There is no erotic element this time.
It's been a while since we welcomed mother and daughter Uta and Oto onto the Merry in Elegia.
At first, there were concerns about whether Uta, who was a former musician for the Red Hair Pirates but still seemed malnourished, and Oto, who had never left Elegia, let alone gone out to sea, would be able to get used to the ship, but these worries turned out to be unfounded.
"Mmm! Nice weather... All right."
The climate on the Grand Line was relatively stable, and Uta, who had gained weight (not in the sense of being obese, but in a healthy way) compared to when she was in Elegia, took a breath in good spirits.
"~♩~♪"
And what came out of her mouth was a beautiful singing voice.
It's not a very loud voice, but it's clear and pleasant to the ear.
"It's still a great song."
"Yes, I find myself humming along too."
I was tending to my tangerine orchard, listening to the song echoing on the Merry.
Nami and Vivi looked at each other and smiled.
Although they are obscured by the tangerine trees, the forward deck is the stage, and Luffy's daughter Oto is likely clapping happily on top of her father as an audience member.
I thought maybe the other crew members were listening too.
" ~♪"AhhAh
"Ahh ♪"
Before I knew it, Oto and Uta were singing in a round.
Uta has been singing with the Red Hair Pirates since she was a child and has received lessons from Gordon in Elegia, so she is literally a professional.
He has the technique, tempo, range, and above all, the power to captivate.
Oto, on the other hand, hadn't had much practice, but the lively singing voice of a young child still resonated with me.
I'm not sure if it was a coincidence, but Uta and Oto's voices harmonized, adding even more depth to the song.
"Year!"
"Yaaah!...Hey Dad! How was it?"
Before they knew it, it had become a duet with Uta, and Oto asked Luffy how the song turned out.
Even without the prejudices her parents may have had about her, her singing voice was invigorating, and when I patted her on the head and said, "Ah, that was good," she laughed happily, "Nishishii."
"Luffy, wait a minute..."
"...Come on, Oto. It's time to study with Kaya."
Nojiko seemed to have something she didn't want Oto to hear, and she was pleading with her eyes for me to follow her, so I urged her to go to Kaya in her room.
By the way, Oto had no general knowledge or education at all, so the ship's crew took turns helping him with his studies.
Uta took Oto to the cabin, and Luffy and Nojiko went to the aft deck.
"It would be fine if we were just on the same route, but there's a ship chasing us. And look."
When I was given a telescope to look at the ship, I saw that it was a magnificent warship shaped like a dragon's head.
A chimney was visible in the center of the ship, billowing out black smoke.
" Oh, so that's why it's so fast."steamshipPaddleship
"Not just that. Look at the sails."
"...What's that?"
At Nojiko's urging, I looked at the sail, which had the Navy's blue seagull markings. Well, that alone would have made it a Navy warship, but the problem was that there was a large cross painted over the markings.
Even if it were a self-homage or an unrelated ship imitating the mark, it would still be malicious and likely to attract the government's attention.
"It's creepy, right? So I'm calling for Tashigi now—oh, here she comes."
Makino went to call for him, and Tashigi appeared, looking a bit flustered as if she had been in a bit of a hurry. "Is it true that there is a cross on the Navy mark?" she asked carefully, so Luffy handed her the telescope he had and she confirmed it with her own eyes, then, unusually swearing, seemed to have some idea.
"From the looks of it, they don't seem like a very good bunch."
"Yes, there's no doubt about it. That person is a stain on the Navy... a former Navy pirate, Gasparde."
A former navy pirate. That would certainly be a stain on the navy.
However, why do they use naval symbols even though they call themselves pirates?
"That ship, the Salamander, was originally a naval warship. However, Gaspard stole it while it was undergoing repairs on Shipbuilding Island. In the process, the island's residents..."
"They're pretty aggressive... If they're chasing me, they must be targeting me."
Pirates would have only one reason to pursue a ship, and given Gaspard's background, the only possible reason was plunder.
They may be looking for valuables on the ship, or enslaving the crew, or perhaps even kidnapping Alabasta's Princess Vivi.
"Now, what should we do..."
"There's no way he'll escape in that state."
Even if Nami's knowledge and Luffy's abilities give the Merry excellent navigational capabilities, it will still be unable to outrun the larger ships in terms of speed.steamshipPaddleship
This means they have no choice but to fight, but there are more members on the Merry who are not used to rough situations than those who can fight.
