"Benefactor! You’re finally here!"
When Sherwin arrived at Kesha Town with the Felynes, the man he had saved ca running up to greet him imdiately.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. That sea beast was pretty big—it took us a lot of effort to handle it," Sherwin quickly apologized.
"No, no, no! I wasn’t blaming you at all!" The man waved his hands repeatedly. "We were just worried you’d sneak off without even giving us the chance to say thanks."
Their concern wasn’t unfounded. After all, Sherwin and his group hadn’t even taken the treasure from Arlong stash.
"If soone treating us to a al, only a fool wouldn’t co, ow." Klee ow, having reclaid her rightful "throne" on Sherwin shoulder, clung to him and stretched her neck, peeking toward the town. "Didn’t you say there was a banquet, ow? Why can’t Klee see anything?"
"Th-The cat just talked!"
"...Didn’t Seijuro already speak in front of you earlier?" Sherwin said, speechless, pointing at the samurai Felyne beside him.
"Oh yeah! I totally forgot to be surprised back then!"
"..."
Well, that kind of reaction is very pirate-like.
Sherwin rolled his eyes and followed the man out of Kesha Town.
"Because the town was heavily damaged by those fishn, we moved the banquet to the neighboring Cocoyashi Village," explained the man, whose na was Boent.
It was only at this point that Sherwin finally rembered — Kesha Town had appeared in the original story too.
By the ti Luffy arrived, Kesha Town had already been completely destroyed by Mohmoo, and a few of the villagers who escaped had requested help from the Navy in another jurisdiction — only for the marine branch commodore and his entire ship to be wiped out by the three top officers of the Arlong Pirates.
The distance between Cocoyasi Village and Kesa Town wasn’t far, so they quickly arrived at Nami hotown.
Even before entering the village, Sherwin could hear the sound of joyful voices coming from inside. Once they stepped into the village, countless people rushed up to him, expressing their gratitude.
Dealing with the enthusiastic villagers along the way, Sherwin followed Boint to an open area within the village. Ajian, the man with the windmill hat, along with a few unfamiliar uncles and elders, imdiately ca over to greet them.
"Savior! You’ve finally arrived!"
Their first words weren’t much different from Boint.
Sherwin waved his hand and said, "Don’t call savior, just call Sherwin. I’m not used to being treated so formally. I just ca with my companions to freeload a al."
Seeing that Sherwin said so, Ajian and the others didn’t insist. Instead, they gratefully said, "All the food in the village is open to you and your companions. If you need anything else, just co find us—we’ll do our best to provide."
Then, Ajian waved to the side, signaling a few villagers carrying trays to co over. They handed over a large amount of prepared food and drinks to Sherwin and the Felynes.
Banquets in the pirate world were always informal. Sherwin and his group followed local customs, found a spot to sit down with their food, and began to enjoy the al.
"It not as tasty as what Sanji ow makes, ow..." Klee ow, still lounging on Sherwin shoulder, mumbled as she licked her little paw after nibbling the crumbs off Sherwin head. But right after, she squinted her eyes and happily rubbed her cheek against Sherwin. "But everyone so happy, ow."
Compared to Sherwin Observation Haki, Klee ow was better at sensing emotions. That why she could feel the overwhelming joy all around and was swept up in it—becoming cheerful herself...
So cheerful that the little plush ball wanted to pull out a couple of boom booms to liven up the mood.
Fortunately, Klee ow was still a well-behaved and sensible kitty at heart. She knew it wasn’t the right ti for explosives, so instead, she doubled down on ssing with Sherwin ears.
Sherwin: "???"
He pulled the suddenly restless little plush ball off his shoulder. While kneading her chubby cheeks, Sherwin said to the other Felynes, "You don’t have to stick with all the ti. Go have so fun and enjoy the banquet."
Now that Arlong had been taken care of, the entire Conomi Archipelago was safe. There was no need for Sherwin to keep the Felynes under close watch—he only had to make sure the little plush ball in his hands didn’t start tossing bombs around.
Seijuro ow stuck out his tongue to lick his lips and gave Sherwin a slight nod. "I won’t go too far. Just call if you need , Master Sherwin, ow."
With that, the samurai cat trotted off into the crowd and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Sherwin knew exactly where he’d gone—to find so sake.
While Seijuro ow wasn’t a heavy drinker, he did enjoy a quiet drink now and then. But in order not to be a bad influence on Klee ow, he always avoided drinking in front of the little plush ball.
Because of that, even though he only liked to sip occasionally, he rarely had the chance to enjoy himself fully. Now, with such a golden opportunity, of course he was going to drink to his heart content.
"Then I’ll go explore a bit too. It a good chance to learn more about this world, ow."
Hua i ow flicked her tail, casually picked a direction, and strolled off with a slow, elegant catwalk.
"Since Sister Hua i just arrived and isn’t familiar with the place, I’ll go keep her company, ow!" Sanji ow found a perfectly noble excuse and quickly chased after her.
Sherwin looked down and made eye contact with Klee ow, who was happily nibbling on his hand...
