Chapter 129: Little Nami of Cocoyasi Village
Sanji took a sip of the dinosaur egg drop soup, then looked up and stared straight at his master.
"Yes, it is important," Roy said with a small laugh as he put the Sound Dial away and patted Sanji on the shoulder. "But..."
He smiled.
"If you listen well and train properly, Sanji, then in the future you might become one of the most important people to your master. More important than this shell."
Sanji was still young, but he understood.
His eyes filled with tears before he could stop them. He had just escaped a cruel father, and now, by some miracle, he had met a master like this.
A man who stepped in and beat his terrible father.
A man who taught him how to become stronger.
A man who, with one sentence, placed Sanji above his own precious memories.
"Ahhh..."
Sanji's emotions had been thrown back and forth all day, and he could not hold them in anymore.
He jumped down from his chair, threw his arms around his master's waist, and burst into loud, shaking sobs.
"Are you a crybaby?" Roy sighed and rubbed his head.
Originally, it had only been a whimsical idea. He was just going to tease the kid a little, maybe pick up a disciple for fun.
But somewhere along the way, things went off script.
Like an author who threw away his outline and let the story run wild.
He had said he was only playing around with Sanji, yet here he was: taking him in as a real disciple, genuinely wanting to train him into someone strong, and unconsciously stepping into the role of a proper master with real expectations.
Maybe...
Even with all his selfishness, Roy's soft heart still leaked through in the end.
Some people shouted justice and still acted as lapdogs for the powerful.
Some people carried pirate bounties and still quietly did good.
Right and wrong, good and evil, black and white... who could really draw a clean line between them?
"No," Sanji choked out, shaking his head hard. "I just... other than my mother and my sister, I finally have someone else who cares about me, waaah..."
He was fragile right now.
His father had wished he was dead. His brothers had mocked him and beaten him.
Sanji was like a snapped string, and now that someone had caught him, all the strength he had used to hold himself together was spilling out in tears.
"Sanji," Roy said with a helpless smile, "you are going to be like your master, a strong, tough man. You will be famous all over the world one day, so do not cry."
This poor kid really tugged at his heart.
"Yes!" Sanji nodded quickly, biting his lip. His eyes were still red and wet, but he forced himself to stop crying and just looked up at Roy.
"I will keep him company tonight," Roy said, still ruffling Sanji's hair, then glanced at Hancock with an apologetic look.
"It is fine," Hancock answered softly, nodding as she began clearing the table.
It was just a little crybaby. She did not mind.
The bright moon hung high above, its pale light spilling over the boat and pouring in through the windows.
Roy sat by the cabin window, telling Sanji a story.
He was not exactly talented at this sort of thing, but if he could tell a story that was even more miserable than Sanji's, then maybe the boy's pain would feel a little lighter.
"Once, in an old kingdom, a man of high birth had a son," Roy began, his voice calm. "But..."
The palace that should have been full of joy when the child was born, knew no happiness at all.
No one could understand why that noble couple would abandon their child just to trade him for more power.
They deserted their own newborn son, abandoned their country, and left with someone of higher status, heading to a far off land to enjoy greater privileges...
"Snow was falling heavily," Roy continued. "Everyone was hurrying home, but an old man noticed a baby on the brink of freezing to death and took him back with him..."
Roy talked for a long time. He changed all the names and erased every trace that might connect the story to real history.
Sanji sat beside him, listening quietly with his head bowed.
"That guy is so pitiful," Sanji murmured at last. "And then his grandfather died too... that is way too tragic. At least I still have my mother and my sister..."
Roy's mouth twitched.
Yes, it had been tragic.
That was exactly why he hated those two so much.
Everything had a reason behind it.
So, Sanji, are we competing to see who has the most miserable childhood?
If you count properly, your master has it worse than you.
Though, with Toki and Hancock around now, things were not so bad anymore.
"What happened to that guy in the end?" Sanji asked, eyes full of curiosity.
"He died in the torrent of war," Roy lied without blinking. He could not very well say, "He is sitting right in front of you."
"Sanji, you should know," he said slowly, "there are plenty of people in this world who are living worse than you are."
Pirates ran rampant.
The Navy was bound by orders from above.
Some men with justice on their lips were nothing but dogs on leashes.
The whole world was in chaos, and there were homeless children everywhere.
"While you are crying," Roy went on, "there might be a kid with no home clawing just to stay alive. There might be someone who has lost everything, still grinding day and night to get stronger."
He looked down at Sanji.
Sanji looked up at him, listening seriously.
Maybe this time he really had found the right master. Someone who taught more than just cooking and fighting, someone who also taught how to live.
"Your master is not asking you to be some hero who saves the world," Roy said. "That is too exhausting. It is too heavy a burden for you and for the people who care about you."
"To die a hero sounds impressive, but it leaves grief behind."
"I only want you to keep a bottom line in your heart, to be strong, and to keep getting stronger for yourself and for the people you care about."
"I do not expect you to be as 'righteous' as the Navy. When you see something wrong, you do not have to force yourself to act. Help if you want to. If you do not want to, then do not. But whatever you do..."
"Never become someone who does evil. Understand?"
"Yes!" Sanji nodded hard.
In other words: stop crying and train harder tomorrow.
Everything else was just Roy's way of packaging it as proper education.
If a master did not throw out a few weighty lines now and then, how was he supposed to look convincing?
"Go to sleep," Roy said, standing up and patting his head. "We will double your training tomorrow."
"Mm!"
Sanji nodded, making a quiet promise to himself.
He would become the kind of man his master wanted him to be.
He would become strong and tough.
Then his brothers would never again have the right to laugh at his dream of becoming a chef.
Roy let out a long breath as he stepped out of the room he had set up for Sanji.
No wonder this kid would become one of the main characters in the future.
He understood things quickly and was easy to guide, much easier than those little devils back at the Sheep's House.
...
Several days later.
Cocoyasi Village.
A small figure with bright orange hair ran down the street with a carefree laugh, heading straight for the bookshop in the distance.
"Oh, little Nami, off to read again today?" the bakery owner called from her stall with a smile.
"Yes! And Aunt Doris looks especially pretty today!"
Seven year old Nami stopped in front of the bakery, flashing her sweetest grin as she laid the compliment on thick.
Her small eyes, however, slid toward the fresh bread in the display case, drinking in the sight and smell.
No, no...
Bellemere had said the orange harvest had been bad this year.
Nami forced down the urge rising in her stomach.
Steal it?
The thought flashed through her mind, and just as quickly she remembered the sting of Bellemere's punishment, the spanking that came with that kind of idea.
She squashed the thought like a bug.
"Nami really knows how to sweet talk," Aunt Doris laughed. "Here, this is for you. Do not let that fool Bellemere see it."
"Okay!"
Nami nodded happily, accepted the bread with both hands, thanked her sweetly, and then dashed off toward the bookshop.
Meanwhile, on the shore of the island where Cocoyasi Village sat, a large ship slowly approached and dropped anchor.
Hancock stood at the bow, watching the coastline draw near. Then she glanced back over her shoulder at the two lunatics behind her who were still training like their lives depended on it.
"We have reached a new island," she said flatly.
"Oh?" Roy answered, without pausing his kicks.
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