"Nojiko, call Robin. Tashigi, I'll leave the ship to you. Makino, you take care of Kaya and the others--"
"Hey, let me go too!"
As he was giving instructions to board the ship, Uta volunteered to be part of the attack team.
Nojiko and the others are surprised by his sudden candidacy, but Uta seems somewhat dissatisfied.
"Look, Uta. This isn't a game."
"Why not? I want to do a concert on that ship instead of rehabilitation."
"Well, a concert..."
As Nojiko was taken aback by Uta's somewhat carefree words, Uta pointed her finger at Luffy.
"I haven't forgotten my abilities! I haven't used them for ten years, but now that I'm on this ship, I've mastered them!"
"...Ah, I get it."
Luffy, Uta, and Tashigi boarded a small boat that was on board the Merry as a shopping spree and lifeboat.
Robin, Nojiko, and Makino, who had been called, were watching the scene.
By the way, Nami and Vivi have Kaya and Oto protecting them just in case.
"Makino-san, does Uta have some kind of ability?"
"Hmm, I've heard of it, but I don't know much about it. I think it was an ability called Utauta, which is the same name as that girl."
"Huh... a Utauta fruit?"
Robin seemed a little surprised to hear the name before, and she prefaced her explanation with "It's just a rumor, though," before explaining about the Utauta Fruit.
"As the name suggests, the Utauta fruit is said to have abilities that are activated by the song of the person who eats it. Its main effect is sleep - it seems to take away the consciousness of anyone who hears its voice."
"But we..."
"I think it's just a voluntary activation. My Hana Hana doesn't just activate on its own either."
We heard Uta singing on the Merry earlier, and just like Luffy's tag, if the ability were to activate on its own, it would be a disaster.
Although she is often unable to control her powers shortly after consuming them, Uta has been using them since before she was left behind by Elegia - back when she was with the Red Hair Pirates.
If that's the case, then it's possible to sing without using any abilities.
"Also, there are claims that the song 'controls those who hear it' or 'causes them to hallucinate', but I don't know how much of that is true..."
As he spoke, the battle had probably begun.
If you listened carefully, you could hear the faint sounds of gunfire and cannon fire coming from the deck of the Salamander.
"I wonder if it's okay..."
"There's a captain and marines here, so I don't think there's anything to worry about."
Luffy's tags are very versatile in battle, and just listening to Uta's song is enough to subdue an opponent. Even if there is an opponent who is not affected by them, Tashigi can protect them and there will be no openings.
Then, as if the battle was over, the Salamander's paddles stopped and the chase came to an end.
"It looks like everything is fine. Nojiko, tell Nami that we're making a U-turn. Robin, please steer the ship."
The Merry was originally a normal sailing ship, so it could be steered without Luffy, but it would be very difficult for a woman to steer it due to the strength involved.
However, perhaps quantity trumps quality, Robin's Hana Hana no Mi allows her to make up for a lack of strength with numbers.
In addition, just like Luffy, it is done solely by Robin's will, which makes it more efficient than working with multiple people.
"It's over? That was quick. By the way, is Gasparde a wanted man?"
"Tashigi says it's 95 million."
"Okay, I'll contact the Navy right away!"
When Nami returned to the deck to change course, her eyes were fixed on Gasparde's bounty.
However, even though the ship had grown in size and expenses had increased, Aaron's bounty money still remained, and the bounty for defeating Creek had not been touched.
(Note that Nami was disappointed that Kuro's bounty had been lifted because there was a record of his execution.)
Soon, the Merry pulled up next to the stopped Salamander, and the ramp was lowered, and the three people who had boarded the Merry returned—
"picture?"
"I'm sorry..."
"..."
An old man and a young boy, both wearing soot-stained clothes, sat at a table in the dining room of the Merry. The old man looked somewhat relieved, but the boy remained motionless, not trying to hide his wariness.
The atmosphere wasn't particularly friendly, but the sweet smell of the cocoa Makino had made eased some of the tension.
"Um, Luffy. What was the situation?"
"...The Gaspard group was wiped out quickly."
The pirates try to fight back when Luffy and his crew board the ship, but Uta's "concert" manages to subdue them almost entirely.
Gasparde also had the ability to transform his body into starch syrup using the Ame Ame no Mi, but while he boasted that it was immune to physical attacks, Luffy's ability allowed him to damage the body just by attaching a tag.
And Tashigi, who had accompanied Uta as her bodyguard just in case, did not appear.
