"She really is a top-tier beauty, isn't she, Leno?"
Feeling the fingers twisting his waist and Nami's dark gaze, what could Leno say?
"Hee hee hee..."
Seeing Leno's tearless but sorrowful expression, Robin covered her mouth and snickered.
Leno shot her a glare. 'It's all your fault. If you hadn't brought it up, I wouldn't be suffering like this.''
Leno, who had no say in the matter, finally managed to come out with the group to see this so-called 'Number One Beauty of Wano' Oiran, thanks to Yamato's intervention.
"Oiran! Oiran!..."
"The Oiran is so beautiful! Ah~ I'm going to faint..."
"Lady Komurasaki! Over here..."
Watching the crowds of spectators lining both sides of the street, all of them following Komurasaki's figure with fanatical eyes, many grown men were even moved to tears.
"My goodness, does this Oiran have that much influence?"
Carmen was dumbfounded, watching the cheering crowd shout almost madly.
"As the top idol and superstar of Wano Country, the Oiran's influence and appeal are no joke. You can tell just by the number of people watching this parade."
Ulti seemed to know quite a lot about Wano's Oiran. It looked like this wasn't the first time such a situation had occurred.
"Awesome, a superstar! So cool!"
Chopper managed to squeeze to the front with great difficulty, but he was swallowed by the frenzied crowd in just a few moments. Fortunately, Robin used her ability to pull him out.
"So scary, these people are mad... I almost died," Chopper said with lingering fear, wiping the cold sweat from his face.
Helpless, Leno picked up Chopper and placed him on his shoulder so he could also see the scene in front.
Looking at the swarming crowd, Leno felt a bit emotional. Whether in his past life or now, the fervent actions of chasing stars were just as crazy everywhere.
After taking a closer look at Kozuki Hiyori disguised as Komurasaki, Leno found that, perhaps due to her makeup, her appearance was just so-so, far from being a peerless beauty.
'She really isn't as pretty as the ones accompanying me,' he thought, and his gaze swept over Nami, Nojiko, and the others one by one.
"What, you're not looking at the beauty queen, you're looking at us?"
Sensing Leno's gaze, Nami glared at him petulantly.
"I was right… She really isn't as beautiful as you all."
Hearing Leno's words, the girls all looked over in surprise.
His expression didn't seem perfunctory; it didn't sound like sweet talk, more like a plain opinion...
The girls' faces remained calm, but they felt much more comfortable inside, and the corners of their mouths couldn't help but curve up slightly.
All beautiful women are afraid of being compared. 'Whoever is uglier is the one who gets embarrassed.' Since they weren't the ones being embarrassed, their moods naturally improved a lot.
"Hmph~, I'll give you that, you big pervert. You've got good taste!"
Seeing that Leno was being much more sincere, Nami glanced at him haughtily, the corners of her mouth curving up uncontrollably.
"Ara, our Captain Leno~ really knows how to make girls happy," Robin said with a smile, a cunning glint in her eyes.
"Smack"
Moving closer to Robin, he gave her firm butt a slap. The liberated Robin had been causing trouble for Leno lately. If he didn't teach her a lesson, she might get too full of herself.
"Eek..."
Robin's face instantly turned beet red. She tried to move away from Leno, but he pulled her into his embrace.
He lowered his head slightly, breathing warmly into her ear, and teased.
"Robin-chan, have you been getting a little carried away recently? Are you that eager to taste the captain's 'stick education'?"
"Poof"
Robin's face turned crimson, and steam instantly rose from the top of her head. She lowered her head and shrank into Leno's embrace, not daring to speak.
"Hmph hmph~"
Holding Robin in his arms, Leno lifted his head, his eyes full of pride. 'You little thing, you think I can't handle you?'
Nojiko, who saw everything from the side, rolled her eyes speechlessly at Leno's proud little expression.
Just as Leno was interacting with the girls around him, a commotion suddenly broke out in the direction the Oiran was heading.
Several refugee-like people rushed towards the Oiran with daggers in hand, trying to assassinate her in the street.
"Swish" "Swish" "Swish"
A few flashes of sword light passed, and the men blocking the way were sent flying, crashing into the nearby buildings.
"Don't come near the Oiran!"
The Oiran's well-built guards, holding longswords, scanned the area coldly, then dutifully protected her.
Komurasaki passed by the men with a calm gaze, not even sparing them a single glance.
The men who had been sent flying stared at the departing Oiran with tear-streaked faces and eyes full of hatred.
"Komurasaki~"
"Komurasaki~, give back the money I gave you! Give it back!"
"You bitch! Robber! Thief! Give me back my money!"
Watching this sudden turn of events, Nami and the others looked at each other, somewhat confused.
"Why are they asking the Oiran to give them back money?"
Chopper poked his head out, his face full of confusion as he listened to their shouts.
With a scoff.
"Why else? A bunch of lust-crazed fools who were willing to pay for beauty, only to get scammed."
Looking at those guys in tattered clothes, Leno's eyes were full of contempt. 'It's really hard to understand, ruining your family for a woman.'
'If they were manipulated or bewitched by some ability, leading to their families being torn apart, there might be an excuse. But the reality is that these people gave everything willingly.'
'Is this Komurasaki's charm really that great? Leno certainly didn't feel it.'
"Eh!? The Oiran scammed them out of their money? How could she? She's a superstar!"
Chopper found it hard to accept, especially when she was so popular.
"Chopper, you can't judge by appearances. Often, most people and things are like jade on the outside but rotten on the inside."
Seeing Chopper's sad expression, Leno decided to tell him a bit about Wano Country.
"On our way here, besides these few people in tattered clothes, have you seen any others like them?"
"Is it because the residents here live happily without poverty? Of course not. All the poor people here have been exiled, driven out to the slums."
Listening to Leno's words, Chopper thought back on what he had seen along the way. His eyes had seen beautiful scenery and laughing residents. He never imagined it would be like this.
"So beneath this prosperous surface, there are so many cruel things hidden."
"Now, now~, these are not things we can control. We just need to take care of ourselves. As long as they don't provoke us, it's fine."
'There are so many tragic things in this world, can you manage them all? Leno didn't want to get involved either. It was enough to live his own life well.'
"Leno, I've been meaning to ask. You seem to know a lot about Wano Country. Have you been here before?"
The clever Yamato immediately noticed the key point. Throughout this journey, Leno's performance showed he knew more than even Ulti, who was a local.
"Uh, Yamato, to understand this world, you must not only travel a thousand miles but also read a thousand books."
"Hah? What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means, the reason I know about Wano Country is that I've read a lot of books," Leno advised Yamato earnestly, looking at her clear eyes.
Yamato's confused expression almost made Leno laugh.
T/n:
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