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Chapter 29: Past Achievements
After Hancock tore me to shreds with her. no, let's call it "justifiably sound logic," I miserably collapsed into tears all by myself.
Pathetic. Truly pathetic.
After crying for about five minutes, I left the room and came to what seemed to be a lookout point—the highest spot in the country. They say idiots and smoke like high places. For an idiot runt like me, it was a fitting location.
"Haa."
It wasn't like I came here to commit suicide by jumping off or anything. I was just staring off into the distance, lost in melancholy.
Luffy and the girls were surely in the middle of a lively banquet right now. I could hear their happy voices echoing all the way up here. But I didn't have the right to join them. You could say I couldn't face them.
Because I had no counterargument to the absolute truth Hancock had thrown at me.
"Ah, Teacher Line. So this is where you were."
"..."
Under the moonlit sky, as I sat dangling my legs from the lookout railing, a breathless Marguerite came running up the stairs.
"What did you come here for?"
"You didn't show up no matter how long we waited, so I came to find you. Everyone's waiting. Come on, let's go, Teacher Line."
"I'm not a man worthy of being called 'Teacher'."
"Eh?"
"I'm sorry. That 'Tontatta greeting' I taught you all? It was a lie."
"Eh."
I confessed my sins.
I told her that I had taken advantage of the fact that the girls of this country knew nothing about men, prioritizing my own desires to do whatever I pleased. And then I apologized.
"And that's the truth. I'm sorry."
"..."
"Hehehe. I'm the worst, aren't I? Turns out I was an Ultimate Sexual Harassment Scum Bastard. Even if you punch me, I can't complain."
"..."
Marguerite listened to my story, to my confession, in silence.
When I finished, she effortlessly lifted me up with both hands. Commonly known as "Upsie-daisy."
"Teacher Line."
"Hm?"
"The things you taught us—about the differences between men and women, how babies are made, the youthful love stories of men and women. were all of those. lies too?"
"Ah, no. all that stuff is true."
"I see."
Saying that, Marguerite nodded to herself—nod nod—and put me back down.
What? What is this time? What is she thinking?
"So, aside from the fake 'puff-puff' greeting. you didn't lie about anything else, right?"
"Y-Yeah, but."
"Okay. Then, Teacher Line. I forgive you!"
"Ehh!?"
She flashed a bright smile—and answered cheerfully.
My current state of mind. In one word: Dumbfounded.
"F-Forgive me? Even though I did such terrible sexual harassment?"
"Hmm, terrible or not, from our perspective, it doesn't really feel like anything that bad happened. In a way, it's like you taught us what kind of creature a man is. so it's fine."
"..."
"Right? Everyone else forgives Teacher Line too, don't you!"
"Everyone? Wah!?"
"We forgive you~!!"
At Marguerite's call, over a dozen girls swarmed up from the shadows of the stairs.
Marguerite wasn't the only one who came? I was so distraught I didn't even notice this many people approaching.
Observation Haki really doesn't work well when you're not calm.
"I thought Teacher Line's class! Was super interesting, and I wanted to hear more!"
"Me too! Just listening to the love stories between men and women made my heart race!"
"If you tell us more stories, we'll give you as many puff-puffs as you want~!"
"Besides, we were touching Teacher all over too!"
"It goes both ways, both ways!"
"So don't worry about it so much, Teacher."
"Cheer up, Teacher Line!"
"..."
Ah.
This hits hard right now.
The kindness of these girls made tears overflow again. They just naturally spilled out—Sob Sob.
I'm such a crybaby today.
"Sorry, I'm sorry. Thank you, thank you. U, uuu. sniff."
"Come on, don't cry, cheer up Teacher. Puff-puff~"
"I'm done with puff-puff. I've decided not to sexually harass anymore. I just decided."
"We want to do it. So it's not harassment. Here you go, puff-puff~"
"Uuuuugh. It's sooo soft."
—Now Loading—
30 minutes later.
Thanks to the girls' devotion, I had made a splendid recovery.
"Hehehe! I! Am fully revived!! Hehehehe~!"
Indeed, when feeling down, crying into someone's chest is the most refreshing remedy. (If you know what I mean)
"Yep, yep. That's the Teacher Line we know."
I sat cross-legged on top of Marguerite's chest and struck a sharp pose, earning a round of applause—clap clap—from all the girls.
"No~, but. this might have been a good opportunity to reflect on myself. From now on, I'll stop sexually harassing complete strangers."
"That sounds good. Even I was a little embarrassed when I got stripped completely naked."
"To become a popular man, it's not just the body. the heart needs to become 'Huge' too. That's what it is! I'm gonna become a man who's huge in both body and soul!"
"Do your best~!" The girls continued to clap and cheer.
They're such good people, really.
"Hehehe. Good people. huh."