"So, I went to investigate the Salamander and found myself in the boiler room."
"I'm Viera. This one's called Badger."
"........."
After introducing himself, Makino greeted Badger with "Nice to meet you," and Badger turned his face away.
It's likely, but judging from his behavior, he was probably subjected to some kind of abuse.
"Eight years ago, Gaspard forced us onto the ship as engineers."
"Eight years...could it be Shipbuilding Island?"
This coincided with the time when Gasparde announced himself as a pirate and hijacked the Salamander. When Tashigi heard this, Viera nodded and said, "That's right."
He then patted the badger on the head and said, "I met a badger that day."
"It seems this child was attacked during Gaspard's attack and swept away by the river. We hid together on the Salamander, thinking it would be a navy ship, but..."
The attack on the island was originally planned by Gaspard to steal the Salamander, so it was unlucky.
However, the pirates had no knowledge of the structure of a steamship and Viera was weak, so they took him away as he was, thinking he would be a suitable slave.
The badger was pulled from the river and there was no time to let it escape, so it was hidden by Viera, pretending to be his disciple.
"So, what about your family, Badger?"
"...I don't know either. Later I heard rumors that there were survivors, but I don't know if her parents or brother were among them..."
Makino turned to Tashigi, but she shook her head. The Navy had no information on survivors, and the shipbuilding island was now deserted.
Nami and Nojiko, who had been through similar circumstances, had gloomy looks on their faces, perhaps because they saw themselves in the same situation.
"So, what are we going to do now? We plan to hand Gasparde over to the Navy and then continue our journey... When the Navy arrives, we can either ask them for protection, or we can take them to a town with good security."
Even though Gasparde has been neutralized, the people who were put to sleep by the Uta Uta no Mi will wake up once Uta loses consciousness. That's why Robin is currently using her ability to bind them.
Tashigi had already reported to the Navy that Gaspard had been captured, so reinforcements from nearby waters would be sent immediately.
The options now open to Viera and Badger are to seek refuge with the navy and seek protection, or to board the Merry.
"No, this is good."
"Dad! I'm done studying!"
Just as I was about to tell him what to do from now on, Oto, who Kaya had been looking after in my room under the pretext of studying, came in.
However, when he noticed an unfamiliar old man and boy in the room, he seemed surprised and hid in Luffy's shadow.
"Oto, that's rude to the customer."
"Um, uh... well, it's Oto."
"Hohoho, what a lovely young lady. I'm Viera. Come on, say hello too."
Unlike before, the badger is likely being encouraged to interact with other children.
Perhaps he thought it would be uncool to swear at a child younger than him, so he simply said, "Badger..."
"Oto, Dad and the others are having an important discussion. Let's play on deck, okay?"
"…Yeah"
Uta, obviously not wanting to tell Oto a complicated story, urged him to leave the room, and Oto nodded but continued to stare at the badger.
The badger notices his gaze and turns towards Oto, but then looks away.
"......"
"...Wh, what is it?"
"Hey, let's play together!"
With that, Oto took Badger's hand and led him out onto the deck.
It was a very sudden and forceful action, but perhaps Badger couldn't be violent towards a younger child, so he left the words "Wait a minute--" and was taken away.
Uta smiled and said, "If you run, you'll fall!", and Bibi followed suit.
"...Sorry. Oto has never played with anyone other than Uta...or her mother, so she seems interested in kids her age."
"Well, the most important thing is that the child is healthy. And... badgers are the same. They may not trust adults as much because of Gaspard, but I'm sure they'll trust a child."
Oto, who had only interacted with Uta and Gordon in Elegia for 10 years, and Badger, who had spent 8 years on the Salamander.
Neither of them has much contact with children their own age, so in that sense, this could be a good stimulus for Oto and Badger.
"Is that child yours?"
"Yeah. I only found out recently that he had a child. Uta has always looked after him, leaving him to do everything, and I haven't done anything like a father. But I'm sure there are things I can do as Oto's father, even now."
Saying this, I looked out the window and saw Oto laughing "hehehe" as he was being taught hand games by Bibi, and Badger also had a small smile on his face.
Seeing this, Vieira said, "...That's right."
"It's never too late to start something."
"I will board a naval ship. I will spend the rest of my life in this peaceful city."
A while later, when Oto seemed to be getting sleepy and dozing off, he called Badger back and they discussed what to do next.
