Fifteen hours remained before the wedding.
Once everyone had finished getting measured for their formal clothes, Cain hurriedly said goodbye and headed straight for Windmill Village.
Shanks and Makino's measurements were already taken care of. Uta had secretly handled those several days earlier.
That meant the top priority now was getting Big Sis Makino over to the venue so she could try on the wedding dress they had specially prepared for her.
As for Shanks—
The original plan was simple enough.
Get him completely wasted tonight, quietly move the ship over while he was unconscious, and have everything ready before he woke up.
It was supposed to be a surprise, after all. They couldn't let him catch on too early.
Unfortunately, the plan ran headfirst into a wall before it even properly began.
"What? That booze-loving bastard actually stopped drinking?"
"Yep."
Uta stood behind the bar, lazily polishing a glass as she looked at Cain.
"Ever since Shanks found out Big Sis Makino was pregnant, he hasn't touched alcohol once."
"They're even planning to close the bar for a while."
She set the glass down and sighed.
"And with that walking eyesore Kuzan gone these past few days, plus you, Sabo, and Koala all being away from the village…"
"Those two have basically been glued together."
"They're out walking and enjoying the sun right now."
"Then what are they doing?"
Cain turned around.
The Red Hair Pirates were packed into the bar, drinking like they were holding a private celebration.
"We asked you guys to cover for us and help get Shanks drunk."
"Instead, you've all been sitting here getting yourselves drunk?"
Every member of the Red Hair Pirates knew about the wedding.
The only person still completely in the dark was their own captain.
They had all eagerly promised Uta that they would help keep everything secret.
But looking at the current situation, the crew had clearly become far too enthusiastic about the "covering" part while making absolutely no progress on the actual plan.
If Shanks didn't get drunk, how were they supposed to move him to the wedding venue tomorrow morning without him noticing?
Moving an entire ship in the middle of the night was not exactly subtle.
"Shanks refusing to drink doesn't mean he stopped them from drinking."
Uta sighed.
Someone immediately joined in.
"Exactly. The boss and the bar owner are all lovey-dovey right now. They finally have some peace and quiet, so why would we go over there and get in the way?"
Lucky Roux took another enormous bite of meat.
"All we can really do is sit here and drink."
He gave a dramatic sigh.
"Though… the boss hasn't had a drink with us for several days now."
"We kind of miss him."
"That's basically it."
Uta turned around and deliberately showed Cain the square bandanna tied around her head, the same style Makino usually wore.
"A lot of the villagers are helping out at the stage, so there aren't many customers left."
"At this point, this place is practically the Red Hair Pirates' private bar."
She tilted her head with a bright smile.
"So I'm officially the temporary owner now."
"Well?"
"Does it look good?"
Her eyes practically sparkled as she waited for Cain's answer.
"Mm-hmm."
Cain nodded on instinct.
Honestly, the look suited her surprisingly well.
She looked lively and innocent, but there was also something about it that gave her an entirely different sort of charm.
Then his expression froze.
"…Wait."
"This is not the time to talk about that."
He snapped back to the problem at hand.
"So what the hell are we supposed to do tonight?"
"We can't just knock Shanks unconscious and drag him there."
"And even if we wanted to, who the hell is strong enough to knock him out?"
"Well, don't give up yet."
Uta stopped polishing the glass.
A sly glint appeared in her eyes.
"All we need to do is separate Shanks from Big Sis Makino."
"Once we manage that, leave the rest to me."
"As for taking him down…"
She looked toward the pirates still drinking nearby.
"We'll leave that part to you guys."
"Of course."
"If Uta's asking, we'll definitely help."
"Worst case, we drug him."
Hongo, the ship's doctor, said it with a perfectly straight face, as though drugging their own captain was standard procedure.
The whole bar erupted in laughter.
Cain, meanwhile, went quiet.
Separating Shanks from Makino…
Lucky Roux hadn't been exaggerating.
Now that the two of them had finally stopped holding themselves back, they were practically inseparable.
Getting Shanks away from her wouldn't be easy.
Still—
It wasn't impossible.
Cain did have one idea.
The problem was that the sacrifice involved was enormous.
He absolutely did not want to use this method unless there was no other choice.
And the person making that sacrifice…
would be him.
Cain slowly turned toward Uta.
"Uta."
"I've got an idea."
"But…"
He hesitated.
"This might need a little help from you."
Uta tilted her head.
A giant question mark might as well have appeared over it.
She looked so unfairly cute that Cain almost lost the nerve to explain the plan.
Almost.
He steeled himself, leaned close to her ear, and whispered the whole thing.
When he finished, Uta's cheeks turned faintly red.
"Cain…"
"Are you really sure you want to do that?"
"Yeah."
Cain nodded solemnly.
"It's the only thing I can think of."
Uta nodded too.
Then she immediately informed the Red Hair Pirates that the bar was closing and told everyone to leave.
At the same time, she gave them one more job.
Later, they absolutely had to explain everything clearly to Shanks.
They needed to make sure he understood that the whole thing had only been an act.
Otherwise, once this plan started…
someone might genuinely be in mortal danger.
The crew had no idea what Cain and Uta were planning, but once they saw the two of them had come up with something, they didn't pry.
One by one, they got up and left the bar.
Then Uta took a deep breath and shouted toward the refrigerator.
"BELLA!"
Bella's head immediately popped out.
Several popsicles were still hanging from her mouth.
She looked left.
Then right.
She hurriedly swallowed all of them and chirped happily,
"Coming!"
Bella zipped over.
Uta leaned down and whispered several things into her ear.
Bella nodded enthusiastically, then flew straight out of the bar.
Cain watched her go.
"Bella really does love refrigerators."
"Yeah."
