Chapter 34
I sure had done a lot in these past four years since I was dumped back here by Garp before he ran off, and I have not seen him since. I have not seen much of Mummy Mee or Daddy Dee either since I was basically blacklisted from the orphanage and the owners by Captain Nezumi. Well, I wasn't expressly denied seeing them, but I didn't want to risk ruining anything for them, so I have stayed away, and while I do see them sometimes when out and about the village, I keep my distance.
Speaking of the piece of shit himself, He isn't around much. Or, at the very least, I don't see him much, as busy as I am with my various jobs and errands. However, when I do occasionally see that sneaky asshole, he is always walking around with a bunch of swagger and pushing people around. I am told that he also takes advantage of the villagers, abusing his authority.
How I wish I could just smack the shit out of that annoying-faced man, but he has authority and a whole marine base under him. So, needless to say, while I could knock him six ways to Sunday, that would be bad for the entire village and bring down the full force of that marine base on me. For now, at least, you never know what the future will hold and maybe somewhere down the line, I could get rid of this guy, but how do I know that the next guy in charge won't be even worse or maybe he will have the strength to go along with his position.
Sighing, I shake my head and decide to ignore that for now. It seems for all my strength, there is not much I can do unless I want to rid myself of my peaceful life. Standing up, I decided to head into the village to see if there was anything to do today. I gave myself these rest days because I am pretty much working all week from the minute I get up to the second I go to bed.
I start my walk towards the village, leaving my grassy lawn and stepping onto the cobbled path I have made, going from my property a few tens of meters towards the path to the village. Of course, I could probably run all the way to the town in about a minute flat, max two minutes, but today is supposed to be my rest day. This means no strenuous exercise since I already do enough of that.
If I am not working, eating or sleeping, then I am training. But, of course, I am working a whole lot this day which makes me want to sleep a lot as well. I am always unbelievably tired and just drop straight into my bed when I am done with work. I just can't help it. The jobs I do are usually pretty strenuous, and my body gets worked out due to that. This is why I typically wake up early and do my training in the morning because I just don't have the energy after work when I arrive home.
I have not been training as much as I did on Troga, where I could focus on it all day and not have to worry about a thing since now I have many other responsibilities. Though I have not been slacking either, I have been doing as much training as time can afford. But honestly, the past four years have been very peaceful, apart from Nezumi throwing his weight around. He is a dog with no bite and all bark who only picks on those weaker than him. So far, he hasn't pushed too far. He is probably afraid of repercussions from his superiors.
Even though I heard about those serious incidents from Garp, those were apparently in different oceans, and the East Blue is actually peaceful since I don't remember us ever having been visited by pirates or anyone. So this island is at peace and not as in danger as I thought, so I ramped the training down to focus on building my home, doing various jobs, and acquiring different crafts.
I was worried over nothing and worked myself up for no reason. With a marine base so close, nobody will attack since, according to the newspapers, the East Blue has the weakest pirates. It is the weakest blue and, therefore, the safest.
"YO DETORO, HOW IS YOUR DAY OFF SO FAR!?" Bob, the owner of the carpentry shop that can't control the level of his voice, calls out. He is sitting outside the front of his shop and smoking a cigarette. It must be a slow day today.
"Same as always, boss. I am bored." I say distractedly, entranced by the waves of smoking coming from the end of his cigarette. I know it is just the trait making me so infatuated with it, but I can't take my eyes off of the grey clouds. Bob just looks so relaxed while smoking, like he has peace of mind.
My traits so far haven't actually been that much of a problem. Instead of being called traits, they would be better described as minor traits. They have their effects, sure, but nothing too serious, and they can mostly be ignored. I picked primarily passive traits for my positive ones, so I don't really notice those, but I do sometimes see my negative ones making an appearance.
My claustrophobia isn't that bad. The only time I have had it really get worked up is when George put a crate on my head as a joke, and I freaked out and started hyperventilating, quickly showing it off my head. So that is the only time it has really acted up, but besides that, I generally feel uncomfortable in enclosed dark spaces, and I prefer the open air and the clouds above my head. It is why I have a skylight above my bed.
