Cover Serial: Heart Pirates, Part 9 - "Baby 5, Come On! We Have to Find Monet and Sugar!"
Buffalo, transformed into a human propeller plane, found the little black-haired girl crying alone on the rocks by the shore.
He hurriedly landed, still terrified by the sight of Giorno and Jolyne Cujoh killing the Young Master. He repeatedly urged Baby 5 to hurry up and escape with him.
But this time, Baby 5 didn't eagerly respond to someone else's needs as she always had before.
It was as though she couldn't hear Buffalo at all.
She simply faced the sea and sobbed helplessly, her face distorted beyond recognition from crying...
...
"Ha-ha, you must be joking."
The king of the Kano Country was momentarily speechless. He raised a sleeve to cover his long mustache and played along.
"I can't compare to a handsome young man like you. I'm old now, and I rely on this mustache to hide my ugly face. Heh, heh, heh..."
"Your Majesty is still in the prime of your life," the vice minister said. "How could you call yourself old?"
The king merely smiled.
Giorno appeared to have made the remark in passing and didn't pursue the matter. The king turned with a sweep of his sleeve.
"This way, please."
Liam and Robin followed him through the palace until they reached a hall overlooking a courtyard filled with flowering trees.
Everyone sat at separate tables. The king took the seat of honor with the vice minister beside him, while Liam and Robin occupied two tables opposite them.
The king had clearly gathered some information about his guests. Liam's table was piled high with energy-rich meat dishes. Robin's meal was lighter, consisting of Kano Country specialties alongside dishes from overseas, including black tea and cake.
"I only recently read in the newspapers about the great feat you accomplished in the North Blue..." The king raised his cup.
Liam continued eating without acknowledging him. The king didn't seem embarrassed; he poured himself a drink and continued speaking.
"The Donquixote Family terrorized the North Blue for many years. By helping the Marines eliminate them, you've done a great service to the people. It was truly a cause for celebration..."
Robin took a sip of her tea. It was a little too sweet. She didn't care much for sweets; even when eating cake, she preferred it with less sugar.
She ate and drank slowly, her movements elegant and composed. With a faint smile, she listened to the king's idle chatter while admiring the flowering trees in the courtyard. Pure white petals drifted through the breeze, occasionally settling on the embroidered dresses of the palace maids.
The maids moved quietly in and out of the hall, collecting empty plates and replacing them with fresh dishes. The procession serving Liam had barely stopped since the banquet began.
The vice minister shook his head as he drank. 'What a crude pirate. And what an appetite.'
Robin handled the king's rambling conversation. She was in no hurry, listening far more than she spoke.
Sure enough, the king eventually approached the question he truly wanted answered.
"You arrived rather suddenly," he said, stroking his mustache with a smile. "Did you come here for a particular purpose, or are you merely passing through?"
After all, these two had been in the North Blue only days ago, yet they had already appeared in the West Blue. Judging by the timing, they must have headed straight for the Kano Country immediately after killing Donquixote, without wasting a single moment.
Who would believe they hadn't come here deliberately?
"It was a spontaneous decision," Robin replied with a smile, "but I wouldn't say we're merely passing through."
"Oh?" The king leaned forward as though listening intently. "I would be delighted to hear the details."
Robin smiled without answering and glanced toward Liam.
A maid stood beside him with her head lowered, clearing the empty plates from his table.
Liam didn't look at the king. He didn't look at Robin. He didn't even look at the maid in front of him. He simply chewed on a roasted leg of meat and muttered, almost to himself:
"Don't all stare at me..."
Robin's gaze had already shifted to the maid. The woman kept her face lowered, but from that angle, Robin could clearly see her eyes.
She was the masked woman in black who had faced more than a dozen soldiers of the Dragon Banner Army.
Liam continued eating without deliberately looking at her. From where the king was sitting, he couldn't see the direction of Robin's gaze either.
While the king and vice minister were still wondering what Liam meant, the maid, Sienna, lost focus for the briefest instant.
Then she made her decision.
She crushed the empty plate in her hand.
'Crack!'
At the instant the plate shattered, Liam raised his eyes.
Robin remained perfectly calm.
The vice minister stared in shock.
Surprise crossed the king's face.
The pupils of the yellow-armored guards behind him contracted sharply.
Fragments of porcelain separated and slowly began falling toward the carpet. Sienna's rough hand seized one long, pointed shard. She twisted her foot against the floor, wrinkling the carpet beneath it.
Liam glanced at the shard in her hand.
Robin looked at Liam.
Panic spread across the vice minister's face.
The king's surprise deepened.
Alarm appeared in the eyes of the yellow-armored guards.
'Whoosh!'
Disguised as a palace maid, Sienna lunged straight at the king.
Liam lowered his head and resumed eating.
Robin turned toward the king.
The vice minister opened his mouth to shout.
The king's face turned cold.
The yellow-armored guards gritted their teeth and reached for the swords at their waists.
"ASSASSIN! PROTECT HIS MAJESTY!"
The vice minister's roar shattered the illusion that time had slowed, and everything snapped back into motion.
Sienna crossed the distance in a flash and overturned the king's dining table. The two guards behind him had only just drawn their blades when black Armament Haki coated the sharp porcelain shard in Sienna's hand.
She drove it into the king's throat.
'Crash!'
The king was knocked backward as the table overturned, scattering food and dishes everywhere.
"Protect His Majesty! Protect His Majesty!" The vice minister shrieked until his voice cracked as more and more guards flooded into the hall.
Amid the chaos, only Liam and Robin remained completely unruffled. Robin frowned as she watched the disorder unfold, while Liam continued eating with obvious enjoyment.
Unfortunately, the palace maids had been paralyzed with terror by the assassination attempt. No one brought out more food, and Liam quickly finished everything left on his small table.
