“Yes, it’s me. If you aren’t asking for directions, are you here to cause trouble too?”
This kind of situation was nothing new for him. The bounty hunter profession didn’t really have any requirements—anyone bold enough could become one.
But compared to those who risked their lives for money, Zoro had a much more solid foundation. Years of training paid off, and he quickly made a name for himself in East Blue.
In the New World, pirates challenged the Four Emperors to gain fame, while in East Blue, Zoro became a target for those seeking either to challenge or recruit him.
At sixteen, he was full of youthful vigor and prone to impulsiveness. Once he confirmed someone to be hostile, a fight was inevitable.
Regardless of gender, once he determined someone was an enemy, he would fight them to the end. However, in most cases, he would use the back of his blade when fighting women. At this moment, he was already holding Wado Ichimonji in a reverse grip.
“Causing trouble? Maybe that’s how it looks to you. But for me, I’m more interested in figuring some things out. By the way, the rumor is you’re a Three-Sword Style swordsman, so why do you only have one sword with you?”
Robin didn’t mention her connection to Baroque Works. A single Crocodile wasn’t worth her full commitment. Her mother, the elders from her childhood, and her friends were all in Wano Country. She had long since found her home.
Now, all she sought was to uncover the mysteries of history.
Those trivial matters were less important than the number of swords Zoro carried.
“They broke. I don’t have the money to buy new ones.”
Zoro was, in every sense, living paycheck to paycheck—or, more accurately, he didn’t even have a regular income.
He wouldn’t outright steal things, and loot from battles may not necessarily be useful. Buying two decent swords has always been his dream.
Currently, he is working as a bounty hunter. But in East Blue, bounties exceeding ten million berries were exceedingly rare, so getting rich in one go was almost impossible.
Although he had caught some wanted criminals, after deducting his daily expenses, there was barely anything left. Even the most basic katana cost at least fifty thousand berries, and right now, he couldn’t even afford that.
His fighting style was extremely violent, and ordinary blades couldn’t withstand the intensity of his battles. Without the ability to use Haki, most standard blades would break into several pieces in no time.
Even Wado Ichimonji, one of the 21 Great Grade Swords forged by Shimotsuki Kozaburo, would sustain damage under such high-intensity use.
“Is that so? Actually, I don’t really want to waste your time, but could you tell me how you managed to evade my surveillance and avoid me?”
“What nonsense are you spouting, woman? When have I ever done any counter-surveillance?”
“If you’re honest, I might give you some money to buy a proper sword.”
“Even if you say that… I didn’t do anything like that. But seriously, why are you going to such lengths to find me? What’s your goal?”
“Haven’t I already told you? To figure out a few things. It seems you aren’t interested in cooperating with me.”
The two of them were never on the same wavelength. Robin didn’t know that there could be a human who has such a poor sense of direction and thought it must be due to Zoro’s exceptional counter-surveillance skills.
Meanwhile, in Zoro’s view, she was a crazy woman spouting nonsense. It would be better to just knock her out and leave.
“One Sword Style—uh…”
But before he could act, multiple arms sprouted from his body and pinned him to the ground. Wado Ichimonji was snatched away by hands growing from the ground and handed over to Robin.
“Looks like a Famed Sword. No wonder you’ve always kept it in your hands.”
Robin, having honed her physical strength in Wano Country and fought extensively in the Grand Line, wasn’t something that a greenhorn like Zoro could compare to. The strength of the numerous arms pinning him was something he couldn’t break free from. Seizing the opportunity, she confirmed the quality of the sword.
“Ba*tard! What are you trying to do, woman? Give it back!”
“Don’t be so impatient. I’ll return it to you. About 5 kilometers to the east, there’s a small town. I’ll be waiting for you there. As long as you get there as quickly as you can, I’ll give it back. For now, though, why don’t you take a little nap?”
The arms created by her Devil Fruit ability struck the back of Zoro’s neck precisely, rendering him unconscious.
“Lizzi, I’ll head to the town first and wait. You stay here with Rotom and keep an eye on him. Watch how he handles things, understand?”
“Inte~leon!”
Since he wouldn’t tell the truth, Robin decided to force him a bit. From Zoro’s intention to fight with the back of his blade, she judged that he was a swordsman who adhered to certain traditions. Such swordsmen typically valued their swords greatly, especially Famed Swords.
She didn’t believe he would continue hiding his skills with his sword taken away. She gave a general direction to the town, but to find it, one would have to track the traces she left behind, otherwise, it would be easy to end up in the wrong place.
After leaving Lizzi to monitor Zoro, Robin departed for the town first.
……
Not long after, Zoro woke up and angrily pounded the ground before rushing off to the west. No matter what, he couldn’t lose that sword.
Influenced by his emotions, he temporarily forgot about the “witch” who could summon arms.
“?”
After Zoro left, a question mark appeared on Lizzi’s face, who had been observing him while invisible. It couldn’t understand why this man stormed off westward without even looking back.
By the time the sun set, Zoro still hadn’t found the town, and Lizzi had already called Robin’s Den Den Mushi.
It was only then that Robin realized the truth—Zoro wasn’t someone with exceptional counter-surveillance skills. He was just a weirdo with absolutely no sense of direction.
Under normal circumstances, he should have reached the vicinity within an hour, and given his constitution, just a few minutes would have been sufficient. However, Zoro didn’t find Robin until the next morning—and even then, he arrived in a bizarre “three-legged race” manner.
While he was going in the westward direction, Zoro ran into Johnny and Yosaku, two bounty hunters who admired him and thus acknowledged him as big brother. They had been hunting bandits in the vicinity and had settled down for a while, so they knew the location of the town Robin mentioned.
They guided Zoro toward the town, but even with one leading and the other following, Zoro still managed to veer off course unconsciously. As a result, they had to adopt this unique method of moving forward.
“Woman! Get out here! Deliberately hiding in such a hard-to-find place—what exactly are you trying to do?!”
Standing at the entrance to the town, Zoro untied the rope around his legs and shouted angrily toward the town, drawing the attention of everyone nearby.
Looking at the entrance of the main road leading straight out of the town, they couldn’t understand what had driven this man to come here at the crack of dawn, looking for a woman.
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!