Noah and Emma returned to Harris Inn with Haku slung over Noah's shoulder like a sack of potatoes. A few guests stared as they walked in, confused by the unconscious kid dangling upside down.
Harris peeked from behind the counter. "Uh… should I ask?"
"No," Emma answered quickly. "Definitely don't."
They took Haku upstairs to Noah's room. Noah dropped him onto a chair.
The boy then awake with a gasp.
"W-where am I?!" Haku cried.
Emma crossed her arms. "Hell."
Noah pulled up a chair and sat in front of him, leaning forward. "Alright, kid. Talk. Who told you to lure us out there?"
Haku looked from Noah to Emma, trembling. "I—I don't know their names! I was just told to bring anyone asking questions about the missing girls!"
"Who told you?" Noah asked again, softer this time.
"A pirate from Captain Grudge's crew!" Haku shouted. "I swear! They said they'd hurt me if I didn't listen!"
Noah sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Great. So the pirates are hunting anyone who digs too deep."
"And using kids," Emma muttered, disgusted.
Noah stood, reached out, and patted Haku's head. "You're safe now. Just don't try anything stupid."
Haku nodded quickly. "I won't!"
Someone suddenly knock on the door.
Emma crack the door open and peeked through. "It's Amy!"
Amy entered the room with a basket in hand, smiling. "I brought lunch like I promised!"
She paused when she saw Haku tied to a chair.
"…Um. Why is there a child tied up in your room?"
Noah pointed at the boy. "He's evil."
"I'm not evil!" Haku shouted.
"No, he's evil," Noah repeated firmly.
Emma nodded. "Very evil."
Amy blinked. "What did he do?"
"He led us into a trap," Emma explained. "Over a hundred pirates came out."
Amy gasped. "A hundred?! Are you two okay?"
"We're fine," Noah said casually. "Emma beat up most of them. I watched."
"You what?" Amy stared.
Noah shrugged. "Training."
Amy sighed and handed out the food. "Can you both try not to cause trouble for one day?"
Emma pointed at Noah. "He's the captain."
Meanwhile… At the Mayor's Office
A terrified man burst through the mayor's door and fell to his knees.
"M-Mayor Keldon! W-we failed!"
Keldon looked up slowly from his desk. His eyebrow twitched. "Failed what, exactly?"
"T-the order you gave… to eliminate that boy named Noah…"
Keldon's face darkened. "You're telling me my men couldn't kill one teenager?"
"T-there were two of them!" the man stammered. "A boy… and a girl!"
The mayor slammed his hand on the desk.
"Two?! And one of them is a GIRL? You're telling me my trained men couldn't even kill a GIRL?!"
The man bowed so low his forehead hit the floor. "P-please forgive me!"
The mayor's eye twitched harder. "Get out."
"Yes, sir!" The man scrambled away.
Another figure stepped forward from the shadows behind the mayor's desk.
It was the same adviser who spoke to him yesterday.
"What should I tell Captain Grudge?" he asked quietly.
The mayor's lips twisted into a cruel grin.
"Tell him… we have a bigger problem than expected.
And tell him Noah must die before the week ends."
The adviser bowed. "As you wish."
The mayor leaned back in his chair, eyes cold.
"No boy disrupts my island and lives to tell the tale."
After lunch, Noah, Emma and Amy sat around a small round table in the inn's back room.
Amy looked at Noah. "So… what now?"
Noah leaned back in his chair, arms crossed behind his head. "Now we expose the mayor."
Emma raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
"Easy," Noah said, grinning. "We find proof he's the one working with pirates and kidnapping girls. Once we have evidence, the whole island will turn against him."
Emma stretched. "The mayor probably has a lot of people working for him.
Amy nodded. "And the people in the lower district… they're scared. Even if they know the mayor is corrupt, they can't say anything."
"So we collect proof ourselves," Emma said. "Something the mayor can't deny."
Noah pointed at her. "Exactly. Once the truth gets out, he loses everything."
Amy looked worried. "But Noah… the mayor is dangerous. If he finds out—"
"I don'treally care," Noah said.
Amy looked between them. "You two are way too calm about this."
Noah shrugged. "I'm not worried."
Emma leaned forward. "So, what's the first step?"
"We find out where the mayor keeps the kidnapped girls," Noah said. "Once we free them, we'll have witnesses. Real ones."
"And then?" Amy asked
Noah smiled. "We show the whole island what their mayor really is."
Emma smirked. "Simple plan."
Amy sighed. "Dangerous plan…"
And what if this plan doesn't work? Because… it sounds awful," Amy said.
"Then war," Noah replied with a grin.
Meanwhile elsewhere...
Captain Grudge sat in his cabin aboard the Blood Serpent, polishing the blade of his massive cutlass when one of his crew barged in.
"Captain! News from one of our scouts!"
Grudge didn't look up. "Speak."
"It's about the mayor's problem… the boy named Noah. They say he wiped out the squad that went after him."
Grudge's hand froze.
"…Noah?" he repeated slowly.
"Yes, sir. The mayor still wants your help dealing with him."
Grudge stood up, his chair scraping loudly across the wooden floor. He walked to a locked chest in the corner, he unlocked it, and began digging through a stack of old and new wanted posters.
"Noah… Noah… where is it…" he muttered.
"Not this one… not him… no… no—ah."
Then he stopped.
His fingers tightened around two particular posters.
He held both posters side by side.
Noah: Bounty – 700,000,000 berries
Emma: Bounty – 250,000,000 berries
Grudge's eyes widened.
"This… this is unbelievable."
"No way…" he whispered. "Those two kids… those monsters?"
Grudge let out a low whistle.
"Unbelievable."
He folded the posters carefully and slid them into his pocket.
"The mayor has no idea what he's dealing with… but this might be fun."