"Oh? Then, little girls… do you want to join the Marines?"
Saint Roselith Seraphina had overheard the conversation between the two little girls. She could not help but smile as she lightly teased them.
Nami immediately turned around, her orange hair swaying.
"Can I draw sea charts if I join the Marines?"
She showed no shyness at all toward the Marine officer who had suddenly approached. Instead, she spoke with surprising confidence for a child.
Seraphina looked down at the girl with interest.
"Of course you can."
"You could draw many, many sea charts."
She answered without hesitation.
Children's dreams were precious things.
As long as those dreams were not misguided, they deserved encouragement.
Seraphina had not expected such a small child to possess such a grand ambition.
"To map the seas…" she thought.
That was no ordinary dream.
"Then… I'll think about it."
Nami crossed her arms as if seriously considering the offer.
Beside her, Nojiko tilted her head curiously.
"Can you make money as a Marine?"
Seraphina did not show the slightest impatience at their questions.
Instead, she answered calmly.
"There is a salary."
Her gentle attitude made it obvious that she had already developed a good impression of the two girls.
Suddenly, Nami asked something completely unexpected.
"Then… do Marines eat tangerines?"
Seraphina blinked.
"Huh?"
For a moment she was genuinely confused.
What did eating tangerines have to do with becoming a Marine?
"I suppose… we do."
She could only answer somewhat uncertainly.
Nami's eyes immediately sparkled.
"Then can you buy tangerines from our family?"
"Our tangerines are really delicious!"
Beside her, Nojiko suddenly understood Nami's plan.
"Yeah! Yeah!"
"Marine big sister, please buy some!"
The two girls stared at Seraphina with innocent yet cunning smiles.
Seraphina sighed helplessly.
"I really can't win against the two of you…"
Faced with their relentless persuasion, she finally surrendered.
Soon enough, the two clever little rascals dragged her toward their home.
"Bell-mère! Bell-mère!"
"We've got business!"
The wooden door opened.
Bell-mère stood there with her arms folded.
Behind the two girls stood Seraphina, wearing a Marine coat of justice.
The rank of Captain was very conspicuous.
However, Bell-mère did not immediately pay attention to the Marine officer.
"What is it?"
"Why are you making such a fuss?"
Nami grinned mischievously.
"Hehe!"
"Bell-mère, I brought a big customer for our tangerine grove!"
"She is"
Nami suddenly stopped mid-sentence.
She realized something very embarrassing.
She did not know the Marine's name.
"Oh right!"
"Marine big sister, I forgot to ask your name!"
Seraphina crossed her arms lightly.
"My name is Saint Roselith Seraphina."
"The Roselith family serves the World Government."
"Now then… you two clever rascals haven't introduced yourselves properly either."
Nami scratched the back of her head awkwardly.
"Hehehe…"
"I'm Nami."
"And this is Nojiko."
Her left hand pointed toward the blue-haired girl beside her.
Nojiko stepped forward politely.
"Hello, Sister Seraphina."
"I'm Nojiko."
"This idiot here is my little sister."
"Nami is not an idiot!"
"Nojiko is!"
The two girls immediately began making faces at each other.
Watching them bicker, Seraphina could not help smiling slightly.
Meanwhile, Bell-mère had overheard their conversation from the doorway.
When she heard Seraphina's name and Marine rank, she quietly exhaled.
Relief appeared in her eyes.
You see
Bell-mère had once been a Marine herself.
However, because of a certain war…
She had deserted.
The memory of that battlefield still stabbed painfully at her heart.
It had been a chaotic conflict.
A brutal clash between Marines and pirates.
Blood had flowed like rivers.
At first, the Marines fought pirates.
But as the battle spiraled out of control…
Even civilians were caught in the slaughter.
Anyone who appeared near the battlefield risked being treated as an enemy.
By the end of the war, there was no longer any distinction.
The country had been reduced to ruins.
Bell-mère had collapsed during combat with pirates.
Her body fell onto shattered rubble.
Her strength was gone.
"Maybe… this is enough…"
Her consciousness faded.
At that moment she had already lost the justice she once believed in.
The meaning of being a Marine had become unclear to her.
She was ready to close her eyes forever.
But then
She heard laughter.
The soft laughter of a baby.
Through the smoke and flames of war, she saw something unbelievable.
A small girl was walking among the ruins.
In her arms was a baby wrapped in cloth.
The older child was only two years old.
Her young face was filled with confusion as she wandered through the devastation.
It was Nojiko.
And the infant she carried
Was Nami.
Their innocent presence stood in stark contrast to the destruction around them.
It was as if they were questioning the madness of the world.
Or mocking the war itself.
Yet in that moment, Bell-mère felt something awaken inside her heart.
Hope.
She did not know where the strength came from.
But she forced herself to crawl out from the pile of rubble.
Her voice was weak.
"Is… she your sister?"
Nojiko shook her head.
"I don't know whose baby she is."
Bell-mère gently poked the baby with her soot-covered finger.
Baby Nami burst into laughter.
A bright, carefree laugh.
Bell-mère suddenly felt tears flowing down her cheeks.
"She really doesn't understand our suffering at all…"
Yet that laughter warmed her heart.
Seeing Bell-mère cry, little Nojiko also began to cry.
But strangely
The crying soon turned into laughter.
In the midst of war's devastation…
The three of them found a fragile moment of peace.
In that moment, everything changed.
Nojiko and Nami found someone who could protect them.
And Bell-mère found the reason she had once become a Marine.
The two children became her light.
At that moment she made a decision.
She could not die here.
She had to live.
She had to protect them.
She would become their mother.
But surviving in the middle of a battlefield was impossible.
So when everyone believed Bell-mère had died in combat…
She escaped the war zone with the two children.
Through a raging storm, she sailed back to Cocoyasi Village.
The violent waves caused both children to develop high fevers.
"It's a boat!"
"Who would come back during a storm like this?!"
The villagers along the coast shouted in surprise.
The storm waves slammed the small boat toward the pier.
By some miracle
Bell-mère reached land.
"Doctor!"
"Quick, call the doctor!"
Bell-mère staggered forward while holding the two children tightly.
"Bell-mère?!"
"Isn't that Bell-mère?!"
"What happened to you?!"
"And who are those children?"
The villagers surrounded her with shock and concern.
But Bell-mère ignored all of it.
Her eyes were fixed only on the children in her arms.
"They have very high fevers!"
"They're weak from the storm!"
At that moment the village doctor rushed over.
Despite the wounds covering her body, Bell-mère only worried about the children.
Their faces were pale.
Their bodies burned with fever.
The storm had struck at the worst possible moment.
The small boat had offered no shelter from the rain.
Bell-mère had shielded them beneath her own body the entire time.
"I understand!"
"But you need treatment too!"
The doctor carefully took the two children from her arms.
After all, he had watched Bell-mère grow up in this village.
But Bell-mère shook her head violently.
"Forget about me!"
"Hurry!"
"Please… don't let them die…"
"Please save those two children!"
Her voice trembled.
"I'm begging you!"
For Bell-mère Those two children had become her reason to live.
Her final belief in justice.