Suddenly, I remembered everyone back in Dressrosa.
If they saw me now, with my renewed determination, what would everyone back home think?
Leo and Mansherry would probably say "Do your best~" without a shred of doubt.
Scarlet would smile wryly, and Rebecca might ask, "What does thaaat mean~?"
Monet would probably say something cool like, "You'll just quit after three days anyway."
Viola. I wonder. How would she react? I have no idea.
I don't know, but she'd probably laugh. She's that kind of woman.
"Hehehe."
"Teacher Line, what's wrong? You're grinning."
"Nah, just a little bit. thinking about the people I love."
Dressrosa was apparently ruled by Doflamingo, one of the Seven Warlords, now, but as long as everyone was living peacefully, that was enough.
Hancock was also a Warlord and the queen of this island, but she seemed to be managing just fine, so it should be okay.
It had to be.
And so, having regained my spirits.
When you feel better, you get hungry. My stomach growled—rumble.
"Come to think of it, we were in the middle of a banquet."
"We came to call you, Teacher Line."
"Come on, if you're feeling better, let's go! Let's go!"
"There's lots of delicious food! Teacher!"
"Okay, okay."
Led by the girls, I descended from the lookout point and headed toward the dining hall where Luffy and the others were likely still partying.
But inside the dining hall.
"..."
"Luffy. You must stay strong."
Luffy was staring with extreme panic at a Vivre Card that looked like a burnt scrap of paper. Hancock was watching Luffy with concern, Hancock's two sisters were watching Hancock with concern, and Elder Nyon was watching all of them with concern.
Um, what is this situation? This doesn't look like a banquet at all.
"Hey, Luffy. Are you done eating?"
"Line! This isn't the time! It's a disaster! I. I gotta go to Impel Down for a bit!!"
"Hah?"
Gotta go to Impel Down? What is this guy saying all of a sudden?
Impel Down was the name of the great underwater prison where captured pirates were locked up. Even I knew that much.
We were supposed to be heading to Sabaody Archipelago, right? Why does he want to go to Impel Down.
"Are you going to turn yourself in?"
"No!! Ace is gonna be executed!! So I gotta go save him before the war between the Marines and Whitebeard starts!!"
"Haa!?"
What are you talking about?
"You wouldn't understand from just that. It cannot be helped. Shall I explain it to you-nyo?"
"Ah, yes. Please do."
Elder Nyon, who had a reputation for making confusing explanations understandable, stepped forward, so I listened.
"And that is the situation."
"I see."
In short, Luffy's older brother, Portgas D. Ace, had been captured by the Marines and imprisoned in Impel Down, so Luffy wanted to go break him out.
Truly pirates. They think of some crazy stuff.
The Whitebeard Pirates, known as the strongest pirate crew in the world.
Their 2nd Division Commander, and also Luffy's brother, "Fire Fist" Ace, had an all-out battle with a pirate called "Blackbeard."
The result: Blackbeard was the winner, Ace the loser.
Blackbeard became a Warlord, and Ace was sent to Impel Down.
And now, Ace's public execution was scheduled to take place in exactly six days.
"Whitebeard is a man who never forgives the death of a crewmate. To retrieve Ace, a war with the Marines is inevitable."
"Haa. So before that war happens, Luffy wants to secretly rescue Ace."
"That's right!"
Elder Nyon finished her explanation, and Luffy huffed—flaring his nostrils.
"No, that's impossible, isn't it!? What are you thinking, Luffy!?"
Naturally, I denied it.
It was a reckless plan that would make Prison Break look like child's play.
"It's not about whether I can or can't! I'm going to save Ace!!"
"No, it's physically impossible. How are you going to get to Impel Down. there's only six days."
Well, I painfully understood his feeling of wanting to save his brother.
If my little sworn sister Esune were in the same situation, I'd definitely go save her too.
While I was thinking that, Hancock snapped at me again.
"Hmph, a heartless man like you could never understand Luffy's noble desire to save his brother."
"Mu."
As someone with a little sister, that remark actually pissed me off.
Just as I was about to retort, Luffy spoke up first.
"Line isn't a heartless guy! He saved me and my crew from Kizaru at Sabaody Archipelago!"
"What? Kizaru. you say?"
Hancock narrowed her eyes.
"Plus, Line is a guy who stormed all the way into Mary Geoise to save Esune!"
Ah, right, I did tell Luffy about that. The chaotic mess at Mary Geoise.
I had talked about a lot of things while we were bored flying through the air from Kuma-emon's paw slap.
"M-Mary Geoise, you say!? Stormed in? What is the meaning of this!!"
Hancock, who had been narrowing her eyes, now widened them and pressed closer to me.
"Exactly what it sounds like. My little sworn sister, Esune, got kidnapped by a Celestial Dragon, so I flew up to the top of the Red Line to save her."
