"Get out of here!"
"Bad Navy!"
The little girl puffed up her cheeks and did her best to look fierce. But with her flushed face and round eyes, the result was more adorable than intimidating.
At any other time, Smoker might have scoffed or chuckled, but not now. He ignored the child and turned his gaze beyond her.
A growing Kurod of civilians had gathered, gradually surrounding the navy from all sides.
Their faces were etched with anger. In their hands, they clutched whatever they could find—farm tools, brooms, broken benches, sticks—makeshift weapons, but weapons nonetheless.
And yet, despite standing before the armed forces of the navy, there was no fear in their expressions—only long-buried resentment rising to the surface.
"Leave, Navy!"
"You run when pirates appear, but now that the battle's over, you show up?"
"This kind of justice… this kind of justice…"
At the front of the Kurod stood a young man with a missing arm. He clenched the wound on his shoulder, letting blood seep through the already-soaked bandage. The pain twisted his features into a snarl, and when he spoke, it was with the fury of a wounded beast:
"We don't need it!"
"You promised a branch base! You promised to rebuild the port! None of it came true—it was all about money!"
"And now, barely a day after the pirates' attack, you're back? So impatient to bleed us again?!"
The air trembled with their shouting.
Smoker's expression darkened. Like stagnant water under a storm, his silence carried weight.
He could tell what this was: a stunt, a ploy to shield the pirates hiding in the lord's mansion.
And yet—what he couldn't grasp was why. Why would these civilians side with the pirates?
Ignoring the rising tide of fury, Smoker turned to look at Grayza and Gawain, his brows tightly furrowed.
"You staged this well," he said grimly.
Then, raising a hand, he signaled the marines behind him to lower their weapons.
He couldn't bring himself to harm civilians who had just survived a siege—and especially not when part of their suffering had come from the navy's own negligence.
Grayza scanned the faces around her.
In their eyes, she saw not hatred or fear, but a quiet, resolute warmth—a shared strength.
Just moments ago, Smoker's oppressive presence had made her knees feel weak. Now, that weight didn't seem quite so unbearable.
She drew in a slow breath and said softly:
"We didn't do anything. They came here on their own."
"Mr. Navy, if you don't have a search warrant, I must ask you to leave."
"Tch."
Smoker snorted coldly. His eyes landed on the knight standing calmly beside Grayza.
The man's aura—it was unmistakable. The same presence he had fought earlier that night.
So, it really was Gawain.
No more doubt. The supposed servant standing there was none other than the infamous knight in disguise.
Could he really let this pirate slip through his fingers?
Or…
He gripped his weapon—uncertain, his face stormy.
"Colonel Smoker!"
A voice rang out from behind.
Tashigi pushed through the Kurod, breathless, and quickly approached.
"We've almost completely pieced together what happened at Raven Harbor yesterday."
"There were three warships. One belonged to Colonel Nezumi. When he recognized Knight Gawain, he turned tail and ran."
"Another ship was manned by Don Krieg's subordinates—using their usual impersonation tactics. They've already been eliminated."
"As for the last group…"
Her eyes flicked toward Grayza with an odd expression.
"They were the ones who rescued the civilians. It's likely they were Gawain's men, disguised as navy."
"Pirates?" Smoker muttered.
"That's right," Tashigi nodded. "Unless there's a fourth party we've missed, this is the most plausible explanation."
"There is a fourth party," Smoker said quietly.
And it's us.
He now understood why the civilians stood between him and the mansion, unflinching despite the risk.
Because in this time and place, people were simpler than they seemed.
If someone protected them, they would return that protection.
If someone bled for them, they would risk everything to shield that person in turn.
To the civilians of Raven Harbor, the ones who had dashed through gunfire to drag them back from death's door weren't pirates.
They were heroes.
And compared to those heroes, the navy felt like an afterthought.
A heaviness settled in Smoker's chest. Resentment flickered, but he said nothing.
Finally, he turned and ordered, "Let's go get the search warrant."
"Yes, sir!" Tashigi replied, saluting crisply.
But as she watched Smoker's retreating back, she noticed something strange.
Had he always looked… smaller?
Like he was carrying a weight that bent his shoulders just slightly more than before?
The civilians parted to let the navy pass.
Only when the last marine was gone and the warships in the port began to pull away did everyone finally exhale in relief.
Many looked down to find their clothes soaked in sweat.
"I thought we were really gonna fight the navy back there."
"With these sticks? We could scare 'em, maybe. But a real fight? They'd mow us down."
"Still… didn't we drive them off?"
"Heh~"
The Kurod murmured with a rising mix of laughter and disbelief.
But not a single person regretted showing up to protect the people who had saved them.
The one-armed young man glanced down at his bandaged shoulder and winced. Then he smiled faintly at Grayza.
"My Lord, it's thanks to you that we're still alive."
"I…"
Grayza lowered her gaze, eyes dim.
"So many still died. If only I had noticed sooner… if we'd been stronger…"
"You did more than enough."
The young man's voice was gentle. Then, as if remembering something, he grinned.
"Oh—also, pass along a message to our benefactors."
"Huh?"
"Your acting skills are really bad," he chuckled. "No navy would risk their lives like that to save people."
"Next time, don't bother disguising yourselves. Wear your own clothes. Fly your own flag."
Laughter bubbled around them. The Kurod clearly agreed.
Gawain watched the smiling faces and felt something stir in his chest—something unfamiliar.
—
Far away, aboard a departing ship...
Smoker stood on the deck, eyes fixed on the distant silhouette of the lord's mansion.
He muttered under his breath, "Knight Gawain… what kind of man are you, really?"
No one answered.
Tashigi stood beside him, quietly holding the seastone jūten she had retrieved from the sea.
Woo—!
The warship let out a long whistle as it drifted further from the harbor.
Smoker slowly turned his eyes to the horizon. The confusion clouding them began to fade.
"There might be a few exceptions," he murmured, "but pirates… pirates are still the root of this world's chaos."
"Tashigi."
"Yes, sir?"
"Did you know? I've submitted reports on Nezumi to headquarters several times. Each time, they ignored me. The last time, a vice admiral even warned me to back off."
Tashigi's grip on her sword, Shigure, tightened.
Smoker's voice was low but firm.
"If I were stronger—had more authority—I could change things. Not just here in the East Blue… but all the way to the Grand Line."
"We're not just weak in strength, Tashigi…"
"We're weak in power, too."