The marine looked at Rook and made a request.
"Can you please let them know that they were actually quite strong, it's just that I'm probably quite older and more experienced than them. Leading to this result…"
After a while, when Ars was ordering his men to collect the heads of the pirates with bounties, there was a bit of noise coming from Ars ship.
Rook, seeing this, smiled and looked at the soldier commenting with a chuckle.
"You might have the chance to tell them yourself."
A few moments later, Kuina and Fierzy jumped out of the ship, and started moving towards Ars.
Ars showed a relieved expression when he saw them walk on their 2 feets, this quick after that experience. He looked at them warmly and worriedly, and inquired about their condition.
"How are you two doing? After feeling that you guys were that close to death."
Fierzy and Kuina both rolled their eyes.
Kuina asked Ars directly.
"Did you notice that our opponent was holding back?"
Ars nodded and Kuina continued.
"So Fierzy was right, that man was holding back from injuring us too heavily, any idea why?"
Ars took a deep breath, trying to control himself from showing a displeased face, before answering.
"I'm still unhappy about what happened, do you know how much you two scared me, and that's the first thing you ask… "
Kuina showed an unapologetic smile, and hugged Ars, before declaring.
"Next time I will do better!"
Ars didn't know what to feel, for one side he was happy that experience didn't deter her from chasing her dream, but at the same time he was regretting taking her with him on this trip.
For him, this incident had been way too close to comfort, but he answered politely, hiding his feelings.
"For the next few trips you are not going anywhere… And the reason why he was holding back is that he was a marine spy, and he actually didn't want to hurt you if possible. And he is there with Rook if you want to speak with him."
Ars pointed in Rook's direction with a vexed expression, he didn't like the idea of Kuina and Fierzy approaching the marine once more.
Kuina kinda knew what was going on in Ars head, but decided to ignore it. And Fierzy didn't think too much about it. They knew he was just feeling uncomfortable, with the idea of the possibility of their death.
Kuina and Fierzy started to move in the direction of the marine, so Ars decided to follow.
When they arrived, Kuina's actions and words shocked Ars.
"Thank you for being light handed with us. If you were a bit more heavy handed we would probably be more injured."
The marine laughed and smiled at them, before answering.
"You don't need to thank me, I can be considered lucky I wasn't more heavy handed, pretty sure I would be dead if I was. And you two were actually pretty strong, I simply had more time to train myself and have more experience fighting."
Kuina shook her head, and politely said.
"No, we still need to thank you, and that's that."
Ars was showing a very unsure how to handle the situation.
He understood why Kuina and Fierzy had expressed their thanks to the marine, but at the same time, he still couldn't calm himself down.
A soldier approached, he looked at Ars and warned him.
"Sir, there is a marine vessel approaching."
Ars nodded and murmured.
"Finally!"
Ars went to meet the marines that were arriving, to his surprise, it was an acquaintance.
From the other side Hina also recognized Ars.
As they anchored, Ars approached and greeted Hina.
"We meet again, Miss Hina."
"Hina, unhappy, you should use Hina's title, not miss…"
Ars smiled before replying.
"Miss Hina is Miss Hina, no changing that."
Hina sighed and decided to let it go, then she looked at Ars and officially reported to him what she had come to do.
"Hina, came to pick up our marine. Hina would also prefer, if there were no incidents, that may lead to a troublesome situation."
Ars nodded and started leading to the marine. And finally answered.
"Me too."
Not long after, they arrived at the marine side, who was now much calmer, after talking with Fierzy and Kuina.
Everyone else also seemed more relaxed and friendly towards him. Ars seeing this was confused, so he couldn't help but comment.
"Scary… I leave for a few minutes and when I return the atmosphere in place completely changed."
Rook smiled at him and explained.
"The marine has been talking with Kuina-sama, and since she didn't blame him, everyone forgave him. And then he started telling stories about his past and everyone kinda started liking him."
Ars could only laugh awkwardly. He didn't hate the marine but looking at him made him remember something unpleasant, so he was feeling strange about the current situation.
Thankfully the situation was about to be solved by itself.
Hina saw the marine, and sighed relieved that he was unharmed, then said to him.
"Marine, it is time to go home."
The marine saw Hina, and greeted her cheerfully.
"Hina-chan, it's been a while since I saw you, how have you been?"
Hina wet red, before answering.
"Hina's angry, you shouldn't call Hina without the honorifics indicating Hina position, but Hina's doing fine, and yes, Hina is happy that you are doing well."
"Yes, yes!"
Ars laughed at the dismissal tone of the marine towards Hina's anger.
Hina then looked around to the other people, and after checking everyone, her eyes moved to Kuina, Fierzy, Kina and her female companions, before commenting.
"Hina is surprised to see females as warriors outside the marines, in most of the kingdoms, females are not allowed to join the military."
Ars thought about it, and he realized it was true, while it wasn't unseen, it was decently rare.
Kuina laughed, and clarified.
