Makino playfully tapped Ryuuzaki with her small fist, giggling as she covered her mouth.
Truth be told, that high fever had been unexpected, a rare miscalculation on Ryuuzaki's part. He really had been unconscious for days.
Thinking back to Makino bathing him... well, he had to admit, not bad, not bad at all for a big sister!
"Right! You're probably not familiar with Foosha Village yet, right? Come on, Sis will take you out for a walk."
Without waiting for an answer, Makino grabbed his hand and dragged him outside.
She was really treating him like family.
Foosha Village was a peaceful, quiet little place. The villagers were generally friendly and kind-hearted.
As they walked around, Makino introduced Ryuuzaki to people along the way.
Ryuuzaki, for his part, politely greeted each person.
But today turned out to be a bit unusual. As luck would have it, they ran into Garp.
Garp had just returned home to check on Ace. He happened to bump into Makino and Ryuuzaki.
"Well, if it isn't Makino! Who's the little guy? Haven't seen him before."
"This is my little brother, Ryuuzaki!" Makino said cheerfully.
She turned to Ryuuzaki. "This is Grandpa Garp."
"Hello, Grandpa Garp!"
"Puhahaha! Makino, your little brother's just as polite as you are!"
"Hehe, of course!" Makino said proudly.
"Say, Ryuuzaki, wanna join the Navy?"
Ryuuzaki was momentarily speechless. Seriously?
"No thanks, I don't want to be a marine," he replied flatly. "My dream is to be a blacksmith."
"A blacksmith?" Garp blinked. That's a dream? Sounds like a couch potato to me.
But Ryuuzaki had his reasons. As an undercover agent, he didn't know how long he'd be stuck in this village. Combat training wasn't exactly an option anymore.
So instead of wasting time, why not develop a useful trade?
He had once said he'd be a blacksmith… yet back at the training base, he never had the chance to actually learn any forging skills.
Now that he had free time, it was the perfect opportunity.
After some brief small talk, Garp quickly rushed off to check on Ace.
Watching him walk away, Ryuuzaki took a deep breath.
That old man's talents are seriously off the charts!
Garp's Talents:
Basic Stamina: 126
Basic Strength: 130
Basic Martial Skill: 112
Basic Fist Techniques: 137
Basic Kicks: 97
Armament Haki: 131
Observation Haki: 99
Conqueror's Haki: 100
Navy's Six Styles: 99
Three talents over 130, strength, fists, and Armament Haki.
No wonder they call him Iron Fist Garp.
When those three stats are stacked, the damage output must be nuts.
And that's not even counting the rest, none of them are weak. He was truly a freak of nature.
Definitely not someone Ryuuzaki could afford to mess with, at least not for now.
In fact, Garp's talent stats probably reflected the average level of other top-tier monsters like the Four Emperors. Guys like Whitebeard must be at a similar level.
Ryuuzaki continued strolling through the village with Makino, learning the lay of the land before they headed back to her house.
Makino's parents had passed away, and she had no other family. Her home was large, with four rooms.
Ryuuzaki stayed in the room next to hers.
Honestly, he had a lot of respect for Makino. During his fever, she had taken care of everything.
That evening, Ryuuzaki decided to return the favor by cooking dinner.
Sure, he'd been reincarnated into this world and had never cooked here before, but back in his previous life, he was more than capable of whipping up a few home-style dishes.
As he finished preparing the meal, something surprising happened,
Ding! Congratulations, Host. New talent unlocked: Cooking (36)
"What the, ? Cooking counts as a talent too?"
Yes. However, life talents cannot be allocated to combat-related talents. They can only be redistributed within the Life category.
The system's explanation helped Ryuuzaki understand: combat talents and life talents were separate categories.
Combat talents included things like martial arts, swordsmanship, and Haki.
Life talents, on the other hand, were skills like cooking, tailoring, and blacksmithing.
"Wait a second… does that mean I can dump all my life talent points into Blacksmith and boost it like crazy?"
Ryuuzaki was overjoyed. Humming a tune, he plated the food and set the table.
"Wow, Ryuuzaki cooked today? What's got you in such a good mood?"
"Hehe, I'm celebrating the fact that I gained a beautiful big sister!"
"You sure know how to sweet-talk people! Let me try a bite… Mmm! Not bad at all!"
Ryuuzaki flashed a proud grin. "Say, Sis Makino, "
"Just call me Maki."
"Alright, Sis Maki. Were you sewing in your room earlier?"
"Yeah!"
"Let me give it a try."
"Eh? Wait, wait, "
Makino tried to stop him, but Ryuuzaki had already darted into her room.
Uh-oh…
On the bed were some half-mended clothes, specifically, a small white bra that belonged to Makino.
Ryuuzaki scratched his head and looked back. Makino was standing in the doorway, her face bright red.
But for the sake of unlocking the Tailoring talent, Ryuuzaki steeled himself. One hand holding the bra, the other holding a needle and thread.
Alright, let's see what you've got, Mr. Genius… Ow! Dammit!
"Enough already!" Makino stormed in, snatched the bra away, and shoved it under a pillow. She pushed Ryuuzaki out of the room, still blushing furiously.
Ryuuzaki didn't resist, because he had already unlocked:
Talent: Tailoring (12)
Only 12 points, not much, but that was fine. There were still more life skills to discover.
After dinner, the two sat together outside under the stars.
"Say, Sis Maki, who's the village blacksmith?"
"That would be Samol. But Ryuuzaki, do you really want to be a blacksmith?"
"Yup! Why?"
"Well…" Makino hesitated.
Ryuuzaki gently took her hand. "Maki-nee, you can tell me anything."
"Actually, I was hoping… you'd help me run the tavern instead."
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200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter