Yami really had gotten lost, and the sea he was in was far from Sixis Island.
Nami spent a full three days before she steered the ship into the waters around Sixis.
Luckily, they didn't run into vicious weather in this sea.
To be precise, it wasn't luck—it was skill.
Nami's navigation now couldn't match her at eighteen in the original tale.
But feeling the sea wind with her body and judging distant shifts in the weather was a talent Nami was born with.
It was this talent that let Nami and Carina, even with only a skiff, face nature's trials at sea without fear.
After entering the Grand Line, Nami only suffered at the start from sudden climate shifts.
After some time sailing, she quickly adapted to the Grand Line's rhythm of change, and alone was better than the Golden Lion's whole navigation team.
"Master, what are you doing?"
With the ship moored by the shore, Carina and Nami looked curiously at Yami.
Yami hadn't gone ashore. He made an OK sign with both hands and held it before his eyes.
Being shorter than Yami and standing beside him, neither girl saw the thin membrane forming within the circle of his fingers.
"I'm searching for a Devil Fruit."
Yami answered while continuing to sweep his gaze across Sixis Island.
At that, Carina and Nami recalled what he'd said days ago.
Carina ventured, uncertain, "The Paramecia Glare-Glare Fruit's power?"
"Mm."
Yami finally lowered his hands and, half-smiling at the two, said, "My Glare-Glare power gives me far sight, x-ray sight, and mind-reading."
"S-so strong… ehehe…"
At the word "x-ray," Carina and Nami reflexively stepped back, crossing their arms over their modest chests and forcing a laugh.
What they really meant was "how indecent," but as maids they could only smile and praise.
At the same time, a chill ran through them.
So that innocent "test" back then hadn't needed him to watch from the other space—he only had to keep them in far sight.
"No need to tense up. I'm not that tasteless."
Seeing their guard-dog poses, Yami rolled his eyes. "If I really planned to peep with x-ray sight, I wouldn't have told you my ability."
"Whew…"
At that, Carina and Nami both exhaled in relief.
They believed him.
In these few days together, their Master, aside from loving to fish and leaving laundry and cooking to them, hadn't once abused his status to force anything bad on them.
On the contrary, whatever Carina asked, he patiently answered.
That aloof air was probably from not being used to people.
Little did they know Yami was lowering his guard and treating them sincerely, steadily raising their favor.
Also, they were still young; their bodies hadn't yet grown into eighteen and twenty.
"Go cook. In a few days I'll put you through special training and give you East Blue overlord-level strength."
Yami kept scanning for the Logia Flame-Flame Fruit as he spoke offhandedly.
The words made Carina and Nami's eyes fly wide.
"East Blue overlord-level strength?"
"Is that for real?"
You couldn't blame them for doubting.
What Yami said was too startling.
Especially Nami—being part of the true overlord crew of the East Blue, no one knew the Arlong Pirates' strength better than she did.
Yami's claim was basically, "In a few days I'll train you up to Arlong's level."
If Carina hadn't told Nami days ago about Devil Fruits and Yami's secret, Nami wouldn't even be doubting; she'd just think he was boasting.
"The East Blue is the weakest sea. Its top bounties don't even break thirty million. What I'll teach you is a superhuman body art only Marine Headquarters officers are qualified to learn."
There was open disdain for the East Blue in Yami's tone.
Carina, however, caught the key and brightened. "Master, you're not from the East Blue, are you?"
"Mm. I'm from the Grand Line. I came to the East Blue to look for Devil Fruits." Yami nodded honestly.
"No wonder Master is so strong and knows so much—you're from that great sea," Carina marveled.
Nami's face was shocked as well.
But her focus wasn't that he was from the Grand Line.
It was that what he'd teach was a superhuman body art only Marine Headquarters officers could learn.
Her adoptive mother had been a Marine; Nami knew very well that branch officers and Headquarters officers couldn't even be compared.
If he had something only Headquarters officers were allowed to learn, just what was this Master's background?
Nami mustered her courage. "Master, are you a Marine?"
Had Yami said yes, Nami would have begged for help at once.
Sadly for her, his answer disappointed. "No."
"Master, then are you a pirate?" Carina asked as well.
"No. For now I'm a free man."
Yami still didn't hide it. "My physique is 'one of a kind,' so I'm going to collect the top Devil Fruits in the illustrated compendium, make myself an all-around unanswerable existence, then recruit and train subordinates and go adventuring together."
He lowered his hands and looked at Carina and Nami with a reminder. "Don't sneak a bite of the Paramecia Chain-Chain Fruit I left in the cabin. I'll find powerful Devil Fruits for you and raise you into my right and left hands."
"...Yes, Master!"
You had to admit, Yami's sweeteners hit hard.
Warmth rose in both girls' hearts as they looked at him, moved.
After these days, Carina and Nami felt they had a first grasp of Yami's nature.
He had told them, without hiding, a secret that could shake the world. It showed he truly counted them as his people.
Now he promised to teach them a superhuman body art and to find powerful Devil Fruits for them—how could that not move young girls?
If goodwill had a progress bar, theirs for Yami was shooting up fast.
Even the word "Master" came out with unprecedented sincerity.
Under Yami's genuine attitude and sweeteners, the two girls tentatively accepted their roles as maids.