A little while ago, Luffy said he’d been taken away by Grandpa Garp.
The Marine hero Garp—Monkey D. Dragon’s father and Luffy’s grandfather.
And he was supposedly ridiculously strong?
That was about all I knew about Grandpa Garp.
I’d watched the original up through Skypiea, but One Piece was such a famous series
that there was information you picked up even without watching it.
Like how Ace was Gold Roger’s son, or something, and the Summit War?
And how Ace and Whitebeard died there.
There was also a female character named Hancock, supposedly the most beautiful woman in the world,
and the types of Haki in the One Piece world were famous too.
I need to learn Haki already so I can hit even Logia users….
I hear Crocodile can be beaten by soaking him with water first,
and Enel from Skypiea can be handled by Luffy, but Luffy’s stupidity is enough to make your insides burst….
Still, it feels like I’m at way too much of a disadvantage in terms of elemental matchups.
It’s common knowledge that Flying-type Pokémon are weak to Electric-types.
Haki is what shatters that common sense, so I want to learn it already. Sob.
Anyway.
Grandpa Garp took Luffy away.
‘Is he going to make him train or something?’
Was training with his grandfather the source of the protagonist buff?
Well, I’d just have to work hard on my own too….
Then, some time later—
I was eating at Makino’s bar after bringing in fruit I’d gotten through my flying ability, along with my "marriage tab."
(Even for a kid, continuously mooching meals on the promise of getting married someday was a little….)
That was when it happened.
"Makino, who’s this kid named Origin?"
The instant an enormous, white-haired old man in a Hawaiian shirt walked in, he asked Makino.
"Uh, that’s me?"
I hurriedly answered, intending to protect Makino.
"Garp! Why do you want Origin?"
Huh?? So he was Grandpa Garp…. If he’d been wearing that dog-like hat on his head, I would’ve recognized him.
No, not dog-like as an insult. I mean an actual dog hat. A real dog.
"All right, you’re coming with me too."
Grandpa Garp strode over, picked up my still-small body like I weighed nothing, and walked out of the bar.
"Grandpa, I’m curious. Why are you taking me too?"
I asked while dangling from Garp’s grip.
"Because some very bad people are scheduled to come here."
"Pirates?"
"Much worse than pirates. Damn bastards."
"When they see something unusual, they’ll do whatever it takes to get their hands on it."
"So Devil Fruit users who are children, like you and Luffy, need to be careful."
"I see."
It looked like the Celestial Dragons were coming.
I didn’t think I’d ever seen anything like this in the original story. Was my presence already
causing the original plot to go off the rails? I was a little worried.
I needed things to follow the original if I wanted to meet the One Piece characters I liked.
I didn’t know where any of the characters were or what they were doing!!
Grandpa Garp carried me deep into a mountain and set me down at our destination.
There were Luffy, a freckled boy who looked exactly like a young Ace,
and another boy wearing something like a silk hat.
Three boys in total.
"Jin!! You came to rescue me!!"
The moment Luffy saw me, he called out brightly.
"No, I got captured too."
"Aha!"
It was a relief that Luffy seemed to have been having fun here.
"Dadan!! Come out!!"
Grandpa Garp called for someone.
"What is it this time?!"
"Good… So you’ve finally decided to spend the rest of your life in prison?"
Ah, the Garp style of persuasion!! The Marines really were great.
So that was why God said I couldn’t join the Marines, damn it.
They looked good enough that I wanted to convince Luffy and join the Marines anyway.
In the end, Dadan agreed to take me in.
And Griffon, the sword Shanks had given me, would be held by Grandpa Garp for the time being.
Makino and the village chief were both trustworthy enough, but they didn’t have the strength to protect it….
Besides, this was a mountain bandit hideout, so bringing valuables here felt burdensome too.
Garp was trustworthy and more than strong enough, so was I safe?
His son was the worst criminal in the world, and his grandson was an aspiring pirate…. I could trust him, right?
"Jin! This is Ace, and this is Sabo!"
"Nice to meet you. I’m Origin—call me Jin."
"…"
Ace merely folded his arms and stared at me without saying a word.
"Yeah, I’m Sabo. Ace is shy around strangers, so don’t mind him."
Thankfully, this guy named Sabo was kind to me.
Maybe because we were still young, the four of us quickly became close.
Ace and Sabo were three years older than Luffy and me.
Shouldn’t they be a lot bigger if they’re three years older at this age, Oda-sensei?
Why did it feel like there was barely any difference in height?
"Gum-Gum!! Pistol!!"
Luffy tried to use the Gum-Gum Pistol technique I knew from the original story,
but his fist hit the ground, bounced back, and punched him in the face.
"One-round victory, Ace wins!!"
Sabo said as he recorded it on a wooden board.
"That ability of yours, does it even have any practical use?"
Ace looked at Luffy as though he found him pathetic.
"Damn it, it won’t work right. Once I get it working the way I want, I’ll turn the lot of you into mincemeat!"
"One more round!!"
"No. Each person gets exactly ninety matches a day. Challenge us again tomorrow."
Ace answered Luffy.
"Today again, Luffy lost thirty times each to me, Ace, and Jin."
"Ace and I are sixteen to fourteen. Jin and I are fifteen to fifteen, damn it!!"
"Ace and Jin are fifteen to fifteen."
Sabo read out the day’s records from the wooden board.
