Chapter 149: Time Together

New World, Kingdom of Fortis, Royal Palace, Library.

The library is one of the rooms that has a very large size in the royal palace. The library is located on the first floor of the royal palace and inside the library, there are tall and wide bookshelves and then neatly arranged. Not all the bookshelves in the library are filled with books. There are still many bookshelves that are empty and currently, only 1/9 of the entire bookshelf in the library is filled with books.

In the central area of the library, there is a circular area of considerable size. The area can be several tables and chairs that can be used by someone to read a book. Usually, this place is used by royal officials and others to read books they find in libraries.

However, usually, only a few often come to the library. Those who often end up are Shiina Hiyori, Nico Robin, Ars, and also Shakky.

On the other hand, the library is currently managed by a department called the Library Department. This department is in charge of managing the library and also taking care of it. The task of this department itself is not only to maintain and manage the existing library in the royal palace but the public library that will later be built as well as those who will later manage it.

Currently, the leader of the Library Department is Shiina Hiyori.

At this time, precisely in the middle of the reading place, it can be seen that Shiina and Shakky are already there reading a book together.

Shiina reads a book about the history of the kingdoms that exist in this world.

On the other hand, Shakky reads books about ancient weapons that once existed in this world thousands of years ago.

*Tap* *Tap*

The environment of the library is quite quiet, which causes a person's footsteps to be heard clearly in the library by the time the person steps inside this library.

"Hmm?" The sound of footsteps immediately attracted Shakky's attention, on the other hand, Shiina, who was currently focusing on the activities carried out by her, did not know that there was already anyone other than the two of them in the library.

The person who came was Ars carrying a large piece of paper.

At the moment when Shakky was about to greet Ars, Ars immediately gave a hint to be quiet by giving the code of bringing his index finger closer to his lips with a smile. Shakky was immediately silent and stunned because he knew the action that the Ars wanted to do and watched the activity.

Ars slowly walked up to Shiina while placing the papers under him on the floor and immediately using both hands to close Shiina's eyes.

Shiina was shocked by this action.

"Come on, guess who I am?" Ars asked softly.

Shiina, who was shocked by the action before, immediately felt a feeling of joy in her heart. Shiina chuckled softly and said, "Your voice is too clear, Your Majesty"

Ars, who had known his identity, immediately let go of his hand and then took the paper under him while placing it on the table.

Shakky and Shiina's interest was immediately raised looking at the paper.

"What is this, Your Majesty?" Shiina asked softly.

"This is the Map of the Kingdom of Alabasta" Ars replied.

"Map of the Kingdom of Alabasta?" Shiina asked in confusion, "What did you bring her here for? Do you want to keep it?"

"No" Ars shook his head, "I will use this to code the reconstruction plan that we will carry out later in the Kingdom of Alabasta. So that later when meeting with King Cobra, it will be easier to give him an explanation of the reconstruction plan that we will carry out later."

"So that's it" Shiina nodded, "Did you come here wanting to get a note last night? Why don't you just contact me so that I will bring it to you in person later?"

"yes" Ars nodded, "I haven't come here for a long time. It's pretty boring to work on this in my workspace. Every once in a while, I want to work somewhere else"

Shiina chuckled softly, "Then do you want to do your work here or in my study? I can accompany you if you want it"

"Oh? It's quite bold" Shakky thought with eyes full of excitement looking at the interaction between the two, "I wonder, how is the answer from your Majesty?"

"Hmm, an attractive offer" Ars muttered, "However, your study also has almost the same appearance as my study. Working there is also almost the same as working in my workspace. It's better to do it here. Besides..."

Ars immediately patted Shiina's forehead gently.

"Ouch" Shiina reflexively directly held her forehead.

"You have become too courageous, Shiina," Ars said with a small smile, "Where did you learn from? What is from Rin? You and Lowa, both of them have been poisoned by that woman. I think I have to discipline her. Lest all the women in this kingdom are made strange by her"

Instantly Shiina's face turned red at this.

