"Mr. Kairo, please stay at my house tonight!"
As the villagers gradually dispersed, the man who had first invited Kairo over immediately had his wife prepare a spare room for him.
The man's name was Augus, a simple, honest farmer.
His family had lived in Shimotsuki Village for generations, and the farthest place he had ever traveled was the shoreline of Shimotsuki Village itself.
The reason was simple.
Ever since the Pirate King Roger had been executed in Loguetown, the pirate threat had not decreased in the slightest. If anything, it had only grown worse. Many villagers no longer dared to set sail casually, and even then, pirates still landed from time to time to loot whatever they could.
Compared to other villages and towns on nearby islands, Shimotsuki Village was already considered one of the safer places in East Blue.
Part of that was because the village had a dojo where the people could learn swordsmanship and strengthen themselves.
The other reason was stranger.
Every so often, a group of mysterious visitors would appear at the dojo and speak deep into the night by candlelight with its master, Koushirou.
"My thanks."
Kairo inclined his head politely toward Augus, but his eyes never left the green-haired boy still standing outside the house without leaving.
He had noticed him the moment the boy showed up.
As a great transmigrator and seasoned traveler of the One Piece world, Kairo obviously knew exactly who the kid was.
This green-haired boy was none other than Roronoa Zoro—future combatant of the Straw Hat crew.
Judging by the current timeline, Zoro should be around seventeen or eighteen right now. Most likely eighteen.
Noticing Kairo looking at him, the green-haired boy finally stopped hesitating and strode over.
"You…" he began cautiously. "Have you ever seen the world's greatest swordsman, Dracule Mihawk?"
Before Kairo could answer, Augus hurried over and introduced him.
"Mr. Kairo, this is Roronoa Zoro, disciple of Master Koushirou of Isshin Dojo. He's a swordsman."
Before he had even finished, Augus raised his head and barked, "Zoro, don't be rude to Mr. Kairo!"
"How was I rude?" Zoro's forehead twitched with irritation. "I just asked if he's seen Mihawk!"
"And that isn't rude?" Augus glared at him. "When you ask someone for advice, you put 'Mr.' after their name!"
Zoro clearly disagreed.
"He's just a traveler. He looks about my age."
Augus was just about to flare up when Kairo spoke first.
"It's fine, Augus. No harm done." He smiled lightly. "Meeting is fate. If we can stand here and talk, then we're already friends. Go on, I'll chat with him."
Hearing that, Augus could hardly continue scolding him. He shot Zoro one last warning look before finally turning away.
It wasn't that Augus loved making a fuss.
It was just that, for years now, aside from those mysterious figures who came and went from Isshin Dojo, Shimotsuki Village had hardly ever received any outsiders.
Now, at long last, a well-traveled visitor had arrived.
Naturally, both Augus and the rest of the villagers welcomed Kairo warmly.
And after hearing him patiently tell stories to the children earlier—mixing in all kinds of grand-sounding truths like the world isn't just about fighting and killing; it's about people and how things work—their regard for him only rose higher.
For kids who had grown up in Shimotsuki Village and knew almost nothing about the outside world, someone like Kairo was a rare treasure.
So of course they treated him with courtesy and respect.
Once Augus left, Kairo lifted his gaze and looked at Zoro, who had stepped closer.
Although Kairo already knew all about Zoro's journey from the original story, he still put on an unreadable expression, narrowed his eyes slightly, and asked, "You're asking about Mihawk because you want to surpass him and become the world's greatest swordsman, aren't you?"
Zoro's eyes widened instantly.
He had not expected Kairo to see straight through him with a single glance.
"You… can tell what I'm thinking?"
Kairo did not answer directly.
"I may be a traveler who has been to many places," he said calmly, "but I've never met Mihawk. Still, that doesn't matter to you. You're going to set out to find him sooner or later anyway. Where he is, how strong he really is—once you meet him yourself, you'll know."
Zoro nodded, but he still did not leave.
If anything, the way he looked at Kairo grew even more intense.
At first, when he heard from the other village kids that Kairo was a traveler who might have seen Mihawk, Zoro had only wanted information.
Ideally, he wanted Kairo to tell him where Mihawk was.
But somewhere along the way, that thought had changed.
Kairo was a traveler who had seen many places and crossed many seas.
That meant he must have experienced danger.
And if Kairo had safely gone from the South Blue to the Grand Line, and then from the Grand Line all the way to East Blue, then one thing was certain—
he was strong.
In Zoro's eyes, the fastest way to grow stronger was not endless training.
It was real combat.
Actual blade-against-blade fighting.
"You've traveled to so many places," Zoro said after a brief silence. "You must've fought before. You must've met a lot of strong people."
He no longer hesitated.
"Why don't we spar?"
"Tomorrow, I'm setting out to find Mihawk. Before I leave, I want to see where my limits are."
"A spar?"
Kairo blinked, then waved a hand dismissively.
"I'm just a traveler. I'm not a swordsman."
The disappointment in Zoro's eyes was immediate.
He believed Kairo.
If Kairo were a swordsman, he would definitely be carrying a blade.
But Kairo had no swords on him at all. In fact, he barely looked like he carried anything.
He was the picture of a penniless wandering traveler.
Kairo, however, caught that reaction at once.
Then, all of a sudden, his tone shifted.
"Still…" he said with a small smile, "while I'm not a swordsman myself, I was fortunate enough to know a great swordsman who once rampaged across the Grand Line eight hundred years ago—slaughtering pirates and defeating powerful opponents wherever he went."
"His name was Dugu Qiubai."
"At the time, not many strong figures in the Grand Line knew his real name."
"Because compared to his actual name, they preferred to call him by another title—"
Kairo paused, then slowly finished:
"The Sword Demon."
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