Hina didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was obvious.
"Pff— cough cough cough!"
Rosinante immediately sprayed the meat out of his mouth.
Even Rain, who always kept a calm, unflappable front, couldn't hold his expression anymore.
"W–what are you even talking about?!" For the first time, his perpetually steady voice cracked. "Who said anything about trading roast meat for your… that?! What kind of nonsense is in your head?!"
The moment his composure broke, he felt a murderous intent surge up behind him, sharp enough to slice him into pieces.
No need to look. Rain already knew whose gaze that was.
Smoker.
Great. Overdid the act, Rain thought, stomach dropping. He had zero doubt that if he so much as responded with a "maybe," Smoker would be on him in an instant.
He didn't dare pretend anymore. He coughed twice and forcefully dragged the topic back onto the rails, wearing a straight, serious expression.
"What I mean is: this meal isn't free."
He glanced at Hina, then at his two teammates, and said in a low voice, "You really think this island survival is just a vacation? Don't be naive. With Zephyr's personality, I'd bet anything the instructors are already driving the pirates in the surrounding waters onto this island like cattle—just to use them as our sparring partners."
"My terms are simple." Rain's gaze finally settled back on Hina. "You just need to catch pirates. Alive. Then bring them here to trade for food."
"Catch pirates?" Hina's eyes narrowed, confusion deepening. She stepped closer, her sharp gaze locking onto Rain like a searchlight. "Hina can't read you, but you're definitely stronger than us, aren't you? Why don't you catch them yourself?"
Rain didn't rush to answer. Instead, he replied calmly:
"Stronger? Hina, do you remember my Doriki score from the entry test?"
Her brows creased ever so slightly. "One-oh-one."
"Smoker's was 602." Rain spread his hands helplessly. "So you're telling me a guy with 101 Doriki is stronger than Smoker?"
That shut her up.
She couldn't argue with that cold, hard number.
But her instincts still screamed that this man was not as simple as he seemed.
"But you…" She chose her words carefully as she pointed at the backpack. "Those… tricks you pulled…"
"Those?" Rain gave a wry smile and sighed.
"Those are just cheap little survival tricks I picked up so I wouldn't starve. They're not combat abilities. In a straight fight, I'm just a barely qualified recruit."
Seeing that Hina's eyes were still full of doubt, he shifted tack.
"Besides, this is everyone's training. If I did everything myself, what's the point of you being here? To watch?"
That reason was unassailable.
Hina fell silent for a moment, then finally asked the last question:
"Then why are you so fixated on catching pirates? What do you want from them?"
Rain slowly lowered his head. His voice dropped with it, taking on a weight and weariness that didn't match his age.
"I'm an orphan because of pirates."
"Why catch them? Obviously… so I can personally kill them. One by one. All of them."
That wasn't a lie. The original Rain had been made an orphan by pirates.
…
Next morning, in the cave behind the waterfall—
A small pot sat over the fire, bubbling gently with a fragrant meat porridge made from last night's leftover porcupine and some rice.
Rosinante was woken by the smell. Rubbing his eyes, he crawled out of his warm sleeping bag, inhaled deeply, and smiled like a happy idiot.
Smoker sat cross-legged on his sleeping pad, scowling, eyes complicated.
He'd slept well but begrudgingly—well, because the sleeping bag was warm, the cave was dry, and there were no beasts. Begrudgingly, because all of that comfort came courtesy of the guy who'd rocked his worldview with a single punch.
Rain was eating at a relaxed pace. When he noticed the hunger in their eyes, he didn't bother answering out loud—he just gave a slight chin jerk toward the pot.
Rosinante immediately scampered over and served himself a bowl, grinning. Smoker hesitated a second, but his stomach won the argument. He grudgingly picked up a bowl and followed.
After breakfast, Rain started assigning roles. "Hunting, foraging, or pirates—you both need to work. No labor, no food."
Smoker eyed him, frowning. "We have to go too?"
"What did you think?" Rain finally tore his gaze away from his book and shot him a sidelong glance. "You think breakfast is free?"
Smoker choked. He couldn't refute that at all. Eat for free and complain? Even he couldn't pull that off.
Rain paused, then added:
"The only one allowed to enjoy a vacation here is me."
"You—!" Smoker swallowed his frustration with more porridge, channeling it into his appetite.
Of course I'm sending you two out to work, Rain thought calmly.
If I kill all the pirates myself, the noise will be too big. How am I supposed to explain that with 101 Doriki? Once my true strength gets exposed, they'll start handing me more and more missions. Constant deployments, endless overtime—that's the exact opposite of my plan for early, safe retirement.
He understood his situation perfectly. Until his physique, Haki, and skills were all pushed to [Peak], he had zero interest in playing hero.
Besides, the pirates on this island are probably just "safety mobs" the instructors handpicked and dumped here. Even if a few of them are R-rank, they're not exactly jackpots. Exposing myself for that much XP would be a massive loss.
He looked at the two of them happily eating and couldn't help the small smile tugging at his lips.
Using good food to hire free labor—that's how you maximize profit.
Thinking that, Rain slowly reached into the pocket of his thin uniform—and pulled out a hardcover book that was visibly larger than the pocket itself.
Smoker almost sprayed his porridge.
He stared at the impossible book, then at Rain's utterly ordinary pocket, and felt his brain hit its capacity limit yet again.