"Oh, looks like you didn't realize it. Makes sense, Amphy wouldn't bring this up with you. She's always had plans to become my stepmother. Maybe one day she'll actually take that position.
Going by your clan's seniority, wouldn't you have to call her great-grandmother? Then that would make me your grandmother."
Seeing that Alber hadn't grasped what she meant, Nanamo simply spelled it out. Her intuition told her this would probably happen sooner rather than later.
"…If you insist on addressing me that way, I wouldn't mind."
"Huh? You really don't care about something like that at all!"
Alber's calm reaction instead made Nanamo feel a bit uncomfortable, leaving her unable to continue what she was going to say next.
"I believe that everything in battle exists only for victory. As long as you win, the process and methods don't matter, and neither do the tools.
The same applies to verbal exchanges. Words that can't even scratch the surface have no effect on me."
Gripping the dumbbell again, Alber resumed swinging it, completely unconcerned with matters of seniority.
"That's right, only the living get to talk about these things. In life-and-death combat, victory is what matters. Of course, someone with Boss's level of strength is an exception.
My Princess, there is nothing wrong with Alber's combat logic. Want me to teach you how to ambush your opponent? That's something Boss can't teach you."
Sebastian, who had just finished teaching not long ago, strongly agreed with Alber's words. Thanks to his Fish-Type ability granting invisibility, he had quite a bit of expertise in that area.
As for Nereus himself, it wasn't that he couldn't sneak—his infiltration skills were nearly unmatched. Using Observation Haki to conceal his presence, combined with his Devil Fruit ability, he could infiltrate almost anywhere.
However, on the front lines, there were hardly any opponents who could force him to use such methods, so his experience in that regard was far less than Sebastian's.
"Dad already has my schedule packed. Uncle Sebastian, are you trying to steal his lessons?"
"If Boss has already arranged things, I won't interfere. But if you want extra training, you can come to me anytime."
"Just thinking about it sounds terrifying… I'm still just a kid."
"Boss is doing it for your own good. Being born here, enjoying the resources and benefits Boss provides, it all comes with responsibility. None of the people the Boss has to deal with are easy targets.
You're his daughter, you could be targeted at any time. The stronger you become, the more at ease Boss can be. That incident at Mariejois, when he kept you on Fish-Man Island and wouldn't let you go out, that was because of this.
Young Miss, you're already seventeen this year. You're an adult now. Even if you haven't grown much taller, you shouldn't be as playful as a child anymore."
Sebastian was different from the other senior officers. Big Pan, due to some intellectual shortcomings, would just fool around with Nanamo whenever there were no extra orders.
Sunbell and Barbell, on the other hand, treated her like elders doting on a child. For example, when Nanamo held concerts, the two of them were regular attendees.
Sebastian, however, was much stricter. His loyalty was to Nereus. Although Nanamo was Nereus's daughter, she was not someone he directly served.
While there would never be any open conflict, his attitude was more strict, and their interactions were mostly focused on training.
"Do you think I don't want to grow taller?! Is that something I can control?! It's something you're born with, what am I supposed to do about it?!"
Though she had grown older, in appearance Nanamo looked no different from when she was on Fullalead Island, still petite as ever.
Given her parents' height, this wasn't very reasonable, but growth in this sea had always been peculiar. Sometimes people in their twenties looked like four- or five-year-old children.
But in just a year, they could undergo explosive growth and suddenly become adults.
Saldeath of Impel Down was one such example.
Back then, Nanamo had grown quickly, reaching 1.4 meters at four or five years old. Now, more than a decade later, she had only just passed the 1.5-meter mark.
Barbell didn't want to face his problem of balding, while Nanamo hated the issue with her height.
"Besides, I already know all this. Haven't I been strictly following the schedule Dad set…? It's break time right now…
Maybe it's because I've been training too much that I haven't grown taller."
"Princess Nanamo, I think a diligent heir would be more pleasing to Lord Nereus. Perhaps you should show a bit more diligence?"
"Hermes, the role you're playing right now is a sofa. Sofas don't talk, so please continue to follow that role."
Sebastian could be considered an elder, so Nanamo couldn't really say much to him. She usually just nodded along and listened to his nagging.
But Hermes… Nanamo didn't like him chiming in with Sebastian at times like this.
Being lectured by one person was fine, but when someone else echoed it from the side, it created an irritating feeling.
After casually lifting her leg to express her stance, Hermes stopped speaking, though a trace of complicated emotion appeared on the cloud-like face.
[My princess… you really have no sense of urgency at all. If one day you end up with younger siblings…]
As her most loyal attendant, Hermes fully supported Nanamo, but as the one being served, Nanamo had no interest whatsoever in such matters.
This situation… was a perfect case of the emperor not being anxious while the eunuch is.
While Nanamo was still resting, the schools on Fish-Man Island had already ended their break and ushered in the start of the new term.
Over the past three years, it wasn't just the military that had expanded. The scale of education had grown as well.
The academy district island, built and connected to the main body of Fish-Man Island, had now taken on the entire island's educational responsibilities. Other schools had also been relocated here for unified management.
As the domestic situation on Fish-Man Island grew more stable, the number of new students enrolling continued to increase.
At present, academic requirements here were still not very high. Being able to read and write at a basic level and perform simple arithmetic was considered sufficient.
Physical training was a compulsory subject, while academic studies instead became something for specialists, generally those whose physical condition was poor and who couldn't keep up with the training would focus on academics.
You have to eat one bite at a time, and you can't take steps that are too big all at once. In some parts of Fish-Man Island, literacy campaigns were still needed. Reaching this stage already counted as significant progress.
On the first day of enrollment, new students underwent physical assessments to establish a baseline. However, in one of the senior classes, a small issue had arisen.
Looking at the attendance sheet in hand, the homeroom teacher felt a bit nervous.
"Can anyone tell me where Kawamatsu went?"
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