My fingers sometimes fumble, and I drop my tools unless I have a firm grip, but I never stumble, so my clumsiness only shows occasionally. I only ever have sleepy head rear its head when I am bored and not motivated, in which cases I might nod off but keep busy, so that doesn't really happen, but when I am tired after a hard day's work, I drop like a log.
As for conspicuous, I don't really think I am. I don't make big shows or flamboyant displays or anything. I usually just talk normally, and yeah, I wear bright colours, but that is just my fashion sense. Who wants to be all dreary all the time. And finally, my smoking trait only ever makes itself known when I am relaxing and not working, when I am having a break and feel like I should do something to further it.
"OHO, YOU WANT A CIGGARETTE, BOY!? YOU WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE OLDER, AND I WILL GIVE YOU YOUR FIRST CIGAR. MUCH BETTER THAN THESE LITTLE PIECES OF SHIT, BUT CIGARS ARE EXPENSIVE, SO I HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH THESE." Bob says, having caught where my eyes are looking. I hurriedly look away, feeling like I have been caught doing something that I shouldn't.
"Aha, maybe, See ya later, boss." I quickly make my exit, walking away from him and hearing him shout goodbye behind me. I may have traits, but I am not a slave to them. My fate is not predetermined. I can make a conscious effort to stop doing those things, like with smoking. I know that smoking is bad and will hurt me in the long run, so no matter how bad I might want to smoke, I refuse to, at least not at this point. Maybe when I am older, and even then, only on occasion.
"Hey Detoro-Kun, you want to come read a book in the store?" Agenda-San says, opening the front door of his shop to talk to me. And while I would, I want to continue looking around the village to see if there is anything exciting happening today.
"Sorry, Avaganda-San. I want to continue looking around the village. I will probably be back in a bit." I say, waving hello to him as I walk on by. He smiles back good-naturedly. I probably will stop by, not to read more instructions or informative books but to read some fiction to relax. That book about Montblanc Noland was quite good. Just imagining a city made of gold makes me salivate. It is too bad that the guy was just a liar, and it is fictional, anyway.
"Detoro-Chan, I need your help. The hinge on one of the doors in my house is coming off. Can you help me?" One of the housewives of the village asks, wanting me to come over and do an errand for her. That has actually become a significant part of my days ever since I built up my skills and knowledge. I usually go and help people who need things fixing, a faulty door here, a chair leg that has come off and some rotten floorboards.
"I will be back later to do it, Mrs Ogan. I am a bit busy now, and I don't have my tools." I say, passing her by, to which she smiles and nods her head in agreement, quickly going back to hanging her washing on the washing line. I refused her because today was supposed to be my relaxing day, so I would do it later. Plus, it is inside, so it is not urgent. I don't even need my tools for something like that, my rock finger technique being strong enough to hammer nails in with precision.
I go to continue my walk, wanting to go down by the docks and probably do some fishing. I actually learnt when on those fishing boats, and it is pretty relaxing, and there is a sense of achievement with catching a fish using a fishing rod instead of with your bare hands. Like a testament to my skill, it is quite a fu-
"EVERYBODY, LISTEN TO ME!!" I hear a loud exhausted voice below from behind me, right at the centre of the village, and at the epicentre, everyone in the town hears whoever it is. Slowly people start to come out and pay attention, we have never had someone do such a thing before, so naturally, people are curious, as am I. I turn around, and to my surprise, I spot Genzo standing there with his hands on his knees, panting hard and looking like he just ran a marathon.
"Genzo-San, what is going on? Why are you yelling?" Avaganda-San asks, coming out of his bookstore. He is as familiar with the man as I am, given how often Genzo has come to the bookstore over the last few years. And given the man's disposition and stature in his village as a sheriff, it is indeed worrying for him to be doing something so out of character.
"FI-FISHMEN!! PIRATES!! THEY ARE COMING HERE, AND THEY ARE TOO STRONG!!" Genzo bellows out loud, provoking gasps and whispers from the crowd, who can't seem to believe the news. I myself need clarification on the word Fishmen, men that are like fish? Like Aquaman or something? And what is this about pirates, fish pirates? Are pirates finally attacking our peaceful little island? Did I provoke Murphy's Law?
"EVERYONE, PLEASE LISTEN TO ME!! DO NOT TRY TO RESIST. YOU WILL DIE!!" THEY ARE JUST... T-They are just too strong..."
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