"You don't look like you're in a hurry."
Two powerful men walked the streets of Loguetown, looking around at scenes that felt strangely familiar. Mihawk folded his arms and asked the question calmly.
"No need to rush. Since we're already in the East Blue, how could we not start at Loguetown?"
Ozz had his hands in his pockets. He lifted his head into the slightly blinding sunlight, his expression full of nostalgia.
"After all, this is where dreams begin and end."
Mihawk neither agreed nor disagreed. He was used to Ozz doing whatever he pleased. He wasn't going to urge him along either. What happened to Crocodile meant nothing to him.
Still, he understood what Ozz was feeling. He even shared it.
Loguetown.
Twenty three years ago, the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, whose name had shaken the entire world, was executed here in the place he was born.
His life ended, but at the same time, it reached its peak.
And it was also here that Mihawk first met this man.
Back then, they were both young, just starting out at sea, not much older than many so-called Supernovas today.
Now, more than two decades later, they had returned, and each of them had, in their own way, completed their dreams.
Young Mihawk used to seek out swordsmen everywhere to challenge. Now he was the World's Greatest Swordsman, a man with few equals.
As for Ozz, even as a boy he'd always been reckless, always chasing fun without restraint. Now he had become a king in the truest sense, unbound and free to do as he liked.
After achieving their goals, coming back to the place where they first met naturally stirred emotions.
"The end is the beginning. Captain Roger's end was our beginning…"
Ozz slung an arm over Mihawk's shoulder, ignoring the cold glance of clear displeasure, and laughed.
"Now that we're back here… who knows, maybe we'll get to witness a new beginning too."
…
The Marines in Loguetown had no idea that a couple of monsters had walked onto their turf.
The marketplace was lively, packed with people flowing through the streets.
Zoro stared at a sword shop by the road. The prices on display made his eyelids twitch. He wanted to turn and leave on the spot.
Sure, someone on the ship had money, but he had zero interest in borrowing from Nami's shark-like "high-interest loans."
His face was already sour when a commotion broke out nearby.
"Huh? What's going on?"
Curiosity got the better of him. He pushed through the crowd and saw the scene inside.
"Kuina?!"
Two burly men had surrounded a girl, clearly up to no good. Zoro was about to step in.
But he didn't get the chance.
The girl dropped both men in just a few moves.
"No… that's not Kuina."
Zoro might be directionally challenged, but he wasn't face-blind. He caught the subtle differences at last.
He turned to leave.
But whether it was fate, or someone's "arrangement," the Marine girl stumbled as she walked away. Her glasses fell right at Zoro's feet.
Crack.
"Huh?!"
Tashigi's expression changed instantly. A face that looked exactly like Kuina's stared up at him, and she was about to demand compensation.
But Zoro was broke. Where was he supposed to get money?
He was just about to speak when another voice reached them first.
"I'll pay for it."
Both of them froze and looked behind Zoro.
Another girl stood there, a sword at her waist, smiling brightly.
But the moment she saw Tashigi's face, she went stiff. Her eyes turned shocked, then strangely confused.
"You?!" they both blurted out at once.
Yes. It was that kind of coincidence. Or maybe it was exactly the kind of thing a certain troublemaker would deliberately set up.
Kuina was in Loguetown too.
And she just happened to run into Zoro.
"Kuina! Long time no see!!!"
Zoro looked genuinely surprised, and genuinely happy. He greeted her with a grin.
"Yeah. But who's this…?"
Ever since leaving Shimotsuki Village, Kuina had traveled alone, challenging swordsmen everywhere. With her skill, she'd made it this far on her own.
She just hadn't expected that alongside Zoro…
She'd run into a girl who looked exactly like herself.
"This…"
Zoro didn't know what to say. Truthfully, he didn't even know the other girl.
Kuina wasn't the gossiping type. After realizing the two weren't close, she simply took out money and handed it over to Tashigi.
"Sorry. He's always been this reckless. Take this as compensation."
It felt like she was talking to a mirror.
With Kuina saying that, Tashigi couldn't exactly keep pushing. She accepted the apology and the money.
Which meant there was no cleaning punishment for Zoro, no "Three Mop Style," none of that.
After handing over the money, Kuina turned and looked at Zoro's waist.
A trace of confusion appeared in her eyes.
"Aren't you a three-sword style user? Why do you only have one sword now?"
She'd noticed right away.
Zoro, who always carried three blades, now had only one at his waist: the blade called Underworld Crow.
Zoro scratched his head.
"Well… about that…"
Both of them were swordsmen with blades at their hips. Once they met, the conversation naturally moved past catching up and straight into swords.
And Tashigi was a sword fanatic too, the same kind of pure swordswoman as them.
Hearing their talk, she no longer wanted to leave. Curiosity hooked her, and she stood there holding her sword, listening.
"My other two swords… got chopped into pieces when I was beaten easily not long ago."
Even now, Zoro remembered it clearly, that overwhelming, unbridgeable power.
That man.
The King's Right Hand.
The World's Greatest Swordsman.
"You got beaten easily, and your swords were destroyed?!"
Kuina stared, disbelief written all over her face. She knew Zoro's strength.
How could something like that happen?
"Yeah. Probably my first real defeat since I set sail," Zoro said quietly. "That man…"
"Who?!" Kuina demanded.
Zoro raised his head and said the name with absolute seriousness.
"Dracule Mihawk. Hawk Eyes."
"NANI?!" both girls cried out at once.
Not only Kuina, even Tashigi's eyes widened. She shouted in shock before she could stop herself.
That sound made both Zoro and Kuina look at her.
Tashigi panicked, bowed quickly, and her cheeks flushed with nerves.
"Sorry! I wasn't trying to eavesdrop. It's just… I'm a swordswoman too…"
"I see," Kuina said, still watching her with a strange expression.
None of the three realized that at this very moment, they stood on opposite sides of the sea: pirate and Marine.
But for now, it didn't matter.
Zoro exhaled, then spoke like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Anyway, I'm going to buy two more swords."
He looked at Kuina.
"Lend me some money, Kuina."
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