Originally, Vieira had no family and his hometown had been destroyed. Despite his age, he meekly boarded a naval ship that came to take Gaspard to a safe town.
And that includes the badger...
"I want you to stay on this ship."
"...Uh, J-Jicchan? What are you talking about?"
Badger, who had thought he had been with Viera the whole time, looked flustered and surprised.
However, this was no joke, and Vieira's expression was completely serious.
"Badger, I don't think I can travel."
Vieira spoke to him gently. Indeed, Vieira was originally an old man.
On top of that, he had been in the Salamander's boiler room for many years, an environment that posed serious health risks.
Badger's body was still strong when he was still young, but Viera's body had weakened both in terms of immunity and stamina, making him more susceptible to illness.
"You remember, right? My brother, who protected you from Gaspard."
"Huh..."
It was unclear whether the older brother who protected the young badger was alive or dead.
Shortly after being held captive by Gaspard, she often thought of her brother and would cry in her dreams.
"But, my brother will surely die..."
"Badger, have you forgotten what I said to you eight years ago when you were crying and wanted to see your brother?"
"!!"
Yes, as a child, I had caused trouble for Vieira more than once, thinking that if I cried and threw a tantrum, something would be done about it.
However, Vieira, who was having trouble escaping Gasparde, was kind and kept telling the badger:
"--Once we're free, we'll definitely meet."
"Right. You're free now. Then you should be able to meet your brother."
At first, I couldn't give up on the idea of being reunited with my brother.
Gradually, I gave up on being free.
But now that he was free, no one had the right to stop Badger from searching for his brother.
"So you get on this ship."
"But...! I'm the only one riding...! Then I'll go with Grandpa...!"
"I told you, I'm pretty weak. I can't help you search. So I'll wait until you bring your brother back."
Speaking of which, the badger started crying and said, "Please don't die, Grandpa!!"
Makino, who was watching what was happening, handed Badger a wet towel and said, "Oh, look, your eyes are swollen," and Badger took it and began scrubbing them vigorously.
"Is that okay?"
"...Ah, that's fine."
Even if they were able to find Badger's brother, it's unclear whether Viera would survive.
His real goal was to know what would become of Badger after he died. Badger needed an adult he could trust and a purpose right now.
It's not that the Navy can't be trusted, but the Badgers themselves need adults to rely on.
The other is to find a purpose for life after his death. If he were to be rescued and die while still dependent on him, the badger would be ruined.
Badger thought that his current goal would be to search for his brother, whose whereabouts are unknown, and that traveling the world for that purpose would give him the motivation to live.
"Sorry... Could you please listen to a request from this old man..."
"...Well, that's fine. It's probably good for both you and that girl to have friends their own age."
Later, at Tashigi's request, the navy, which was sailing nearby, came to take Gasparde away.
They had already tied up the people who had been put to sleep with the Utauta Fruit, as well as Gaspard. Normally, the pirates would be taken away on a warship, but they decided to transport them aboard the Salamander.
"Grandpa!! See you later!! Grandpa!!"
Badger waves to the VIERA as they sail away on a naval warship, with Oto waving goodbye next to him.
Meanwhile, Vieira waves from the aft deck, and the Marines around her are also crying and waving, perhaps having heard the couple's story.
"Well then."
As the warships grew further away and Viera could no longer be seen, Luffy stroked the badger's head, who still had teary eyes.
"As long as you're on this ship, you have to follow the rules. I don't intend to give you free food."
"…Yeah"
"Let's get started, but there's a lot to do. First, take a bath. And change your clothes. From today on, this ship will be your home. I can't have you wandering around in dirty clothes. I'm counting on you, Makino."
"Yes. Well then, Badger-kun, let's go."
He left it to Makino, who had taken care of young Luffy and Ace, as he thought she would be used to dealing with children.
Meanwhile, Luffy used his Tag Tag powers to shrink his spare clothes to use as a change of clothes for Badger.
The overalls that Badger is currently wearing are dirty and need to be washed, but the only children's clothes on the ship are Oto's change of clothes.
Of course, even if they had similar physiques, it was thought it would be cruel to dress them in the opposite sex's clothing.
"Hey, Luffy. What are you planning to do about that kid?"
"For the time being, I'll have you do odd jobs on the ship while studying with Oto. I don't think you'll be able to keep watch all night, but we'll decide on roles eventually."
At this time, neither Luffy nor Uta, who had asked him a question, nor any of the crew members of the Merry had noticed anything.
"...Huh? Ah, Badger-kun, you...!"