"Well, Shiina. Can you go get your notes?"

"Sure" Shiina, who was already embarrassed, nodded slowly and left the room directly.

"You're getting a pretty interesting spectacle, aren't you?" Ars asked calmly to Shakky who was smiling at him.

"That's an interesting thing to see, Your Majesty" Shakky replied to her, "I wonder, who will later become the Queen of this kingdom?"

"Saaa~ I don't know either. Let the future take care of this" Ars said, shrugging his shoulders, "Isn't it a problem for you to leave your home on Saboundy Island?"

"Someone is helping me to look after my house there"

"Hancock? The woman is indeed someone worthy of being asked to guard the house" Ars nodded, "Do you have the desire to sell the land you occupy? You know area 13 is currently very popular and the price of land there has risen very drastically. You will get a huge profit if you sell your house"

"It's because of you to the point that the land there has gone up in price. Previously the land that existed in the territory had no price at all. Yesterday, I just talked to Hancock and questioned some of the things that were there. The existing land in the area has risen at a very scary price. Even for land whose size is 1x1 meters, it has now been assessed for 10 million berries"

"Wah, it's a very significant ascension," Ars said in a tone full of surprise, "The land that belongs to you has a fairly large size, isn't it? Especially such land has its area. Of course, the land must have a very high value. Do you have the intention to sell it?"

"No" Shakky shook her head, "The land and house there will still be kept by me. Although later I will start to open a business here. It never hurts to have a house there that can be used for vacations and others. I can also use the house to be used as a rental place and the like"

"Hmm, it's not a bad idea" Ars nodded and continued, "What about the capital for you to build a business here?"

"Capital is a small matter for me," Shakky said, "But, it depends too. Are you going to sell the land in a territory to me at a low price" Shakky concluded with a sweet smile, "Your Majesty will give the best price for me, right?"

"As for the price of land here is relative" Ars replied calmly, "At least, if you want to open a business at this time, too. You can consider it immediately"

"Oh? Will the kingdom soon open up to the world?" Shakky asked with interest.

"Not yet" Ars shook his head, "Just, in the next few days. Some workers will soon pick up their family members to migrate here. At least all the workers who have already got a house will immediately pick up their families to come to this kingdom. Their arrival will soon increase the number of citizens living in this kingdom. With this increase in the number of residents, Jouichirou and others will certainly not be able to stop the availability of food with this large number of residents. Therefore, through the meeting we had last night, we will start to order a very large amount of ingredients and food seasonings from the Ryugu Kingdom and then store them in the storage warehouses belonging to the Department of Animal Husbandry and the Ministry of Agriculture. Later, workers who have found a house and also their family members can prepare food for themselves by buying ingredients and food seasonings there."

"I see" Shakky nodded, "It is indeed a good policy and also helps Jouichirou and others lower the workload they currently have. However, what about the workers who live alone? Wouldn't they have a hard time?"

"This matter has also been a consideration for us," Ars said calmly, "Today is more precisely the possibility that in the afternoon there will be 4 royal dignitaries who will arrive here"

"4 people?" Shakky was surprised to hear this.

"They are Yukihira Soma, Nakiri Erina, Hayama Akira, and Kurokiba Ryuo"

"Those four of them... Don't they belong to the restaurant department? I see, so, are the four of them who will later open a restaurant in this kingdom?" Shakky asked with interest, "I'm quite interested in the taste of their dishes. Is it as good as Jouichirou and other dishes or not"

"Two of them have greater abilities and skills compared to Jouichirou and the other" Ars replied to him, "Then regarding the opening of the restaurant. There are only two restaurants open. This means that only two people will open restaurants in this kingdom where the two restaurants will be able to solve the food problem for those workers who only live alone and cannot cook."

"How are the other two people?" Shakky asked back.

"It is planned that the other two people will open a restaurant outside the kingdom to introduce the dishes owned by our royal restaurant"

"Hmmm, it's a good idea to be able to attract people's interest to end up in our kingdom" Shakky nodded.

