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"You're more thoughtful than me who's not a pirate. You're worthy of being a pirate with a bounty of over 100 million Berry."
Kyoma nodded. Although he was praising Drake, his tone carried a hint of sarcasm.
Drake didn't have the energy to pay attention.
The journey here had exhausted him completely. He'd been responsible for collecting anchors, hoisting sails, steering, and planning routes. Even as a Zoan-type fruit user with enhanced stamina, he felt utterly drained.
He hadn't expected that when Kyoma claimed to have no sailing experience, he wasn't being modest. The man truly had zero experience. He'd never even set foot on a ship before.
Worse yet, soon after boarding, Kyoma had begun feeling dizzy. Although he refused to admit it, Drake could tell at a glance that he was seasick.
That had left Drake in a terrible position.
He felt too embarrassed to make the two girls handle the physical labor aboard the ship, so he had no choice but to shoulder everything himself.
Seeing Drake's silence, Kyoma patted his shoulder encouragingly.
"Why aren't you saying anything? I'm genuinely complimenting you. Actually, Drake, why don't you just join my crew? The treatment will definitely be much better than what the Marines give you."
Drake spoke through gritted teeth.
"I don't want to die of exhaustion at sea."
A guy who gets seasick actually had the nerve to recruit him. He couldn't fathom where this man's confidence came from.
"Kyoma-ni, Drake-san, are we going to start blowing up fish now?"
Klee rushed over excitedly, craning her neck to look up at the two men who'd just finished lowering the sail.
Compared to her height of less than 1.3 meters, the two could be called giants.
Kyoma had originally stood just under 1.8 meters tall, but he didn't know if this world was more nurturing or what. He felt like he'd grown a few centimeters taller, making Kagura and Klee appear even shorter in his eyes.
Drake was even more imposing.
His height exceeded 2.3 meters, almost as tall as half a mast. Combined with the muscles covering his body, he looked like a tough warrior not to be trifled with. This was also why he'd been able to intimidate the shop owner when they'd rented the boat earlier.
"Well, we're here."
Looking down at Klee, Kyoma found her absolutely adorable.
He reached out and patted her head, the comfortable sensation serving as a source of happiness for him.
Klee didn't resist this gesture.
She normally hated it when people taller than her patted her head like this, as it made her feel teased because of her height.
But Kyoma and Kagura were exceptions. They both gave her the same feeling as family.
"Then Klee will start preparing!"
After Kyoma withdrew his hand, she took off the backpack from her shoulders and dumped everything inside onto the deck.
Dozens of round bombs rolled across the wooden planks.
They were small, only palm-sized, and looked rather cute, like animal dolls. It was hard to imagine that Klee had used such bombs to destroy a Celestial Dragon slave ship.
Drake's eyelids twitched.
Was she really going to let such dangerous explosives roll freely on the deck?
"Kyoma, those bombs-"
"Don't worry about them. They won't explode without the Pyro element to trigger them. Come with me to move the bait."
Kyoma stretched out his hand and waved it in front of Drake's eyes, snapping him out of his concerns.
As everyone knew, fishing required setting up a proper nest.
The same principle applied to blowing up fish.
Most Sea Kings dwelled on the ocean floor. Only when they smelled abundant blood and flesh, or sensed human ships passing overhead, would they surface and wait for an opportunity to attack.
The bait they'd prepared had also been purchased from the boat rental shop. It was stored in wooden barrels. When the barrels were thrown into the sea, they would float on the surface. The blood from the meat inside would seep into the water and attract the Sea Kings from the depths below.
Kyoma and Drake headed toward the cabin to move the wooden barrels.
Kagura came over at that moment and spotted the exquisite doll-like bombs scattered across the deck. Her eyes lit up as she picked one up and placed it in her palm to examine it more closely.
"What beautiful bombs. Did you dress them up yourself, Klee?"
"Yes. I used the curtains from my room. They're bright red, so it turned out really well." Hearing Kagura's praise, Klee felt extremely proud. She placed her hands on her hips and beamed.
"They do look good, but I remember those curtains were specially selected for you by Kyo-chan. He had to check several stores in the market to find that exact color. You didn't tear them all up, did you?"
Kagura leaned in and whispered in Klee's ear.
"Ah?" Klee trembled after hearing this. She covered her mouth with both hands in shock, realizing she'd done something wrong again.
"I tore up half of them. Klee thought they were just ordinary curtains, but I didn't realize they were a gift from Kyoma-ni. I shouldn't have destroyed them. Kyoma-ni will be so sad when he finds out."
Klee regretted her actions so much she nearly cried. At the same time, she felt touched that Kyoma cared about her enough to go to such effort.
"It's okay. I know which store he bought them from. We can just go to the market secretly and buy another set to replace them. Kyo-chan won't find out."
Kagura patted Klee's shoulder reassuringly.
"Really?" Hearing this, Klee breathed a sigh of relief. But then she realized a new problem, and her small face showed worry.
"But Klee doesn't have any money. Do you have any, Kagura?"
"Uh..." Kagura froze at her question.
She suddenly realized that, since arriving in this world, her clothes, daily necessities, food, and entertainment had all been paid for by Kyoma.
She didn't even have a single Berry to her name.
That guy hadn't given her an allowance at all.
Coincidentally, at that moment, Kyoma emerged from the cabin carrying several wooden barrels.
When Kagura spotted him, she rushed over angrily.
"Kyo-chan, where's my salary." She stretched out one hand and made a demanding gesture.
"What? Salary?" Kyoma looked confused by the question, not immediately understanding what she meant.
"My salary! You look like you've never even thought about this salary issue, have you?"
"We're not a company, so there's no such thing as salary." Kyoma felt perplexed, wondering where she'd gotten this idea from. This girl's train of thought was particularly strange, often impossible to predict.
"But when I worked at other places before, I saw everyone else getting their salaries. Although I was always kicked out early and never actually received mine..." Kagura tilted her head in confusion.
"This..." Upon hearing this, Kyoma was stunned. He caught a glimpse of the girl's bitter past experiences.
Perhaps she didn't actually want the salary itself, but rather the sense of recognition that came with receiving it.
However, Kyoma genuinely hadn't considered the issue.
Right now, there were only four people on the team, including Drake.
They couldn't even manage a proper fleet configuration yet. When money was needed, he simply went and bought what they required.
His plan had been to adopt Nami's money 'management model' once the number of summoned characters increased.
He'd centrally manage all the ship's funds, then distribute activity money to crew members each time they arrived at a new island.
"Hey, what are you thinking about? Even if there's no salary, couldn't you at least give me some pocket money?"
Seeing that he didn't reply, Kagura spoke with clear dissatisfaction.