19 The Dusk Arrives (1/2)

February 13

[Master, that is the land of Arabasta] 

The AI was overjoyed, materializing a finger-like object to point at the desert island.

For the past 11 days, the AI who was just born had countless headaches dealing with me. When I tried cooking before, I almost burned the entire boat. When I tried rowing the boat, he had to keep an eye on me all the time otherwise the boat would diverge from the original destination.

Not a second of a break was allowed for the AI while I was rowing the boat.

Meanwhile, all the time, the notification of the Bad Sense of Direction trait growing stronger in my character kept spamming in my brain and it was getting annoying.

I felt strange as I had the impression that I could live on by myself fine in the past but these days, I couldn't imagine my life without the AI's help.

"Let's go to the city where Luffy beat Crocodile!! Oh, oh, I also want to visit the city where that thin old man digs for the water too."

[Master, that would be Alubarna and Yuba, the two are located in opposite directions. It is highly estima-... there's a big chance that we may waste time if we visit both cities. It is for the best to visit only one city.]

"Then Alubarna it is," I decided my destination as I stepped into the sandy land of the Arabasta.

[Master, please run to the right from where you're facing...] Apparently, AI wasn't freed from his job of navigating me and at this rate, it doesn't seem like he'll be freed for the rest of his life.

On the way, I ate scorpions, and crocodiles, tried to eat a lizard but AI said it was poisonous, etc... Like this, I flew my way toward Alubarna while picking up anything that seemed edible with my feathers.

The supposedly two-day travel was shortened and in a day I arrived in Alubarna in a day. 

---

Alubarna 

Climbing up the stairs leading to the entrance of the town, the views of countless structures and the striving town began expanding in my eyes. 

The town was bustling as people were running amok. The business was flourishing. Among them what particularly caught my eye was the golden apple due to the owner's ear-catching voice. 

"Come in come in!! You there, try out the Golden Apple!! It is a legendary fruit cultivated in heaven. Eating it is rumored to increase your lifespan by a thousand years!!" The shopkeeper pointed at none other than me.

"Really?? That's so cool, I'll take it!!" I said, with my eyes glowing in astonishment, I took out the golden apple that was handed to me.

'Full of lies, Heylail you don't need to eat this type of food,' said Hereru inside me.

[It is likely to be a scam.] The AI said.

The shopkeeper who heard the AI speak the fact, sweated a bit. 

"Is it a scam, Mister?" I asked the person straightly.

"That is ridiculous! It's hard to find a businessperson as generous as me in Arabasta," the shopkeeper lied unnaturally.

"Really? Then can you get me five of this?" I inquired him further while showing five of my fingers to him.

"That is an easy request," the mister said as he went inside the shop took five of the golden apples, and handed them to me.

"Thank you!" I sent him my gratitude and left with the apples in my hands.

The shopkeeper bid farewell to me before noticing that something was wrong. I had taken his golden apple without paying the money!

But when he tried calling me, I was no longer within his sight!

"This little brat!!" only the sound of frustration remained, soon to be buried by the bustling voices of the town.

---

*Crunch*

The juice spread inside my mouth as I took a bite off of Golden Apple.

"I won't forgive you," to the corner I heard a sound.

'So this is what a normal apple tastes like,' I thought inwardly without stopping the mouth munching on an apple. The sound coming from the corner began to intensify.

'I've only eaten a rotten apple or an apple in a trashcan so this tastes so good,' after a last bite, I stopped my foot heading toward the grandest building and detoured toward the corner where fewer people passed by.

"It's... Because of you..." The voice aggressively shouted.

At this point, it didn't even take me to look at it to understand the situation unfolding somewhere dark. To satisfy my curiosity, I jumped and clung myself to the wall, heading to the source of sound from above in secrecy.

Below me, I saw a man above another man, and the subordinate of such man looking at the man above their boss in fear. They stood there frozen.

The man above kept his arm busy continuously swinging it down furiously, making a mess of the man's face.

"If it weren't for you... My sister... She would have found a work befitting for her, a man who she could love and live a happy life!!"

"So tell me! What right did you have to take that future away from her!!"

Every time the man swung his fist down, blood and gore flew everywhere, while the snot was stuck to his hand.

Whatever the backstory was, I wouldn't say I liked seeing a conflict between the two. What's more, I didn't like that his 'supposedly' comrade wasn't helping him out, regardless of which was wrong or right.

I decided to descend making a light thud of sound and landed gently followed by the feathers released from my control.

"Please leave it there, Mr. Stranger," I interrupted the man above, causing him to look at me irritated. 

I tried speaking politely to make it clear that I had no intention of harm, albeit Grandpa Ban didn't particularly like this tone of mine.

"God damnit, what is a kid doing here... you better leave this place, kid. Don't even try helping this man out of goodwill. They're a bad person who would commit a crime without sparing a thought," the man above held the person below by his neck while responding to me.

"No, no. Mister. I'm not trying to help him!! I was just thinking why should you kill him just because he's bad. Why must you be labeled as a 'murderer' after killing him when he is the one who's done something bad?" I made a strange point.

"What are you on about..." The person above was confused.

