Guernica’s first mission ended in failure.
He felt wronged, but how could he possibly defy a god?
Like a child excited for a spring outing, Solomon had cheerfully informed him—without room for objection—that he had some business to attend to and would be making a brief trip to the Sorbet Kingdom in the South Blue with his new friend Kuma.
Guernica had been horrified, but in the end, there was no stopping Solomon’s stubborn, self-paced way of doing things.
If he had appealed to Solomon sincerely, as one human being to another, perhaps his capricious master might have changed his mind. Unfortunately, Guernica was the sort who could not find even a trace of humanity in Solomon.
His protection target had abandoned his bodyguard and left, staining his career in an instant. Guernica felt like his insides were about to burst, but he forced down his anger and called the director of CP0 on a Transponder Snail.
"Saint Solomon followed some pirate off on his own?"
"I have no excuse, Director. I had heard he was an eccentric, unlike the other gods, but I never imagined he would be this extreme."
"Enough. Even if the mission failed, there will be no separate punishment. Complete the Heavenly Tribute transport mission as ordered, then return."
"But, Director. He was lured away by the pirate known as the ‘Tyrant,’ Bartholomew Kuma. If that man were to suddenly turn and endanger his safety..."
"Endanger him? Hahahaha. Guernica, I suppose you can say things like that because you’re new. Tell me—does the Mage King really look that easy to you?"
Guernica felt a flush of humiliation as his superior burst into laughter. Being mocked as a rookie was unpleasant no matter what organization you belonged to.
"...There is still much I do not know as a newcomer. Please explain, Director."
"I won’t make it long. But you’ll understand immediately. This was when one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom, used the collapse of her marriage alliance with Prince Loki of Elbaf as an excuse to sail there with her fleet and threaten the giants. By chance, the Mage King was visiting Elbaf for amusement at the time, and he found the commotion bothersome, so he intervened personally."
"I’ve never heard that story."
"It was decades ago by now, so maybe you wouldn’t. That was the first time the Mage King’s name became known to the world, and as a result, Big Mom lost face spectacularly. That should be enough for you to stop worrying over nothing."
With just those few words, goosebumps raced over Guernica’s skin.
For once, the cool-headed man’s expression behind the mask visibly drained of color.
"You can’t mean that absurd rumor is true? That the Mage King is a being who can use ‘magic’ straight out of a fairy tale under the name of ‘Magecraft’?"
"You escorted him personally and never once saw his Magecraft? He must have taken quite a dislike to you. You won’t be assigned to guard him again. It seems I chose the wrong man for the job."
Click. Click. Click.
Beneath the receiver of the Transponder Snail, which had unilaterally cut off the call, Guernica slowly dropped to his knees.
The despair of having completely botched his first mission washed over him.
Meanwhile.
At the same time.
On board Kuma’s ship, Solomon took one look at the pirate flag hanging from the mast—a childish little drawing—and clutched his stomach as he laughed.
"So that crude doodle is the pirate emblem your daughter drew for you? What a doomed world this is. Her father says he’s going off to become a pirate, and instead of stopping him, she draws him a pirate flag."
Kuma scratched his chin awkwardly, because Solomon’s criticism was not entirely wrong.
"Sorry. I wasn’t trying to make fun of your daughter. I just can’t understand it in any normal sense."
"I know. That’s exactly why I want to cure the incurable illness of the daughter who loves me that much. And somehow, I want to wash my hands of this pirate business and stand proudly before her as her father. If your father’s job is being a pirate, that’s not exactly good for a child’s upbringing, is it?"
"Ahahaha. I’m glad I came with you, Bartholomew Kuma. One giant-blooded pirate is much better company than being awkwardly stuck among those stiff, tedious World Nobles."
Kuma was almost melting under Solomon’s easy warmth, but then suddenly caught on one particular word.
"...You knew?"
"Knew what?"
"That I’m a Buccaneer."
"Of course I knew. I saw you with your father when you were little."
"...Just how old are you?"
"Mages tend to live a long time. For my soul to rot like that old Makiri man’s, it would take a thousand years before even the very end started to smell faintly singed."
"H-ha, hahaha. You’re smiling, but when the subject of age comes up, you really do look quietly annoyed."
"You understand well. I, Solomon, intend to remain an eternally nineteen-year-old youth until I can truly accept that I have become fully human."
Kuma decided not to dig any deeper into his friend’s small sore spot.
He simply thought, with innocent sincerity, that a friend with many secrets had his own kind of charm.
The voyage took quite a long time.