By then, Sienna had also been subdued by the royal guards. Some of the yellow-armored guards pinned her to the floor beneath their boots, while the others hurriedly checked the king's condition.
"I'm unharmed." The king sat upright and straightened his robes. He stared coldly at the "palace maid" pinned beneath the guards' feet. "So you're the surviving remnant our investigation uncovered."
One guard's foot pressed Sienna's head against the carpet. She glared back at the king, her cheek flattened against the floor. Her lips moved with difficulty, and then she suddenly spat at him.
"Your Majesty!" The vice minister threw himself in front of the king, and the glob of saliva splattered across his face.
"Stay still!" The yellow-armored guards stomped viciously on Sienna before subjecting her to another round of punches and kicks.
She gritted her teeth and kept glaring at the king behind the vice minister. "You tyrannical demon dragon! You usurping traitor..."
She never finished. Several guards raised their sword scabbards and smashed them down on her head. Sienna instantly lost consciousness. Blood trickled through her black hair, ran across her rough cheek, and soaked into the carpet.
The king waved a hand in disgust. "Take her away. Lock her in the imperial prison for now."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
The guards dragged the unconscious assassin away, leaving a long trail of blood across the carpet.
The terrifying assassination attempt, at least to the people of the Kano Country, had erupted without warning and ended just as quickly. The assassin had suddenly attacked, only to be subdued and removed moments later. It almost seemed as if nothing had happened at all.
The vice minister wiped the saliva from his face and looked at Liam and Robin with displeasure. "Why didn't the two of you help?"
Robin remained silent in thought.
"You never asked us to," Liam replied lazily.
"How unusual," the vice minister said sarcastically. "The captain hasn't spoken, yet her crewman answers first?"
Robin smiled. "How unusual. The king hasn't spoken, yet his vice minister has already decided to antagonize a Warlord of the Sea."
The king brushed some dust from his dragon robes and glanced at the vice minister.
The man hurriedly bowed his head. "Your servant acknowledges his fault."
The king returned to his previous warm and humble smile, acting as though the assassination attempt had never happened. "My apologies for making such a spectacle in front of our honored guests. Come, let us continue drinking and admiring the flowers."
Robin asked curiously, "What did Your Majesty mean by 'surviving remnant'? And what did the assassin mean when she called you a 'tyrannical demon dragon' and a 'usurping traitor'?"
"Well..." The king stroked his mustache and smiled apologetically. "Those are merely internal matters of the Kano Country. They aren't worth troubling our honored guests over."
Having eaten his fill, Liam patted his stomach. "My captain was right. We decided to come here on a whim, but we aren't simply passing through."
'You're really going to act like nothing just happened?' The vice minister complained silently.
"We came because we want to learn your country's famous Hasshoken," Liam continued as he rose from his seat. "Could Your Majesty introduce us to a few capable teachers?"
"I see. So the two of you came for Hasshoken." The king considered the matter briefly, then smiled. "Changbo, the Pillar of the Nitou Navy, is the foremost Hasshoken master of this generation. I will issue an imperial edict. Once Changbo receives it, he will naturally devote himself to teaching you both."
"Got it!" Liam nodded, then turned to Robin. "Where was the Nitou Navy again?"
"In the Shanhai Region, southwest of the Kano Country."
"That's pretty far," Liam said. "Then we'd better get moving."
The king proved remarkably accommodating. He immediately ordered writing materials to be brought over and personally composed an edict for the Nitou Navy's Pillar, commanding him to ensure that the two Warlords learned Hasshoken.
...
After watching Giorno and Jolyne Cujoh depart, the vice minister immediately dropped to his knees, trembling as he repeatedly knocked his forehead against the floor.
"Your servant failed to protect Your Majesty! I deserve death!"
The king stroked his long mustache, his expression indifferent. After a long silence, he asked, "Why would you deserve death? Did you truly believe a mere female assassin could injure this king?"
Behind the overturned table, Sienna had gripped the blackened porcelain shard and pressed its point against the king's throat. Unfortunately, his throat had also been coated in black Armament Haki.
At the same time, the king's hand had transformed into a black-scaled beast's claw, crushing Sienna's wrist so tightly that the bones had nearly broken.
Behind his small, round sunglasses, his eyes had changed into dark golden vertical pupils. He stared coldly at Sienna as hatred, unwillingness, and fury twisted her face.
"How could I dare think such a thing?!" the vice minister cried, shaking like a leaf as he continued bowing frantically.
The king's hand transformed once more into a black-scaled dragon claw. He flicked his fingers and sneered. "You must understand that this assassin is not that woman, and I am not the former emperor! In the past three hundred years, only one person ever managed to wound an emperor during an assassination attempt. That was the woman named Lily, over thirty years ago. And even she... What became of her in the end?"
The vice minister knelt respectfully at the king's feet. "Back then, it was thanks to the brilliant plan Your Majesty devised while still crown prince that we successfully eliminated that troublesome woman."
'Slap!'
He struck himself across the face and hurriedly corrected his words. "But even if she were still alive, what difference would it make? Your Majesty's draconic might is unrivaled. Even if that demoness Lily returned from the dead, she would surely submit before your overwhelming power..."
"Heh-heh..." The king stroked his mustache twice and gave a cold laugh. Then he cleared his throat. "That's enough. Get up."
The vice minister bowed in gratitude, adjusted his sleeves, and rose. "Your Majesty, should I summon the imperial physician?"
"Hasn't that mute disappeared?" The king paced away with a sweep of his sleeve. "There's no need."
Neither of them noticed the two ears, one male and one female, hidden in a corner beside the path.
They quietly scattered into flower petals.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/marvel6395