"Everyone in our kingdom can join the military, and I'm pretty sure if our king had a say, in what everyone does in their free time, everyone would be forced to train in martial arts."
Ars nodded and added.
"Inded, but it's pretty rare to see female soldiers, or at least large groups of them, you can see one here and there, but not something you see everyday."
The marine that was still relaxed and seated on the ground looked at Hina, smiled and commented happily.
"You have no idea…"
Hina showed a confused face.
"Hina's confused about what Hina has no idea."
He laughed, grinned mischievously, and pointed at Kuina, and asked.
"What do you think is her position in the kingdom?"
Hina looked at Kuina who was smiling curiously about her possible answer and replied, still a bit confused.
"Maybe a captain…."
Everyone laughed now, the marine who was not nervous anymore, calmly answered.
"Wrong, she is the queen in charge of the military."
Hina's face completely changed to a mixture of shock and surprise.
She suddenly started paying her respects to her.
"Hina's sorry she didn't properly greet you, your majesty."
Kuina dismissed it and smiled at her, answering her calmly.
"Don't worry about it."
One of Ars soldiers approached and whispered to him.
"Sir, there is a storm approaching the island, we need to move soon if we want to leave today."
Ars nodded and started giving orders.
"Prepare everyone to set sail, as fast as possible…"
He stopped to look at everyone here, and explained.
"There is a storm incoming, if we want to leave today, we need to get moving, so start preparing to depart."
Hina, hearing that there was a storm incoming, also looked at the marine and said quickly.
"Hina would also like to avoid the storm so, let's hurry back to the ship so we can also leave today. Hina had enough storms for the next few years."
They all started going their own ways, but Kuina decided to say something to Hina without looking back.
"And Hina-san, the person who brought you here to meet the marine is our king, and by the way, if you ever decide to leave the marines you are welcome to come work for me."
Hina just smiled, a bit shocked with Kuina's invitation, it wasn't everyday she was invited to work for a kingdom so directly. But more importantly for her own piece of mind she chose to ignore the position Ars had.
On the ship, after Ars confirmed everyone was on board, he quickly gave the orders.
"Get ready to set sail, let's avoid this storm and return home as fast as possible."
The return trip was calm, with no interruptions. When they arrived, everyone went back to their normal routines. With the exception of Ars who went back to his house to go check on the patient in his laboratory, he had long received the message that she had recovered, but until now he simply didn't have the time to go meet her.
When he entered she had her eyes closed, but when he started moving she snapped them open, and showed an angry expression for a few seconds, before showing a very confused expression.
Ars smiled at her and went to the machine to let her out.
Once the liquid drained, the machine opened the door, and she exited confused.
Ars offered her a robe, it was only now that she showed a different emotion from the previous bewilderment. She was very embarrassed, and quickly put on the robe.
She looked at him and asked him a bit nervous.
"Who are you?"
Ars smiled at her gently, and replied.
"I am Ars nautical, the king of the small new kingdom you are currently in… Between other roles…Like a scientist and a warrior. How about you?"
She looked at him trying to read him for clues if he was telling the truth or not. And in the worst case helping her father punish her.
"I am Vinsmoke Reiju… no i was Vinsmoke Reiju, now i'm only Reiju, used to be a princess, but now im only something of a scientist myself… and maybe a warrior… I don't know anymore…"
Reiju was still not convinced this wasn't one of her father's plans to punish her, so she was hesitant, but at the same time, if it wasn't one of her father's plans, then she was free…
But in that case who was she… She was feeling lost, until now she always had to follow orders, and even if she wanted to do something else, the orders always came and she was forced to follow them…
Now, if there weren't any more orders, then she was free to do whatever she wished… But she had no idea what she was wishing for.
She finally looked at Ars properly once more, before asking.
"Can I explore the island a bit, and get actual clothes?"
Ars nodded, before adding a request.
"But please, meet at least one of my queens, she saw you getting nearly killed by your father, and has been worried about you."
She nodded, that wouldn't hurt her plans to check if this man was in any shape or form related to her dad. She then remembered something and looked at Ars before saying.
"By the way, thank you for saving my life. And you said one of them?"
Ars just smiled and nodded. When he was just about to grab her hand, he stopped, he had forgotten to give her the confidentiality contract.
She showed a confused expression, when he went to get a paper, but when he gave the paper to her, she could only laugh awkwardly.
She read it, and signed it off.
After that, Ars, a bit red from being embarrassed about forgetting the contract, took her hand and teleported them outside the laboratory.
Ars searched for Kuina for a bit and after he found her, he took Reiju to meet her.
When Kuina saw Reiju she quickly approached, and hugged her much to Reiju's surprise.
After a few seconds, Kuina let her go and said confidently.
"You are safe here, he can't reach you here."
Reiju, still shocked, started crying, this hug was the warmest gesture towards her in years…
In the past their father also hugged them, but that didn't feel like he was hugging his children but his achievements.