She couldn't understand what this officer before her meant.
After thinking for a moment, she replied.
"There shouldn't be a problem. Most of Totteneys Kingdom's defense is provided by our branch. Although our branch isn't enough to cover all the villages, we can reach the vast majority of them in time."
"In fact, when it comes to resisting pirates, the nobles of the Totteneys Kingdom have never allowed the Royal Guard to mobilize. They only use them to handle shady matters for the nobles, like what happened today."
As she spoke, Bell-mère's tone was filled with disgust.
"That's good." Raleigh nodded calmly, then took out a notebook from his pocket and handed it to Bell-mère.
"A righteous Marine like you shouldn't be so weak. This is my training journal—I hope it helps you. Additionally, if you feel your progress is too slow, consider transferring to Branch 133. The branch commander there, Momonga, is my subordinate. I'll have him train you properly."
"As for the Totteneys Kingdom," Raleigh added, "someone will eventually resolve this matter."
Though Bell-mère didn't fully understand his words, she inexplicably trusted him.
She accepted the notebook, gave a serious military salute, and then left.
The Marines carried the three unconscious individuals and gradually left the village.
Only Raleigh remained, facing the roaring flames, lost in thought.
After an unknown amount of time, the sky gradually approached dusk.
Raleigh reached into his pocket and pulled out a white Den Den Mushi and an ordinary one, dialing without even looking.
Brrr brrr… Brrr brrr…
"Hey, Raileigh, what do you want from me?" a carefree and unrestrained voice came from the other end.
"Let me make this clear—I haven't been plundering civilians. I've been robbing a few small pirate crews and am about to leave the East Blue."
"Kazuki, I need you to do something for me," Raleigh said. "Consider it repaying a favor."
"Oh, repaying a favor to you? That's great—spit it out. As long as it's not something like killing a Celestial Dragon, I'm in. I don't want to be hunted down by a Marine Admiral, after all."
Raleigh lit a cigarette, exhaled a smoke ring, and then said.
"I'm currently in a small village in the Totteneys Kingdom. The residents here were slaughtered by the Royal Guard because they couldn't pay their taxes."
"I'm giving you two days. Before I leave the East Blue, I want to see news in the papers about the nobles of the Totteneys Kingdom and the Royal Guard being wiped out."
"No problem, I thought it was something serious. Leave it to me. After this, I'll still owe you one. But let me be clear—I'm about to leave the East Blue and head for the Grand Line. If you need me to repay a favor later, you'll have to find me there. I'm not coming back to the Four Seas."
The owner of the voice didn't hang up.
Listening to him loudly ordering his crew to set sail, Raleigh felt relieved.
The owner of this voice was another odd character Raleigh had encountered.
As pirates, they had run into Raleigh and Momonga right after setting out and were thoroughly taught a lesson.
Considering they hadn't targeted civilians yet, Raleigh spared their lives—though primarily because he recognized their strength.
There were matters the Marines couldn't officially handle, requiring intervention from external forces.
Nisugi Kazuki was such a person.
With unparalleled swordsmanship and an upright character, he reached an understanding with Raleigh.
Raleigh would share locations of pirate crews with him, in exchange for letting Nisugi Kazuki claim the crews' funds.
To date, through their collaboration, seven or eight small pirate crews had been absorbed by the Mad Blade Pirates.
Raleigh could not intervene in the matters of the Totteneys Kingdom, nor could Gion or Tokikake.
If anyone with ulterior motives were to uncover their involvement, even with protection from headquarters, they would face serious trouble.
However, no one knew that the infamous Mad Blade Pirates, notorious among the East Blue pirate crews, were secretly Raleigh's enforcers.
This sealed the fate of the Totteneys Kingdom.
Raleigh tossed his cigarette butt to the ground and calmly stamped it out.
"May you rest in peace in heaven, while those people face the judgment they deserve in hell."
His words vanished with the wind, and Raleigh's figure disappeared as well.
.....
That very night, a ship flying a pirate flag docked at the port of the Totteneys Kingdom.
Before long, a fierce blaze erupted within the opulent palace.
Under the cover of darkness, a group of bloodthirsty warriors stormed into the royal palace.
Their gleaming swords became the scythes of the Grim Reaper.
They slaughtered every noble and annihilated the despised Royal Guard, leaving no survivors.
The fire raged throughout the night, while the sounds of battle and screams echoed across the capital.
The commoners could only bolt their doors tightly and hide under their beds.
Only when the sky began to lighten and the clamor of battle faded did the braver commoners cautiously open their doors.
The air was thick with the smell of smoke and blood.
They inquired everywhere and eventually uncovered a shocking truth.
The king of the Totteneys Kingdom and the captain of the Royal Guard, who had led the mission to Povo Village, had been hanged on the city walls.
In the days that followed, the commoners buzzed with discussions.
They concluded that a passing powerful individual, enraged by the tragedy in Povo Village, had taken matters into their own hands.
As for the surviving nobles who had narrowly escaped, they knew the truth.
They issued a stern declaration to the World Government, accusing the Marines of negligence.
They publicly blamed the Mad Blade Pirates for the incident and pressured the Marines, demanding that Headquarters dispatch more forces to protect the kingdom.
However, the Marines did not take the matter seriously.
Marine officers, long dissatisfied with the Totteneys Kingdom's nobles, simply tossed the kingdom's letters into the trash.
They had a clerk draft a lengthy, evasive response and sent it off.
They were the Marines, not subordinates of the Totteneys Kingdom.
Even as a member nation of the World Government, the kingdom had no authority to issue direct orders to them.