Chapter 40: One meal, one feast, to forget one's duty.

*Few minutes ago when Edam was in the ship with the girls.*

-----------------------------------

On the streets of the port two old men of rather imposing height and great stature could actually be seen walking leisurely toward the Home Dog's ship.

One of the two old men was dressed in a very official white suit with a Marine cape and weared a dog mask on his head as he ate what seems to be biscuit with a grinning smile plastered on his face.

This old man was of course Garp eating his favourite rice crackers.

The other old man alongside him was dressed in a similar suit down to some details. He official suit was purple instead of white and he had like the other guy cape over his shoulder as well as a pair of glasses.

Obviously it was Zephyr.

It seems that the former admiral was still suffering from his pulmonary problems as he was actually using an aerosol making his buddy at the side laugh his ass out.

" Pfff...Nyahahaha what a weakling, nyahaha..." Garp mock with a stupid and funny face.

"You damn monkey, shut up !" Zephyr angrily rebuked furiously.

...

And so an argue began not for long however.

As they were bickering they still eventually reach the ship as the two soldiers saluted.

"Welcome back, vice-admiral !"

"Oh yeah, good job, here take it one for you and one for you." Garp gave out one pieces of his precious rice crackers as reward and then asked.

"Hey did you see this damn little monkey of Edam...?" Garp asked curiously to which soldier A replied with a salute.

"Yes, the young Edam is already in there vice-admiral..."

'Heh...so he was so bored that he couldn't wait for us or... ?' Zephyr wondered quietly.

"...anyway it's even better if he's already here..." Garp replied to them as he made his way aboard.

However Soldier A opened his mouth again and said. "Uh however..."

Garp stopped in his track and said. "However ?"

"Uh...E,Edam came back with...uh..." Hesitation was filling his head.

"Goddammit...just say it..." a little piss off Garp said.

"Well... he brought back some girls...in the ship." In the end soldier A couldn't help but obey his duty as he spit out the thruth.

Garp "..."

Zephyr "..."

"What did you say again...?" Garp asked soldier A to repeat in a ominous and weird tone seemingly because he didn't really got what he said.

"Edam brought back some girls..." Now the soldier was really regreting that he run out his mouth without purpose as he repeated again.

He could clearly see a vein popping on vice-admiral's Garp head.

Even soldier B was cursing at him under his breath.

Althought they weren't really at fault... albeit on another thought, yes they were for allowing him to go in but...

What could they as simple marines possibly do right ? he was HIS goddamn grandson, so what could they possibly do...!

Sigh...they were clearly the collaterals victims of this matter.

...

"E,D,A,M...!!!" A voice as furious as a lion having lost its cub suddenly resonate powerfuly in the air making the giant ship quivered almost like a real misbehaving dog having done a mess.

"How dare you bring back girls on MY ship, you unfilial grandson... !!!" Garp yelled as he took big strides forward while rolling up his sleeves furiously in preparation to give this grandson of his a little piece of his mind as well as maybe some loving slaps here and there for free who know...

Stopping right in front of the entrance, he shouted again.

"If you're not here at three, just you see how I deal with you !"

And he then started to count to three.

"One...!"

"Two...!" At two, his angry face frowned as he shouted again.

"Thr-..." Before he shouted the last in its entirety, a small figure arrived in front of him while shouting nervously.

"I'm here...! I'm here...!"

The poor Edam had his head lowered to the lowest with guilt wrtten all over his face as he didn't even dare to look at his furious grandpa.

"You...idiot...!" Garp said as this sentence was followed by three violent." Pah, Pah, Pah" sounds.

Three red bump were formed on Edam poor little head as the latter cried. " Itē...(it hurt)" however he still tried to keep it for himself and endure the pain.

"So you really did brought back some girls huh...!" Garp said as his gaze fell on the girls who had followed just behind Edam making them shudder a little.

Of course with his super keen eyes, he had already seen that they were slaves the moment he saw them.

The marks around their necks caused by the collars wasn't something that he would forgot for a certain reason it seems.

"I, I'm sorry grandpa..." Edam suddenly apologize as he rubbed this little head of his in pain with his eyes still lowered as he just kept looking at the floor.

Even though Edam believed that he wasn't in the wrong for what he did, he still decided to apologize to Garp.

There was only one person in front of whom he would never take the confidence and never insult or talk behind his back and it was his grandpa.

However it was not from fear or whatnot... but because Edam just felt that it was naturaly right to respect his grandpa who took care of him since he and his brothers were babies.

As Ace and Luffy really had some difficulties to show their grandpa the respect that he should have had, mainly because of their differing opinions on their future prospect, and so Edam as their older brother thought that it was his responsability as the eldest sibling to show filial piety in their stead.

