One Piece: Lord of the Weather Chapter 12: Reform

In the morning, Pablo went out. His ankle still hurt a little.

But the pain did not stop him.

He had a month and a half and a clear plan.

First step: shopping.

---

He arrived at the rchant's shop and let his eyes wander over the shelves.

He was not looking for the best.

He was looking for the cheapest that would serve the purpose.

Cheap white paint cans. The color was not completely pure, but enough to cover the old wood.

Simple repair materials: nails, cheap wooden planks, and so tools.

Then he headed toward the used furniture stall at the edge of the market.

An old woman selling old furniture that its owners no longer wanted.

Pablo sorted slowly.

An old wooden bed with scratches, but its fra was solid.

A small wobbly table that could be fixed.

Two worn chairs with faded color.

A small cabinet whose door did not close properly.

He bought everything at a low price.

The total for all his purchases was one thousand six hundred and fifty Beli.

He carried what he could and left the rest at the stall to pick up later.

---

When he arrived at his room, he stood in front of it and looked at it with new eyes.

A small room between four trees. Its walls were old wooden planks, and its roof was simple leaves and wood.

But its location was good.

Far from the village noise, quiet, and the trees around it gave it natural shade.

And the river.

The river was closer to it than he had noticed before.

Perhaps fifty feet between his room and the river, but between them were dense trees and thick grass.

He stood and thought.

If he removed so trees and made a clear stone path between the room and the river, the place would beco completely different.

Easy access to water is a real advantage.

And the trees he removed would give him extra wood to reinforce the walls.

One idea solving two problems.

He started working the next day.

---

Week One

The first three days were for basic repairs.

Removing the rotten planks and replacing them with new ones, tightening loose nails, and fixing the cracks in the walls with cheap repair materials.

The work was tiring and repetitive: plank after plank, nail after nail.

His hands were not used to this type of precise work, but the body learned quickly.

On the fourth day, he started painting.

He opened the can of cheap white paint.

The color was closer to pale yellow than pure white, but it was far better than the old gray of the aged wood.

He began painting the exterior walls slowly.

The difference was imdiate.

The small house began to look different.

On the fifth day, Savia ca.

She walked toward him with her usual steps, an empty bag for charcoal in her hand.

She stopped when she saw the house.

She looked at it, then at Pablo standing with a paintbrush in his hand.

"What are you doing?"

"Repairing."

"I see that." She looked at the painted walls. "Why?"

"I will sell it before I leave."

She paused for a second.

Then she reached out, took the charcoal arranged by the door, and examined it with her fingers.

"Good as usual."

She took out six hundred Beli and handed them to him.

Then she looked at the house again.

"How much will you ask?"

"What it's worth."

She looked at him with her usual eyes, then continued on her way.

---

On the seventh day, he brought in the furniture.

He placed the bed in the corner and fixed the wobbly table with two extra nails.

He placed the two chairs by the door.

He fixed the cabinet's door with a small tal piece.

The room began to look like a real house for the first ti.

Small but complete.

---

Week Two

The harder work began.

Cutting the trees between the room and the river.

He did not have a real axe, only a large knife and endless patience.

The small trees were relatively easy. He cut them and gathered their wood aside.

But the dium-sized trees took him hours each.

His ankle, which still hurt sotis, did not help.

But he did not stop.

A full day for three trees.

Two days for five.

After a full week of daily work, the path between the room and the river was open.

Fifty feet of empty ground stretching between his door and the water.

---

In the middle of the second week, Savia ca again.

This ti she stopped for a long ti.

She looked at the painted house and the open path toward the river.

"You are serious."

"I was serious from the beginning."

She walked slowly toward the path and looked toward the river.

"The water is close."

"Yes."

She turned to him.

"This raises the price."

He did not reply, only nodded.

---

Week Three – The Final Days

He began building the stone path.

He gathered stones from the riverbank and so from the edges of the island.

Not very heavy, but many.

He arranged them slowly along the path, one beside the other, leveling them and fixing them in the soil.

The work was slower than he expected.

The stones did not stay in place easily, and the ground needed leveling first.

He spent three full days on the path alone.

His hand hurt at night from carrying stones, and his back complained from constant bending.

But when he finished and looked at the stone path stretching from his door to the river, he felt sothing he had not expected.

Satisfaction.

Not just the satisfaction of a rchant seeing a good investnt.

But the satisfaction of a man who built sothing with his own hands.

---

He used the wood he had cut from the trees to reinforce the exterior walls and add extra supports to the roof.

The house was now more solid and more beautiful in appearance.

New wooden planks on the interior walls, strong supports in the corners, and a tighter roof than before.

---

On the last day, Pablo stood in front of what he had built.

A small room between trees, but now:

Painted walls that looked clean, simple furniture filling the interior and giving it the spirit of a real ho, and a beautiful stone path stretching from the door to the river, making access to the water easy and pleasant.

He looked at it for a long ti.

A thirty-seven-year-old man built this with his own hands in the body of a fourteen-year-old child, with no help and no real experience, only patience and determination.

A small human mont floated in his chest.

The first real thing he had built in this world.

Then his calculations returned.

Two weeks and a few days of hard work.

Less than a month remained before the ship's date.

And thirty-six thousand in his pocket, plus six hundred weekly from Savia for the coming weeks, and four thousand when he taught the thod.

And this house, which he hoped to sell for what it was worth.

The equation was still difficult.

But not impossible.

He closed his eyes.

The next step: finding a buyer.