"This is a good idea. You know, the person who gave this idea is Garp"

"Garp?" Shakky was immediately startled by these words, "Are you kidding me? You mean Garp, that Old Man Garp?"

"Yes. It was the old man who gave this idea to Hashirama and others at the time they met Whitebeard yesterday" Ars nodded.

"This is... It's really hard to believe the old man can come up with such a simple idea"

"Hahaha, this idea itself likely came out because Garp wanted to be able to eat dishes made by chefs from our kingdom," Ars said with a smile, "Currently our kingdom is not accessible to anyone without getting permission from me. Of course, Garp, a food lover, will be very difficult to be able to restrain himself, especially when he has tasted the dishes made by Jouichirou and others. This is also proven by his coming directly to Shirohige's Main Headquarters with the excuse to meet Ace so that he can participate in eating food made by chefs from our kingdom"

"Still, it's pretty awesome for me," Shakky said then exhaled the smoke, "Where are the plans for the opening of this restaurant? Since the idea came from Garp, surely one of the places is in the Grand Line area, right?"

"Yes," Ars nodded, "Two places. One Prodance Empire represents the Territory of the New World. While Saboundy Island Area 13 represents the Grand Line. These two places will be used as the location for the opening of the restaurant"

"Hancock will be very happy to hear this" Shakky said with a smile, "Have you told him this?"

"Not yet" Ars shook, "I'll wait for their arrival first and then talk about this. I need to know, which of them will open a restaurant outside the kingdom while who will open a restaurant inside the kingdom"

"My advice is better to let the woman who opened the restaurant in area 13 make it easier to persuade Hancock to also have interactions with her," Shaky said, "If it's a man, I think it's going to be hard for the guy to be there"

"I will try to convince Erina. May she want it" Ars said, "Well if you want to open your business soon? You can do it. You can already survey places in urban areas that you want to be used as a location for you to build your business. Once you find it, you can simply build the design of the building, later if you can. The construction of restaurant will be built at the same time as the building you will later use."

"Hmmm, will taxes apply by the time I build my business?" Shakky asked

"Income tax and building tax will take effect immediately as long as you build a business. Meanwhile, for goods tax and import tax. It will not pass as long as the Tax Department has not been running."

"Well, that's pretty good" Shakky nodded and immediately got up from her seat, "I'm free to choose a location in the urban area, right?"

"Free" Ars nodded.

"Ok. In that case, I will go to do a survey related to the location"

Shakky immediately left the library. Before leaving the library, Shakky first put away the books read by him and then stepped out of the library to search for a location where he would open his business.

"Hmm? Where's Shakky, Ars?"

Simultaneously Shiina arrives not long after Shakky leaves the library and the way she calls Ars instantly changes.

"Shakky is currently going to the urban area. He wants to open his business immediately so he currently wants to go find a strategic location to build his business."

"Business? What business does he want to open?" Shiina asked with interest.

"Bar. A relaxing place and also a place to buy and sell information" Ars said calmly, "Shakky has a big name in this world as a fairly reliable information agent."

"I see" Shiina nodded and instantly a thought flashed through her mind, "Wait, isn't it that at the moment I'm just alone with Ars?"

A feeling of excitement instantly appeared inside Shiina. It's been a long time since she was able to be alone with Ars, The last time they were alone like this was when she first came to this world and began to try to adapt to this world. At that time, the work that Ars had was not as much as it is today. This is what causes Ars to spend a lot of his time in the library and often together with Shiina here.

Ars then started his work with Shiina several times helping as well as accompanying him.

Meanwhile on Shakky's side.

"There is a question I wanted to ask him before..." Shakky is currently on his way to the urban area, "Forget it. It seems that His Royal Highness doesn't want me to disturb his time together with Shiina. I can ask this question next time. I'm quite curious, what is your Majesty going to do? It is unlikely that your Majesty will just stand idly by knowing that the World Government has ancient weapons, right? There must be a move made by him at this time"