Shamrock, the port town of pirates built hastily in the Mopuchi Kingdom, which continues to expand even now.
Until a little while ago, other than the port and warehouses, there was only a small tavern, a general store, and defense watchtowers; otherwise, it was just a town with houses and salons for pirates and gangs to hang out. Now, it is changing into a beautiful city, to the point of being called the "Blue Town."
A large network of waterways runs through it, doubling as pathways for the Fish-men who live in this town or occasionally work as cargo carriers or at food stalls. The waterways, which were initially just dug out, have now all been transformed into beautiful white stone pavement, including the roads.
It feels somewhat imposing, but cannons are lined up around the watchtower that also serves as the port's lighthouse and its surroundings, laying out a flawless defense against looters from the sea.
Most of those who were made to work on the island that the pirate known as the Golden Lion brought to this West Blue have settled in this town, building houses for their lives, and constructing shops and factories, expanding the city.
"Nyuuu~. Are we building a Fish-man town?" Hachi asked.
"Yeah. Father and Tesoro-san talked about how it would be bad to leave things as they are," a mobster replied.
Hachi, the octopus Fish-man who runs a takoyaki stall that has become a small specialty of Shamrock, and a member of the Bege Family who is a regular at the shop, are discussing while poking at the takoyaki.
"It's true that the number of Fish-men living here has been increasing little by little, but..."
"Coexistence between Fish-men and humans sounds nice, but... you know?" the mobster sighed.
"Nyuuu~. I guess it would be difficult after all," Hachi agreed.
The mobster inwardly wondered if it was okay for an octopus to eat octopus, even if he was a Fish-man, but ignoring that, Hachi ate the takoyaki he baked himself and wrote something down in a notebook using his many other hands.
"I realized it well since coming here too, but humans inevitably care about appearances. Besides... the humans here haven't done anything directly to us, but..."
"The history of Fish-men is a history of persecution by humans, after all," the mobster nodded.
"Nyu. That's why there are certainly some who can't stay calm just because someone is human. ...There are a lot like that on the Hidden Island too."
The other day—right after the war between the Black Cat Pirates and the Navy—Hachi had visited the Hidden Island with his childhood friend, a squid Fish-man.
"When I went to see them recently, everyone was working hard, and fields and orchards were spreading out," Hachi recounted.
"That's a good thing. It might sound strange coming from a mafia thug, but it's best for humans to work honestly," the mobster said.
"Well, that's true, but... I also happened to hear a bit about why they are working so hard..."
Hachi is already a resident of Shamrock. He has quite a few Fish-men friends, starting with his childhood friend who is undergoing training as a candidate for the Guard, and he has made human friends like the man he is talking to now.
"It seems they are thinking about asking the Captain if they can have that island," Hachi revealed.
"......Ah... Not in the form of borrowing the Black Cat's island, but they want it to be their island?"
"...Nyuuu. They didn't actually say it, but yeah."
"Does their hard work on developing the island mean they want to become completely self-sufficient so they don't even need the Black Cat humans protecting that island?"
"...Probably."
"Impossible," the man, who looked every bit like "The Mafia" with his black suit and sunglasses, declared.
"I'll be honest: if not for the connection with the Black Cat, even we would have targeted them. That's how much money Fish-men are worth."
In fact, lately, they have been quiet because they can secure somewhat stable earnings through Black Cat-related deals, but the family member was convinced that the Family from a little while ago would have definitely targeted them. Technically, he was a man who had also been involved in the raid on the disguised smuggling ship that handled those Marine slaves.
"They'd be targeted, wouldn't they?" Hachi worried.
"Yeah. It's only because their location isn't known. But it's already known that there are many Fish-men around here... if they tried to live on an island with just Fish-men..."
"In the end, they'd be chased around and forced to abandon the island."
"I think so," the mobster confirmed. "In the first place, it's safe around here because the Black Cat and our Father are sinking every suspicious ship that looks like it's searching for Fish-men."
The Bege Family's main jobs are trade and defense. Especially since Mopuchi and the surrounding islands are showing signs of becoming wealthy, there are many mafias trying to establish a foothold for their rackets by any means necessary, and Capone Bege is dedicated to interfering with them. While securing enough profitable business in the current Black Cat territory.
"Well, I get the story. More space for Fish-men to live is needed, but trouble will happen if they are mixed in with humans, right?"
"Yeah. So there was talk of preparing a district for Fish-men just in case, but the higher-ups said to listen to the stories from the Fish-men who would actually live there," the mobster explained.
"Nyuuu~. In that case, I'll gather the Fish-men living around the port. It would be easier to summarize the opinions to some extent rather than listening to each one individually, right?"
"Yeah, sorry Hachi. It helps if you do that."
"Don't mention it. If you need a proper document, I'd like some time just in case, but..."
"No, if there's a handwritten signature, a scribbled note is enough. In fact, even now, if we gather the guys doing the unloading—"
Casually, the two looked toward the sea.
It was truly casual; they were just checking to see if there were any Fish-man acquaintances on the ships docked at the port or the loading paths leading to the warehouses. The two looked at the sea at the same time, and at the same time, their eyes met with a face floating from the sea surface.
"Nyu!?" Hachi squeaked.
"Fish-man? Is it a guy from the Hidden Island..." the mobster wondered.
A red face that was almost certainly not human. Because the part below the nose was hidden, the mafia man couldn't identify him for a moment, but he still guessed it was a Fish-man from the color.
"Hey, what's wrong. That area is the port district, so it's dangerous even for a Fish-man, you know? Here, there's an emergency slope this way, so climb up," the man called out.
Judging it to be a Fish-man who didn't know this town, the man stood up to guide him, throwing the container that had held the takoyaki into the stall's trash can.
"No, it's not someone from the island!" Hachi shouted.
In contrast, Hachi looked at that Fish-man blankly, his eyes wide round.
"Ti... isn't that Tiger-san...!!? Why are you here!!?"
A Fish-man who made a name for himself as an adventurer. The man who could be called the pioneer of the Fish-man Pioneer Corps in a sense, was right there.
That man—Fisher Tiger—looked around restlessly with only half his face out of the water. Confirming Fish-men and mermaids here and there within the port town where humans lived—appearing without shackles or anything. Finally, he swam to the slope the mafia man indicated and revealed himself.
"You are... Hachi, right... Do you live here?" Tiger asked.
"Y-Yeah. I'm being looked after by pirates called the Black Cat... That jacket, is it the Captain's—!!?"
What Fisher Tiger was holding was soaked in seawater and somewhat tattered, but it was embroidered with something that anyone in this town would see every day.
The symbol of the crew that built and protected this town. The three-claw marks of the Black Cat.
"Sorry! I know this is sudden and confusing, but if this is a town where we can coexist, I have a request!!" Fisher Tiger yelled, bowing his head.
"Please! Can you hide everyone I brought!!?"
The mafia man muttered "Everyone?" blinking in surprise at the sudden turn of events. Just as if they heard that voice.
From around where Tiger had been earlier, many women and children... Fish-men and mermaids poked their faces out of the sea surface and began to observe the surroundings anxiously.