Chapter 6: Thinking It Through
It wasn't that Maud was pretending to be dumb.
It was just that the timing of Sunny's question was very strange.
Seeing the confusion on Maud's face, Sunny added, "Arthur's hand."
"Oh, that..."
Maud looked at Sunny with curiosity.
He paused, put down the mop and bucket, and recreated the movement he made to dodge Arthur in slow motion.
After doing it, he looked at Sunny and said with a tone of uncertainty, "Like this?"
Sunny was silent.
A few seconds later, the sound of something falling was heard from inside the counter.
Maud instinctively looked under the counter, and his eyelid twitched when he saw a small part of a gun's grip.
Sunny said in a timely manner, "I dropped the gun by accident, don't mind it."
Then, she bent down to pick up the gun and carelessly put it on the counter.
"I couldn't remember the move you made. Could you do it again?"
Maud looked at the musket that was on the counter. The barrel was pointing at him, whether intentionally or not.
He started thinking. Of course, he wasn't going to do that pointless move again.
Although he wasn't sure of the reason for Sunny's insistence, it seemed that he could no longer be evasive.
"I didn't use any method. I just stayed alert at that moment, so I was able to dodge it in time. Besides, isn't it not that important?"
Upon hearing this, Sunny stared at Maud in silence.
After a while, she nodded and said calmly, "You're right, it's not that important. Carry on with what you were doing."
Maud was speechless and could only label Sunny with the word "strange."
Then, he put away the mop and bucket in the storage room.
When he returned to the shop, Sunny was still in the same place.
The musket that had been on the counter was gone, and in its place was a piece of paper on which a pencil was resting.
Maud's gaze fell on the paper and pencil, and he asked, "Can I go back to my room now?"
Sunny nodded, took the piece of paper that was under the pencil, and motioned for Maud to take it.
Maud understood, approached the counter, and took the paper Sunny offered him.
There were a few lines written on it.
After reading them superficially, they seemed to be notes.
Did she have to write such short things on a piece of paper?
Maud was full of questions.
He put away the paper, and out of the corner of his eye he saw the pencil. A thought crossed his mind.
"Sunny, can I take this pencil to my room?"
"Whatever you want."
"Thanks."
Maud took the pencil and left.
Sunny watched him go. Then, she took a notebook and a newspaper from the bottom drawer of the counter.
She put both on the counter.
She put the newspaper aside and opened the notebook in the middle.
On the open page was some information with names.
Sunny glanced at it and then opened it again.
On that page, something was also written, and at the top, Kid's big name was there.
Without stopping for long, Sunny flipped through a few more pages and finally found a completely blank one.
Then, she took a pencil from the drawer, looked at the contents of the newspaper, and started writing in the notebook.
A few minutes later, Sunny stopped writing.
The page, which had been blank before, was now half-full.
At the end of all the words was Maud's full name and a big question mark.
After looking at Maud's name one last time, Sunny closed the notebook and put it away with the pencil at the bottom of the drawer.
"I think I'll talk to Saul."
Sunny murmured to herself.
Maud returned to the room he had woken up in.
He was surprised at how easy it was to be accepted.
However, Maud also realized that Saul, the owner of the place, was very nonchalant in that regard.
Perhaps the only reason he brought him back was because he really saw him as a future laborer for his shop.
"Since I'm here, I'll stay."
Maud murmured to himself. He locked the door and sat down on the dusty chair. Then, he began to examine the contents of the paper.
[Don't leave the house, day or night. Stay in the house quietly.]
[Don't touch the products on the shelves.]
[The basement is forbidden.]
[There are ingredients in the kitchen fridge.]
[We'll talk about the rest tomorrow.]
Maud finished reading the paper with a complicated expression.
Did she have to write those few things on a piece of paper? Couldn't she have just said them orally?
Maud shook his head slightly, unable to understand Sunny's way of acting. He left the paper on the table, which was also dusty, and took the pencil he had brought with him.
The Hunter's Notebook
With a thought, the black notebook appeared out of thin air.
He opened it to a blank page, closed his eyes, and tried hard to remember the memories related to One Piece.
To consolidate and organize these memories, he planned to slowly write them down from memory and then review them several times.
Although the quill pen of the Hunter's Notebook had no ink, it alone could leave permanent marks in the notebook.
As for other pencils.
Like the pencil Maud had in his hand.
He could use it to write and draw on any page of the Hunter's Notebook.
But afterward, as soon as he made the notebook disappear, the words and drawings would turn to ashes and fall to the floor.
Thus, Maud could use this feature to consolidate his memories as he pleased.
It should be noted that the information that could be transformed from these memories could become his food in the future.
"What impacted me the most, without a doubt, is the Straw Hat crew\..."
"After all, they are the protagonists, so a lot of information about them was revealed."
"But their true strength was manifested two years after the beginning of the story."
"That's too far away..."
"Judging by Kid's age, the story is still a few years away from starting, isn't it?"
"Besides, there are many other more suitable targets. There's no need to focus on them."
"By the way, the Arlong Pirates. I wonder if the Hunter's Notebook would work on fish-men. And giants!"
"If it works, it's something unimaginable."
"By the way, the Arlong Pirates are in the East Blue, and we're in the West Blue. Can I get to the East Blue by sailing?"
"I remember Kid was from the South Blue. If he could get to the West Blue, then from the West Blue to the East Blue shouldn't be a problem."
"Thinking about all this now doesn't make much sense."
Maud organized his memories while writing and drawing on the paper.
Although he knew nothing about navigation, that didn't stop him from letting his imagination run wild.
Thus, immersed in his thoughts, time passed.
In Saul's room.
Several lit candles were distributed on the windowsill, on the bedside table, on the desk, and in other places, providing sufficient light for the ten-square-meter room.
Although there were more convenient electric lights, Saul ignored them.
This was one of the things Sunny could never understand.
"Did you come to find me just to tell me that Maud is abnormal?"
Saul, sitting cross-legged on a large double bed, held his thin golden pipe in his right hand.
The smoke swirled and smelled a little strong.
His gaze, through the smoke, settled on Sunny with a hint of scrutiny.
"But you know that I've never cared about that."
"Saul, Maud... he's different from the others."
"How is he different?"
Sunny was speechless for a moment.
Saul gently rubbed the stem of his pipe.
"You're right. He's very different."