There was a considerable physical distance from the New World to the South Blue, and while both Solomon and Kuma had methods for long-distance travel, there was no reason to abandon a perfectly good ship and move some other way.
More than anything, because Solomon kept whining that it had been a long time since he had come down to the lower world, the urgent trip to show him Jewelry Bonney’s symptoms gradually turned into something like a leisurely cruise.
Along the way, they clashed with other pirates several times, but Kuma drove them all off.
As for the Marines, Solomon stepped in and displayed the authority of a Celestial Dragon whenever the plot demanded convenience. Kuma, who had only ever seen the power of the Celestial Dragons as something evil when it was used against him, found himself inwardly marveling at how useful it was when it was on his side.
"If something truly urgent comes up later, you may show this and use the Mage King’s name. It’s my Vivre Card. But if you get any bad ideas and start waving it around everywhere, I’ll be angry, so be careful."
During the voyage, Kuma accepted Solomon’s Vivre Card on the spot when Solomon handed it over casually in a burst of good mood.
Kuma understood that a Vivre Card belonging not just to a Celestial Dragon, but specifically to the Mage King, had to be valuable. But he had no real sense of just how powerful a token it was, and simply treasured it in his pocket like a fine gift from a friend.
There were various incidents along the way, and they even ran into a Marine Admiral, but with an attitude of what did any of it matter, the pirate ship they rode finally docked at the Sorbet Kingdom’s only port after a long voyage.
"Once I see Bonney, I’m going to apologize first. We said we’d keep in touch often, but that can’t compare to seeing each other in person even once, can it?"
"I’m wondering whether I should hide who I am. I’m worried my presence might bring harm to this town."
"Do as you like. I trust you, Solomon. After meeting you, I became certain that even ‘gods’ are ultimately nothing more than human. You’re my friend. I don’t want to force discomfort on a friend just for my own peace of mind."
"Thank you. Then I’ll just treat it as something that can’t be helped if it comes out. I won’t go out of my way to hide it."
Over the course of their long voyage, living and eating together, Kuma came to realize that Solomon was a good person.
Not a god, but someone who had chosen humanity—a true human being in every sense.
Bartholomew Kuma treated his newly made friend plainly, as one human being to another.
When Kuma entered port, the townspeople came out to welcome him after spotting Bonney’s mascot on the pirate ship’s flag.
Watching Kuma greet them one by one with hugs, Solomon felt a strange envy. At the same time, he thought he was seeing, after so long, the very image of humanity he had always wished for, and decided once again that following Kuma here had been the right choice.
"But who is the young man beside you?"
It was Dowager Queen Connie.
The old woman who had been caring for Kuma’s daughter in the absence of the king of the Sorbet Kingdom finally showed interest in Solomon, the mysterious young man who had done nothing but follow Kuma around.
"Ah, this is Solomon. He’s a friend I met during my voyage, and I brought him because he might be able to treat Bonney’s illness."
"Oh? He looks young, but he must be quite a skilled doctor, then?"
"He’s amazing. He’s like a mage."
With the instinct of someone who had lived a long life, Dowager Queen Connie vaguely sensed that Solomon was no ordinary human. But she had no further information to go on. More than anything, Solomon’s impression was so soft and kind—nothing like a Celestial Dragon—that her wariness toward the stranger Kuma had brought quickly faded.
"I’ll go see Bonney now. Thank you all for coming to welcome me."
"Go on, then. Have a good visit. This time, everyone in the Sorbet Kingdom is praying that Bonney’s illness can finally be cured."
Watching Kuma, so loved by the townspeople, Solomon repeated inwardly that he truly was remarkable. The warmth and humanity of these people made one corner of Solomon’s chest ache with an emotion he could not name.
"Bonney! Daddy’s here!"
At a church somewhere in the Sorbet Kingdom, every window shut tight.
Standing before it, Kuma threw open the firmly closed doors with the fierce volume that came naturally from his enormous frame.
"What took you so long, idiot!"
Solomon smiled warmly, expecting a touching reunion between an ordinary father and daughter.
What answered that expectation instead was Bonney’s badly aimed rider kick.
"Die!"
"Gah!"
"Bonney!"
The absurdly combat-capable little brat launched a fast, precise rider kick that unfortunately missed Kuma’s broad body and slammed directly into Solomon’s face behind him.
Jewelry Bonney, having picked the wrong target, was horrified, and red blood dripped from Solomon’s nose onto the ground.
This was the first meeting between the female pirate Jewelry Bonney—who would later be called one of the Worst Generation—and the Mage King Solomon.
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