The two who were watching the situation unfold began sneaking their way out. Therefore, I locked their feet with feathers to prevent the two from running. Then, I began speaking.

"What I want to say is, is it necessary to kill a bad person? Aren't there many ways to punish a bad person without lowering yourself to their level? Have you thought about it deeply? Would your dead sister rather it if you don't get consumed by revenge? Won't you regret your action later after committing an act of revenge?" 

I was surprised at how smoothly the words came out of my mouth. I couldn't word it out but I felt really awful seeing a man—consumed by his rage—to kill another person.

[The trait: Natural Charisma grows strongly with your character]

"I... What am I supposed to do then..." The man released the man below him.

"You decide it for yourself I only suggested you to hesitate for yourself, ahyahyahya," I laughed vulgarly, as I shrugged off his question.

"..." the man stayed silent for a while before his eyes revealed determination. 

"That's right. I'm an adult. I can decide for myself. Therefore," he looked at the man below him, raising his hand.

I offered no intention to stop him anymore, looking away.

"I won't kill him, let's take him to the prison," the man stood up from the spot and carried the man below him.

The man that was below had long since lost his consciousness due to the long duration of torment.

I became overjoyed brightening my eyes. "Then, then, let's bring him to the king!! If he's a bad person as you said and made a lot of bad acts and still not caught, then they must have been a pain to the king! You must be properly compensated for the stuff they stole from you even if it won't suffice." 

I used the criminal as an excuse to meet the king. 

[...] The AI, in contrast, was speechless. He unconsciously showed a surprised expression on the screen at the unusual 'smart' acts I revealed, contradicting my usual incompetency. 

The man carrying the criminal nodded in response. Albeit he hadn't thought as far as visiting the king. In the end, he read my eagerness to visit the king and thought to play with it as a way to 'return' his gratitude for changing his mind.

"I'm Randel. Judging by your appearance, you're not from here, aren't you, kid?" Seeing as I began carrying the three men with my feathers, Randel introduced himself.

"Yeah. I'm from a place called Nanimonai Island, trying to go to Kong King Rong Island. Do you know where it is, Randel?" I asked him.

"Someone lived on that island? Hm... Kong King Rong Island... doesn't ring a bell. Sorry kid, I'm not knowledgeable about the places outside Arabasta. By the way, what's your name, kid? And that object hovering around you..." Randel straightly asked me about my name and about AI.

"I'm Heylail. Amatsuki Heylail. This tablet hovering around me is AI! AI is not its name but once I get inspired, I will name him the coolest name ever!! He's my precious partner," I said.

Then, I leaned closer to him and whispered, "an insider's story but he's the one who navigated me from Nanimonai Island to Arabasta."

"So you say he led you here from Nanimonai Island without a Log Pose or Eternal Pose!? Isn't he a precious treasure!" Randel said amazed.

"Uh, I don't know what Log Pose or Eternal Pose are but yes! AI is my treasure!!" I said, feeling happy that someone understood his amazement, albeit not understanding it myself not knowing how amazing it was.

'Without it, I'd be eating raw foods every day,' I added inwardly.

Randel decided not to dig it deeper out of consideration.

Thus my hand reached out for the golden apple as I began eating it.

---

Passing through the street after street was a huge palace. Connected by another staircase shorter than the staircase to enter Alubarna was the main gate to the palace which two guards guard.

"I request your majesty a visit regarding the three behind me. You should be able to confirm it by yourself. They are the ones involved in a great-scale burglary, and homicide of countless citizens, and most importantly, he had been selling Dance Powder in secrecy." Randel said.

'Dance Powder?' I couldn't remember what sort of powder it was. 

As I was thinking, the two guards widened their eyes and one of them replied. "We have no authority to decide for that, I will ask the king for permission." 

The guard left.

"That's no good," I said. 

[Master...? Are you trying to do what I'm thinking?] The AI fearfully asked.

"Yup, this is faster!" I nodded in response and widened my smile, showing my teeth.

"Heylail?" Randel nervously called me as he felt his feet leaving the land.

Behind him was bountiful of feathers, carrying him up. And without his consent, the five of us flew toward the 

"Hey stop!!" As we passed by the countless guards patrolling inside the palace, more guards began trailing behind us. It felt as if I was forming a line of ants and it was fun. 

"Kid, kid!! We're trespassing the palace!!" Randel behind me teared up shouting in desperation to change my mind.

"Ahyahyahyahya this is so fu- whoops!" I who was laughing suddenly shifted my flight direction upon seeing a falcon around my size swinging a sword that was larger than itself vertically.

"Ah, Pell! That's it! Use your falcon ability to take him down, we can't reach him from here!" The guards below us shouted.

The falcon clumsily turned to us upon noticing that his attack was completely dodged.

'Pell? This tiny falcon is Pell?' I pondered confused. The Pell I saw in the manga was much larger and as if reading my thoughts, AI directly showed an image of Pell getting beaten up by Robin.

Dodging Pell's attacks was easier than dodging Stella's attack because we were mid-air and I had much movement flexibility in the air compared to Pell who could only go forward or backward by flapping his wings.