And... although Garp had a strange way of showing his love he had never complain to take care of them at all.

Having seemingly calm down, Garp looked at his grandson and then at the girls repeatedly with a thoughtful expression while Zephyr who was at the side just kept silent with a faint smile on his face.

...

Seeing that nothing else was coming hitting his poor head like canon ball, Edam tried to lift his head as he looked at Garp with one opened eye, keeping the other eye closed.

As he did so, he against all odds heard something that he didn't expect at all, something nearly akin to the heaven's decree to his ears.

"Anyway... I will give you your punishment later."

Garp then turned around and then shouted out loud. "We're setting sail right now !" before making his way to his private quarter.

With this order, every marine soldiers hurriedly readied themselves as they prepared the ship right away.

However before Garp actually disappeared in, Edam then called out to him.

"Grandpa ?"

"Hum...?" Garp turn his head around curiously.

"Uh...actually there's one more on the bed of the doctor's office..."

"..."

"Pah !" Was the only sound that replied to him as he cried out again in pain.

The poor Edam told himself to think in his head...

"At least I'm honest, it's the most important..."

.....

After Garp was gone in and the ship was departing from the port, Zephyr who was at the side approached Edam while saying.

"What a little rascal you are, hahaha..." Z said laughing hearthily as he rubbed in a rather fierce manner Edam's head.

However at this gesture, Edam cried out in complain.

"Aouch, it hurt grandpa...!" he looked at him with a bit of grievance.

"Ahh, sorry, my bad, my bad haha..." Z apologize sheepishly and then suggested in the next moment with a smile.

"Anyway, are you not hungry, let's go eat shall we ?"

He said suddenly looking the girls, and awakening by the way a hotly burning light in Edam's eyes as he said in an overjoyed and excited voice.

"That's a good idea...!" This simple sentence from Zephyr had suffice to make him forget any pain that he felt a moment ago.

"Come on you three it's time to eat...!" Edam said cheerfully as he led them to the kitchen.

In the kitchen they then began to asked the chef what they wanted to eat.

However it was a bit complicated with the girls as they still weren't comfortable enough to asked for food like that.

So in the end, Edam was the one to choose their foods instead, even though it didn't matter what he took for them because with Edam alone the table would be filled to the brim with countless types of dishes.

Having nothing better to do while waiting for their foods Edam then decided on a whim to introduce every staff members in a very cheerful mood explaining to the girls how every one of them were important and were a must to have in one ship, flattering by the way the ego of every staff members who then put even more fervor in cooking their dishes.

The dishes didn't took too long to be served as they then took a table in the dining room.

...

Hancock's dish was a steamed chicken served atop fragrant oily rice, with sliced cucumber as the token vegetable served along with soy sauce to add even more flavor and savor to it.

Sandersonia's dish was made of various seafoods like Shrimp, lobster, mussels and cuttlefish combined with white rice and various herbs, oil and salt mixed in.

As for Mariegold's dish consisted of multiple slices of porc meat put over a plate of fresh noodles and covered with a special flagrant sauce personaly made by the chef.

"Thank you for the food...!"

All these dish and those delightful fragrance were an impossible tentation to resist for Edam as he assault his own food which was made of about everything that the girls had with of course an enormous quantity to it.

Well even the shy sisters were nearly drooling despite their restrains.

...

As they were eating Edam engaged the conversation and began to talk about everything and anything, this and that...how his brothers were putting misery over their " adopting mother" Dadan everyday and a lot of other stuff...

Then not long after Zephyr join them and then it was some random soldiers who were hungry and then doctor Gahan and lastly, even Garp join in as this normal meal finaly end up in a huge feast that last all night long.

No need to say that foods disappeared nearly as soon as it reach the tables.

And surprisingly the culprit wasn't just this glutton of Edam, not at all, it was also thanks to the sisters as after the first bite they completely surrender any efforts to resist in front of their grumbling belly.

Like the saying goes, an empty stomach is always honest and it is indeed true...

But of course how could we forget Zephyr and especially Garp, who ate like a glutton too.

No wonder that Edam and Luffy ate so much, it should be hereditary... maybe...

Like that a day passed as the dog ship was already sailing on the great blue sea while none of them noticed a certain Den Den Mushi ringing furiously at the side with the objective to request something urgent to them.

Althought they were totally oblivious to this fact.

...

The next day, Edam woke up leisurely with heavy eyes that threatened to fall down again if he didn't pay attention.

After a couple of minutes as he blinked his sleepy eyes, he noticed that he actually wasn't sleeping on his bed !

His super comfy bed placed right next to a rounded window which offered a spectacular view over the sometimes calm and sometimes fierce and flowing waves of the sea.

Instead of his bed he was actually sleeping on the floor !

