Dusk had arrived, and pedestrians hurried back and forth on the streets. The shops lining both sides of the street were taking advantage of the increased foot traffic, shouting to attract more business, their varied sounds mingling on the short thoroughfare.
Raiden Ei walked leisurely among them. Ever since leaving the Kendo Hall, she had been wandering until she arrived at this street. After eating a meal at a restaurant, she followed the crowd to look around.
As she walked with the flow of people, Raiden Ei suddenly noticed a vendor's sign that read 'Fried Tofu.' She was very curious. Did they sell fried tofu in the Pirate World too? What did it taste like? She wanted to try some.
When Raiden Ei reached the stall, she finally saw the owner: an Old Woman with completely white hair, dressed plainly, making a small snack all by herself.
The Old Woman had seen Raiden Ei as soon as she arrived and immediately called out to her. However, she was still busy making fried tofu for a customer and could only greet her verbally: "Little girl, what do you need? I can't step away right now, please take a look first."
Raiden Ei looked at the dazzling array of snacks and couldn't understand why she used 'Fried Tofu' as the sign name. Intrigued, she found a pretext to ask.
"Old Woman, among all these snacks you have, which one sells the best?"
Hearing Raiden Ei's question, the Old Woman smiled while watching the heat and replied, "It's the dried small fish that sells the best. Would you like to try some? They are crispy, refreshing, and truly fragrant."
Raiden Ei asked curiously, "Oh? Then why is your sign called 'Fried Tofu'? Shouldn't it be called 'Dried Small Fish'?"
The Old Woman smiled even wider, quickly packed up the snack and handed it to the customer. She then walked over to Raiden Ei and said, "That's a story from a long time ago. When I first set up my stall forty years ago, I only sold fried tofu, and the sign has been kept since that time.
Let me tell you, my fried tofu is really delicious, it's just that not many people like to eat it anymore. But I always have fried tofu prepared. Would you like to try some?"
Raiden Ei realized she had overthought things, but she still wanted to try the local fried tofu: "Sure! Give me one serving."
"Alright, wait a moment, I'll go make you my specialty fried tofu." Hearing that Raiden Ei ordered fried tofu, the Old Woman immediately went back to cook, not forgetting to praise herself.
Raiden Ei chatted with the Old Woman while waiting. Before long, the fried tofu was ready. The Old Woman said that fried tofu should be eaten hot, so she found a spot to sit and eat right in front of the stall.
There were still many people around. Regardless of gender, everyone noticed the beautiful Damselette. Seeing Raiden Ei eating fried tofu now made them all quite surprised. Was the fried tofu really that delicious?
Even such a beautiful woman liked it; perhaps they should buy some to try later. Many people had this thought, causing all the fried tofu the Old Woman had prepared for the day to sell out.
Raiden Ei picked up a piece of fried tofu with her chopsticks from the plate and put it in her mouth to taste. It was salty, and she didn't find it particularly tasty—it was very ordinary.
Raiden Ei put down her chopsticks and said to the Old Woman, who was still looking at her with anticipation, "I might not like fried tofu very much either, I'm sorry."
The Old Woman showed no sign of disappointment and even comforted Raiden Ei: "It's alright. Everyone has food they like and food they dislike. Look, didn't I prepare many different kinds of food?"
Raiden Ei saw someone coming to buy snacks: "Well then, I won't disturb your business. How many Berries is this serving of fried tofu?"
The Old Woman smiled sweetly and said, "You don't need to pay Berries for this serving of fried tofu; consider it me treating you to taste my craft."
Raiden Ei wasn't short of money, so she took out fifty thousand Berries from her backpack and handed it to the Old Woman: "Old Woman, I'm not lacking this amount of Berries, please accept it!"
The Old Woman quickly refused: "This is too much. My one serving of fried tofu is only one thousand Berries. Take it back."
Raiden Ei stuffed the money in and turned to leave, not giving the Old Woman any chance to catch up: "Just accept it! Goodbye." With that, her figure melted into the crowd and disappeared.
The Old Woman held the fifty thousand Berries, looking in the direction Raiden Ei had left: "Sigh! It seems she really doesn't like fried tofu. Who likes fried tofu nowadays anyway?"
Raiden Ei saw that night had already fallen and hurried back to the inn. She hadn't encountered any trouble today, suggesting Fellaf had probably taken care of yesterday's issue. Could the owner of a Kendo Hall really possess such great ability?
Without dwelling on it further, Raiden Ei cleaned herself up and went to bed. She had only booked this room for two days; she planned to continue heading to Loguetown tomorrow and didn't intend to delay here.
The next morning, Raiden Ei woke up early and headed to the Kendo Hall. After sparring with Fellaf, she still needed to buy some supplies. She planned to set sail at noon; staying here served no purpose, it was better to leave sooner.
At the entrance of the Kendo Hall today, she didn't see Fellaf waiting. There were only a few middle-aged men who immediately rushed down to greet her upon seeing Raiden Ei. She wondered if Fellaf had given them instructions.
"General Raiden, hello! My name is Hyuga. The Master asked us to welcome you. The Master is waiting for you inside the Kendo Hall."
Raiden Ei thought, what was that old fellow up to now? She probably wouldn't get answers by asking them here, so she decided to go see for herself: "Oh! Let's go then!"
The middle-aged men were all very excited and hastened to lead the way for Raiden Ei: "General Raiden, please this way."
Raiden Ei followed the men into a large courtyard where Fellaf was drinking tea. Seeing her arrive, he quickly stood up and smiled: "General Raiden, good morning! Why are you here so early today? I was just about to go out and meet you, but I didn't expect you to come in on your own."
Raiden Ei... You already had people waiting at the door, yet you claim I'm early. You old man, since you can't beat me, you're trying to annoy me here, aren't you!
"I just arrived too, but it's not early anymore. Let's go to the plaza for a spar and see how much you've improved."
Fellaf had anticipated Raiden Ei would say this and remained smiling: "Hehe! After sparring with you yesterday, my back injury flared up. I'm afraid I'm powerless today." Who would spar with someone like you, a monster? If I did this for two more days, I'm afraid I'd only have a few years left to live.
Raiden Ei eyed him suspiciously: "You don't look like you have a back injury! Did you fall somewhere last night?"
Fellaf's smile froze slightly. Did this little girl know how to speak? "Hehe, then should I find a few of my disciples to spar with you?"
Raiden Ei refused: "Then that won't be necessary. Since you can't move, I should leave early then!"
The smile on Fellaf's face vanished: "General Raiden, are you leaving?"
"Yes, I planned to leave at noon, but I'll depart now and head towards the Grand Line."
Fellaf... I thought I was going to be beaten again for a whole day: "I think my back is better now. Let's go spar right away. You can leave at noon!"
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