties to their parents every time they meet...'
It was really fun imagining a pirate going back to his hometown and saying to his parents "Mom, Dad, rejoice! your son, the legendary pirate Lord of cows, has come back!"
Hmm...
I wonder if there's at least one pirate whose alias is The Lord of Cows... If he exists, he must be a legendary pirate.
Hmm, I'm already itching to fight him... Our battle will be legendary...
"Farid?"
Seeing no response for me, even after the guy revealed his identity on his own, Vivi called out to me and snapped me out of my imagination.
'Oops, I got lost in my thoughts for a little bit... Better finish this fast so that I can go and catch the next pirate'
Saying no more, I stepped out of my hiding spot and started running at the pirate, who immediately shrieked in fright and took out his sword from its scabbard, swinging it around like a madman.
"What the fuck, where did you come from?! Stay away or I will cut you in two!"
The sword was enormous and pretty intimidating, giving off the feeling that if it touched me, it would sever my body apart in just one swing. However, there was no need to fear, after all, swords will just break apart once I punch them.
It would be embarrassing if I couldn't handle something on this level... After all, my goal was something that couldn't be compared at all to this.
-Bam!!-
-Crack!-
Kicking the sword away, and shattering it into pieces in the process, I lunged at the pirate and readied my fist, prepared to finish the pirate in front of me in one go.
My eyes flickered with determination, as I envisioned my long-lost rival...
"Just you wait, Lord of Cows, I will find you one day, and I will fight you...!"
"...?"
"...?"
For some reason, the pirate and Vivi looked at me confusedly when I said that.
However, soon my punch connected with the pirate and sent him flying several meters away.
-Crash!-
The pirate's body rolled through the floor several meters after landing and soon crashed against the wall of the alleyway, stopping right in his tracks.
With his last breath before falling unconscious, I heard the pirate mutter something while looking at me with wide-open eyes...
"W-what kind of nutjob are you...? Urgh..."
...
-Sigh...-
Hearing him say that, I remembered the wise words of an old man that was passing by the orphanage once, his tone of voice for some reason sounded playful, he also seemed to have problems walking, and his face was all red for some reason, however, his words were wise nevertheless.
"Geniuses like me are not meant to be understood by normal people"
Repeating the old man's words to encourage myself, I snorted and nodded my head.
Indeed, such wise words...
-Pfft...-
Hmm?
Hearing a strange sound, I turned around and saw Vivi looking at me while covering her mouth with her hands in an attempt to not laugh.
"What's wrong with you all of sudden?" Not understanding what was she laughing about, I couldn't help but ask her in confusion with a raised eyebrow. However, for some reason, that seemed to have caused her to laugh even more, as she soon exploded into laughter and didn't stop for a while.
"Hahahahahaha!!!"
-Sigh...-
What a strange girl, really.
...
-To be continued-
(A/N: I was kinda busy with university since Monday, so sorry for the delay. Anyway, here's the new chapter!
Hope you enjoy it)
