Chapter 49: Sword Shopping

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"Sir Byakuya, what are we going out to do today?" Tashigi hugged Shigure tightly, keeping her head down as she followed behind Byakuya. 

Byakuya wasn't wearing his usual Marine uniform; instead, he had donned more casual attire. 

Without looking back, he replied, "Didn't I tell you? Today, we're going out to buy a famous sword."

There might be many swordsmen and great swordsmen on the sea, but when it comes to knowledge about famous swords, none of them can compare to Tashigi. 

After all, Tashigi's dream is to one day collect all the famous swords from the hands of evil people.

How could she not know enough about famous swords? That's why Byakuya called Tashigi out, intending to let her help choose one. 

Hearing that they were going to buy a famous sword, Tashigi immediately became interested and excitedly moved closer to Byakuya. 

"A famous sword? Are you planning to buy it for me, Sir Byakuya?" she asked. "Oh, I'm so touched! You're so kind to me, Sir Byakuya."

"Uh..." Seeing Tashigi's excited expression, Byakuya was momentarily at a loss for whether he should tell the truth.

But it was normal for Tashigi to think this way. After all, since they met, Byakuya had rarely used a sword. 

In Tashigi's eyes, she was the only one in Byakuya's crew who used a sword. Now that he had called her out to buy a sword, who else could it be for if not her? 

Realizing the sword was for 'herself', Tashigi began to resent Byakuya for walking too slowly and became even more eager and proactive. 

With such enthusiasm, Byakuya felt that if he didn't buy her a famous sword, he wouldn't be able to live with his conscience.

After visiting several weapon shops, although they found some decent swords, none met the standards of a fine sword. 

They visited several islands, yet they didn't come across a single fine sword, let alone a great one. 

This made it clear that Zoro truly deserved his protagonist status; he managed to buy two fine swords from a small weapon shop in Loguetown and later obtained 'Shusui' and 'Enma'. 

While Byakuya knew that the great sword 'Shusui' was in the hands of Gecko Moria, he didn't have the energy to retrieve it right now.

At the very least, he needed to thoroughly enforce the rules of the Sabaody Archipelago before he could leave with peace of mind. 

If the rules he established were easily broken, where would his authority be? To put it bluntly, with the current strength of Smoker and others, they couldn't maintain order. 

Byakuya's presence was the real guarantee for enforcing the rules. It wasn't until dusk that the two of them found a fine sword in a weapon shop.

"Sir Byakuya, look! This sword should be one of the Fifty Skillful Grade Swords, the 'Kazemune.'" Tashigi handed Kazemune to Byakuya like a treasured offering. 

The blade was about ninety centimeters long, extremely sharp, with a long, curved edge covered in pale blue patterns. 

Although Byakuya didn't know much about swords before, after accepting the knowledge of swordsmanship from Atomic Samurai, he could tell that this Kazemune was quite good. 

Even though it wasn't a great sword, it wasn't far behind. 

As the two were examining the sword, the shop owner nearby spoke in a hostile tone, "Hey, little girl, this is the treasure of my shop. If you're not buying, don't touch it!" 

Tashigi adjusted her glasses and replied firmly, "Who said we aren't buying? Boss, how much for this sword?" 

Hearing that they intended to buy it, the owner's attitude immediately softened, and he smiled, 

"This Kazemune is not only one of the Fifty Skillful Grade Swords but also a family heirloom. So..."

Before he could finish, Byakuya interrupted, "Just name your price."

The owner, seeing how much Tashigi liked the sword, decided to hike up the price. 

With a gleam in his eye and a sleazy smile, he rubbed his hands together and said, "Eight million Berries!"

Tashigi exclaimed in shock, "Eight million Berries? That's way too high!" Byakuya frowned upon hearing the price.

Typically, a Fifty Skillful Grade Sword costs around two to three million Berries. At most, it might be five million Berries, but not more than that. 

A Great Grade Sword from the Twenty-One O Wazamono costs around ten to twenty million Berries. 

Although a Devil Fruit can sell for a hundred million Berries, that's because a Devil Fruit can dramatically increase an ordinary person's strength. 

On the other hand, a famous sword in the hands of an ordinary person is merely a sharp kitchen knife, offering negligible improvement in strength. 

This is why famous swords generally aren't very expensive on the sea.

The shop owner was trying to scam them, having noticed how much Tashigi liked the sword, so he jacked up the price. 

"It's not too high. This is a family heirloom, and there are only fifty of these on the sea. Finding one is incredibly rare," the owner explained with a smile.

"But... the price..." Tashigi, although deeply enamored with Kazemune, knew about Byakuya's and the base's financial situation. 

Eight million Berries was out of the question, and even three million would be a stretch. 

While kind-hearted Tashigi was still fretting over the money, 'villainous' Byakuya had already started noting the shop's name and location. 

Though he considered just taking the sword by force, he dismissed the idea. 

There was no need for that because he intended to make Sabaody Archipelago a place governed by rules, even if those rules were set by him.

But he still needed to respect his own rules, at least a little. Besides, forcefully taking something was quite low. 

Instead, he could just send the Marines over, accuse the owner of illegal arms dealing without reporting to the Marines, arrest him, and confiscate the entire shop. 

This way, not only would he save the money for the sword, but it would also serve as a warning to other shopkeepers about the consequences of breaking the rules—a win-win situation.

As Byakuya was pondering this, the shop owner's shifty eyes suddenly fixed on the sword in Tashigi's arms. 

It wasn't because of any inappropriate thoughts; he had noticed that she was holding Shigure, one of the Grade Swords. 

The owner's mind began to race as he looked at the young man and woman in front of him. 

They seemed harmless, dressed like ordinary people, and their reaction to the eight million Berries price tag suggested they weren't powerful figures. 

The prospect of a hundred percent profit was enough to tempt anyone, especially with such a risk-free business.

The owner grinned and said, "If you want it, I can give you a discount."

Tashigi, being a naive girl, was overjoyed and exclaimed, "Really? You're such a kind person!"

While they were talking, Byakuya had already sensed something was wrong.

With a loud "bang," the door behind them had closed.

<End Chapter>

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