"Flew up? How?"
"Like this."
I spun my tail and flew up with Tail Copter.
"Y-You mean to say. you crossed the Red Line with that. Hmmm. You stormed into Mary Geoise, and then what happened? Y-Your sister?"
"I saved her, obviously. Well, besides that, I saved the other captured slaves, fought Aokiji. a lot happened, but everyone made it back alive. That's the gist of it."
"S-S-Sa-Saved the slaves!!?"
"I just said that. There were about 50 or 60 of them, I think? They're all alive."
"Line saved a bunch of slaves on Sabaody Archipelago too."
"!!!"
Hancock revealed a shocked face that looked like it belonged to a resident of a gag manga world.
Don't make that face, World's Most Beautiful Woman.
"Wh-Wh-What are you saying! S-S-Su-Such an outrageous act, i-i-is impossible!!"
"No, Snake Princess. It is likely the truth that this person. the 'Invisible Phantom Thief' released the slaves-nyo."
"Elder Nyon."
"Look at this-nyo!"
Elder Nyon produced a newspaper from out of nowhere.
She held it up in front of Hancock. I was curious too, so I hopped on Hancock's shoulder to peek. And there it was.
—Sabaody Nightmare Returns!! Invisible Phantom Thief Blows Up Celestial Dragon!? Marines' Greatest Power, Admiral Kizaru, Admits Total Defeat!!—
"Pfft!?!?"
Seeing that headline plastered across the front page, Hancock and I spat out simultaneously.
"Wh-Wh-Wh-What!? What is this article!? What does this mean!? Little One!!"
"E-Even if you ask me what it means."
I continued reading the newspaper.
The content was about the incident that occurred the other day.
It was a mix of subtle lies and facts woven together.
The Straw Hat Pirates, Heart Pirates, and Kid Pirates rampaged on Sabaody Archipelago. This is true.
Straw Hat Luffy punched a Celestial Dragon. Also true.
The Invisible Phantom Thief blew up a Celestial Dragon!? This is not true!! That was caused by Usopp! And the Celestial Dragon didn't even die! I checked with Observation Haki, and at least at that point, he was definitely alive. At worst, he was critically injured and unconscious.
Blew up!? I sense malice in that '!?'. It's written with the full intention of causing a misunderstanding.
"Damn media vultures!"
And then, the article mentioned my fight with Kizaru.
Kizaru attempted to arrest the Straw Hat Pirates. Due to this, the Straw Hat Pirates were nearly annihilated. Just as they were one step away from capture, the Invisible Phantom Thief intruded.
Due to the Invisible Phantom Thief's rampage, Kizaru's subordinates were wiped out, and he committed the grave blunder of letting the Straw Hat Pirates escape.
Regarding this, there was an interview with Kizaru included.
According to the article, Kizaru said.
'Hmm. I was completely outsmarted by the Invisible Phantom Thief. Actually, he gave me a pretty bad injury six years ago too. In other words, both six years ago and now, it's my total defeat. Hey, are you watching? Invisible Phantom Thief. I admit my loss honestly.'
That's what he reportedly answered.
No, no, no, no, no!
Sure, at that time, Kizaru said, "If you can manage to escape from this situation, I'll honestly admit defeat," okay!?
But don't go using the newspaper to declare defeat on a massive scale!! In reality, we barely survived thanks to Kuma-emon's slap, but this makes it sound like I beat Kizaru to a pulp like some kind of monster!
"..."
See, even Hancock is freaking out.
Wait, her legs gave out. She's muttering things like, "Blew up a Celestial Dragon. Liberated slaves. Defeated Kizaru. W-What an incredible thing." It's kinda scary.
Elder Nyon sighed and put away the newspaper.
"Haa. To think someone would cause such an outrageous incident right before Fire Fist Ace's public execution. Making the Marines' Greatest Power admit defeat just before the war with the Whitebeard Pirates affects the morale of the entire Navy. It is no wonder the bounty has skyrocketed."
"Hah? Bounty? Skyrocketed? Don't tell me. mine?"
"Indeed. Have you not seen it yet? Here, take this."
Saying that, Elder Nyon pulled out a single wanted poster.
When I looked, there it was.
WANTED
"Invisible Phantom Thief" Line
Bounty: 1,000,000,000 Berries.
"ONE BILLIONNNNNNN!!?"
I flipped over backward.
One billion Berries!? That's jumping up way too much, isn't it!? I don't even belong to a pirate crew!!
"Um. Little One. No, Line. I said too much earlier. I apologize."
Hancock seems to be apologizing, but we aren't in that phase anymore!!
The shock of the one billion Berries is overriding everything!!
Oi, Luffy. Don't look so envious. This is a dishonorable thing.
Holding my own wanted poster, I slumped my head in despair.
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