Uta turned back toward him.
"So…"
"Ready?"
"Mm."
Cain's cheeks were already warming.
He walked over and gently wrapped an arm around Uta's shoulders.
"This time…"
"I really am sorry."
"No."
Uta shook her head shyly and looked straight at him.
Then, from seemingly nowhere, she produced a pair of scissors.
"I'm the one who should be apologizing."
…
At that moment, Shanks and Makino were strolling along one of the village paths, enjoying the sunshine.
Then Bella came flying toward them from the distance at full speed.
Her expression looked frantic.
"Grandpa!"
"Papa came back, but he's acting really weird!"
"Mama told Bella to come get you!"
"She said Grandpa would definitely know what to do!"
"Please save Mama!"
Shanks' pupils contracted.
He didn't waste a second.
He wrapped an arm around Makino's waist, scooped her up, and vanished at high speed toward the bar.
Bella hurried after him.
As she flew, she nervously thought,
'That's what Mama told Bella to say, right?'
'Bella didn't get anything wrong… did she?'
Shanks reached the bar, set Makino down outside—
and immediately heard Uta's frightened voice coming from within.
"Cain, stop… you're hurting me!"
"What are you panicking for?"
"Isn't this what you've always wanted?"
Cain's voice followed.
"…Wow. You really do smell nice."
"No… Cain, not now…"
"Why are you acting like this?"
"You're always so gentle with me…"
"Why are you suddenly—"
"Because Shanks was always watching before."
"But he's not here now."
"What better chance am I going to get?"
The door suddenly burst open.
Uta stumbled outside.
Her clothes were in complete disarray.
Half of one sleeve had been torn away, her hair was loose around her shoulders, and tears shimmered in her eyes.
She looked absolutely miserable, as though she had been horribly wronged.
Then she ran straight into Shanks.
"Shanks!"
"Help me!"
"Cain's been acting really weird ever since he came back!"
A moment later—
Cain rushed out too.
There was even a faintly wicked smile still hanging on his face.
'Help me.'
'Help me.'
'Help me.'
Uta's voice echoed inside Shanks' head.
Something snapped.
The last thread of reason in his mind broke completely.
No hesitation.
No restraint.
Nothing remained.
Bone-chilling killing intent erupted from Shanks' body.
Cain instantly broke out in cold sweat.
Without saying a single word, he kicked off the ground and shot straight into the sky.
Shanks' eyes had gone terrifyingly cold.
He turned toward Bella, who had just caught up.
Then he leaped onto her back.
"Bella."
His voice was like ice.
"Catch him."
The killing intent pouring off Shanks was unlike anything any of them had ever seen before.
Bella hesitated and glanced back at Uta.
From an angle Shanks couldn't see, Uta hurriedly wiped away her fake tears and flashed Bella a mischievous smile.
Then she winked.
Go.
Bella understood.
She nodded and carried Shanks into the sky after Cain.
'Oh, crap.'
'This is bad.'
'This is really, really bad.'
Cain fled through the sky at full speed, his face deathly pale as he looked back at Shanks gaining on him.
For once, he genuinely felt like his life might end today.
"UTA!"
"THE PLAN BETTER WORK!"
…
Back outside the bar, Uta finally let out a long breath.
With a casual use of her ability, the torn and disheveled clothes vanished and were immediately replaced by a neat outfit.
Only then did she turn toward Makino.
Makino was still staring at her in complete confusion.
By now, she had also noticed the sudden change in Uta's expression.
That was not the face of someone who had just suffered some terrible ordeal.
That was the smug look of someone whose prank had worked perfectly.
Makino had no idea what was happening.
The members of the Red Hair Pirates also seemed to emerge from nowhere.
All of them craned their necks upward and watched the terrifying chase taking place in the sky.
They clicked their tongues in admiration.
"Didn't think Cain would go this far just to lure the boss away."
"You've got to give the kid credit."
"In a very specific way, he really is ridiculously reliable."
Hongo finally looked away and patted Uta on the shoulder.
"Anyway, Uta."
"We'll leave the rest to you."
"And don't worry about explaining things to Shanks afterward."
"That part's on us."
"Exactly."
Beckman stood nearby with a cigarette between his lips.
"We'll keep an eye on things."
Lucky Roux tore off another huge bite of meat and laughed.
"So don't worry about Cain."
"As long as we're here…"
"He won't die."
Uta nodded firmly.
Then she took the still-confused Makino by the hand.
As the two of them slowly headed toward the harbor, Uta began quietly explaining what was actually going on.
Only after they disappeared from view did the Red Hair Pirates glance at one another.
Slowly—
the exact same wicked smile spread across every face.
Yes.
They had promised not to let Cain die.
But nobody said he had to get away without suffering first.
Just look at the insane plan that idiot had come up with.
Sure, all of them knew Uta was acting.
But the moment she had run outside with tears in her eyes, looking so helpless and wronged…
even the people who knew the truth had nearly charged over to beat Cain themselves.
So, Cain—
some things in life simply can't be escaped.
Enjoy your punishment.
…
High above the village, Cain's face twisted in despair as he frantically dodged through the air.
One furious slash after another tore past him.
There were already tears flying from the corners of his eyes.
'This sacrifice is way too damn big.'
Then a terrifying blade of light came crashing down directly over his head.
There was nowhere left to dodge.
Cain gritted his teeth and raised his weapon horizontally.
CLANG.
Gryphon crashed into it.
The monstrous force tore through Cain's arms, accompanied by killing intent so cold it felt like it had seeped into his bones.
All hope vanished from his face.
The color practically drained from his entire body until he looked like a crude black-and-white sketch.
'I'm dead.'
'I'm dead.'
'I'M SO DEAD.'
---------
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