"Klee didn’t bite hard..." The little plush ball shrank her neck slightly, then stuck out her tiny tongue and gently licked Sherwin palm a few tis. She looked up at him with big, aggrieved eyes. "Did I hurt you, Brother Sherwin? I didn’t an to, ow..."
"Of course you didn’t hurt ," Sherwin chuckled as he scratched her under the chin. "Don’t forget—your Brother Sherwin knows Armant Haki. How could you possibly hurt ?"
What he had actually been thinking about was whether to let Klee ow go play by herself—but the little plush ball had misunderstood him.
"Hmph!" Klee ow finally let out a relieved breath. Then, in retaliation for being scared, she gave Sherwin a gentle nip, punishing him for making her worry.
Seeing how thoughtful and well-behaved she was, Sherwin started to wonder if he’d been too strict with her. So he said, "Klee, you can go play too. Just rember—no bombs."
But to Sherwin surprise, Klee ow didn’t appreciate his kind gesture.
The little plush ball slid up his arm with a whoosh, climbed onto his shoulder, and snuggled against his head, purring sweetly, "Klee wants to stay with Brother Sherwin, ow."
In the past, Klee ow would’ve happily run around on her own, but after her "throne" had been taken once today, she was suddenly gripped by a sense of crisis. That why she’d beco even clingier than usual.
Sherwin had no idea about the odd little thoughts swirling in Klee ow mind, but since the kitty wanted to stick with him, of course he wasn’t going to say no. After finishing the food in front of him, Sherwin—like always—carried Klee ow with him as he wandered about.
It didn’t take long before his arms were full of new food—generous gifts from the villagers, who kept sending things over to express their gratitude. If not for the fact that Sherwin hands were already full, they probably would’ve kept piling more into his arms.
Naturally, this amount of food was nothing for Sherwin to carry. So he just held onto it, sharing so with Klee ow while wandering aimlessly—casually looking around to see if he might run into Nami.
After all, she was an important character from the original story. At the very least, he wanted to chat with her for a bit or check off a little "I t her" mont.
As it turned out, Nojiko brought Nami to him on their own initiative...
"Thank you for helping us defeat Arlong!"
Sherwin had heard words like these countless tis by now, but hearing them from a key figure in the original plot still gave him a small sense of satisfaction and pride.
Even so, his attitude didn’t change. He simply smiled and asked, "Is there sothing you need?"
At the sa ti, he took the opportunity to glance over the two sisters...
Nami was still a little girl at this point—about the sa height Sherwin had been when he first arrived in this world.
Her figure was far from the curvy look she had in the later parts of the manga. In contrast, Nojiko was already starting to develop and looked like a well-built high schooler.
However, the sister rather skinny arms and sowhat unhealthy complexions made it clear that their nutrition hadn’t been ideal.
"This is our thank-you gift," Nojiko said, holding up the bag in her hand. "They’re just so ordinary oranges, not worth much... but we grew them ourselves..."
She only got halfway through her sentence before realizing that Sherwin hands were already full, so she awkwardly trailed off.
"Where your ship? We can help carry it over!" Nami quickly chid in, and Nojiko nodded in agreent.
"Let Klee try one first. If she likes it, I won’t hold back," Sherwin said, tilting his head toward the little plush ball on his shoulder and motioning with his lips.
"Alright!" Nojiko promptly picked the best-looking orange from the bag and handed it to the little plush ball, who was tilting her head and staring at her.
"Her na is Klee, right? She so cute!"
"Thank you, big sister~ ow!" Klee ow accepted the orange sweetly and thanked her with a chirp.
This ti, there was no dramatic reaction. After all, Sherwin had already been in the village for quite a while, and word had spread—everyone knew their benefactor was accompanied by several talking Felynes.
Of course, curiosity was still there. After giving the orange, the two sisters didn’t leave right away. Instead, they kept staring intensely at Klee ow.
In contrast, Sherwin—the supposed hero—was now the one being sidelined. But he was already used to it.
"Brother Sherwin, you eat too, ow." Klee ow peeled the orange, and before even tasting it herself, she broke off two juicy segnts and offered them to Sherwin.
How could anyone deny that such a cute and thoughtful kitty was far more eye-catching than an ordinary two-legged human like Sherwin?
Didn’t you see the way the sister eyes practically lit up like stars?
Still...
The oranges from Nami family... were just okay.
Not that they tasted bad—they were just, well, regular oranges.
Klee ow was eating with great delight, completely unlike ordinary cats that hate the sll of oranges.
"How is it, Klee? Want another one?" After they finished sharing the orange, Sherwin asked.
"No more, ow." Klee ow shook her head, causing the two sisters who were watching with hopeful expressions to instantly look disappointed.
But the little plushie continued, "But Klee wants to take a few back for Sanji ow and the others to try, ow."
"Alright, then stuff so of what I’m holding into your backpack."
Then Nojiko and Nami watched in astonishnt as Klee ow took the gifts from the other villagers in Sherwin hands and began stuffing them clunk clunk clunk into the small backpack behind her.
The amount of stuff going in clearly exceeded the backpack capacity, yet it didn’t even swell up, let alone fill up.