"In three years, I’ll crush all of you!!"
"You think you’re the only one getting three years older?? Idiot!"
The environment of Mt. Colubo, where we lived, made us stronger by the day.
Not often, but Grandpa Garp would come by and spar with us too.
Of course, every time he came, he told us to give up on becoming pirates….
"Grandpa Garp."
"What is it?"
"What do I have to do to use Haki?"
"Sounds like you heard about it from Shanks. Damn Shanks."
I asked Garp while he rested after knocking down three aspiring pirates.
"Training. But you’re still too young, so it’ll be difficult right now."
"At least tell me what kind of training I need to do."
"Hmm… Still, it’s better than staying weak. Fine, I understand."
Grandpa Garp said it would take at least ten years of training regardless,
then taught us the theory and methods of training.
Unfortunately, among the four of us, the only ones who properly listened to Grandpa Garp’s explanations
were Sabo and me.
"Hmph, I’ll get strong without any of that stuff."
The rebellious Ace had no interest in learning.
"Aha!! But I don’t understand any of it!"
And Luffy was an idiot….
Grandpa Garp promised Sabo and me he’d teach us more whenever he got the chance.
"Right. If you become Marines, you can learn even better techniques than this and grow stronger."
"Ah, the Marines are kind of…"
Sabo immediately cut ties with the idea.
"I’ll seriously think about it."
I said that in case leaving an opening made him teach me more.
I was also worried about Griffon, the sword I’d entrusted to him. Grandpa, my sword’s doing okay, right?
As we grew stronger, our range of activity gradually expanded.
To explain the region where I was living, it was called the Goa Kingdom.
‘What kind of country is named Orphan? Terrifying….’
The High Town, where the royal palace stood.
↓
The city center.
↓
Edge Town, the slums.
↓
Gray Terminal, the mountain of trash.
↓
Mt. Colubo.
↓
Foosha Village.
Foosha Village and Mt. Colubo were part of the kingdom too,
but the kingdom only cared about what was within its walls and paid almost no attention to what lay outside.
From the royal palace through Edge Town was inside the walls,
while Gray Terminal onward was outside them.
Downtown Goa Kingdom.
"They ate without paying!!"
"Someone, catch them!"
The four of us were fleeing after dining and dashing.
"Sorry!! I’ll pay you back later!"
I yelled as I ran, feeling guilty for some reason. Right, I’d pay them back!! It wasn’t dining and dashing—it was credit.
"Pwah, that was seriously good."
"See? What did I tell you!!"
Ace said in response to Sabo.
"Don’t let them get away! Someone catch those four kids over there~~!!"
The security officer chasing us shouted.
"Sabo? Is that you, Sabo!! You’re alive. Let’s go home."
As we ran, a man wearing a hat similar to Sabo’s, but much flashier, saw Sabo and spoke to him.
"Hey, Sabo, someone’s calling you!!"
Ace said to Sabo.
"…… He must have mistaken me for someone else. Let’s go!!"
The moment we returned to Mt. Colubo, Ace and Luffy interrogated Sabo.
"Is it okay for there to be secrets between us?"
"Tell us."
"D-Do I really have to say it?"
I spoke up, wondering whether we really needed to know.
"Spill it, you bastard!!"
The moment Ace said that, he grabbed Sabo by the throat, and Luffy joined in.
"That’s too much!!"
I tried to stop Ace and Luffy, but it was two against one, so I couldn’t do much.
"Gah!! I’ll tell you!!"
Sabo said he was a noble of the Goa Kingdom.
"Whoa, no way!!"
"So?"
"So?"
Ace and Luffy’s responses were completely different from mine.
They even said it while picking their noses.
"You’re the ones who asked!!!"
"…Actually, I have parents. The man who stopped me today was my father."
After hearing about the hardships Sabo had endured as the child of nobles, we decided
to understand him.
Then we began talking about our ambitions as pirates.
After all three of them had spoken, they looked at me.
Umm.
"I’m going to become the first King of Adventurers!!"
Pirates occupied a role somewhat like adventurers in the One Piece world,
but I specifically said I wanted to become the King of Adventurers.
Luffy would probably become Pirate King, and I didn’t want to get in his way.
(Because he was my best friend.)
But I didn’t want to serve under Luffy either.
(Because we were friends. Hehe.)
A goal that would let me stand as Luffy’s equal without getting in his way.
That was why becoming King of Adventurers became my goal.
"Hahaha, interesting. Luffy, Jin, I’m looking forward to your futures."
Sabo said with a smile.
"But if all four of us want to be captains, that’s a little troubling, isn’t it?"
"Sabo, I figured you’d obviously be the navigator on our ship."
"Get on your own ships."
"I guess I’ll help Luffy for now."
Those were Sabo’s, Ace’s, Luffy’s, and my words.
"Let’s decide our futures in the future."
"Maybe the four of us will each set sail separately!!"
Sabo answered Ace.
"Did you guys know?"
Ace said, pulling out a bottle and cups.
"If we share sake cups, we can become ‘brothers.’"
"We might not end up as crewmates on the same ship, but the four of us
will be bound by the tie of ‘brothers’!!"
"No matter where we are or what we do, that bond will never break..!!"
"Starting today, we are—"
"Brothers!!"
"Yeah!!"
"Cheers!"
"??"
Ah, you were supposed to say "cheers" when toasting.
Those of us who had no brothers gained brothers.
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