Looking around him with a now awakened he noticed something strange.

Just beside him not even a meter apart, three young girls were actually lying there, sleeping peacefully with a blanket to cover them and one pillow each below their heads.

Looking at them, he finally remembered.

After the party was finished and it was time to sleep, a little problem occured...

Where would the three girls sleep ?

They couldn't possibly let three girls sleep with some marines guys right ?

Even though they were supposed to be the good guys, they were still men. "Accidents" could occured or something.

Without stating that the girls expressions turn awful in an instant. They didn't say anything but there was a clear rejection of sleeping in a place filled with men, the "source" of their misfortunes and nightmares.

And so having no other choice, Zephyr just suggested that the girls would sleep in Edam's room.

Although it wasn't too large it was enough for four kids.

As for why Edam too was on the ground, well it was because he proposed them to just fit in the bed as it was a rather large but they refused with blushing faces too embarassed to sleep on the same bed as him.

However as Edam too felt a bit embarassed to sleep alone on a giant and royally comfortable bed while three girls slept on the floor, he in the end decided to sleep with them on the floor much to the girl's dismay.

And so everything led us to this moment.

Their angelics faces as they slept peacefully wrapping themselves on their one cushion like three baby snakes was really heart melting to say the least, making Edam even more certain that he had made the right choice.

Those pillows were in fact Edam's pillows that he gave them on his own accord despite the eldest sister tentative of refusal that end up in vain obviously.

After looking at their cute sleeping selfs and repressing his desire to pinch their smooth cheeks, he decided to go out to take a breath and take his breakfast.

He silently sneak out of the room like a ghost as he headed right to the deck where the fabulous view of the sea waves dancing seemingly forever and ever with a cool breeze passing by greet him gently in company of the warm morning light of the sun.

With this view he decided to take his breakfast outside.

He took a table in the kitchen with a chair and asked some cooks already up to make whatever they want for the breakfast.

He got a bowl of hot chocolate, some buttered bread with some slices of ham and some pieces of cheeses as well to accompanied everything.

As he began to eat he suddenly found himself in company of Zephyr and Garp who were already up before anyone else.

However as they ate, a news coo (a gull ) dressed in its usual official white "suit" that is hat, a bag over its shoulder and another bag hanging on its neck, came to deliver their daily newspaper... and for a news, this one was a big news indeed...

Marie Geoise has actually been assaulted yesterday ! Every slaves has been freed !

The culprit, a fish-man is said to have climb the whole Red Line and actually succeed to infiltrate the prison and then proceed to set the city on fire ! The fish-man is even suspected to have killed a celestial dragon !

This brought big shock to soldiers nearby as they heard Garp read it in a solemn tone.

Each one of those crimes were liable to death penalty and this fish-man actually did everything !

Finishing his reading Garp took a deep breath as he seemed to take bit of time to process what happened as he then...

"Pfff...!"

Burst out in laughter... ?!

"Bwahahahaha...!"

Edam "..."

Zephyr "..."

Marine soldiers "..."

"...Is that what some call Karma ? Bwahahaha..." He laughed so hard that a tear came out.

The guy seemed to be really content at their misfortune.

"...The worst of all is that they have been screwed over by only one fish-man, ONE fish-man, bwahahaha..." In the end he even began to mock them.

But no one said anything at all mainly because...

The marines soldiers didn't have the ranks to say anything, Zephyr didn't care about it, and Edam... well Edam was mostly feeling bad for the fish-man who had to take upon himself a crime that he had commit.

So he just his mouth shut, and thought ' Sorry Mr fish-man I'll make it up to you someday, it's a promise..."

...

After having a good laugh Garm continued to eat while chatting a bit.

"...Munch, munch, munch...Oh that's right Edam what about the girl asleep, is she still uncounscious ?" Garp asked while eating with his annoying smile. It seems that he totally forgot what happened yesterday, maybe thanks to today "good news" who know...

"Hum...I've gone to see her but she's still sleeping it seems."

"Well she has been subjected to... something terrible...and maybe for years now so, it's no wonder that she's exhausted, just let her sleep...and Gahan know what to do, it's fine..." Zephyr said.

"Oh what's her name by the way ?"

"Well I don't really know... you came before I learned her name so..." Edam said as he drank his chocolate.

"Oh so...you're saying it's my fault...?" Garp narrowed his eagle eyes menacingly.

"What ? No absolutely not...!" Edam said nervously waving his hands to refute this.

Before they actually continued their comedy show, Zephyr interrupted and said.

"Hey Edam take this..." He then threw what seems to be a book right at Edam who by reflex caught it in mid air with his right hand.

"This is...?" Edam asked curiously while Garp looked in surprised as he read the title of the book...

"Yggdrasil's great arts"...?