Sherwin smiled and shrugged at the two sisters. "Can’t be helped. If I don’t do this, the gifts from everyone will never stop... Go ahead and put your oranges up here."
As for Klee ow magical little backpack, he didn’t try to explain... mostly because he didn’t know how to explain it in the first place.
Luckily, the sisters didn’t press the issue and instead worked together to lift the bag and place it in Sherwin arms.
"Sherwin-nii," Klee ow suddenly tugged on his ear and pointed to Nami arm. "The mark on this sister arm is the sa as those fishn, ow."
The sister faces instantly changed. Nami instinctively covered the tattoo on her left arm and tried to shrink away.
"It not what you think!" Nojiko quickly stepped in front of Nami and explained anxiously to Sherwin. "Nami was forced to join Arlong pirate crew..."
"I’m not dumb enough to believe those racist fishn would ever see humans as their comrades," Sherwin waved his hand and said with a mock-thoughtful tone,
"So... those nautical charts at the top of Arlong Park—were they drawn by you?"
"Yes," Nojiko sighed in relief when she saw that Sherwin wasn’t angry, then explained,
"Arlong forced Nami to join the pirate crew because he saw her talent for navigation."
"Her talent really is impressive. Those sea charts were the most detailed I’ve ever seen, and they were a big help to ," Sherwin nodded, praising her.
He had actually considered inviting Nami to join his own crew. Among the entire Straw Hat crew, the only ones Sherwin was truly interested in were Nami and Franky—even Chopper only counted as half.
After all, Felynes co in the healing-type category, and the probability of summoning a Felyne with general healing abilities was clearly much higher than one with navigation skills.
Besides, Sherwin still had two potions on hand, and so of Sanji ow dishes also had healing effects. So a ship doctor wasn’t really sothing he urgently needed.
Similarly, since they weren’t in a rush to replace their ship or head into the Grand Line, there wasn’t a pressing need for a shipwright either.
But a navigator was different—whether it was for Sherwin, pirates, or anyone going out to sea, it was an essential role. The earlier one had such a partner, the better.
That why Sherwin had even prepared an advanced training course for Sanji ow... unfortunately, it ended up going unused.
After summoning Huai ow, and already having had so hesitation about recruiting Nami, Sherwin no longer had any reason to waver.
With no desire left, he kindly offered a reminder: "If possible, get rid of that tattoo as soon as you can. You’ve probably heard—Marine Branch 16 is in cahoots with Arlong.
Now that I’ve wiped out the Arlong Pirates, they’ll likely use Nami as an excuse to extort you. Also, your navigation skills are extrely valuable to pirates, so it best not to reveal them too openly."
This had originally been one of the reasons he was planning to use to recruit Nami. Of course, even if she refused in the end, Sherwin still would have given the warning. Now, it simply wasn’t necessary to go through the hassle.
"In fact, we were already planning to do that even if you didn’t say so," Nojiko said, holding Nami tightly as she bit her lip to keep from crying. "That mark isn’t exactly a fond mory for us."
Sherwin nodded and said no more. With Klee ow in his arms, he quietly walked away.
Whether or not Nami would join the Straw Hat crew and beco a pirate later wasn’t sothing he needed to worry about.
With Luffy charisma and protagonist aura, even without Nami, other excellent navigators were bound to join the Straw Hat Pirates eventually.
After wandering around the village with Klee ow in tow and finishing off his map, Sherwin finally returned to the spot where he had first split up with the Felynes.
As expected, the other three cats were already there waiting—and unsurprisingly, each one had returned with a good number of gifts.
"Everyone is really thankful to the Admiral," Huai ow was the first to run up, quickly climbing onto Sherwin and hugging his neck, nuzzling affectionately. "Huai likes the Admiral even more now, ow!"
"Klee too! Klee loves Sherwin-nii the most, ow!" The little plushie, suddenly struck by a sense of rivalry, wasn’t about to be outdone. She pressed her tiny forehead against Sherwin face and started wriggling wildly.
Huai ow was montarily stunned, then covered her mouth and laughed softly.
"Hehehe... Don’t worry, little Klee, your Sherwin-nii won’t be taken away, ow. It just that I really enjoy being petted by the Admiral. So could you maybe share just a little of your Sherwin-nii ti with , ow?"
"ow~..." Embarrassed at having her thoughts exposed, Klee ow bashfully buried her little head into Sherwin hair. But after hearing Huai ow last sentence, she suddenly lit up, eyes sparkling like she’d found a kindred spirit.
"Mhm! Klee also loves Sherwin-nii pets the most, ow! Loves them just as much as making bombs, ow!"
That was probably the highest praise the little plushie could offer Sherwin.
anwhile, Seijuro ow, who wanted to agree but couldn’t bring himself to say sothing so humiliating, opened his mouth... only to give up and quietly take a sip from the flask soone had just gifted him, sulking in silence.
Sanji ow, consud by jealousy and resentnt toward Sherwin, once again bit down on his tail. "Uuuuuu... I’m really good at grooming fur too, ow..."
(=Д`=)
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