What a stupid excuse

On the deck of the ship above me, I could see a girl with red and white hair who was familiar to me. She had an annoyed face, and she kept looking at me from there with her arms crossed.

After a short while of staring at each other, Uta eventually asked in a chilly tone, "what game do you mean?" This could have been because she was sick of seeing my smile.

"Why don't you come down here first?

"No need. The mere act of looking at you makes me sick, much less being near you."

After hearing that sharp response, I was no longer surprised because I didn't believe she would change her mind soon. Therefore, I just sighed and walked up to talk to Uta.

However, Uta quickly stepped back as if to keep her distance before snorting coldly and saying, "I told you not to come near me. You came here to apologize after being scared of Shanks, right? hahahaha you pathetic."

After hearing Uta's mocking tone, a slight twitch appeared on my forehead. But, once I recalled the reason I had come here, I responded, "So what if it's true? Aren't you the pitiful one in this situation, using other people because you don't dare to fight me by yourself."

"tsk... shut up! Hurry up and tell me what the game is, so I can make you kneel down and lick my shoes."

'I'm sure this girl already has a lot of plans for revenge in her head, but... she doesn't know I've already prepared a plan to deal with her.'

After that, I began explaining the game we were going to do, and to begin, I asked Uta to do arm-wrestling, and because she was so eager to exact her vengeance, she immediately agreed.

"Do you want three rounds?" I asked as I put the wooden barrel between us, but Uta just grinned and replied:

"No need. Just one round is all it takes to knock you out."

While preparing for my right hand, I made fun of her again by saying, "did you forget? That time, your punch couldn't even come close to touching me."

"Shut up! I don't remember! Hurry up and admit your defeat."

With her slightly flushed cheeks, Uta then took my hand, and I immediately felt the gentle touch of her soft and delicate palms on my skin.

This close distance allows me to see her face more clearly, and it causes my heart to skip a beat for a moment when I realize how beautiful this girl is. With her glistening seductive lips and slightly aquiline nose, describing her face as perfect is not an exaggeration.

And at this very moment, this lovely girl was staring at me with her violet eyes that seemed excited and full of a burning desire to exact revenge on me. Unconsciously, I raised the corners of my mouth slightly as an odd thought immediately entered my mind.

"why are you smiling? You freak, start quickly!" hearing Uta's scream from this close was deafening, so I hastily started our game before she screamed again.

"1...2...3 starts!"

We both immediately began to tense our muscles as we each tried to knock our opponent's hand to the opposite side of the barrel. Yet, I was quite surprised when I could feel that this girl's strength was not to be underestimated.

The same can be said about Uta, who furrowed her eyebrows ever-so-slightly when she realized I was not an easy opponent. Bot, both of us did our absolute best, and for a while, we were simply even when occasionally I would overwhelm her and vice versa.

"Why? Are you starting to feel tired already? You can give up, you know. You can try your chance at another game."

"Who's tired! You're already sweating yourself, too, don't talk too much, or you'll lose. See."

After that, Uta, who was already out of breath, used the last of her strength as her eyes shone when she saw she almost dropped my hand. But, she did not notice the smile on my face because what happened after caused her to go into shock.

*bam

When my hand turned around and dropped Uta's hand hard onto the wooden barrel, a loud knock could be heard, and Uta just stared at me angrily. But, after I let go of my hand, I could hear a small groan of pain when Uta rubbed the back of her now-red hands.

"I don't accept this... why is a naughty and wicked boy like you having such strength."

Despite wanting to get this girl to know her place, I managed to hold out and offer an explanation instead. I said, "I guess it depends on stamina, and you must rarely train your body, right?"

"What a stupid excuse. Don't you know who I've fought against during this time sailing with Shanks? Normal training can't make you this strong."

"That means there is only one answer, you train your ugly voice more often than you really train your body."

Uta, who did not like what I said, simply snorted angrily and turned her head away, but I reminded her about the wager we had made earlier and said, "well, it's time for you to keep your promise."

"What promise?"

"Are you stupid because you've lost. Now I can ask you anything," I said while looking at Uta, who was now getting a little nervous.

"Hmph, so what do you want? Remember, if you ask for something I don't like, I don't want to do it."

Even though Uta made a lot of excuses, acting as if she was afraid that I would make her do strange things, I had already made a plan to deal with her, as I mentioned earlier, so with a soft smile on my face, I said:

"Let's start off by having you take me on a tour of this ship."