While I was playing with Pell, a single voice echoed through the palace, catching everyone's attention "What is this ruckus?" 

The owner of the voice was none other than the king of the Arabasta, Nefertari Cobra. Unlike in the manga I've read, he had no wrinkles on his forehead, and his sharp brows showed signs of diligence and seriousness. 

Yet, despite his ruthless facade, I felt the kindness hidden inside. "Ah, King!!" I cheered after seeing his face.

"How is your daughter?" I asked him because I wanted to see how Vivi was doing as well.

"I don't have a daughter. Who might you be, little boy?" Cobra replied.

'Huh, why does he not have a daughter?' I looked at the AI's side but he didn't say anything. In the end, I suppressed my thoughts and answered his question.

"Ah, I'm Heylail I came from Nanimonai Island to ask you about a place," I answered honestly.

The king looked at the three men behind me and Randel as he opened his mouth. "You seem to be a person with a story. Let's continue the rest in my throne room. Soldiers, disperse." 

The guards including Pell (who dissolved his transformation) responded with actions as they left the place.

Finally, then, we had a peaceful time as the palace quietened up. Not gonna lie, I preferred the noisier atmosphere.

---

It didn't take too long to explain my story to him. How I left Nanimonai Island to find Grandpa Ban who went to Kong King Rong Islands, and how I found Randel dealing with problems after arriving at Arabasta Kingdom.

"Mistella... Ban... I have heard of such individuals who have escaped from the Second Research Institute during the destruction of the Third Research Institute..." Nefertari Cobra muttered to himself.

"Heylail was it. It is better for you to not mention those two, especially Mistella's name in the future," Nefertari Cobra touched his beard while speaking.

"Okay," I nodded without asking for the reason why. I had no intention of hearing their past aside from their own mouth.

"Returning to the point, First of all, I would like to thank you for the capture of Viers and his group alive. It would be a great help for us to inquire about the whereabouts of his groups and his dealer," Cobra sincerely thanked me.

If I was an experienced reader, I would have thought 'Which villain big-boss would appear at the corner of the town and get beaten up by your victim's relatives' but I'm just a normal child.

"By the way, regarding the Kong King Rong Island, I think you meant the Long Ring Long Islands. It is close to here and could provide a scarce resource for an island like Nanimonai Island," Nefertari Cobra displayed his intelligence as a king as he figured out Grandpa Ban's intentions and locations of their journey based on the unclear name I mentioned.

"Now that I told you the information you wanted, it is only right for me to reward you for the deed you accomplished for the country, is there anything that you desire?" Cobra said and looked straight at me, anticipating how I would answer him.

"As you've heard earlier, the person who did all the work is Randel. If you're going to ask for a reward ask him," I pointed to Randel.

"Says the boy. Randel, you've contributed well to the kingdom. Is there any that you desire?" Cobra shifted his vision to Randel and spoke to him.

"Yes, Your Majesty. If it is possible, I'd like you to prepare for a proper burial for those who died at their hands. That is my utmost desire, sir," Randel replied and bowed.

"...I understand. I shall compromise the family of the victim and build a burial site... Let's see, a pyramid as a tomb for the people who die in the future. By the way, Amatsuki Heylail. Do you like a duck?" Unbeknownst to himself, Cobra just decided to construct a structure that would be considered a world heritage in the future.

"A duck? I don't know. Never seen one," I told Cobra.

"I see... You may go now," Cobra dismissed me.

I nodded and turned to leave before pausing. "King Cobra, I think you look better as a gentle king," making my words, I silently left, leaving the two agape.

In response to my authority-challenging innocent words, the two who were stunned came back to reality after I left and left Cobra burst out in laughter. "A gentle king, compassionate for his citizens, hmm."

---

"AI, what is going on? Why does the old man look so young and Vivi not been born yet?" I questioned the AI who was hovering motionlessly.

[From the newspaper at your house regarding the Pirate King's execution thirteen days ago, it can be assumed that it is currently the Year 1500, February 14 of the Kaienreki Calendar.]

"Which is?" I couldn't figure out what AI wanted to say.

[The year at which Luffy begins his adventure or chapter 1 of the manga is Year 1522. This means we are 22 years too early for the story you've read] 

"WHAT!! So not to mention Vivi, Luffy, Sanji, Hancock, Coby, Robin isn't even born yet??" I shouted and left my mouth in disbelief.

[Yes. However, Hancock is probably born as she was 29 years old when she first met Luffy which is around 1522, April. From calculations, you can deduce that she was born in 1493 of the Kaienreki Calendar.]

The numbers made a mess in my head so I decided to pay no attention besides the fact that Hancock was already born. Then, a light was lit inside my head. 

"Since 22 years too early from the story, does that mean... I can save the Nohara, Nami's mom?" Many thoughts rotated in my head.

I even imagined meeting Shanks at where Luffy was born and while Shanks gives Luffy a straw hat, I give him a... uh... a shoulder bracelets with feathers.

'Wouldn't it be hilarious if a heart-touching moment turns into the relatives giving a child new-year money type of event?' I became amused at my own thoughts.

The future was bright.