The first to notice this was Makino, who was trying to give the badger a bath.
With the Gaspard incident resolved and the Navy's handover complete, the Merry began sailing once again along the indicated route.
By that time, the crew were feeling hungry, and since Makino, who would normally be preparing the food, was absent, Nojiko, Tashigi, and Bibi had already finished the preparations.
"Even so, it's late."
Just as Nami said, it was a while before Makino and Badger headed to the bath.
I think there must have been some kind of trouble, and Makino would have called out for help loudly.
"Maybe he's just a shota boy, so he eats him."
"No way, Makino-san."
"""""""
"Why are you looking away?"
Vivi said it half-jokingly, and Robin, who was close in age to her, laughed, saying that she wouldn't do something like that, but the three of them, having heard about how she and Luffy met, thought it was possible.
Tashigi, who had been staring at the suspicious movements, stood up and said, "I'll go and say hello just in case."
"Sorry to keep you waiting."
"---picture?"
Makino returned before him, but instead of bringing a badger, she brought a girl with long chestnut hair.
I was confused as to where the badger had gone and who the child was, when Oto cried out, "Wow!"
"Big Sister Badger, you're beautiful!"
"...///"
If you say it with a happy tone, the girl will... The badger looked away shyly.
Now that he mentioned it, the girl's face did indeed look exactly like a badger's.
"Oh, it was a girl?"
Uta said this as if expressing what she was thinking in her heart.
"So, old Viera told you to act like a man?"
After we finished eating, when I asked her again, she explained why she was cross-dressing.
Badger seemed a little uncomfortable in Oto's clothes, perhaps because she wasn't used to wearing a skirt.
"But why a boy..."
"You idiot. It's too dangerous for a young girl to infiltrate a pirate group. That's why you insisted your grandfather was a man."
Nami, who had been thrown into the pirates with nothing but the clothes on her back, just like Badger, understood Tashigi's question.
In Nami's case, she was a fishwoman who never looked at humans in that way, but if she had been human, she would have been used as a plaything before meeting Luffy.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that Vieira understood this and was protecting her by dressing up as a man.
"Well, if Badger has a name to use to pretend to be a man, surely he has a different real name?"
"Ah...um...my real name is...Adele. Adele Bascoud."
No parent would name a girl "Badger."
Robin, who also used a code name, noticed this and when asked, he said his real name as if he hadn't said it in years, remembering it.
"Um, not Big Sister Badger, but Big Sister Adele?"
"…Yeah"
"Oto, did you realize that Anagu, or rather Adele, is a girl?"
Since there would be no need to say her fake name from now on, Luffy asked her how to call him again, and Oto nodded vigorously, "Yes!"
"Because Adele's voice sounds just like my mom's!"
"I?"
Uta herself didn't realize it when she was told, but perhaps because she had a childlike sensibility and grew up listening to Uta's lullabies, she seemed to be able to tell from her voice.
Perhaps Vieira left Adele and Oto in her care, thinking that they would become good friends.
"...Well, that's fine. Well then, Uta. Could you please take care of Adele for a while? I can't really let her sleep in my room, after all..."
"Yeah, that's fine."
The Merry has a captain's room/men's room, two women's rooms, and rooms for Uta and Oto. Luffy had intended to have them sleep in his room, as even though they were children, they shouldn't share a room with someone of the opposite sex, but he decided that it would be better for Oto and Adele, who are both children, to sleep in the same room.
Oto was happy, saying, "I get to sleep with my big sister!", but Adele didn't know how to react and just kept her eyes down.
So, that was the introduction of Badger, Adel Bascoud, from "Dead End Adventure."
Timeline-wise, it takes place shortly after Uta and Oto board the ship in Elegia.
At first, I considered having Luffy's adventure team participate in the Dead End Race, but there was no reason to do so... Besides, the security situation on the reception island seemed bad, so I wondered whether they should land there... So I decided to have them encounter Gasparde at sea.
I considered various options for the battle with Gasparde, but it wasn't particularly important, and Uta's singing seemed like it would end it quickly, so I cut it.
And just like with Uta, I was also worried about what to do with Viera...
Gordon's death last time wasn't a good change, but leaving him on the Merry didn't feel right either...
So I urged Badger to "find his brother," so he would be taken in by the Navy.
Incidentally, Viera also notices the high female ratio, but with her daughter Oto and Tashigi being a Marine, I don't think it's a mistake.
.